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HOW TO MARKET A SMALL LAW FIRMProfessional, Ethical & Profitable Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers

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© 2006 How To Make It Rain.com - RJon Robins


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FINANCIAL GOALS

SOCIAL GOALS

PROFESSIONAL GOALS

PROFILE OF A RAINMAKER


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FINANCIAL GOALS



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Why Do You WantYour Law Firm Business

To Be Successful?

I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful so that

or

I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful to be able to

or

I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful because

Let’s align your true motivations with your Marketing plan.

Let’s give you almost effortless energy.

Let’s make your success unstoppable by working-out the answers to a few

seemingly simple questions that you’ve probably never been asked before:


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Your Present AgeAge of your Kids

NOW 1YR 3YR 5YR

Home

Auto 1

Auto 2

Toy

INSURANCE

Health

Life

Disability

Umbrella

EDUCATION

HOUSEHOLD

Groceries

Domestic Help

Utilities

Telephone

Cable

Internet

Maintenance

INVESTMENTS

SAVINGS

CHARITABLE CAUSES

ENTERTAINMENT

OTHER


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Let’s look at your spending:

How much money does your law firm business need to produce...in order to support the lifestyle you have chosen for yourself?


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SOCIAL GOALS


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SOCIAL GOALSQuantify How YouManage Your Time

Do you have an inappropriate relationship with your law firm!?

No matter how much time and how much energy you put into your law firm, it’s never going to love you, and it’s never going to give you a hug.

Your law firm is your mule.

It’s there to pull your plow, so you can grow crops to feed yourself and your family.

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STEP 1: Circle everything you do in a typical day...

SOCIAL GOALS

Audit Trust Account

Audit Accounts PayableEat Breakfast

Eat Lunch

Eat Dinner

Present A Speech

Conduct A Seminar

Ongoing CLE

Sleep

See A Movie

Attend A Sporting Event

Read A Book

Find The Right Person To Whom Make A Referral

Get A Haircut

Meet With Prospective Referral Source

Learn More About Law Office Management

Visit A Client’s Place Of Business

Personal Hygiene

Commute To & From Office

Alone Time With Significant Other

Spiritual Time

Correspondence On Behalf Of Clients

Voir Dire

Meet With Investigators

Prepare For Deposition

Take Deposition

Develop Discovery Strategy

Meet With Litigation Support Professionals

Motion Calander

Visit Clients Who Cannot Come To You

Attend Networking Events

Read Newspaper

Document An Office Procedure

Document An Office Policy For Staff

Staff TrainingGet Training On Law Office

Management Software

Spot-Check Staff

Pick Up Dry Cleaning

Drop Off Kids At School

Fill Up Car With Gas

Grocery Shopping

Oil Change

Give Kids Allowance

Help With Homework

Play Bills At Home

Interview Prospetive Clients

Chase Down Old Accounts Recevable

Payroll

Pay Bills At The Office

Legal Research

Drafs Contracts

Negotiation For Clients

Draft & Review Documents

Attend Hearing

Trial PreparationConduct Trial

Conduct Evidentiary Hearings

File Maintenance

Put Out Fires

Meet With The Accountant

Learn About How To Make It Rain

Fire Clients

Train Clients

Witness Prep.

NOTES


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STEP 2: Divide into 3 categories

I Things You MUST Do Yourself Every Day And Cannot Delegate

SleepEatPersonal HigieneCommuteOther

#HRS________________________________________________

II Things You WANT To Do

ExerciseHobbyKids PlaytimeKids HomeworkPersonal Time w/Spouse or S.O.Spiritual TimeSocial Time w/Friends + FamilyOther

#HRS________________________________________________________________________________________________

III Things You Do For The Mule To Keep It Healthy + Productive

MarketingManagementTraining+SupervisionCourtCalls w/ClientsResearchCLEPrep for CourtReview K’s + other AgmtsDraft K’s + other AgmtsTrust Account ManagementCollectionsClient Intake + SelectionCalls for ClientsOther

#HRS________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subtotal

Subtotal

Subtotal


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STEP 3: Count hours

I Things You MUST Do Yourself Every Day And Cannot Delegate#HRS

Subtotal

II Things You WANT To Do

III Things You Do For The Mule

#HRS

Subtotal

#HRS

Subtotal

TOTAL

24 Hrs x 7 Days = 168 Hrs Available to you every week. Since life’s not perfect and some weeks will be better than others, it’s best to average every two-weeks. In other words, some weeks the mule needs you to prepare for a big case so you’ll give it more Hrs. Other weeks you need time with friends + family. Use this exer-cise like any other kind of budget as a management tool not an edict carved in stone.


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RANK YOUR PRIORITIES

TYPES OF WORK

TYPE OF CLIENTS

SYSTEMATICBUSINESS

OPERATIONS

1 1 2 2 2 3 3

2 3 2 3 1 2 1

3 2 2 1 3 1 3

FAST--------MIDDLE OF------GOURMET FOOD ROAD DINER PRACTICE

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRACTICES


PROFESSIONAL GOALS


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GRADING SCALE

CLIENT CASE/MATTER STAFF

A

B

C

D

F

This execise calls for you to describe A-F Clients/Cases/Staff

HOW TO MARKET A SMALL LAW FIRMProfessional, Ethical & Profi table Rainmaking Skills For Lawyers

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Your Benefi t Statement Tells People What They REALLY Want To Know About What You Do.

I HELP________________________________ TO _______________________________________________.

WHO ACCOMPLISH WHAT

I ______________________________________________ FOR _____________________________________.

ACCOMPLISH WHAT WHO

I just want someone to....

- “Protect My Equity”

- or - “Get Me Out Of Hot Water”

- or - “Besure My Closing Goes Smoothly”

- or - “Help Me Stay In This Country Legally

Law Offi ce Magician

Who Would Your ClientsHire If They Could?


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$

SALESCALL

NETWORKING

PUBLIC RELATIONS

When you are trying to decide whether to spend time making face-to-face Sales Calls

or engage in Public Relations, remember the Sales Call is closer to the Cash. Networking gets you opportunities to make Sales Calls, and Public Relations position you for the

Sales Call.

Sam Sales Call

Nancy Networker

Peter Public Relations


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Referral SourceRainmaker

Everything you need to know to make your next Networking Event truly productive:

What is THEIR benefi t statement?

How did THEY get into THEIR line of work?

What do THEY like most about what THEY do for a living?

How can you recognize when someone you are talk-ing to should be talking to THEM?

*

*

*

*

ME ME ME


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Even a moderate amount of the right kind of Networking will soon reward you, with an impressive group of people to call upon... whenever you need an ethical and professional intro-

duction to a Prospective Client or Referral Source.

YOU


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4STEPS TO HAVINGAN EFFECTIVE SALES CALL

OPENING

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

PROCESS FOR SOLUTION

CLOSE

- Break the ice

- Confirm the time

- Agree on agenda

- ID problem or opportunity

- Learn what’s been tried before

- Understand problem in all dimensions (Time $ Reputation)

- Options

- Pros + Cons

- Preferred course of action w/ back-up

- WHO is going to do WHAT by WHEN?

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The three dimensions in which most important problems exists are:

TIME MONEY

REPUTATION

You don’t truly understand a problem or opportunity until you know how it affects your prospect in terms of their:

TIME

MONEY

REPUTATION

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WHAT KIND OF PRACTICE DO YOU WANT?

SALES CALLS NETWORKING

ADVERTISING+PR

ADVERTISING+PR

SALES CALLS

GOURMET DINER FAST FOOD

ADVERTISING+PR

NETWORKING

SALES CALLS NETWORKING

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PROFILE OF A RAINMAKER


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CAN YOU SPOT THE RAINMAKER?

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Age: 46

Financial Goal: $200,000

Social Goal: Work 45-5- Hrs/Week 46 Wks/Yr

Professional Goal: Provide a limited menu middle of the road-type transaction-al services to small + mid-sized business owners.

Hourly Rates:

Attorney: $200

Paralegal: $75

Secretary: $50

Rule of thumb formula:

200,000 (owner income)

2 (overhead)x

400,000 Gross Income Target

PROFILE OF LARRY LAWYER

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SCENARIO 1: FAST FOOD

SCENARIO 2: DINER

SCENARIO 3: GOURMET

$200/HR x 1,000 HRS= $200,000

$75/HR X 1,000 HRS= 75,000

$75/HR X 1,000 HRS= 75,000

$50/HR X 1,000 HRS= 50,000

$400,000

$200/HR x 1,600 HRS= $320,000

$75/HR X 800 HRS= 60,000

$50/HR X 400 HRS= 20,000

$400,000

$200/HR x 2,000 HRS= $400,000

*

**

***

*

*****

1000 HRS 46 WKS = 22 COLLECTED HRS/ WK



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Some lawyers I’ve worked with, find their way to me only after reading a book on marketing, or attending a seminar, where they were exposed to all kinds of potentially great marketing ideas... and with no-one to share their plans with, they get all exiced and promise themselves to suddenly turn-over a new leaf and imple-ment every great marketing idea they’ve ever heard about.

But like a post-holiday commitment to honor the latest fad diet, made after gourging ourselves for two weeks straight, these would-be-rainmakers soon fall off the wagon and start convincing themselves that it’s impossible for a busy lawyer in a small firm to make it rain.

Sound familiar? Well, don’t feel too bad, it’s happened to me too. So, it’s from my own personal experience and the experiences of so many of the Rainmakers I’ve worked with that I recommend you pick just one activity from each category --Public Relations, Networks and Sales Calls-- that appeals to you personally. And try it for just one year.

Note: Members of the How To Make It Rain.com website learn how to delevop, imple-ment and track their progress with a series of quarterly marketing plans.


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NETWORKING HOMEWORK

Make an index card for everyone in your network. Don’t worry if you don’t have many index

cards yet. Send each person some kind of an article with a personalized note within the

next 90 days.

Calendar and RSVP at least two networking events in the next two weeks.

1

2

3 Find an opportunity to refer business or do something helpful for each person in your net-

work within the next 30 days. Even if you try but are not successful, make it a point to let

each person in your network know that you made the effort and are thinking about them.

What did you do to demonstrate your effort to refer business at least of the 3 people you

met at networking events this month?

Prospective Referral Source What Did You Do How Do They Know?

1-

2-

3-

Name of Networking

Event When3 New People

You MetThank YouNote Sent

Added to Rolodex

Follow-upPlanned?

I.

II.

1

2

3

1

2

3


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MONTHLY SALES CALL LOG

1

NAME OFPROSPECTIVE

CLIENT ORPOTENTIALREFERRALSOURCE

NATURE OF PROBLEM/

OPPORTUNITY WHO was to do WHAT by WHEN RESULTS

Time

$

Reputation

Other

2

NATURE OF PROBLEM/


Time

$

Reputation

Other

NAME OFPROSPECTIVE



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MONTHLY SALES CALL LOG

3

NATURE OF PROBLEM/


Time

$

Reputation

Other

4

NATURE OF PROBLEM/


Time

$

Reputation

Other

NAME OFPROSPECTIVE


NAME OFPROSPECTIVE



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FREE GIFT FOR YOU

Tell us how you used this program to “Market Your Small Law FIrm” in the first 90 days after listening and we will send you a free gift to thank you for taking action and sharing your success with others.

To claim your free gift follow these 3 simple steps:

1 Visit www.HowToMakeItRain.com 2 Click on the “Success Stories” button

3 Tell us about a success you’ve had with these materials.

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