Sincere Or Desperate?

I know it is hard to believe, but I have made mistakes over my long career in law concerning how to obtain clients. But, I have also learned a few lessons even if those lessons came the hard way.

One I would like to share with you is that, from the perception of the potential client, there is a big difference between sincere and desperate.

Years ago when my law firm was advertising aggressively for clients, I became concerned about people who would not show up for appointments, would not retain the firm when they showed up, or did not get back to us quickly. So, I devised a system to try and get on top of the situation. Through a series of phone calls, voicemail messages and letters, my firm would descend on these potential clients with pleas and offers and advice to encourage them get their butts in my office, get retained, and get on with the process.

You see, part of the problem with high volume law firms is that they depend on numbers to justify the tons of money spent on advertising. That was true for my firm as well. It was one thing if the advertising was not working and calls were not coming into the switchboard, but it was quite another thing if we had contact and we were not scoring.

But, what I found out with this process is that our retain rate actually went down over time despite the fact we were seeing more people.

How confounding is that?

The difference between advertisement-based clients and referral clients is that they tend to use initial interviews or consults to obtain information to use to make up their minds, and they are appreciative of this fact. That does not mean, however, that they intend to immediately retain your services. It also does not mean that somewhere down the road that they will not retain your services, provided that they are comfortable with you. I learned that this is something with which you have to live.

What we fail to recognize sometimes is that law consumers are smart, and they can tell the difference between sincerity and desperation. Nobody wants to be the client of a lawyer that is desperate.

When the client would call the information lines to get information, or call to make a free appointment, or visit the office for a personal review of the law to their situation, the uncertainty was their's.  However, they appreciated the free information and believed that the lawyers and law firm were sincere in their quest to help. It endured them to the firm, should they decide to obtain such services - later.

But, the relentless pestering to get on top of these decision delays simply came across as being desperate. Clients want to be clients because they need your services, and not necessarily because you have to have them (or their money). Nobody likes to be pestered. Ask yourself, who likes someone trying to sell them? The answer is nobody.

Therefore, when we started pressuring potential clients, who might or might not have retained us in the future, we convinced them not to retain us in the future if they felt the need for our services. This is simply counterproductive.

A law firm can focus on generosity by sharing knowledge and expertise willingly, and that is good. It builds goodwill. Forcing it down the potential client's throat is not good and it destroys the sincerity and generosity established.

At some point a lawyers needs to focus on building relationships, making themselves available, and letting the process take care of itself in time. I guess that is called faith and a lot of us have a hard time accepting this.

Comments

[James Chan]

Dear Chuck:

What you said in "Sincere or Desperate?" applies not just to lawyers but all business service providers. Your message is elemental and timeless but it takes courage and experience to realize that we cannot make a plant grow by pulling on it. I recently submitted a proposal to a potential client who can use my services but who cannot make up his mind on the venture. He tried, and members of his management team also tried, to make me do work by the hour and bill by the minute. For what I proposed to do, it would be like paying for health insurance by the hour, Fire Department by the fire, and the Army by the battle. I said no.