Ferris Consulting

Optimizing The Client Experience

Canadian Collaborative Lawyer Victoria Smith joined me on a tele-class "Optimizing the client experience - creating a deeper understanding of clients and their needs".

Victoria shared how to optimize the client experience through a deep understanding of the client, their conflict and their most important interests.  The tele-class was recorded and you can listen to it here

Boomp3.com

HOW TO ACCELERATE THE GROWTH OF YOUR COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE.

My tele-class "How To Accelerate The Growth Of Your Collaborative Practice" was recorded and you can listen to the recording by clicking the button Boomp3.com

If you are located in the UK please visit http://www.ferrisconsult.com/UKlive.iml to register for my upcoming workshop "How to Accelerate your Collaborative Practice".

Liz Ferris
Ferris Consulting

Recommended Book - The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell discusses the elusive but highly desired "buzz" by companies that want to promote their products and services.  He covers case studies of how ideas, products, messages and behaviors spread like a virus.

Read the book and work on finding your "tipping point" for your collaborative practice.  The Tipping Point is available on and off line.

Creating A Core Message That Helps You Attract Desirable Clients To Your Family Law And Collaborative Practice

One of the most important strategies to grow your practice is to master how you communicate the value of your services to potential clients. Creating a core message is the foundation for all marketing and communication activities and is essential to growing a family law or collaborative practice.

Why have a core message?

A core message sets you apart from other professionals and communicates the value of what you do and who your services are directed towards. It is how you attract desirable clients to your practice. Having a strong core message means you are able to clearly articulate what you do so anybody hearing or seeing your message will understand your value and how it relates to their specific goal or problem.

Your message should be clear, concise, and effectively communicate to prospective clients:

• How you differentiate your practice
• The value you provide clients

Differentiate your practice

By communicating what is unique about your practice, you convey what separates you from other professionals. You are also communicating your area of focus and will attract those clients who are interested in what you do best.

Communicate the value you provide clients

Your goal is to clearly communicate the value you provide clients. The first question prospective clients will ask themselves about your service is "What's in it for me?" (WIIFM). By answering the WIIFM question you will always be heard and attract clients who place a high emphasis on the value (benefits) of your service.

Creating your core message

The first step in defining your core message is to answer the following questions:

• Who are the clients I want to attract to my practice?
• How do I differentiate my practice?
• What is the value clients receive as a result of my expertise (what problem do I solve or solutions do I provide)?

By answering the above questions, you are translating your experiences, competencies and service description into a valued outcome for your client.

Description Based core message

Many attorneys, mental health professionals and financial advisors describe what they do based on a roster of their services or a list of their features and credentials. For example, the following message is a familiar description for family lawyers:

We are a group of knowledgeable, dedicated professionals engaged in the practice of family law.

The emphasis is on the competency of the attorney (knowledge) and on a description of the service (practice of family law) versus any beneficial outcome to the client. The client or referral source has to work hard to translate what this means to them. The client also has no idea if this firm is a good fit for their needs because the message does not differentiate this family law firm from any other family law group.

Value based core message

Compare this response to a family lawyer I consulted with to create a core message. Through the process of creating his core message, the family lawyer internalized who his best clients were, how he differentiated himself and the value of his service.

The result has been an increase in referrals from desirable clients. He is receiving web site referrals from clients who want what he does best (people who want to avoid court battles and prolonged conflict). A few weeks ago, he was at a networking event and conveyed what he did to a group of business professionals. One gentleman was listening and heard his unique way of helping divorcing clients and immediately asked for his card. The gentleman said, "I am in the process of getting a divorce and have talked to three lawyers who all said the same thing, you are the first lawyer who sounds like someone I want to work with." A few days later, the gentleman retained him as his lawyer.

The success this family lawyer experienced with his core message came from his ability to differentiate his practice and to convey the value of his services. He also had increased confidence about his message which allowed him to focus on the needs and goals of the potential client instead of trying to "sell" his services. When the family lawyer talked about what he did, it was not about him and his credentials, or about collaborative law and the process. He talked about the client, their problem, and his ability to help the them solve their problem.

Summary

Before you embark on your plan for growing your practice, take time to create a core message that speaks to the unique value of your practice and the clients you serve. As you convey your message through verbal or written communications, engage the client or referral source by speaking to the value you provide or the problems you solve. Do not try to convey an "all things to all people" message. The more targeted your message the more you will attract clients who fit the profile of your ideal target client. These are the clients who provide you with the greatest sense of satisfaction, send you referrals and are the most profitable because they place a high value on what you do best.

Does your firm or organization need assistance creating a message that differentiates your practice and communicates your value? Ferris Consulting specializes in helping firms to attract desirable clients through targeted, client focused communication strategies. Contact Ferris Consulting at www.ferrisconsult.com for more information.

Your feedback

Please give me your comments on this issue below this blog post. My goal is to share what is working so we can learn from each other. Please forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague who you think might benefit from the information.

Elizabeth Ferris helps law firms and businesses to attract profitable clients. She conducts workshops for Law firms, and collaborative practice groups on strategies for building a law and/or collaborative practice. She also facilitates retreats and workshops for Law firms, Financial groups and businesses on strategic planning, including creating a firm wide core message and branding campaign. Please contact Elizabeth at [email protected] for more information.

© 2008 Elizabeth Ferris, All rights reserved. You are free to use material in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.

The attribution should read: "By Elizabeth Ferris of Ferris Consulting. Please visit Elizabeth's web site at www.ferrisconsult.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for dispute resolution professionals."

There Is No Magic Bullet For Growing Your Practice

Growth only happens through commitment and discipline and it will require taking a step back from the day-to-day activities of your busy practice and answering the following three questions:

• Where are you today in relation to your practice goals?

The first step to grow your practice is answering the following questions:

1. Why do you want to grow your collaborative/mediation practice?
2. Why is this important to you?
3. What are your greatest strengths and opportunities for growing your practice?
4. What are your greatest fears about growing your practice?

Use the answers from number 1 and number 2 to clarify and internalize why it is important for you to transform your practice. These answers will help you to make the personal commitment necessary to transform your practice.

• Where do you want to be in the next 12-24-36 months?

Where do you want your practice to be in 12-24-36 months? Write these goals down and review them frequently. Use the goals to help you reach monthly or quarterly benchmarks.

• How you will you get there? (What is your plan?)

Identify your strengths and opportunities and integrate them into your plan. Consider your talent for writing, your community involvement, the time you spent on the Board of Directors or your talent for speaking at live events. 

At the same time, be aware of your greatest fears. If your greatest fear is lack of confidence in your new skills as a collaborative professional how will you address this in your action plan?

Create your plan, identify the three to four critical strategies for growing your practice, and then execute them consistently.  Track referrals, calls and new cases. Monitor your success and continually update your plan to accommodate what is working and not working. Embrace the journey and have fun along the way. Much of the excitement of making a transformation is the journey to get there.