| Laser Marketing (Real Estate) As an example, I developed a powerful pinpoint targeted program for a real estate attorney. Historically, this industry relied upon building relationships with Realtors in order to get their referrals to the home seller. By changing this focus to marketing directly to the home seller, the one paying the fee, we were able to build his practice in three months to the same size his average competitor took 10 years to achieve. The key was getting the names of the households that listed their homes for sale each week. He was then guaranteed to be the first to reach them and methodically built our relationship and value story over several mailings. Package Synergistic Products/Services Offer “Up to X hours or Visits per Year” for a discounted price. Other Ideas (Trust Attorney) 1. Form relationships with your local bank managers. The bank may receive trustee's commissions. Ask the manager to send you the clients who are in need of a living trust. 2. Connect with associates in major financial institutions and ask to speak at one of their meetings (even if it is an executive briefing to the directors) about the benefit of trusts. Use your opportunity to primarily educate, not to sell. Expect to receive referrals from your presentation, if it is a good one. (Directors of companies are normally receptive to an educational experience, while they are normally closed to a salesman. Therefore, focus on the education and make it the best one possible.) While you are there, asked to be placed on the attorney referral list for their institution. General 1. Mine your database to up-sell or cross-sell. People are at various stages in their lives and their needs are ever-changing. Go to your database on a regular basis and see what other services that people might need that you could offer them. Look at offering these services yourself, or joint venturing with another firm that does, making sure you tie up the contract so you also benefit. Look at tax preparation, planning, and counselling, wills, estate planning, powers of attorney, providing solutions for contractual problems. 2. Consider that hiring an attorney is a very personal thing and one in which there needs to be some "good feeling" and trust between the attorney and the client. For larger clients, offer to meet with them with that understanding as a "sales point". That is, "Hiring an attorney is a personal thing. Not only must you assess the attorney's competency, but you will also want to know if the attorney is compatible with you over an extended period of time. The only way to really do that is to "roll up our sleeves" and work together. Only then can you decide if you have hired the right attorney." Then offer two to four hour working sessions. You might gain so much momentum with a client that they will want to retain you for the long term. 3. Make it easy for potential clients to contact you. People are often hesitant to speak to an attorney, or they often find that the attorney is "in court", "with a client", or "on the phone". Have people call to a pre-recorded message where you state your service, your fees, and your guarantee of satisfaction. Give them the opportunity to leave a message with you, then return their call as soon as possible. 4. Follow up on your phone calls. You will bond with people and give them a chance to see your level of expertise. Your sales will increase. 5. Offer a guarantee. Trust is so important in the client/attorney relationship. If you offer a clear and distinctive guarantee, you will set yourself apart from your competitors. People want to do business with someone who carries the risk. It's a fact of business. 6. Provide testimonials. This increases trust and will increase your sales. On the telephone, ask a satisfied client why they liked your service. Write down what they say. Send it to them in an email and ask their permission to use it. Keep a copy of their letter for proof. 7. Ask for referrals. On your follow up calls, mention that you accept referrals and that you would appreciate any referrals that they might be able to provide. Track your results. Real Estate Disclosure Forms 1. Consider replacing the official disclosure document and "disclosing" the problems in a story about how the family (that is selling) has enjoyed the home. Before each negative, state the benefit of that room. Allow your prospects to "place themselves in the home" and see the beauty of it. Remember that a woman is likely making the final decision on the home, so appeal to her sense of story. Educational-based Marketing It's important that you establish yourself as the market educator. At the same time, you can re-set the buying criteria (a la Chet Holmes) by putting out educational material or putting on mini-seminars with headlines such as "The 5 Most Dangerous Steps When Hiring a Lawyer Today" or "12 Questions to Ask to Determine if a Lawyer is Competent to Handle Your Specific Situation". Offer to speak at various places, companies, radio talk shows, organizations for free. If you give a lot with no strings attached, then you will pick up clients quickly because you raise Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) in the minds of the public, and you establish yourself as the expert. When you speak, offer to send people the transcript of your notes if they'll leave you their business cards. You'll build a database very quickly that you can continually send educational pieces to. If you do estate planning, you can offer free Wills to any participant of your Estate Planning Seminar. Because the Estate Planning agreement is much more superior to a Will, then many people will not take the Will, but will pay for the Estate Planning. You can also offer a free report via a display ad which sends people to an 800#. Test different headlines until you find one that brings you more in fees than the ad costs. Para-Legal Compelling Incentive Experiment with various headlines in your advertising. The industry standard might be "Guaranteed Results", but you might find more success with "No Win - No Pay". It's seems like a small change, but it could produce profound results. Test it to see the difference it makes. |