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.