You already know what the best kind of marketing is, but you might start to doubt your good instincts.
Why?
Because there are so many charlatans and fools who SEEM to be knowledgeable about marketing. So you start assuming that they know more than you do, and then…
You start to internalize their bad advice. THAT is what causes you to doubt yourself.
Here’s what you instinctively know about marketing that is VERY VALUABLE.
The people that are easiest to market your services to are those that already know you, like you, and trust you.
In the blunt language of sales professionals these folks are called “warm leads.” As in, if someone that already knows, likes, and trusts you calls asking about your services they’ve been “warmed up” already.
Warm leads are easier to convert into clients than cold leads.
Now let’s test your instinctive (and very sound) knowledge of marketing a bit more.
What kind of leads do you call the people that see a billboard ad for an attorney’s services?
Obviously, those are cold leads.
And what about folks who see a TV ad for a lawyer?
Also cold leads.
So what’s the best kind of marketing for lawyers? The kind that focuses on cold leads, or on warm leads?
(I apologize if the phrases “cold” or “warm” or “leads” is off-putting, but I want to use standard sales terminology and later I’ll make a point about it).
You obviously want to focus on the people who already know you, like you and trust you.
And what kind of marketing do we call this?
Referral Marketing
Some lawyers call it “word of mouth” marketing. And what they really mean when they say this is: “I don’t try to market my practice. I just rely on word of mouth.”
And hey, more power to them if they’re happy with that.
So let’s be clear…
If you’re happy with (1) the kind of clients you get and (2) how many you get and (3) how often the new ones arrive, then don’t worry about trying to improve your marketing system.
But if you want to get better clients, get more of them, and get them more steadily then you need to start using a referral marketing system.
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