How a Small Firm Can Get and Keep Clients

How a Small Firm Can Get and Keep ClientsAuthor(s): Jay G. FoonbergSource: ABA Journal, Vol. 70, No. 6 (June 1984), pp. 50-53Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20757173 .

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How a Small Firm Can Get

and Keep Clients

by Jay G. Foonberg

Public relations experts, media consul

tants, dress-for-success consultants,

marketing consultants and other profes sional assistants are all well and good for the law firm willing to make a significant investment of time and money. The most

efficient marketing of legal services, however, does not require much profes sional assistance. With little additional expense or effort you can increase and

upgrade your clientele.

Enjoy your life There are several reasons why you

should want to do just that. One is that you will enjoy your practice more if you

attract more of the cases and clients you like and get rid of the ones you don't like. You will also have more time for family, hobbies and other interests because better clients and cases usually translate into the work you can handle

most profitably and efficiently. You will have to compete for those

clients, and the competition is getting tougher for the sole practitioner and the small firm.

On one hand, the number of new law

yers entering the profession is far in excess of the need for them. They are

after whatever business they can get.

Many work for low fees or low salaries in enterprises that charge low fees. The adequacy of legal representation is beyond the scope of this article. It is suf

ficient that some segments of the public want the cheapest price and they are

getting it. On the other hand, as the major cor

porations tend toward hiring in-house

counsel, the larger law firms have found

that they must increase their client base or cut their staffs. Larger law firms now

actively seek clients in cases they would have turned down a few years ago. Some firms are even copying the inter

national accounting firms and creating a

"small business division."

Marketing isn't automatic Lawyers who refuse to enter the com

petitive arena of marketing may one day realize that the phone is not ringing and

they have no work to do.

50 American Bar Association Journal



There are some basic truths of market

ing that lawyers must keep in mind. One is that it is not automatic. It is not an innate talent. It is an acquired skill, and you must consciously work at it at all times.

The most important sources of new

business and potential new clients are

the clients you already have and the people you already know. Consciously and deliberately using appropriate mar

keting techniques with them is the most rewarding use of your time. But

remember that every person you meet is a potential client or referrer of business.

Marketing techniques can bring in large amounts of new business unconnected

to your existing client base.

A word of caution: Never use any

marketing technique that makes you feel awkward, "funny" or unethical. There are plenty of useful techniques, and you can choose the ones that fit you best.

Let's explore some of the fundamental

techniques of practice development. First, let people know you're a law

yer. People can't send you their legal business or refer other people as clients

if they don't know that. You have to tell someone you're meeting for the first

time-that you are a lawyer. Most people like to talk about themselves. "What

kind of work do you do?" is an innocuous but useful way to start a con

versation. After describing their work or

job, people will usually ask about yours. They probably don't really care?they usually just are being polite?but they've opened the door for you. If they don's ask you, tell them anyway.

Don't limit yourself But be careful when people ask,

"What kind of law do you practice?" How you answer will have a bearing on

the cases and clients you do or don't get from that person. When you answer, "I

practice tax law" or "corporate law" or

"family law" or "criminal law," you are

implying you don't have proficiency in other areas and you don't want cases in

those other areas.

You shouldn't be surprised when

friends or clients take their accident cases or probate work or other legal work elsewhere because they didn't

know you or your firm could do or

wanted other kinds of legal work. I've known of clients who've called

bar association referral services for the name of a lawyer who could handle a tax

case because they didn't know it could

be done by the lawyer or firm they already had used on an accident case.

It is best to answer the question with

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something like, "In my firm we have people who can handle most areas of

law. When you have a problem call us, and if we can't handle it, we'll help you find the right lawyer for the case. We'll be in a better position than you to assess your problem and find the right lawyer for you." Add that you personally spe cialize in tax law or devote a lot of your time to family law or whatever you feel this particular potential client may need

most.

If you answer that you're a "general

practitioner," you run the risk of losing the potential client who thinks he needs a specialist. The telephone company lists 55 different "specialties" or areas of

legal practice; it's not likely that you or

your potential client will remember them all if you tried to list them.

Your practice also will gain if you join bar association lawyer referral services.

Of 20 cases you get this way, about 15 will not be rewarding. Two or three will

lead to a small or moderate fee. But the

remaining one or two will be profitable

enough to pay for the other 18 or 19 and then some.

Once you have clients, bombard them

with paper. Clients never throw away

anything they get from a lawyer. Every time they receive mail from you, they'll know you are working on the case.

When the case starts, give them a red file

folder with your card stapled to the out

side. They will think of you every time they put a piece of paper in the file. Send copies of incoming and outgoing pleadings, correspondence, memos to

the file, research?everything.

Magazines and thanks Your office, the way it operates and

the way you work in it are all important to attracting clients. Even the news

papers and magazines in the waiting room convey an image and demonstrate

the kind of practice and clients you have

Illustrations by Michael Carroll June 1984 Volume 70 51



or hope to have. Trade association jour nals and the Wall Street Journal are good for business practice. If all you have is the Ladies' Home Journal, peo ple may think you handle only divorces for women.

When someone recommends a new

client or case to you, get moving fast. Call and thank the referrer, and follow up within a day with a thank-you letter. Call the new client at once and tell him he'll get first-class service. "Mr. Referrer is very important to us," you may say. "We give special attention to everyone he recommends. We'll give you special attention because you were referred by him." The client will feel special and welcome and probably will report back to the referrer with praise for you.

Always be available by telephone to new clients and cases. Almost all new business starts with a telephone call. Often the caller has the names of two or three lawyers. If he can't talk to you,

he'll call the next on the list. The same is true of a lawyer who is trying to recom mend a client to you. Often that client is in the other lawyer's office at the time. They won't sit there all day waiting for you to return the call. They simply go on to the next lawyer they know. Think of the times you've done the same thing.

Your receptionist and secretary must be trained to interrupt conferences and other telephone calls for new business.

Explain to the client in your office, "I'm sorry?this will take just a moment, it's an emergency." Tell the caller, "Mrs. Jones, I'm in a

meeting and I took your call because I know it's important to you. I don't like to discuss your legal problems in front of another client. Where will you be in another 20 minutes so I can call you right back?"

Apologize to the client in the office. If there is a chance of resentment, reassure the client, "Don't worry, I won't charge

you for the time I spent on the call." If you're already on the phone when a

new client calls, your secretary or recep tionist should come in and hold a note in front of you so you immediately can get off the first call and onto the new one. Get back to the interrupted caller a few minutes later.

Remember the saying: "I need a law

yer. I couldn't get hold of you. I got hold of another lawyer. I don't need you any more."

Keep in touch Clients like to hear from you occasion

ally even if they have no business pend ing. Send a year-end tax newsletter each

November. Write your own or buy a

commercial newsletter. This reminds the

clients that you care about them and reminds them of things that need doing before year end. Send an extra copy for

your client's accountant. You will be

projecting effort. (See the:accompanying article, "Rainmaking with a Firm News

letter," on page 54 of this issue.) Send a "new laws newsletter" to your

entire mailing list when your legislature passes its periodic batch of new laws. Your clients will appreciate your desire to keep them informed.

Send Christmas cards. You will be reminding clients that you exist and care about them. Christmas cards are also excellent reminders of the need for wills, partnership agreements and other com mon types of work.

Look far ahead with each client and set up a 20-year calendar. Much of the work you do has built-in future work. Remind your clients systematically of the legal work you know they need.

For example, a corporation should be reminded 60 days before the end of the corporate year about the need for annual minutes of meetings of shareholders and directors. Remind the corporate client of the importance of minutes for income tax audit purposes. Remind it also of the importance of non-backdated minutes. Send copies of your reminder letters to the client's accountant.

Routine renewals are another exam

ple. About 90 days before a lease or con tract comes up for renewal, send a letter

reminding the client of the need to exer cise an option. Some judgments likewise need renewal, and your client will appre ciate your reminder.

Keep an eye on the birthdays of your clients' children. About six months before they reach the age of majority, send a letter to both parent and child suggesting that the child is turning adult and may need a will.

52 American Bar Association Journal



Your long-range calendar also should

note the date when a convicted client can have his record expunged.

Dealing with the best Always keep in mind that your client

or prospective client needs reassurance

that he is dealing with the best. Tell him that you are competent to handle his case. Tell your client, "We've handled

lots of cases similar to this one."

Reassure him as well of your high eth ical standards. If your client is a social friend or relative, reassure him that you won't violate the attorney-client priv

ilege by discussing the case with any one.

mm-: ^IflHHr

Two books I have written will help any lawyer sharpen his marketing. One is How to Start and Build a Law Prac

tice. It's intended for the brand new law

yer starting out with no client base who needs fees and experience, but it is also worth periodic rereading by the experi enced lawyer. It is the book most often stolen from law school libraries in Amer

ica. The new edition can be ordered from the American Bar Association, Order Fulfillment, 1155 E. 60th St., Chi cago, 111. 60637. The price is $14.95 plus $2 for handling. The order number is 511 0080. I have no economic interest in it because I have given the proceeds equally to the ABA Law Student Divi sion and the Economics of Law Practice Section.

The second book is How to Get and ^

Keep Good Clients?Fundamental Techniques of Lawyer Marketing for Solo Practitioners and Small Law Firms. This article is excerpted from a book that took me more than nine years ,

to write. The book furnishes techniques g and tells you how to implement them. It is based on my own practice develop- ^ ment experience and on what I learned from approximately 300 bar association seminars in almost every state and sev

eral foreign countries. The book should be available within a few months. If you are interested, send me a postcard at

8500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, Calif. 90211, and I will notify you when it

is out-_^Journal

(Jay G. Foonberg is a partner in the law firm of Foonberg & Chayo in Bev erly Hills, Calif)

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June 1984 Volume 70 53



Documents

How a Small Firm Can Get and Keep Clients