Law firms have always depended upon their reputation, leveraging their good name to win new clients and keep existing ones. Those relationships take a lifetime to build, but are dying out in favor of corporate approaches evaluating outside counsel just like they evaluate another vendor. They research their options and compare prospective firms before they ever get on the phone.
It’s difficult to say precisely how many clients law firms lose this way, but it is clear that law firms need to adapt to such trends.
Tracking Relationships
Most law firms still run business development based on social ties and relationships. That works out fine until a partner who was building one of those relationships leaves the firm with their memory. Without that record, it’s easy to lose track of client details, both current and prospective.
There’s software available, such as Clio Grow or Lawmatics, which creates a single record that answers three questions:
- Who was contacted?
- What was discussed?
- When should the firm follow up?
This is true across marketing generally, but it’s especially so for law firms, because prospective clients can go quiet for a year and then call frantically first thing Monday morning when they actually get sued.
Respond Before the Moment Passes
A contact form that’s filled out on a Friday afternoon likely sits untended and unanswered in a shared inbox until Monday. The same lag can happen with social DMs, so a unified social media inbox gives firms one place to spot and route incoming questions before interest drops. That delay was once expected, but in a world of automated intake systems, you’re losing clients to firms that offer:
- An instant automatic reply
- A scheduling link
- Routing straight to the appropriate attorney rather than a general inbox
Someone who’s calling a lawyer is usually calling several at once. They’re likely in a difficult legal situation and want to speak to an expert who can alleviate their concerns. If one expert happens to respond faster than your office, a lot of people will simply base their decision on availability.
Reaching Prospective Clients Directly
Some clients are hard to find and need to be actively searched for rather than waited for. For some firms with certain corporate, employment, or regulatory practices, the person who would actually hire outside counsel is often identifiable by role. B2B email list providers, such as ZoomInfo or Apollo, sell contact databases filtered on exactly those criteria. A list works best when it’s kept short and specific. A short list of names of actual people is a lot better than a larger list of guesses.
Lawyers also face restrictions most industries don’t, since ABA Model Rule 7.3 governs solicitation of prospective clients, and CAN-SPAM or GDPR adds another layer depending on who’s on the list. Most firms clear a campaign with their ethics counsel first. It also tends to work better once the digital marketing fundamentals are already in place, since a targeted email is more effective when the website is running to back it up.
What This Means for Firms
Reputation still gets a law firm most of its clients, but firms can no longer expect to get by on reputation alone. Firms need clear records enabling speedy replies and a deliberate way of reaching prospective clients directly, instead of waiting for them to call.
There’s no replacement for building up a good name, but firms that fail to augment reputation with the latest digital marketing tools will struggle to maintain client lists. If you’re interested in learning more about similar topics, see our other articles for more.
