Small Law Firms

Talk To Your Ideal Clients

Market research is a tool for finding clients for your firm to understand opportunities and barriers for gaining prospects.

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When was the last time you thought of your ideal clients’ true feelings about your services? Not stereotypes about their wants and needs but a question about what keeps them up at night when it comes to what you offer.

  • If you are a divorce attorney, you may assume that your ideal client wants to get out of a bad marriage.
  • If you are an estate planning attorney, you may think that your ideal client wants an estate plan to build generational wealth and a lasting legacy.
  • If you are a personal injury lawyer, you may think your ideal client wants the most considerable settlement money.

All of this is great, but have you considered doing more of a deep dive into your ideal clients’ thoughts and wishes on the matter? You know, asking?

I want to understand clients’ wishes in my practice better. I hired a sales coach to help me attract more well-aligned clients to my business. For some reason, I was not attracting clients who were ready to invest in estate planning. I loved talking about generational wealth and legacy building when it came to my advertising and copy. While prospective clients were fascinated by this message — even to the extent that they booked calls — I was having difficulty converting them into clients.

My sales coach suggested conducting market research calls with many ideal clients to hear their thoughts about estate planning. Market research is a tool for finding clients for your firm to understand opportunities and barriers for gaining prospects. I balked at the market research idea, reasoning that I understood what clients needed. Mostly, I was scared to find out what they thought about my services. Nevertheless, I gave it a try.

I wrote an attention-grabbing post on Facebook and LinkedIn about whether a woman would know what would happen to her child if she passed away and her spouse got remarried. I then offered an opportunity to answer a few market research calls, emphasizing that it wasn’t a bait and switch or a sleazy sales tactic. Don’t do that. The Facebook post resulted in 20 booked 15-minute market research calls while I heard crickets on LinkedIn. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get the response you want. Ask again, and be creative in your ask.

With permission, I recorded the calls, and I asked the following questions:

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  • What are your biggest frustrations with estate planning?
  • What is your biggest fear about estate planning?
  • What have you tried (what’s worked and what hasn’t) with getting help around learning about estate planning?
  • Have you read any books on estate planning?
  • Who are your favorite people to follow that talk about this topic?
  • What does life look like when you have your estate plan in place?
  • Is there anything you’re struggling with about estate planning that you haven’t mentioned?
  • What would you be willing to invest in estate planning?

The research calls illuminated the concerns that ideal clients had. They mentioned feeling shame for not having an estate plan, a lack of clarity in the process, and wanting more transparency in the pricing for services. Not one single person mentioned wanting to build a legacy or generational wealth. Now, I am using the transcribed call recordings to glean actual words that potential clients would use to describe their thoughts about estate planning. That way, in my future marketing copy, I can speak to potential clients’ desires in a targeted manner.

For the attorneys who are skeptical that this sort of research can work for their individual service area, try it. You don’t even have to try the way I did, via face-to-face surveys. You can also use surveys, focus groups, or past clients to gather data.

Do you agree or disagree? I’d love to hear your constructive comments or questions at [email protected]. I am always looking for topic suggestions! Did I mention that I signed with a literary agent for my upcoming estate planning book? You can read all about it here.

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Iffy Ibekwe is the principal attorney and founder of Ibekwe Law, PLLC. She is an estate planning attorney evangelist for intergenerational wealth transfer with effective wills and trusts. Iffy is writing her first book on culturally competent estate planning, available in 2022 (prayers up!). She graduated from The University of Texas School of Law and has practiced law for over 14 years. Iffy can be reached by email at [email protected], on her website, and on Instagram @thejustincaselawyer.

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