Show Notes:

Sudden realizations. “Within a couple of weeks of starting at a personal injury law firm, I realized it was a business. I realized that I may have been the only one other than the named partner in the firm who knew that. Everyone else was just sort of clocking in, clocking out, servicing, working a lot of hours — and don’t get me wrong — but they were being lawyers and they weren’t thinking about the business side of things. That’s when a light bulb just went off in my head, and all of a sudden ideas and opportunities and opinions began to form. And here I am today on the other side of things.”

Rain, sleet, snow, or hail. “I think that on average, law firms are losing up to 10 percent — sometimes more than 10 percent — of their leads because they don’t pick up the phones in a timely manner. I’m talking about all hours of the day, whether it’s 9:00 to 5:00, whether it’s 11:00 at night, whether it’s 8:00 on a Sunday morning. Right now, law firms are still trying to figure out how they can make that happen.”

Turn clients into advocates. “I understand how valuable a signed client is, but how valuable is an advocate? How valuable is a lead that you couldn’t help, but eho becomes an advocate of yours? I don’t know about you, but I get group texts at least once a week from somebody who needs a recommendation for X, Y, or Z, and here we are recommending somebody we’ve used in the past. I’ve recommended painters that I don’t even remember using, but they were in my phone and I’m trying to be nice and help my neighbors or my friends. The same thing goes for your lawyer. If you leave them off with a strong impression, whether you can help them or not, you might be creating an advocate who becomes a marketer for you.”

Sell yourself. “I had an aversion to the term ‘sales’ early on and for quite some time. The conclusion I came to there is that the industry has become saturated. With saturation comes deep competition. Deep competition requires great sales skills. You need to be able to sell your services effectively, even to those folks that reach out to you.”

All night long. “When you’re creating a law firm, you must be open 24/7. When someone goes to your website, it should never say that your office is closed. It should never say Monday through Friday 9:00 to 5:00. It needs to be open 24/7.”

Pick up on the first ring. “The first step to success is an immediate response time. If you cannot be fast in your response time, you’re starting behind the 8-ball. You’re starting a couple steps back. Ask yourself how long you’re willing to wait on their phone, right? Forget about quality. Forget about experience. Forget about how good you are as a lawyer. If someone is not picking up your call immediately, you start off on the wrong foot.”

Don’t be afraid to bring out the big guns. “I think law firms need to begin to use lawyers when an intake specialist is speaking with a claimant who is hesitant and is ready to hang up that phone and it’s a case that we want. There should be an attorney or team of attorneys that are available to get on the phone, introduce themselves, communicate the benefits, and effectively get them to move forward with the law firm. If we’re not doing that, then we’re not doing everything in our power to maximize our return on our marketing investment.”

What does being a game changer mean to you? “Being a game changer means being proactive and seeking inefficiencies — always looking for solutions before the issues become problems. I think if you’re going to be reactive in a business or whatever you’re doing, you’re likely going to be steps behind the leader, and to be a game changer, to be a leader, you have to be proactive in looking for the inefficiencies and the potential in something. To me, that’s what separates the great from the good.”

RESOURCES & REFERENCES
Intake Conversion Experts
Parker Waichman, LLP