In today’s episode, I will be discussing how to conduct the perfect initial consultation. And here’s a quick tip – it does not involve the word free (even if that is the graphic I chose for this post!) In addition, in this weeks quick tip I share a tool that I use religiously to automate much of my social media marketing. I’m really excited to share this podcast with you – in my opinion, it is one of the best podcasts that I have done yet.
I hope you enjoy it too and can learn from the information I’ve provided.
Right click here to download the mp3
Items Mentioned in the Podcast
- Influence, by Robert Cialdini
- MyCase
- www.jameshartlaw.com
- Monkey Business For Today’s Phone Weary Office Hear/Speak/See No Evil and Take Friday Off by Chris Mullins, The Phone Doctor
- Paypros – The credit card processor for MyCase
- Buffer
In this particular episode, I discuss how to conduct the perfect initial consultation – here’s a quick preview of what you will learn:
- What most lawyers are doing wrong.
- Why it is important to charge a flat fee for the initial consultation.
- Why you must lengthen the sales process to find the best clients.
- How an informative website will help you pre-sell yourself as the best lawyer for your client.
- How to collect email addresses ethically.
- What you need to include in your “book”.
- Why higher fees lead to better clients.
- The importance of phone scripts.
- How you (or better – your assistant) can tell on the phone whether a prospect is a good fit for your firm.
- Why you must automate your follow-up.
- What information you should collect prior to the meeting.
- The biggest time-wasters (i.e. “no-shows”) and how to avoid them.
- The structure of the initial meeting and topics you should cover.
- How to pick the best clients for your firm (and weed out the worst).
- The most important question you can ask your prospect.
- Why to follow-up with prospects that don’t hire you.
Action Items
- Follow Legal Marketing Made Easy on Twitter
- Post a review of the Legal Marketing Made Easy Podcast on iTunes and if you like what you heard today, then share with your friends on Twitter using this link.
Interesting that you lengthened the sales process. Did you measure the impact on your practice using any sort of metrics? It seems like getting better clients would lead to better numbers.
Hi Leland,
I personally have not measured the impact on my practice except to say that I typically get high quality prospects that have done their homework. Also, when I ask them which other lawyers they have contacted, the common answer is “none” leading me to believe that they are reading my information and it is pre-selling them on my practice.
I do know from the multitude of books, blogs, and podcasts I have consumed on this that permission based marketing is the way to go – and having a longer sales process brings in more loyal and higher quality clients.
Thanks for your comment.
Jim
Jim, who are you using to automate your e-mail follow up/drip marketing?