If you’re a solo attorney or running your own law firm, chances are you’re on the quest for new clients. Seventy-eight percent of small law firms say finding new clients is one of their biggest challenges.1 If this is one of your bigger challenges, you want to make sure you’re attracting the right fit for you.

45% of small law firms said that improving marketing and business development was a key goal2.
Are you marketing to attract, engage and retain the audience that aligns with your expertise? Although for 45% of you it’s a key goal, marketing is the one area that often gets low priority, or pushed aside due to other pressing issues. This makes sense since you didn’t go to school for marketing or business development – you went to practice law!  But, as a solo or small law firm, you need to wear multiple hats, with one large one being marketing. Building your business in addition to practicing law takes time and money, so how do you strategically attract, engage, retain and get your current clients to refer you?

ATTRACT CLIENTS
Find and engage with your ideal clients to increase business profitability
72% of attorney-seekers hired the first attorney they contacted.3

• Attract, engage, and connect with the right prospects faster.
• Easily provide a strong, clear image of your firm, regardless of which device or channel a prospective customer uses to find you.
• Target only those prospects within a larger universe whose needs and preferences are the best fit for your firm.
• Appeal to new clients by expanding the services of your firm using expert guidance.
• Reach prospective clients before your competitors with connection to early notification of active case filings.

ENGAGE PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS

Understand prospective client needs, know your differentiators and move faster than your competition
Clients expect 100% perfection from their lawyers and expect everything to be done yesterday.4

• Deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
• Make it easy for a prospective client to find and contact you anytime.
• Prepare with deep insights on potential client risks and your firm’s competitive advantages.
• Win clients by providing help on a broader scope of issues than your competitors.
• Confidently respond to a potential client faster, even if you are unfamiliar with their issue.
• Be prepared with enhanced knowledge of the legal and business risk your potential client faces.

RETAIN CLIENTS
Keep clients coming back to you

Nearly one in five people in the U.S. who had a legal issue did not hire an attorney.5 How are you retaining your clients?

• Retain clients by providing them with high-quality engagement, transparent sharing of information and quick responsiveness to their demands at anytime, from anywhere.
• Keep clients coming back by supplying clear billing expectations through accurate and descriptive invoices.
• Create repeat customers by providing excellent client service with immediate answers for your client’s needs.
• Keep your clients from your competitor’s specialty practice by getting up to speed on other areas of the law quickly.
• Beat your competition by notifying past clients of litigation before they are served.

GET CLIENTS TO REFER
Turn clients into your advocates

Americans tell an average of 21 people about a poor service experience, but an average of only 8 about a good experience.5

• Other than word of mouth, provide a digital platform for clients to easily refer new business.
• Stand out more clearly in a crowded market so your existing client can easily refer a new client to better understand your advantages over the competition.
• Encourage new client referrals by providing excellent service with immediate answers for your current clients.
• Earn new business and individual client referrals by demonstrating legal industry and practice area expertise.
• Gain positive client recommendations by answering your client’s legal research questions – anywhere, anytime.

You want to be seen by the right people at the right time with the right message. Once you have that perfect client, you work your magic and deliver such great service that they’ll want to shout from the rooftops! This client life cycle is what you want to be a consistent part of your practice.

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Amy Larson is a Director in Small Law Firm Customer Marketing and Firm Central at Thomson Reuters. She has over 17 years of experience in technology marketing with extensive focus on learning how technology can meet the needs of attorneys. Amy has been involved in numerous product launches throughout her tenure, public relations efforts, interviewing customers and telling their stories, and often writes and distributes information on legal practice management.

[1] State of the US Small Law Firm Survey, Thomson Reuters, 2016.
[2] Failing at the Finish Line: How Law Firms Lose Prospective Clients at the Front Door, FindLaw, 2015.
[3] You Can’t Control Your Firm’s Reputation (But You Can Manage It), FindLaw, 2016.
[4] Are Today’s Legal Clients More Demanding … Or Is It Just That Lawyers Haven’t Kept Pace?, Carolyn Elefant, Practice of Law, November 1, 2016
[5]American Express Global Customer Service Barometer, 2014.