Why Relationships, not Advertising,

Will Determine Your Firm's Fate

“Sometimes people continue to do things that don’t bring results, all the while believing strongly that what they are doing is effective.

There are only two reasons why people would continue to behave in an unsuccessful way.”

“Either they are crazy, or there is something in their environment that’s rewarding and encouraging the use of the ineffective behavior.” – Neil Rackham, SPIN Selling

Graph courtesy of hitwise.com

Image courtesy of social-cache.com

“The major advances in

civilization are processes that all

but wreck the societies in which

they occur.”

-- A.N. Whitehead

1. Recommendations from friends

2. Other peoples’ opinions online

3. Company website

4. Editorial content (news articles)

5. Brand sponsorships

Most trusted marketing:

“The biggest cause of serious error in this business is a failure

of communication.”

Communication: The next innovation

for law firms

Communication: What Americans want

from law firms

Area % Rating

Educate the public about how to handle common legal problems 81% 7.8

Do a better job of communicating with their clients 80% 7.8

Do a better job of policing and regulating themselves 78% 7.7

Do a better job of explaining their fees to their clients 69% 7.3

Do more public service and pro-bono work 63% 6.8

Lower their fees 57% 6.8

Be more selective about the cases they take 46% 5.9

Change the way they advertise 45% 5.8

Stop advertising 27% 4.3

Source: LJS survey, 2002. Survey participants were asked to rate each area on a 1-9 point scale where 9 meant “very important” and

1 meant “not so important.”

Build a community of referrers

1. Focus on education, not advertising.

2. Communicate with your community regularly.

3. Put someone in charge as community

facilitator.

4. Find ways to have your community meet in

person.

5. Participating with your community is

marketing.

Knowing who’s referring you and track it.

Phone calls.

Emails.

Newsletters.

Events.

Invitations on Facebook.

Build a community through:

Client experience:How to define and improve it

Know your moments of truth:

• The way a client first learns of your firm

• The first interaction with a firm representative

• The first interaction with an attorney

• The acceptance or declination call

• The response to various questions or

pressing issues

Moments of truth mapFirst

interaction

Evangelistic

Efficient

Average

Functional

Second

interaction

Could be better

Disappointing

Third

interaction

Fourth

interaction

Fifth

interaction

Good word of mouth

No word of mouth

Angering

Poor word of mouth

Client experience:Create standards of service

SafetyThe safety of guests is the

primary concern

CourtesyEvery guest treated as if they

were a top VIP

ShowDisney is about a seamless

performance

EfficiencyFocus on improving all

aspects of service

Client experience:Survey clients to understand

their experience

Ask 2 questions:

Question: How likely are you to

recommend us to friends, family or

colleagues?

Answer: (1-10 scale)

Ask 2 questions:

Question: Can you tell us why?

Answer: (Fill in the blank)

The ROI PlaybookClient Experience Management For Law

Firms

Define Relationship Types

Clients

Staff

Partners

Professional Peers

Media

Local Community

Internal External

A Comprehensive Approach to Marketing Through Relationships

• Define Relationship Types

What is Radius of Influence?

• Identify Appropriate Channels

Identify Appropriate Channels

A Comprehensive Approach to Marketing Through Relationships

• Define Relationship Types

What is Radius of Influence?

• Identify Appropriate Channels

• Develop Engagement Strategies

• Create Metrics

Courtesy of

insanityoverrated.files.wordpress.com

Courtesy of

baconhaikus.wordpress.com

radiusofinfluence.com

Strategy First, Tools Second