Improving Communication Skills With Clients

Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Bay Area Program

San Francisco, May 29, 2002

COPYRIGHT 2002 THE COSMIDES GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The face-to-face meeting is the most effective way to turn good prospect into clients, and good clients into better clients. It costs less than branding, offers a higher rate of return than advertising, and generates faster results than seminars or direct mail. Legal marketers should take a fresh look at this proven business development tool, and seriously consider making it a staple of their firm's marketing efforts.

Kevin McMurdo (kmcmurdo@perkinscoie.com), director of client relations at Perkins Coie LLP, shared these views at last month's lively and interactive LMA Bay Area workshop. Joining him in the presentation was Martha Sullivan (marthasullivan@earthlink.net), owner of Thornton Marketing.

McMurdo contends that 75% of an attorney's marketing time should be spent face-to-face with clients and/or prospects. Because many lawyers are reluctant to do this, he advises marketers to focus their initial efforts on the attorneys who are willing to participate, and to allow their success to attract others.

The effective interview consists of six steps:

HAVE A CLEAR PURPOSE IN MIND: Why should a prospect meet with you? The effective marketer will research the company's history, financial picture, competitors and management in order to help the attorney identify the prospect's "hot buttons," and to focus on those during the meeting.
Furthermore, attorneys must have a clear purpose in their own minds about what they want from the meeting. Is it to walk away with a new legal matter, to arrange a meeting with the prospect's CEO, or merely to advance the relationship to the next level? The purpose must be clearly defined and measurable.

HONOR YOUR TIME COMMITMENT: At the meeting, confirm the amount of time the prospect is willing to give you, and stick to it. If they give you 25 minutes, take no more than 25 minutes. If they cannot give you as much time as originally planned, adapt accordingly. The only person who can extend this commitment is the prospect.

ALIGN YOUR COMMUNICATION STYLE WITH THEIRS: McMurdo is a former trainer with Bill Flannery and the WJF Institute. The WJF training teaches attorneys to recognize communications styles and how to align one's presentation style with that type (for more on this, go to www.dbm.com). Attorneys tend to be "thinkers," whereas business people, especially entrepreneurs, tend to be "intuitors" or "sensors."

ASK HONEST, OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: The purpose of the interview is to uncover the prospect's needs, to convey empathy, and to demonstrate solutions. An open-ended question is one that cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." It causes the prospect to elaborate, and thereby reveal needs to which the alert attorney can respond. The effective marketer will assist the attorney in preparing and rehearsing these questions. They should also include these fundamental marketing research questions:

"Which of your competitors keep you awake nights?"
"Where do you get your information?"
"Who else should I be talking to?"

PROBE, DISCOVER, LEARN: It is important to facilitate the prospect's conversation, and to probe for more information and clarification. The prospect should do 80% of the talking. If they shift the conversation to you, address their questions, and then refocus the discussion back to them.

AGREE ON NEXT STEPS TOGETHER: There are a number of ways to keep a relationship alive. The most effective way to do this is for the attorney to give himself/herself a homework assignment. The assignment may be to research a question, introduce them to a client, or any number of other tasks. The assignment must be specific, with a clear deadline, and a set time to meet again. The key is to agree on the next steps together.

Bay Area legal marketing consultant, John Cosmides, is principal of The Cosmides Group and director of Barustors, a State Bar-certified referral service for business and corporate clients. John can be reached at john@barustors.com or at 415-957-1330.