I had the chance last year in Texas to speak with Tracie Burns-- a brilliant
legal marketing expert who was a practicing attorney for 15 years. She
was kind enough to share with me "10 Things To Remember When Selling To
Lawyers and Law Firms". Here it is:
The
rules for selling to the general public are often simple: Hire Michael
Jordan or Tiger Woods, add an "i" or an "e" to your company name, or
make your product out of transparent plastic. If you are trying to
appeal to America's million-plus lawyers, however, these rules will not
apply.
Lawyers are an entirely different breed of consumer.
They have their own method of processing print and online information.
They have distinctive buying habits and unique concerns. If your
message doesn't immediately hit them where they live, they won't give
you a second glance.
But
there are some things that you can do to ensure that your message not
only gets to your legal target market, but that it is also heard and
heeded by the lawyers you want as your clients.
1. Pick your target. Contrary
to popular belief, all attorneys are not alike. Large law firm partners
are going to make different buying choices through different marketing
avenues than Intellectual Property attorneys in boutique firms.
In-house counsel will have different interests than solo practitioners.
Choose which category of attorney would be the most likely
purchaser/user of your product or service and aim your pitch to that
category. Just as in any other marketing campaign, you have to be able
to envision your buyer or you'll never make a sale.
2. Attorneys buy TIME. There are really only four major ways to catch an attorney's attention with your marketing campaign. You've got to be selling Time, Information, Money, or Education in order to appear on their radar screen.
- Time
– attorneys bill by the hour, and anything you can do to save them time
will make them more productive and, thus, more successful.
- Information
– more than almost any other profession, attorneys HATE looking stupid.
If you can provide them with accurate information that they want or
need to use, then they have a reason for working with you.
- Money – saving money and making money are the goals for almost every law firm.
- Education – lawyers need Continuing Legal Education to maintain their licenses.
Nothing else you can promise them, except maybe
luxury or the notice of their peers, is going to keep an attorney's
attention. You can talk "cost-effectiveness," "customer satisfaction,"
the "meaning" or "history" of the profession, "user-friendliness" or
anything else until you're blue in the face. For this market, your
headline has to promise to save them time, make or save them money, or
save them from looking bad or they'll never read on. As for CLE, even
if you don't provide education to attorneys, you can still take
advantage of their need for it. See number 9 for some additional ideas.
3. When it comes to purchasing decisions, lawyers are followers. In addition to being more skeptical than "normal" consumers, lawyers have been trained in the concept of precedent.
If something has been done before, then it's the right thing to do. The
psychology of the attorney buying decision is simple: If someone who
looks like me or who has a firm that is structured like mine has been
successful with something, then it's something I should look at, too.
Because of this mindset, testimonials and case studies are some of the
most valuable sales tools in this vertical market. But it's also why
you need to avoid anything being "new" or "cutting edge," and you never
try to get a law firm to be "the first on their block" to do anything.
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat. In
the legal marketplace, sameness sells. Because of the attorney comfort
level (some might say "obsession") with precedent, this market wants
every promotion and marketing piece you do to look alike, and they want
to see the same ad in the same color with the same message over and
over. Sameness means stability, longevity, and proven effectiveness.
Integrated marketing helps them remember that they have heard of you or
seen your message before.
In the legal marketplace, it takes at least nine impressions to make an impression,
so attorneys have to see your message at least nine times just to
remember that they have seen your name. In reality, it probably takes
another nine times to actually remember your message! Changing
marketing concepts on a regular basis means you're "inconsistent," or
that your product doesn't really work yet, or that you're "new." It's
not like you're selling beer on TV. Running the same ad to the legal
marketplace for a year is not unreasonable. You're going to get tired
of looking at it long before your target buyers even register that
they've seen this ad before.
Make each impression count by keeping your message consistent and integrated.
If you use a mix of media – and you should! – and make sure every
business card has the same look and feel as every ad as every Web page
as every direct mail piece as every trade show booth. Pick a color
scheme and use those colors only. Use a single set of typefaces. Make
sure your tagline is everywhere. You'll create the comfort level you're
looking for a whole lot faster if you give these people what they want.
5. Make ‘em laugh. Contrary
to public opinion, lawyers do have a sense of humor. Don't be afraid to
appeal to it. If you can get them to laugh, you've stopped them long
enough to make them listen to your message – and potentially reduced
the number of times it will take for them to remember who you are.
...want the other five? The whole article is free. Just send me an email at shawnstruck@gmail.com with the subject "10 Things".
What
have you learned, as a marketer, or business owner, is the best way to
target this market? Leave a message in the comments thread here.
