For the next ten days, I am on spring break, visiting my daughters overseas. Of course, when you work for yourself, it’s impossible to be completely off duty — once or twice a day, I check into the office on my iPhone via my $10/day unlimited talk and text plan or with my new Chromebook linked to public wireless hubs. Moreover, for me vacation is always the time that I engage in a little field work, gathering lessons from my time as a visitor and a consumer to implement in my law practice. So below are three tips I gleaned from wandering through the maze of shuks in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Engage in something that’s not about what you sell. I noticed that the shopkeepers with the least luck in attracting buyers were those who aggressively touted their wares. Those more successful at bringing buyers into their stores did so with a little small talk — asking where they were from or the age of their kids. The store owner who lured me actually brought out a pen and paper and asked me to jot down the best places to visit in New York City, which is where I’d said I was from.
Ultimately, I didn’t buy anything from that particular store (wasn’t in the market for jewelry or Judaica) but had I been interested in making a purchase, I would have returned to that store because the pitch was so intriguing.
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Of course, this lesson isn’t really relevant if a client comes into your office — they may not want to waste time on small talk. But at a networking function, striking up a conversation about something other than what you’re selling may be the better approach.
Don’t make it about price. I wandered into a store selling boho type skirts and dresses, and was approached by the shopkeeper while browsing through a rack of skirts. He began telling me about the product — the lining on one skirt, the ability to wear one frock as a dress, the different weaves of the fabric. By the time I was ready to buy, I was so in love with the dress that I forgot to bargain over price. Had the shopkeeper told me that his dresses were the cheapest available, I would have been so focused on price that I would have made a counter-offer. But by keeping the conversation on the product, I was primed to buy.
The same lesson applies to legal practice. Take the time to share all of the benefits of the service that you provide before you get to the matter of price. You may discover that by that point, it’s no longer an issue.
There is such thing as too much competition. After wandering through endless shop-lined alleys for hours, the shops all began to run together. I saw the same stuffed camels, brocade purses, silver Stars-of-David and crucifixes over and over and over again. Eventually, I grew so glassy-eyed that I lost interest, so I put on my sunglasses and turned my focus to finding an exit.
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I know that lots of marketers try to sell you on the notion that competition doesn’t matter for lawyers who find a way to distinguish themselves. And there is some truth to that. But as my experience in the shuk taught, there is such a thing as market saturation, so much so that buyers become immune to any sales pitch at all. If your practice isn’t doing well because you’re losing out to competitors, the answer may not be more SEO and signage and promotion but moving to fresher pastures.
And with that, I’m going to resume my vacation. If you’re interested in my tips from other trips, check out Marketing Lessons from Las Vegas , Marketing Lessons from London and Marketing Lessons from the Fashion Industry.
Carolyn Elefant has been blogging about solo and small firm practice at MyShingle.com since 2002 and operated her firm, the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant PLLC, even longer than that. She’s also authored a bunch of books on topics like starting a law practice, social media, and 21st century lawyer representation agreements (affiliate links). If you’re really that interested in learning more about Carolyn, just Google her. The Internet never lies, right? You can contact Carolyn by email at elefant@myshingle.com or follow her on Twitter at @carolynelefant.