You may be just beginning your legal career or want to take your business to the next level in 2023. Wherever you are in your career, you already know that business development can be challenging for women lawyers. By homing in on these five business development tips, you can propel your business to reach its potential.
Build Your Brand
There are countless law firms and attorneys across the nation. What sets you apart and makes you different? Your brand visually and conceptually conveys the answers to this question. You will be recognized and, even more importantly, remembered through branding. The elements of a brand include:
Company name or your name
Logo
Slogan
Design
However, the most vital part of branding is encouraging people to view your firm as the best choice. If your branding is effective, potential clients will feel they need what you offer them. It should motivate someone to sign on as a client and make them want to stay with your firm for the long haul.
Stay Visible
You’ve heard the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Unfortunately, it applies to your legal services. If you want to be on the shortlist for new referrals, you must be top of mind. To do this, consider regularly sending substantive information and helpful tools to potential prospects. For instance, you may want to send out a monthly or quarterly newsletter. Doing this more than your competition will provide you with an edge. People are more likely to contact someone new if their current lawyers are not providing valuable content and aren’t staying top of mind.
Leverage Social Networks
If you don’t already have a social media presence on various networks, or your presence is limited, now is the time to grow and expand across all social media networks. If you aren’t harnessing the power of social media, you are in the minority. For example, the 2022 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report shows that 89 percent of respondents indicate that their firms have a social network presence.
It’s not just consumer shoppers who use social media; even potential legal clients increasingly search for and screen professionals based on their online and social media presence. However, pushing out quality content for your viewership on these platforms is still essential. Ensure that what you publish is engaging, helpful, and genuine.
Engage Clients Before They Sign On
Lawyers should take steps to advance their brand with every interaction—even before they meet with a client. Since their experience with your brand frequently determines their perception, it is crucial to focus on making every experience as enjoyable and valuable as possible.
Some ways top lawyers create a valuable and memorable pre-engagement client experience include:
Automated appointment scheduling—use available technologies and web options that give clients more control over their experience from the beginning.
Prepare the client for the initial meeting—for example, send them a personalized reminder email about your appointment or even a link to an information video or eBook.
Cross-Sell
Business development for lawyers and law firms should always begin with existing relationships. Ask yourself—are there opportunities to do more work for already existing clients or referral sources? Start by preparing a “gap analysis” for a specific client, reflecting on past representation and areas where you haven’t represented the client. What services do you offer that they haven’t tried or taken advantage of? Are your clients even aware of all the legal services you offer? Maximizing your current client relationships can often provide a more significant ROI than the time and effort it takes to seek out new clients.
Business development for female lawyers isn’t always easy, and it’s not always on an upward trajectory. However, you can cultivate the business you want in 2023 and beyond with effort and forethought.
Meranda Vieyra is the owner of Denver Legal Marketing LLC. She is one of the most visible legal professionals in Colorado law with over 20 years of service in the Denver legal community. Her award-winning marketing firm has earned a strong reputation as the go-to for impactful, cost-effective legal marketing strategies. She has helped her clients secure coverage by well-known publications and has obtained local, national, and international awards on their behalf. Meranda enjoys working with solo practitioners and small law firms helping them attract recognition, promotion, and visibility to their practices. She also advises medium-sized and national law firms on business development and marketing strategy. Meranda is a lecturer and author on issues related to marketing including how lawyers can use LinkedIn effectively, how to develop a personal brand, and the promotion of legal services through community service. In 2018, she was honored to be named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Denver Business Journal and to be given the 10 Under 10 Award by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Alumni Association (top 10 alum of the decade). In 2019, Meranda was named in the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce and in the Top 100 young professionals in Colorado through the Gen XYZ Awards published by ColoradoBiz Magazine.
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