Selling To Lawyers, Law Firms...

From PR-Speak to English...

John Gruber  has a great commentary post on the recently-released FAQ regarding Abode's accquistion it its one rival in the graphic design industry, Macromedia. An excerpt:

 

Do you anticipate a reduction in force as a result of this   transaction?

   

When two successful growing companies join together, the result is a   combined organization that creates new and exciting opportunities.   The combination will lead to powerful new areas of innovation, new   products and solutions, and an acceleration of our respective growth   agendas. At the same time, there will be some duplication of employee   functions between the two companies, and upon the close of the   transaction, we anticipate some level of reduction in force. While we   anticipate the integration team will identify opportunities for cost   savings, the primary motivation for this acquisition is to continue   to expand and grow our businesses into new markets. 

[Translation]Yes.

Remember, while lawyers and other legal professionals are more likely than any other profession to read through your printed material or detailed website once you've convinced them to cvisit your website or read your brouchure... if you overload your materials with excessive PR-speak you'll turn them off, just like any other audience.

Never use dozens of words when only one will do.

Read the full post here.

Now With RSS Feed! Kung-Fu Grip Coming Soon.

Thanks to Conrad (aka DJ Medieval ), this weblog now has an RSS feed, via LiveJournal here .

What is RSS? RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication".   It is a way to easily distribute a list of headlines, update notices, and content to   a wide number of people.   It is used by computer programs that organize those headlines and notices for easy reading.

This means if you have an RSS reader software program, or a web browser with RSS support built in (like Firefox ), an XML reader, or a LiveJournal account, when you subscribe to this feed, you can now be automatically notified of when this site updates, without having to check back here constantly.

Thank you again, Conrad.

An Amazing Find On The Show Floor

I've been at the convention one day, and I've already made a great find. John R. Van Winkle's latest book, "Mediation: A Path Back For The Lost Lawyer" is a riveting book, and a look at the mediation and arbitration process from both sides of the table. His website is at www.vbradr.com. I'll have a full review of the book next week.

I'm also giving two presentations at booth 36 this weekend. Friday at 2PM, I'm covering the topic of Essentential Tips Foe Selling To Lawyers, and Saturday at Noon, I'll be speaking on What NOT To Do In A Legal Marketing Campaign.

Hope to see you there!

(PS to Conrad: THanks for setting up the RSS feed-- I'll put a link to that when I get back home)

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane...

...but in this case, I know when I'm coming back again.

I'm going to be attending the The American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution's Seventh Annual Conference on ADR and Mediation in Los Angeles from Thursday to Sunday, so blogging will be rather light until I return Monday.

This reminds me of an oldie-but-a-goodie article on exhibiting at legal trades shows called Carpe Exhibitum: A Trade Show Primer. While it was originally written in 2000 to address those looking to exhbit at New York LegalTech, I'd still say that most of it applies to anybody exhibiting at any legal trade show looking to sell to lawyers.

Here's an excerpt:

The most important thing, of course, is to go into the booth with a great attitude, a plan for success and a big smile. If you start off ready to have fun, you're going to have infinitely more success than your competitor – no matter the size of their booth or the quality of their product. People would rather spend their time talking to somebody interesting (meaning interested in them) than in watching a demo. There are some things to remember, though, outside of this basic premise.

You can read the full article here.

Welcome another addition to the Essential Links

A hearty hello to Ed Poll's LawBizBlog , chock full of all sorts of practice managment and marketing advice.

"But Ironhead Shawn, I'm just a legal service provider, this won't apply to me!" you say.

Wrong.

Knowing how your potential clients can sell can tell you why they will buy.

And having information that is both relevant and useful to your prospect will automatically elevate you.

Insight On Lawyers' Question Reluctance

Carolyn Elefant  has a very insightful article on Law.com taking a look at why so many lawyers, as a whole, are reluctant to ask questions.

An excerpt:

"Most lawyers would rather do anything -- including risk malpractice or shortchange a client -- than ask for help. Arrogance and time pressures explain some of this reluctance, but it's a deeper problem, rooted in legal training."

After reading this article, you'll gain a lot more insight into the psychology of the attorney. Use this knowledge to help them feel comfortable, and to help YOU to help them to buy.

Lawyers Just Want A Watch.

DJ Medieval wrote a rant so good, I'm reprinting the entire piece below.

Imagine getting a degree, majoring in art and minoring in engineering, from a fairly well-known college. Imagine then creating a fairly simple wristwatch, shiny yet simple, which can optionally speak the time to you if tapped just right, and which can recharge its batteries via a small solar panel in the face. The perfect, useful wristwatch.

Then, you decide that you can improve upon this design.

You add a meat thermometer, closed-circuit TV, an FM tuner, a 65 year battery, 802.11 wireless, a theft alarm, a sonic mosquito repellent, a storage compartment for moist towelettes, a golf ball cleaner, a high-definition flat panel screen, portable AIM client, toothbrush, 101-key qwerty keyboard, MP3 player, laser pointer, universal remote, a DVD changer, a fishfinder, a small cache of nuclear armaments and just for the hell of it a live armadillo.

The art major in you decides that what it needs to really shine is some spinners and post-cubist influence.

You give each of your friends a prototype, and become distraught when they ask tough questions like "Why does the battery come in its own suitcase and weigh 65 lbs?," "Why is my watch taking forever to do anything?," and hard-hitting questions like "Does this thing actually tell time?"

Now, imagine that instead of wristwatches, you design websites.

You are this person.

The web is filled with people just like you, and I hate you all.

This is an excellent lesson in web design, especially web design for legal services selling to lawyers. Keep it simple!  Keep it easy to read! Keep every part of your web site focused on the next step and make it easy to use.

It may not be as cool as a website that can do a zillion different things.

But you website needs to do just ONE thing.

SELL.

More On Selling...

While your target audience of lawyers, law firms, and legal service vendors do have thier own unique rules to keep in mind, that doesn't mean that general sales pyschology goes right out the window, either.

"It's about tailoring EVERYTHING to what the customer wants.    It's revolutionary.

The first 90 seconds of talking to a customer, or a person that you're pursuading...you should focus only on them. Never use the word "I". Instead of "I agree," it's "You're Right." And at that level, people will consciously and unconsciously...be come more comfortable."

You can read more here.

Legal Services and blogs: Perfect Together.

Peas and carrots.

Chocolate and peanut butter.

Legal Service Websites and blogs.

Andy Havens hit's the nail on the head when he says:  "Legal services are a perfect match for blogs -- the law is content-heavy. It's not like you're selling leg-warmers here, people. You've got lots to say, and your public wants to hear it."

Remember, every bit of your sales efforts should compliment each other. Not only should your business card look like you web site look like your display advertising, but they should all work together, with the goal of getting your prospective client's attention and MAKE THEM CONTACT you.

And when you can give something to your prospect that is a) FREE and b) USEFUL (and relevant information is both), you will have their attention. And blogs are a geat way to give that information to your prospects. Use that in concert with your other marketing efforts.

How To Get More Lawyers To Respond To Your Marketing?

Simple. Focus your message.

Once you've defined your target client, decided which of the important properties of TIME: Time, Information Money or Education you're going to to build your value message around, you have to focus on what your call to action is going to be!

For example, don't solicit for referrals and ask the prospect to call a toll free number for more information. Focus! Have your ad or sales letter or postcard or what-have-you have one specific, measurable objective. Each.

This is where consistency in the presentation of your message and consistency with the look of your message comes into play-- you generate familiarity with your look with a lawyer, while presenting value in each part of your sales message.