Think about the last time you hired a plumber or electrician. Odds are that you didn’t just go to the Yellow Pages (remember them?) and randomly pick one. You likely asked around for recommendations or you did a little online research about local contractors. Based on the feedback from others, you narrowed your choices or made a decision as to who to hire.
Buyers crave input from others. The habit now is for buyers to find potential service providers online and read reviews. Websites like Yelp and Angie’s List have exploded in recent years. More traditional buyers usually ask for suggestions from their circle of family, friends, and acquaintances. Irrespective of how the outside information is gathered, buyers still want input from others as part of their buying process.
In the context of legal services, many potential clients will search online for attorneys in their area, read reviews, and possibly ask others for suggestions. Traditionalists will ask for recommendations directly from others without first going online.
As a consumer bankruptcy lawyer, your target audience are individuals as opposed to other businesses. (In sales and marketing parlance, you are engaged in B2C activities and not B2B). You need to enable third-party advocates to provide positive reviews and referrals. Here are some ideas (subject to applicable ethics standards):
- Ask clients to refer people to you
- Ask clients if they know of anyone who could use your services (then go back to #1)
- Ask clients for a written endorsement or recommendation
- Post endorsements and recommendations from satisfied clients on your website
- Ask your clients to provide positive reviews on Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other places,
- Network with other professionals – CPAs and bookkeepers, financial planners, other attorneys who work with individuals (divorce/family law, estate planning, criminal defense, personal injury) who could refer clients to you and to whom you can refer business
Author, Michael B Evangelista, Esq. Summit Legal Resources
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