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Fellow shinglers, your mission for this month, should
you choose to accept it, is to pick up the phone.
By that, I don't mean that you should pick up the phone
when it rings to answer it -- undoubtedly, a good idea,
but nonetheless one for which you don't need instruction
or encouragement. Instead, what I'm asking of all of
you is to join me in the effort that I myself have been
involved in this past week -- pick up the phone, find
some numbers in your rolodex or PDA, and make some marketing
calls. And do it whether you're swamped with more work
than you can manage at the moment, or business is so
slow that you're feeling a bit desperate, or you've
done it so many times before without success that the
effort seems futile. Trust me, regardless of the result,
calling around for business will make you a better lawyer.
I spent a rather fruitless week myself calling old
contacts for referrals, overflow work, and business
leads. Taking the advice of a wise colleague, I psyched
myself up before the calls, focusing on my firm's strengths
and recent accomplishments. When making the calls, I
spoke in my cheeriest voice, exuding enthusiasm about
my practice while at the same time asking questions
about my colleagues' workload so that I could target
my services toward their needs.
I wish I could say that the work came pouring in, but
of course that's not what happened. Two large firm attorneys
whom I'd contacted flatly admitted that business was
slow -- something that I was shocked to hear (and for
which I had not prepared a response), since I'd never
make a similar admission. But I made a note for future
calls: the next time someone tells me they've hit a
dry spot, I will try to determine whether possibilities
exist for cross-marketing projects where I can take
the lead in exchange for a piece of work or referral
fees.
Other attorneys I called indicated that they would
keep me in mind for future projects. But I won't let
the contact die there. I made a note of these folks
and will follow up again in a few months. And in the
interim, I'll also be sure to send this group any newsworthy
accomplishments that I may have (as well as news items
they might be following as part of their practices)
just to keep myself "on their radar screen."
Maybe this is a little pushy, but at the same time,
who doesn't like a little persistence?
Do I like making these calls? Not completely. I don't
like rejection (who does? -- but that's good
practice for losing a case!) and I'd certainly prefer
a situation where a steady stream of business comes
to me unsolicited, via referrals. But that doesn't always
happen.
Part of why I've asked you to join me in this marketing
endeavor is moral support -- after all, misery loves
company. But at the same time, there's a part of marketing
that I secretly enjoy, and it's the same thing I like
about law: the problem solving. Of course, here, the
problem (i.e., generating business) is mine, not that
of a client, but solving my own problems makes for good
practice when I need to do the same for my clients.
So let the ivory-towered academics or hoity-toity lawyers
who sit in fancy offices with a steady flow of clients
from one or two law firm rainmakers look down their
noses at my marketing or call it undignified -- because
I know better. I know that the same confidence and guts
that get a workout every time I pick up the phone and
ask someone directly for business will serve me well
in carrying out my obligation to zealously represent
my clients. After all, when all is said and done, how
can lawyers effectively sell their client's case at
trial or in negotiations (which is what, after all,
we lawyers are paid to do) if they can't even sell themselves?
Top
Originally published on MyShingle.com.
Reprinted by permission.
Carolyn Elefant (Brandeis
University, B.A. 1985, magna cum laude with honors in
politics; Cornell Law School, J.D. 1988)
Author and owner of MyShingle.com,
a website which caters to solo lawyers and small law
firms.
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