Capitalizing On Your Elevator Pitch To Drive Referrals

Networking effectively is an end in and of itself, but it does serve to supplement other important aspects of attorney branding.

Screen Shot 2016-02-02 at 3.40.55 PMEd. note: The following is an excerpt from the MyCase eBook: Offline Networking – Using Referrals to Grow Your Practice, by author Jared D. Correia.

Most everyone knows what an elevator speech is: it’s a short, pithy, memorable description of a company’s services. Lawyers have always built their reputations on their expertise, such that the creation of an elevator pitch should be one of the easiest things for an attorney to do; however, many lawyers still stumble over the basic question: “What do you do?”

If a professional businessperson does not have a pat answer to that question, whatever relationship might have germinated from that introduction is dead on arrival. Neither is it enough to create just one elevator speech. If your object is, for example, to secure referrals  from three specific channels—lawyers, other professionals, and existing clients—you should have at least three separate elevator pitches, if not more, given the differences inherent within those categories.

Establish Expertise with Content Marketing
The elevator speech represents the initial shot across the bow of a potential business relationship. But, content marketing is where expertise is built and established. Content marketing is the creation and distribution of information relative to the producer’s field of expertise. Various media may be implicated, even if most lawyers will think of content marketing mainly in the form of blogging and redistribution via social media.

Even so, content marketing can take on many alternative forms, including such in-person options as live presentations, which can be a particularly effective client and referral driver. The appeal of content marketing for lawyers is that it dovetails perfectly with their existing preferences.

Most attorneys talk and think about what they do constantly, so content marketing is merely the formalized rendering down of that process. Developing content, publishing it, and republishing it, allows lawyers to build followings around their expertise, and ultimately to derive business from those activities. If what lawyers say about themselves is backed by a treasure trove of useful information, that is an extraordinary helper for verifying the acumen they claim to have attained.

Put Your Pitch & Content Into Action
Attorneys often struggle with where to do their networking. Bar association involvement remains a useful tactic for sourcing referrals, even if there are limitations on the volume of work an attorney can expect to receive from colleagues. But, in many states, there are large numbers of bar associations and the question often centers around which ones to join, and at what level of exertion. Most attorneys only have the time to be deeply invested in one bar association at one time.

Since the new generation of attorneys are not “joiners” in the sense that their predecessors were, bar association centricity has splintered somewhat: it’s not always the case that everyone belongs to and is active in the state bar, especially in states where bar association membership is voluntary. Generally speaking, there are more options to join different organizations, and more opportunities to become active once there, and that is generally a win for lawyers looking for useful networking opportunities. That being said, if an attorney cannot find the perfect fit, there is always the option to create a networking group.

In a fractious legal environment, featuring a number of competing niche interests, enterprising lawyers can create their own simple organizations, based around shared circumstances, including practice areas, geographic location and/or career stage. And, it should be noted that the group founder almost always gets the most referrals, due to the personal gravitas attached to that role. Given the, often staggering, number of options for involvement with lawyers’ groups, the tactic that many attorneys use is to become especially active in one group, and to suppress involvement in others, to some predefined, and limited, level.

The dominance of the Internet has not only affected online social relations. Whereas the traditional route for lawyers to meet and mingle with non-attorney professionals has been Rotary Club or the Chamber of Commerce, Internet meet-up groups, with live, in-person components, exist for a number of different interest groups. The phenomenon, of course, is not unique to the legal field and attorneys seeking to meet other professionals in certain categories have numerous opportunities to join and/or start the groups they would otherwise only wish existed.

Whether the target is making the most out of time spent in lawyers’ or non-lawyers’ groups, the objectives are the same: find writing assignments, acquire speaking engagements, and embrace leadership opportunities. These activities, and performing well when provided opportunities in the referenced areas, are the surest ways for lawyers to prove their ability without actually performing substantive work.

And, importantly, these activities feature the useful byproduct of adding to the attorney’s content marketing horde. The endgame for attorneys is broadcasting expertise as widely as possible. Referral sources and potential clients select attorneys based on (oftentimes, perceived) expertise. Networking effectively is an end in and of itself, but it does serve to supplement other important aspects of attorney branding.