Many lawyers and attorneys are eons behind when it comes to growing their firms. Without a greater understanding of business development, professionals in the law industry find it difficult to know where to begin. How can you secure more clients? What are the most effective methods for scaling your operations? What strategies should you invest in, and which ones should you avoid?
These are big ideas to think about, but they’re necessary for company growth and profitability. But a lot of lawyers and attorneys don’t know how to answer these questions. As a consultant, my unique background in business, hospitality, and marketing — and my experience working with tech startups — helps set these professionals up for success. Below are three tips I give every law firm looking to scale up.
1. Focus on building out your brand
It’s not enough to just be a law firm anymore, you have to be mindful and proactive about creating your brand. This is the only way to differentiate yourself from the competition. One of the best parts of starting your own firm is that it gives you the freedom to build your entire company from the ground up; to build the type of firm you would want to work with if you needed those services.
But be careful not to pigeonhole your business. For example, if you position yourself as a startup and become known as “that startup company”, it could hinder you from investment or client opportunities in the future.
2. Provide unparalleled customer service
Oftentimes lawyers and attorneys don’t prioritize customer service because they believe the services they already provide cover that. While this is true in a sense, that’s not what a client-focused firm looks like. In addition to supporting your clients, you need to build a framework within your organization that is focused on the client experience beyond your services. How can you create an experience that shows you truly care? What can you do to make sure you understand your clients and their needs?
Put your clients at the forefront of everything you do, from the kinds of employees you hire to how you build your onboarding process to how you establish your rates. What clients want is constantly changing, but when you put them at the center of your firm’s mission, you will be able to deliver top-notch service for years to come.
3. Leverage your marketing efforts
Once you’ve established your brand, you need to understand how to effectively market your services to your target audience. First, you need to know who your target audience even is, and then you need to leverage the various social media platforms and online channels that can help get your company in front of potential clients.
But there’s more to it than just regularly posting or spending money on ads. Lawyers and attorneys must also understand if they’re marketing efforts are actually successful or not. This requires you to pay attention to data and analytics and to adjust your marketing strategy if you’re not actually getting leads.
Start with these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to growing your law firm.