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     Integrity Marketing Solutions
      7111 W. 151st St., Ste 216
      Overland Park, KS  66223

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The Quill & Column

Law Firm Marketing & Practice Development 

Using Financial Tracking to Build Your Referral Base

Leave accounting to the accountants ... right? Attorneys are too busy making money to get involved with the mundane details of the firm's accounting. Your job is to hit the revenue goal, and let the accountants sort out the rest ... right?

Wrong.

Your accountant may do a great job of tracking, filing and paying your various taxes -- corporate, personal, payroll, and etc. They may even show you a balance sheet or a Profit & Loss statement each quarter. But, unless you get involved in establishing a FINANCIAL TRACKING system, and reviewing its reports regularly, you are missing out on vital information that could revolutionize your practice development. 

A Few Tracking Essentials

Accounting for practice development purposes should provide a number of essential measurements -- or "metrics" to be technical. These "metrics" guide us in the marketing and practice development process. For instance, to focus our efforts on building referrals, we need to know some historical numbers, including:

• Most frequent referral sources

• Percentage of referrals converted to clients

• Fees associated with each referral source

A Brief Case Study

Gathering the Information
One client recently went through the painstaking process of re-creating historical data on his clients for the past several years. Among other things, he identified the referral source for each of his clients and prospects, and the associated fees. [Please note that collecting this data daily is MUCH easier than re-creating it historically!]

What He Saw
After collecting and reviewing the data, the client saw some interesting trends in his practice -- many of them not intuitively apparent.

• He did not have as many client referrals as he thought he did, or thought he should have.

• While his yellow pages advertising generated a significant number of phone calls, he only RARELY converted those prospects into paying clients even if they came in for an initial consultation.

• His best referral sources were CPA's and CFP's. He had few productive relationships with either stock brokers or insurance professionals.

• A few of his referral sources were true "stand-outs," having been the source of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in business over the past few years.

• Those "stand-outs" were almost exclusively CPA's.

What He Learned
Based on this new data, the client learned:

• Cultivating client referrals could bring in new revenue.

• He could cut his yellow pages advertising budget and use those marketing dollars more effectively elsewhere.

• Some of his referral sources were truly worthy of "kid glove" treatment. For instance, he recited a story of a "problem client," who was annoying over small matters. Had he realized this client was referred to him by his "golden goose" referral source, he would have been less annoyed, more patient, and more willing to bend to resolve what was truly a minor annoyance in order to preserve the referral relationship.

What We Asked Next
After reviewing the data, we asked the client how he had met his best referral sources. He replied that he had almost always met them through "introductions," or professional networking activities -- seldom through overt marketing activities.

Letting the Data Guide Decisions
Not only does he "hit it off" with CPA's, but he has found that, when satisfied with the work he does for their clients, they are more than happy to make those all-important "introductions" that lead to new referrals.

Our practice development plan for this client includes a number of nuances that were purely guided by the data, such as:

• Implement a client relations program to generate referrals;

• Accept an invitation to teach estate planning to students aspiring to earn their CFP designation;

• Provide CPE-approved programs for CPA's;

• Accept invitations to speak at programs for CPA's; and

• Nurture current referral sources with drip marketing and personal networking

Information is Power -- Get It!

You need this kind of information -- you need it frequently, systematically, automatically, and accurately. Anyone who tries to sell you a "marketing system" without reviewing this type of information is doing you a great disservice -- if you are trying to implement a marketing system without reviewing this type of information, you are doing yourself a great disservice! 

How can you get this information, review it regularly, and make informed practice development decisions? If you are not already doing this, consider one of our IMS Academy courses.

IMS Academy
The IMS Academy provides a comprehensive marketing and practice development curricula for attorneys and law firms. Educational opportunities include:

• conferences, 

• coaching and consulting, 

• on-site workshops and retreats, and 

• guidance in the strategic planning process. 

Our two most popular options are the Fundamentals of Marketing course for solo practitioners, small firms, and/or marketing directors at larger firms; and the Strategic Planning Process for small to mid-size firms. The Strategic Planning Process includes a minimum of three on-site visits, and an optional marketing retreat for partners, associates and staff. 

Click here to learn about the IMS Academy

Get Better Results from Your Marketing

One of the first steps toward improving your ROI on marketing investments is to utilize an Integrated Marketing approach. By Integrated Marketing, we mean:

Multiple Marketing Strategies or Tactics Working To Achieve Clearly Defined Objectives.

Sounds simple, but there are a few key elements in the definition that often are missing in practical application. 

It's important to remember that there are several "legs" to a marketing "chair." Focusing all of your efforts on only one tactic or strategy may reap results ... but they often will be disappointing. Integrated Marketing, by definition, requires a multi-faceted approach.

Working in Tandem
This is where many plans break down. Just because you are utilizing several strategies (newsletters, post cards, public relations, website, etc.) does not mean that they are working in tandem. Oftentimes we find that attorneys will choose an approach based on price alone, or convenience ... without ensuring that this new tactic or strategy is working in tandem with other marketing strategies.

Toward an Objective
If you don't define your objectives, and create a strategic plan, then it will be impossible to judge whether your strategies and tactics are working in tandem toward an objective. Creating a strategic plan, selecting appropriate strategies and tactics, and defining how each will work with the other to achieve an objective is a fundamental first step toward effective marketing.

Beyond the Fundamentals
While an Integrated Marketing approach is fundamental, there is a way for you to go beyond the fundamentals of integration and reap even more benefit from your marketing investment: with Synergistic Marketing.

Synergistic Marketing
Synergy: The Phenomenon Through Which Energy Produced 
By the Whole Is Greater Than That Expected From the Sum of the Parts.

The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts.
How do we achieve synergy in our marketing?
By taking advantage of certain known facts borne out by market research, and applying them strategically to our marketing programs. For instance:

• Like (similar) mailings build momentum.

• Un-like (dis-similar) mailings do not build momentum.

• Increased familiarity leads to increased response.

• We can create "affinity" through strategic marketing.

• "Brand" awareness can decrease price sensitivity.

• Market awareness can lead to market dominance.

A Synergistic Marketing Approach
By applying these concepts to our marketing package, we can go beyond the fundamentals of integrated marketing and achieve synergy. We can accomplish this for your firm with a targeted approach:

• IMS Academy & Consulting Services:  We can work with you to develop a strategic marketing plan, helping to ensure that we utilize multiple marketing strategies and tactics in tandem to achieve clearly defined objectives.

• Newsletters: Newsletters frequently serve as the "core" around which to develop a synergistic, relationship marketing program. We achieve consistency and frequency in the nature and delivery of our message.

• Internet/Website Marketing: An integrated website program repeats and reinforces your newsletter marketing message with an interactive website supported by direct mail and email marketing.

• Power Point Presentations: Each time you make a public presentation, you can reinforce your marketing message with presentation slides and materials that mirror the look and feel of your newsletter, and related marketing materials.

• Targeted Public Relations: By adding targeted public relations to your consulting services, you can reach into the public media with a powerful, and familiar message.

The Power of Synergy
Clearly, any of these strategies and tactics should have a positive impact on your practice development. But when properly designed and implemented, the power of synergy becomes evident, and can quickly impact the growth of your practice in a number of ways ... to include protection of your fee structure, expansion of your referral base, increase in client referrals, and a stronger presence in the market.

Fundamentals of Law Firm Website Design

It is true -- your law firm website CAN help bring in more business ... IF you understand how it works, design it to meet your goals, and use it properly.

Know What You Want

BEFORE you begin designing your website, decide EXACTLY what you want to accomplish. Set goals, but make them realistic --

• DON'T expect your website to generate daily (or weekly) phone calls from qualified prospects who just happened across your firm while surfing the 'net.

     REALISTIC goals for your website include:

• Establishing and/or enhancing your firm's professional image

• Attracting new referral sources

• Communicating with target audiences, including the media

• Boosting your "closing ratio" 

• Compressing your sales cycle

• Boosting your conversion ratio of referrals-to-appointments scheduled

• Increasing client referrals

Above All: Do No Harm

Be aware when choosing design assistance for your website. Unfortunately, most web designers know very little (if anything) about law firm marketing, and even less (if that's possible) about marketing a trusts and estates firm. While this is not rocket science, neither is it child's play. You want a website that works ... at the very least it shouldn't get you into trouble! YOU are responsible for your advertising -- and ensuring that it complies with your state's Code of Professional Conduct. Nonetheless, it does help if your designer is aware of the many nuances of your ethics constraints.
    

 A few general tips regarding ethics:

• Don't say you "specialize" unless your state has a specialty certification and you have earned it;

• Quantify your descriptions -- e.g., you are not a "regional" firm, you have offices in X, Y, & Z states; you are not "experienced," you have X number of years of experience.

• Don't imply that you are better than your colleagues -- simply state the (quantifiable, verifiable) facts of your experience and your firm's capabilities. It is up to the reader to decide if you are better than your colleagues. 

• Do not imply that your firm is bigger than it is -- if you are a solo practitioner, be careful how you use the term "we." Yes, there may be more than one person working at your firm, and in that instance the term "we" is appropriate. But, if you are the only attorney, carefully avoid using the term "we" when it may imply multiple attorneys.

• Keep hard copies of your home page. At a minimum, most states will require hard copies of your home page. Check your state's rules to find out how long you should keep them, and whether you must have hard copy of the entire site, or just the home page.

How important is all this? Well, if your website is successful (and we hope it will be), it will be seen by a lot of people. Some people will talk. Sooner or later one of your "colleagues" will take a look at it. If they spot an ethics violation, they may contact your disciplinary board. If the disciplinary board agrees, they may cite you. Oftentimes, this citation will be published in your bar association journal. The notice will state simply that you have been censured for an ethics violation. It won't say that your website had a few minor misplaced adjectives. It looks like you just misappropriated funds from your IOLTA trust, or abandoned a client, or -- some other imaginable horror.

Design for Success: CONTENT Rules

Research shows that rich content, updated regularly, is the key to making your website pay. Call us toll-free at 1-877-352-2021 for a price quote on your web marketing project.

Website Design & Hosting

IMS offers a variety of website design and hosting options. In addition to custom format and design solutions, we also offer cost-effective, pre-formatted templates. Use our editorial content, add your own supplemental information, or provide all of the content for a one-of-a-kind solution. Set-up for a personalized template website is only $395. To discuss your project and pricing, call us toll-free at 1-877-352-2021.

Review samples online.