HOW TO MARKET A SMALL LAW FIRM Professional, Ethical & Profitable Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers

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2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS FINANCIAL GOALS SOCIAL GOALS PROFESSIONAL GOALS PROFILE OF A RAINMAKER

3 FINANCIAL GOALS

4 4 Let s align your true motivations with your Marketing plan. Let s give you almost effortless energy. Let s make your success unstoppable by working-out the answers to a few seemingly simple questions that you ve probably never been asked before: Why Do You Want Your Law Firm Business To Be Successful? I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful so that I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful to be able to or I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful because or

5 5 How much money does your law firm business need to produce... in order to support the lifestyle you have chosen for yourself? Let s look at your spending: Your Present Age Age of your Kids Home Auto 1 Auto 2 Toy INSURANCE Health Life Disability Umbrella EDUCATION HOUSEHOLD Groceries Domestic Help Utilities Telephone Cable Internet Maintenance INVESTMENTS SAVINGS CHARITABLE CAUSES ENTERTAINMENT OTHER NOW 1YR 3YR 5YR

6 SOCIAL GOALS

7 7 SOCIAL GOALS Quantify How You Manage Your Time Do you have an inappropriate relationship with your law firm!? No matter how much time and how much energy you put into your law firm, it s never going to love you, and it s never going to give you a hug. Your law firm is your mule. It s there to pull your plow, so you can grow crops to feed yourself and your family.

8 8 STEP 1: Circle everything you do in a typical day... Motion Calander Audit Trust Account Audit Accounts Payable Visit Clients Who Cannot Come To You Commute To & From Office Correspondence On Behalf Of Clients Meet With Litigation Support Professionals Oil Change Attend Networking Events Pay Bills At The Office Draft & Review Documents Payroll Read Newspaper Document An Office Procedure Meet With Prospective Referral Source Eat Breakfast Staff Training Legal Research Conduct Trial Witness Prep. Give Kids Allowance SOCIAL GOALS Conduct Evidentiary Hearings Meet With The Accountant Personal Hygiene Visit A Client s Place Of Business Present A Speech Trial Preparation Meet With Investigators Develop Discovery Strategy Pick Up Dry Cleaning Conduct A Seminar Take Deposition Alone Time With Significant Other Document An Office Policy For Staff Get Training On Law Office Management Software Fire Clients See A Movie Help With Homework Get A Haircut Learn More About Law Office Management Chase Down Old Accounts Recevable Ongoing CLE Sleep Spot-Check Staff Attend A Sporting Event Eat Dinner Interview Prospetive Clients Negotiation For Clients Voir Dire Attend Hearing Drop Off Kids At School Fill Up Car With Gas Learn About How To Make It Rain Prepare For Deposition Find The Right Person To Whom Make A Referral Read A Book Spiritual Time Grocery Shopping Train Clients Play Bills At Home File Maintenance Eat Lunch Drafs Contracts Put Out Fires

9 STEP 2: Divide into 3 categories HOW TO MARKET A SMALL LAW FIRM I Things You MUST Do Yourself Every Day And Cannot Delegate Sleep Eat Personal Higiene Commute Other II Things You WANT To Do Exercise Hobby Kids Playtime Kids Homework Personal Time w/spouse or S.O. Spiritual Time Social Time w/friends + Family Other III Things You Do For The Mule To Keep It Healthy + Productive Marketing Management Training+Supervision Court Calls w/clients Research CLE Prep for Court Review K s + other Agmts Draft K s + other Agmts Trust Account Management Collections Client Intake + Selection Calls for Clients Other Subtotal Subtotal Subtotal #HRS #HRS #HRS NOTES 9

10 10 STEP 3: Count hours I Things You MUST Do Yourself Every Day And Cannot Delegate #HRS Subtotal II Things You WANT To Do #HRS Subtotal III Things You Do For The Mule #HRS Subtotal TOTAL 24 Hrs x 7 Days = 168 Hrs Available to you every week. Since life s not perfect and some weeks will be better than others, it s best to average every two-weeks. In other words, some weeks the mule needs you to prepare for a big case so you ll give it more Hrs. Other weeks you need time with friends + family. Use this exercise like any other kind of budget as a management tool not an edict carved in stone.

11 11 RANK YOUR PRIORITIES DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRACTICES TYPES OF WORK TYPE OF CLIENTS SYSTEMATIC BUSINESS OPERATIONS FAST MIDDLE OF------GOURMET FOOD ROAD DINER PRACTICE

12 PROFESSIONAL GOALS

13 13 GRADING SCALE This execise calls for you to describe A-F Clients/Cases/Staff CLIENT CASE/MATTER STAFF A B C D F

14 Professional, Ethical & Profi table Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers 14 Your Benefit Statement Tells People What They REALLY Want To Know About What You Do. Law Office Magician Who Would Your Clients Hire If They Could? I just want someone to... - Protect My Equity - or - Get Me Out Of Hot Water - or - Besure My Closing Goes Smoothly - or - Help Me Stay In This Country Legally I HELP TO. WHO ACCOMPLISH WHAT I FOR. ACCOMPLISH WHAT WHO

15 Professional, Ethical & Profi table Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers 15 $ Sam Sales Call Nancy Networker SALES CALL NETWORKING Peter Public Relations PUBLIC RELATIONS When you are trying to decide whether to spend time making face-to-face Sales Calls or engage in Public Relations, remember the Sales Call is closer to the Cash. Networking gets you opportunities to make Sales Calls, and Public Relations position you for the Sales Call.

16 Professional, Ethical & Profi table Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers 16 ME ME ME Rainmaker Referral Source Everything you need to know to make your next Networking Event truly productive: * * * * What is THEIR benefit statement? How did THEY get into THEIR line of work? What do THEY like most about what THEY do for a living? How can you recognize when someone you are talking to should be talking to THEM?

17 17 YOU Even a moderate amount of the right kind of Networking will soon reward you, with an impressive group of people to call upon... whenever you need an ethical and professional introduction to a Prospective Client or Referral Source.

18 4 STEPS HOW TO MARKET A SMALL LAW FIRM TO HAVING AN EFFECTIVE SALES CALL 18 OPENING - Break the ice - Confirm the time - Agree on agenda PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION - ID problem or opportunity - Learn what s been tried before - Understand problem in all dimensions (Time $ Reputation) PROCESS FOR SOLUTION - Options - Pros + Cons - Preferred course of action w/ back-up CLOSE - WHO is going to do WHAT by WHEN?

19 19 The three dimensions in which most important problems exists are: TIME MONEY REPUTATION You don t truly understand a problem or opportunity until you know how it affects your prospect in terms of their: TIME MONEY REPUTATION

20 20 WHAT KIND OF PRACTICE DO YOU WANT? ADVERTISING+PR NETWORKING ADVERTISING+PR ADVERTISING+PR SALES CALLS NETWORKING SALES CALLS NETWORKING SALES CALLS GOURMET DINER FAST FOOD

21 PROFILE OF A RAINMAKER

22 Professional, Ethical & Profi table Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers 22 CAN YOU SPOT THE RAINMAKER?

23 23 PROFILE OF LARRY LAWYER Age: 46 Financial Goal: $200,000 Social Goal: Work Hrs/Week 46 Wks/Yr Professional Goal: Provide a limited menu middle of the road-type transactional services to small + mid-sized business owners. Hourly Rates: Attorney: $200 Paralegal: $75 Secretary: $50 Rule of thumb formula: x 200,000 (owner income) 2 (overhead) 400,000 Gross Income Target

24 24 SCENARIO 1: FAST FOOD $200/HR x 1,000 HRS= $200,000 $75/HR X 1,000 HRS= 75,000 $75/HR X 1,000 HRS= 75,000 $50/HR X 1,000 HRS= 50,000 $400,000 SCENARIO 2: DINER * $200/HR x 1,600 HRS= $320,000 $75/HR X 800 HRS= 60,000 $50/HR X 400 HRS= 20,000 $400,000 ** SCENARIO 3: GOURMET $200/HR x 2,000 HRS= $400,000 *** * ** *** 1000 HRS 46 WKS = 22 COLLECTED HRS/ WK 1600 HRS 46 WKS = 35 COLLECTED HRS/ WK 2000 HRS 46 WKS = 43 COLLECTED HRS/ WK

25 25 Some lawyers I ve worked with, find their way to me only after reading a book on marketing, or attending a seminar, where they were exposed to all kinds of potentially great marketing ideas... and with no-one to share their plans with, they get all exiced and promise themselves to suddenly turn-over a new leaf and implement every great marketing idea they ve ever heard about. But like a post-holiday commitment to honor the latest fad diet, made after gourging ourselves for two weeks straight, these would-be-rainmakers soon fall off the wagon and start convincing themselves that it s impossible for a busy lawyer in a small firm to make it rain. Sound familiar? Well, don t feel too bad, it s happened to me too. So, it s from my own personal experience and the experiences of so many of the Rainmakers I ve worked with that I recommend you pick just one activity from each category --Public Relations, Networks and Sales Calls-- that appeals to you personally. And try it for just one year. Note: Members of the How To Make It Rain.com website learn how to delevop, implement and track their progress with a series of quarterly marketing plans.

26 NETWORKING HOMEWORK 26 1 Make an index card for everyone in your network. Don t worry if you don t have many index cards yet. Send each person some kind of an article with a personalized note within the next 90 days. 2 Calendar and RSVP at least two networking events in the next two weeks. Name of Networking Event When 3 New People You Met Thank You Note Sent Added to Rolodex Follow-up Planned? I II Find an opportunity to refer business or do something helpful for each person in your network within the next 30 days. Even if you try but are not successful, make it a point to let each person in your network know that you made the effort and are thinking about them. What did you do to demonstrate your effort to refer business at least of the 3 people you met at networking events this month? Prospective Referral Source What Did You Do How Do They Know?

27 27 1 NAME OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENT OR POTENTIAL REFERRAL SOURCE Time $ MONTHLY SALES CALL LOG NATURE OF PROBLEM/ OPPORTUNITY WHO was to do WHAT by WHEN RESULTS Reputation Other 2 NAME OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENT OR POTENTIAL REFERRAL SOURCE Time NATURE OF PROBLEM/ OPPORTUNITY WHO was to do WHAT by WHEN RESULTS $ Reputation Other

28 28 3 NAME OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENT OR POTENTIAL REFERRAL SOURCE Time MONTHLY SALES CALL LOG NATURE OF PROBLEM/ OPPORTUNITY WHO was to do WHAT by WHEN RESULTS $ Reputation Other 4 NAME OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENT OR POTENTIAL REFERRAL SOURCE Time NATURE OF PROBLEM/ OPPORTUNITY WHO was to do WHAT by WHEN RESULTS $ Reputation Other

29 29 FREE GIFT FOR YOU Tell us how you used this program to Market Your Small Law FIrm in the first 90 days after listening and we will send you a free gift to thank you for taking action and sharing your success with others. To claim your free gift follow these 3 simple steps: 1 Visit 2 Click on the Success Stories button 3 Tell us about a success you ve had with these materials.