Law Practice Management Asked and Answered Blog

Category: Uncategorized

Nov 15, 2017

Law Firm Marketing – Paid Seminars

Question:

I am a partner in a six-attorney estate planning firm in Dallas, Texas. For many years our primary marketing activity has been seminars that we put on for clients, prospective clients, and referral sources. These seminars have been either put on solely by our firm or in partnership with other organizations such as nursing homes, hospitals, etc. These seminars have been free of charge. We provide a lot of value at these seminars and have been wondering whether we should charge a fee. We would appreciate your thoughts.

Reponse:

Do not assume that you must offer free seminars to get a marketing-benefit spinoff nor that only free seminars produce other business. In some respects paid-attendance seminars are even more powerful as marketing media than are free seminars. For one thing, the attendees who pay to attend are serious prospects. They are prospects that are qualified at least to the extent of having demonstrated serious interest in the subject, whereas at least some attendees at a free seminar are curiosity seekers with nothing better to do that afternoon or evening.

This is balanced by the heavier attendance at the free seminar, which may produce a greater number of good prospects, if not a better ratio of good prospects to curiosity seekers. That is there is a presumption of heavy attendance, for there is no guarantee of heavy attendance even at a free seminar.

There is a compromise position possible. You may opt to subsidize your own seminars by keeping the cost of attendance low which should produce good attendance, while still screening out the idle curiosity seekers. This would enable you to have modest registration and attendance fees.

I suggest that you review your past attendance history, ratio of attendees that have become paying clients, and determine whether you have an issue of curiosity seekers. If you have been doing a good job converting attendees to clients and have not had a problem of curiosity seekers I would probably stay with free seminars. If you have problems with curiosity seekers and your costs are getting out of control – I would consider modest registration and attendance fees. I would not look to these seminars as being a profit center for the firm.

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Sep 27, 2017

Associate Attorney Business Development – Becoming a Rainmaker

Question:

I am an associate attorney in a ten attorney firm in Atlanta. The firm represents mid-size to small businesses – transactional as well as litigation. There are six partners and four associates in the firm. I graduated from law school two years ago and have been with the firm for two years. All of my work is given to me by the partners and since joining the firm I have not brought in any clients. When I joined the firm I was told not to worry about bringing in clients – the firm has plenty of work. I am paid a salary and a bonus if my billable hours are at a certain level. There appears to be no desire by the partners for me to spend time developing clients. I have talked with my peers in other law firms that tell me that this is short sided and that developing clients is a major factor in their firms for associates to be considered for partnership. I would appreciate your thoughts on what I should be doing and what direction I should take.

Response:

I agree with your peers. Whether you are encouraged by your partners or not developing “rainmaking” skill is an important skill that you should develop and will be a major career success factor if you remain in the private practice of law. While your partners hired you to primary be a “worker bee” and work on their matters, down the road it will become more important for you to develop business. It takes time to develop “rainmaking” skills and a network of contacts and the sooner you start the better.

In spite of many of the marketing initiatives undertaken by law firms, a majority of the business that comes to many law firms is through personal and professional referrals – from people a lawyer knows. The more people you know the more opportunities you will get. The value of your network is worth more than the sum of its parts, and that value grows geometrically over time and with the size of your network.

Lawyers who consistently find a modest amount of time for client development and invests it wisely will have a much easier time later in their careers when they must bring in business to get promoted than those who wait.

One of the problems that many law firms are facing today is not enough business and not enough rainmakers. Don’t wait for your partners to encourage you or to be compensated or otherwise rewarded. Invest your time in developing your network of contacts even if it requires dedicating some personal time and consider it an investment in your career and future.