“Ordinary people think merely of spending time,
great people think of using it.”
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher.
Known for his 1818 work The World as Will & Representation.
Martika Andrews jumped up with excitement.
She knew she was about to travel the world. She was 13 years old living with her single mother, a waitress in New York, who had very little money to spare.
Yet, that didn’t faze her. In the magazine she was holding there were clear instructions.
She started talking to her mom at over a hundred miles an hour about it. Her mom stopped her and said,“I’ll work hard to make enough money to send you to college. You’ll go to college and when you graduate, you’ll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay?”
“No Mom!” she continued. “Everything that I need to do is written in this magazine.
Markita was reading her Girl Scout magazine. The Scout who sold the most cookies would win an all-expenses trip for two around the world.
She wouldn’t have to wait until she got a job after college.
She simply had to sell more Girl Scout cookies than anyone has ever sold in the history of the Scouts.
The problem was that Martika wasn’t smarter, more outgoing, or natural than the average Scout. So, she did what she could with the little natural talent she had: Ask, ask, ask!
She would go to someone and ask them to buy cookies. If they didn’t, she would ask them to think about it while she goes to the other potential buyers.
When she finished her rounds, she would go back to all of the potential buyers who agreed they would ‘think about it’.
She would stand there, comfortable and confident, and ask them again.
In fact, Markita wasn’t afraid to ask 2, 3, 4 or even 5 times.
She kept reminding people that they expressed some kind of interest in her cookies. And as long as they still expressed an interest she would continue to ask them.
In that first year she sold 3,526 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and won a trip around the world for two.
Since then she has sold more than 42,000 boxes.
She’s even co-authored a best selling book called How To Sell More Cookies, Condos, Cadillacs, Computers… And Everything Else.
And her secret of “Ask, ask, ask!” is well known within the sales industry. Being persistent is one of the easiest ways to get new customers and clients.
For attorneys, who almost never apply this strategy, it is even more effective. And you can do it on autopilot without embarrassing yourself or annoying your potential clients.
How many times in your career have you had someone leave your office, or hung up the phone, and you never hear from them again?
I assume, like with most attorneys, that number is uncomfortably high.
#1: Why clients procrastinate and seemingly waste your time
To overcome this, you first need to understand why this happens, because at first glance it doesn’t make any sense.
If someone needs an attorney, or someone wants a box of cookies, why on earth do they procrastinate?
As an attorney, and you know this better than most people, getting your legal affairs in order shouldn’t be put on a ‘waiting list’. It should be done NOW.
So, when someone visits your office or calls you with a legal problem that needs solving, it is in their best interest to hire you right then and there.
Yet, in a lot of cases they don’t.
Why?
Well, most people believe that procrastination stems from laziness or disorganization.
However, according to Dr. Pamela Wiegartz Ph.D. that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Procrastinators are often “smart, capable, hardworking people…”
Psychologists from all walks of life have tried to answer this question.
And by far the biggest reason why people don’t solve big problems right away is fear of failure.
The second biggest reason why people don’t get back to you is that they forget.
And luckily, there is a way to address both these things automatically. Once it is set up you genuinely don’t need to lift a finger.
#2: How to get clients on autopilot using simple technology
Just like Markita, you’re going to ask them to become a client more than once while breaking down their fear of failure.
All you do, is set up a system whereby you label or ‘tag’ prospects.
If a prospect is on the fence, you can send them out a pre-determined series of emails and text messages. This works whether or not they have called or have visited you in the office.
The sequence below has four touch points. You can easily have more. In some of our sequences we have 30+.
1. Email (send immediately after initial contact) : Thank them for coming in or calling. Then include reviews or case studies of previously happy clients.
2. Text message(send immediately after initial contact) : Thank them for considering your firm and prompt them to store your phone number in their phone.
3. Text message (send 2 days after initial contact) : Check if they need any more help or information and remind them to call you if they need anything.
4. Email (send 2-3 days after initial contact) : Bring their attention to another case study or success story.
By simply following up with them automatically you’ve done what 9 out of every 10 law offices never do.
Before I show you how to set this up so it happens automatically, let me give you a couple of templates you can use.
***EMAIL 1***
This email goes out immediately after contact while you are still fresh in their mind. Studies have shown that you retain 80% more if you are reminded of that something on the day.
The parts in bold need to be replaced with the appropriate words/phrases.
Subject line: One more thing…
Dear [FIRSTNAME],
Thank you so much for coming in [or calling] to enquire about [enquiry].
I just quickly wanted to let you know you are in good hands with Mr/Mrs Attorney.
She/he has x years experience in handling cases like yours. For example, Jane Doe had this to say about him/her:
“Here you would put an example review or testimonial. The more specific the review is about the situation the better the response rate will be.”
– Jane Doe
Even if the cases turn tricky Mr/Mrs Attorney doesn’t back down. He/she had this happen a while ago and the client said this about her/him.
“Here is another example review. The scenario above can be changed to whatever problem the attorney has overcome before.”
– Jane Doe
In fact, this law office has lots of reviews from clients who have had overwhelmingly positive experiences with us. Here are a few for you to read.
REVIEW 1
REVIEW 2
REVIEW 3
REVIEW 4
REVIEW 5
Please get in touch if you have any questions whatsoever by replying to this email. We’re here to help you.
Kind regards,
[YourName]
***END OF EMAIL 1***
If you don’t have enough reviews for this kind of campaign then refer to the previous article.
You’ll quickly discover that they will become the rocket fuel that propels your law office onto new heights. They do all the heavy lifting for you.
***TEXT MESSAGE 1***
This message also goes out immediately and it has two functions. The first is to get them to store your number in their phone. The second is to get them to read the email.
Your email has a 50/50 chance of being read while your text message has a 90-95% chance of being read. You need to use that to your advantage.
Hi [FIRSTNAME], this is [yourname] from X Law Office. Please save this number and call it if you ever have a legal problem. Make sure you save it.
I also just sent you an email that has examples of people who were in your exact situation. Take a look at it now if you can.
All the best,
[yourname]
It is important that the text comes from an actual person, preferably the one they interacted with. Replace [yourname] with the name of that person.
This will boost response rates dramatically.
***END OF TEXT MESSAGE 1***
***TEXT MESSAGE 2***
This message goes out 2-3 days after the first text message and email. By now they have had time to think about it. Other alternatives might have crossed their path, but none of them are likely to make such good use of a follow up series.
This message will have a similar purpose to the first email. To remind them of you and get rid of their fear of failure.
Hi [FIRSTNAME],
This is just a quick reminder. If you need any help simply call us on this number. We’ve helped many people who needed an [practice area] attorney.
I am shortly going to drop you an email showing you how [case study name] got a great result from his/her case.
All the best,
[yourname]
***END OF TEXT MESSAGE 2***
***EMAIL 2***
This email simply follows up from the text message you sent before. It should go out at the same time as the text message. Emails sometimes take longer to reach the potential client so it is important to have it go out at the same time.
The case study you will put in this email can be long and detailed. Don’t be afraid to add some of the difficulties you had with the case and how you overcame them.
People want to know that they are in good hands. They understand things don’t always go to plan and would like you to demonstrate the tricks you have up your sleeve to fix things.
It might just be another day in the office for you, but for them, any solution to a legal problem is close to a miracle. Non-attorneys are afraid of the complexity law. It is your job to put that fear at ease.
Hi [FIRSTNAME],
I hope all is well. A little while ago a lady/man came into our office with a very similar situation to you.
They needed [explain what they needed from the attorney]. It was important to them that it was handled quickly.
Here’s what happened:
[Explain what you did]
[Explain an obstacle you had to overcome]
[Explain the outcome]
[Name of client] was so happy they left us this review online:
REVIEW
As you can tell, [attorney name] has a lot of experience in dealing with cases like yours.
Retaining him/her might be the best decision you could make.
Reply to this email so that we can talk more.
Kind regards,
[yourname]
***END EMAIL 2***
At this point the client has heard from you 4 times from 2 different devices. This will help them to remember you when they decide to finally make a move.
Just because they procrastinate doesn’t mean they don’t need an attorney. They STILL need one. And your follow up communication with them will put you on the top of the list.
As I mentioned before, this is simply a basic follow up series. You can double, triple, or even quadruple the number of times you contact them.
For example, if you offer financing, you can have a couple of messages that talks about the affordability of your services.
You can even add in a case study about someone who couldn’t afford your fees, but used financing to retain you.
And best of all, this can be automated.
No matter how complicated the sequence gets, you can set up a pre-determined path that gets sent when a prospect gets ‘tagged’.
Infusionsoft is one particular software we’ve used to automate this exact process. It allows you to be like Martika, and ask, ask, ASK!
This was actually one of the first topics I discussed with Alexis Neely, who had this to say.
“There was a woman who was in our Personal Family Lawyer program some years ago, and she went out and she got certified by this company called Infusionsoft, and now I have partnered with her. We’ve now built a custom Infusionsoft application, we call it Accelerator, for our member lawyers so that they can, in an automated and personalized way, remain in communication with the people that they have generated as leads, or who have become clients so they can build a real lifetime relationship with someone, so they can educate their community in the new way so that people don’t fall through the cracks. And so, from that perspective, you know, technology is changing our industry in a huge way.”
Unfortunately, I do not have the time to write a user manual on everything you can do with automation. And to be honest, you don’t need to know how to do it. You simply need to know how to outsource it.
By using a service like Upwork, you can find experienced and competitive contract labor to help you automate your follow up process.
Are you starting to see how many small tweaks to your law firm can make a huge difference? The super attorneys who make use of these strategies and techniques don’t work any harder than you do. In fact, they simply work smarter. Joining them is easy.
Or, if you are naturally skeptical, you can read over 300 online reviews here.
Remember, even though smart people procrastinate, they also fall behind their competition who don’t.
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