Selling To Lawyers, Law Firms...

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.

Excellent Advice For Crafting A Great E-Mail or E-Newsletter...

...Be consistent with your fonts.
Remember that design doesn't just mean graphics. It also applies to your campaign's text and how everything looks (and works) together. Use fonts and formats that help reinforce the key points and make your email more readable. Also remember that Emma's editor offers a menu of common Web fonts that might seem a bit limited, but it's limited by design - these are the fonts most people can see, and by using them you're ensuring that the way your campaign looks to you in preview is the way it will look to them when it pops up in their inbox.

Now combine that with the advice in 10 Things To Remember When Selling To Lawyers, and you'll have an unstoppable e-mail for your prospects.

Two No-Cost Ways To Sell To Lawyers

1. When you're creating marketing materials, make sure it includes information about your customers or your clients, and not just information about YOU. If your brochure or flier or whatever is full of "rah-rah" stuff only about YOU, it probably won't get read. Send your prospects information about thow they profit, produce or succeed, and they will eat it up with a spoon.

2. Writesmall articles in journals, newspapers, e-zines, and newsletters that your prospects read. Two good places are association newletters and your city's local legal or business journals.When your name appears where your prospects are reading, it's a great value statemtn for them-- they get information they can use-- and for YOU-- you are now seem as an authority.