Research shows that the first 90 seconds of your clients perception of you and your firm will have more to do with their overall client satisfaction than anything that occurs after that initial point of contact….ever!

This whole area of first impressions deserves more of our attention than it generally receives.  You see, the fact of the matter is that your law firm is not judged primarily on the merits of your work but on the emotional connection that occurs during that first point of contact.   

In most cases, you as the attorney are not the one making those all important first impressions.  Instead it is your receptionist and intake operators.  Therefore, it is important that they are carefully trained to create the kind of emotional connections that your clients crave?  This is a hot topic in law firms around the country and because of that, last week my staff and I did a team training teleseminar entitled “Are You A Customer Service Hero?” 

We posited that your clients are in need of heroes.  Not superstars, but knowledgeable, caring listeners that are available to help them navigate what can be one of the most difficult times in their life.  

Are your front line people customer service heroes?  One way to assess this is to call our office about conducting a series of ghost calls.  We will help you evaluate what is transpiring during new case calls and then, if desired, work with your team to ensure proper training and implementation.  You can reach us at 610-692-3217.  Or email us at cindy@cindyspeaker.com.

Few in the PI industry study the numbers like I do, but I can tell you that marketing your PI firm is not just a numbers game.  It’s a process…a process that requires planning, execution, measurement, systemization, feedback and continual improvement.  Are you committed to the process?   

If you’re a PI attorney looking to grow your practice to the next level, you have a number of options, all of which will yield differing degrees of success or lack thereof. 

The option that I see most commonly is to simply increase advertising.  Why is that the most common choice?  Because it’s the fastest and easiest.   

If attracting new case calls was the only goal of the marketing process, then advertising might be the best option.  But attracting and acquiring new calls are simply step one and two.  When we move to step three of the marketing plan, advertising falls short.  You see, step three is to grow relationships.  And that leads to step four which is to retain customers (clients) and generate a consistent stream of referrals. 

I believe that your numbers are the foundation for gauging the effectiveness of each element of your marketing program.  But marketing is not just a numbers game.  Marketing is all about building relationships and that is a process.