The Zen of Work: Converting Clients

Converting and Retaining Clients

With “Holly” on a mission to take control of her work situation – aiming to instil a feeling of Zen in her workspace – she has come to us seeking answers.

And we are happy to oblige Holly. As always.

After getting her law firm up and running – taking time to learn all about the “buzz words” out there – Holly has started to focus her attention inward. Looking more closely at how her law firm is actually operating. Or at least, how it should be operating.

And there is a lot to take in where the optimal operating of a law firm is concerned.

Take the management of clients as an example.

As we are all aware, clients are of the utmost importance. Therefore, there are a few items to discuss. From the onboarding process, to converting leads to paying clients and finally how to retain clients.

As a budding law practice, her client’s experience is of the utmost concern to Holly.

As it should be.

Fear not Holly, we got you!

Converting leads into paying clients

Converting leads into paying clients is difficult. If it were easy, every law firm would be thriving. But that’s (unfortunately) not the case.

It takes effort. It takes providing something extra.

It also takes having suitable, reliable legal software that can help ease the burden of effort by automating some of the more laborious tasks. Allowing for more time to nurture the relationship between attorney and client.

Essentially, it’s all about the impression made by Holly and the relationship that develops after that initial first impression. Some things to keep in mind –

• Communication here is crucial – while Holly is developing trust, communication is what gets a lead to engage. They will be more inclined to ask more questions, seek guidance and help from Holly if communication is consistent. Providing advice and staying in touch with a potential lead (obviously ensuring no one is taking advantage of her “good nature”) could be the difference between a lead staying with Holly or seeking legal assistance elsewhere. Holly should make it easy for the potential new client to stay in touch, not only for their own needs, but to potentially recommend Holly to friends who may ask for a recommendation. It could also be as easy as sending out a “newsletter” email. Sometimes the provision of free legal advice and opinion makes a firm seem that much more enticing. The frequency of the newsletter will depend entirely on the content. If Holly chooses to highlight information about resources, a monthly newsletter should suffice. If she chooses to keep the content focused on the firm, a quarterly email would be better. It’s the staying connected bit that makes all the difference.
• Holly should offer a lead magnet on her website – essentially this is something that Holly offers ‘for free” on her website. Something that will catch the attention of a would-be client. It’s hard to know what each client looks for in a particular law firm, it’s for this reason that being able to read an article on a niche legal topic on Holly’s website could be the clincher for a potential new client. It’s that addition of extra value that could turn a prospect into a sure thing. Perhaps the “catch-all” is the offer of a free initial consultation. Perhaps it’s the provision of a video introducing Holly and her practice. Or perhaps it’s a list of things to look for when choosing the ‘right lawyer” on her website. It’s “the thing” that will make Holly stand out.

Ultimately, it will be a mixed bag. But to seal the deal Holly (just like most law firms) will be required to provide “that little bit extra”.

Retaining her client base

AJS has written about retaining clients before. A topic that is crucial to all law firms, Holly included.

So, it is fair to say that we can all agree – growth of a business is key to ensuring its longevity. We also know that it’s more expensive to acquire new clients (due to marketing, follow ups, provision of value-add services) than it is to retain existing ones.

It’s a careful balance between growth vs retention which Holly will need to become accustomed to as her business develops.

But in so doing, it’s also crucial for Holly to understand that she is – essentially – a professional service provider and in that service provision lies a certain level of management (of both the client and the associated account).

Holly must learn to practice and implement a true client service and account management approach. Whilst also understanding that there will always be the struggle between non-billable client service work and crucial billable hours. It’s par for the course and essential when developing long lasting attorney-client relationships.

Developing long lasting attorney-client relationships involves grasping the in-house team’s business and legal goals, learning the challenges they are facing, taking note of their pain points around collaborating with external advisors as well as reporting internally on client’s activities and financial values, providing an easy snapshot to Holly as well as her overall team of how their clients are actually performing.

It all comes down to managing and nurturing relationships. And accounts.

Building relationships, being there for her clients, learning about what makes them tick as well as keeping up to speed with how they are performing – are all part and parcel of this approach.

Work Zen is within reach

By approaching your service provider, like AJS, you can easily achieve a state of Work Zen in no time. By using your software package from the onboarding processes to converting potential clients into paying clients and even when retaining clients. You CAN approach each day with a Zen-like peace knowing that everything is perfectly in its place. That everything is being managed and that all is fine.

Because you have the support and back-up to ensure that is the case.

There are a lot of attorneys who have the software packages in place but are just not sure how to fully use them, what everything does and how they can optimise their practice to ensure that it is performing with accuracy and reliability.

But, with the help of AJS, your practice (regardless of its size) can (and will) succeed.

We will continue going through tips, answering your FAQ’s, and providing you with information that will better equip the everyday user of legal tech, like you and like Holly, to achieve a state of Work Zen.

It’s all easy. If you know how… Just ask us.