Episode #134: Lawyers As Presenters

Lawyers are smart people, but sometimes do self-defeating things. They are discovering that unlike the “good old days”, there are many service alternatives today facing prospective clients. They know they have to work harder to get and keep clients, but somehow this irks their sense of self-importance. Being very good in the law should be enough, they think. “We are experts and that is all we need to do, as far as attracting clients goes”. Wrong.

In any competitive environment standing out amongst a crowded field of competitors is always a challenge. How can you differentiate yourself amongst rivals, especially when there are so many restrictions on how you can promote your legal services? Referrals are the lifeblood of lawyers. This however is a tremendously passive and time consuming approach, more based around luck than good planning. A satisfied client will tell others, but only if they are asked. They are unlikely to go around pro-actively promoting a law firm, even if they were deliriously happy with the service. No, they only react when one of their contacts asks for advice.

The other method is to publish and display brainpower and expertise. Are potential clients going to read it or even know it has been published? Again, a bit of a hit and miss approach. Giving seminars is another method of advertising expertise, which sits comfortably within the rules of promotion. Sadly, a tremendous wasted opportunity in most cases.

A seminar is a fantastic opportunity to sell the expertise of the firm and the lawyers, but it is not being maximized because lawyers misunderstand what they are doing. They believe they are there to provide high quality information to the prospective clients. Therefore they believe the quality of the information is the key and that is where they focus.

Having awesome insights, valid experiences, deep knowledge are not enough if the way the information is imparted is substandard. Clients will never have the level of in depth knowledge of their legal experts but they can discriminate between who they can understand and relate to and those they can’t.

Clients want people they can understand, who they can communicate with and who they feel they can trust. Here is how the clients sub consciously think about it: “A lawyer on my wave length gets the business over the lawyer who isn’t”. Having great expertise and communicating that expertise are both important skill sets. Smart lawyers who realise getting the best skills to learn how to impart the knowledge, will win the business over those who don’t get it.

Lawyers, yes, you do need excellent presentation skills. You may not think so yet, but your clients will vote with their feet and beat a path to your more skilled competitor’s door. The lesson is simple - we buy you. So get properly trained and stop losing business to others. Especially, when there is absolutely no need to have that happen.