Ten steps to business growth

Ten steps to business growth...

Guidance and Ethics, Practice Management 06/09/2013
  1. Encourage everyone in the firm to promote the business. Solicitors are not natural sales people and shy away from selling themselves and their products. Lead by example from the top down – principals/partners, fee-earners and support staff.
  2. Identify and assess your customer profile. Who are currently your best clients? What kind of relationship do you have with them and how can you improve that relationship? How can you ask them about their needs?
  3. Have a marketing plan. A marketing plan gives focus to your efforts to increase business. It cannot be made up of generalities. For example, it is not enough to state that you will take part in a networking event, take a potential client for lunch, write an article or make a presentation. The plan should be specific. Identify the networking opportunity, the person you will bring to lunch and when that will be, the publication for which you will write an article, and the group to whom you will make a presentation and the topic you will address for them.
  4. Make cross-selling part of your interaction with your clients. Remind your clients of all the services you offer. For example, if you are handling a personal matter for a client, you may wish to give the client a brochure tailored to the work you could do for them in their business. If you come across something that you think might be of interest to a client, email it to them, or phone, or write to them to inform them of the matter. They may be interested in legislation that will affect them and also in relevant upcoming events. The simple question to the client “Is there anything else we can help you with?” before the client departs your office, might yield surprising results.
  5. Build on local knowledge. Become more active in local and regional organisations. Look in front of you; new opportunities may be very local.
  6. Recognise that finding new clients is priority work. Finding new clients should be viewed as having the same priority as actually working on a file. Do not say “I am really busy now and I don’t have time to look for new clients.” Make time.
  7. Review your website. Your website may be the only way that prospective clients who are not known to you can learn about your services. Many of them may never have previously used the services of a solicitor’s firm. Review accessibility to the website, prominence and search-engine priority. Identify areas where further or updated material is needed.
  8. Make sure the services you deliver are user-friendly. If you are easy to do business with, your current clients are more likely to recommend you to others, and to return in the future. Keep language with your clients straightforward and succinct and avoid legalese. The service you deliver must match your marketing blurb. You may not have the opportunity to deliver something different and unique to other solicitors’ firms, but you can demonstrate that you deliver what you do, well.
  9. Encourage your clients to recommend you. If you have done a good job for a client, encourage your client to tell others.
  10. Seek feedback from your client. Never underestimate a good follow-up and feedback system, to ensure your client is satisfied with the work you have done. If they are not satisfied, it is most important that you know about this and have an opportunity of correcting the matter.