Last year, millions of quarter inch drill bits were sold. Yet, it’s been proven that not one person who bought a quarter inch drill bit last year actually wanted to own a quarter inch drill bit.
What they wanted was a quarter-inch hole.
In your marketing, you need to discover the hole in your marketing. You need to discover what your prospects and clients are actually wanting from you. It’s not what you think…
What do people want from you has less to do with your credentials, your successes, or the size of your firm. What they want is someone they can connect with on a deep emotional level. You have heard it so many times that it has now become a cliché. Ken Hardison speaks about it oft en; People hire lawyers they know, like, and trust.
That’s a progression that you need to follow.
Becoming Known:
Know: his happens through your external marketing including your website, social media, billboards, TV ads, sponsorships, etc. People have to know you before they will ever hire you.
But you can’t stop there. Every attorney in your market is trying to get people to know they exist. It’s what you do next that makes the difference.
LIKE: Once they know you exist, now they need to like you. That’s a tougher battle.
We’ve all seen the screaming TV ads from the used car salesman, the mattress guy, or heaven forbid—the lawyer. Yes, we know they exist, but do we like them? Most of the time the answer is “no.”
Getting Them To Like You
How do people come to like you? The best way is by hearing your story. Not the story of your firm, and not even the story of how you help people, although that is important. The story they want to hear is your story. Your personal and unique story. What caused you to become a lawyer?
Through the years we’ve helped many lawyers create and publish their book and position them as the expert to their market. We’ve found that, in most every case, there is a personal reason why they chose to become a personal injury attorney. They tell us how their mom was hit by a drunk driver and the driver’s insurance company didn’t want to pay. How their sister slipped at work and her position was suddenly eliminated. How their friend’s child was harmed by a chemical and nearly lost his life.
These are personal stories that change the direction of people’s lives. Those directly affected and yours. You have a story to tell. And when you share it, people will connect with you, bond with you, and like you. Now that they know you and like you, it’s a short step to get them to trust you.
Gaining Their Trust
We all make decisions emotionally and then back up our decision with logic. Why else would you drive a Mercedes, Porsche, or Tesla when a Ford or Chevy would do just fine?
Claim your Free Law Firm Growth Strategy Session
Stories cause us to remember and compel us to action. Stories are what drive us to the movie theater, to read a great novel, and to hire a trustworthy lawyer. But telling your story can be challenging. How can you uncover your unique story and tell it powerfully? Th ose are questions we get asked regularly. It’s one reason we created a process to help our clients discover their unique story.
Claim your Free Law Firm Strategy Session
By answering eight simple questions your story will surface. Then you can tell it powerfully through all of your marketing channels. And the beautiful part about telling your story is that it separates you from every other lawyer. No one else can tell your story. You’ve it said a thousand times, “people buy from people they trust.”
I believe the people want to buy from you. You just need to tell them your story. The wonderful thing about telling your story as part of your marketing is that it doesn’t cost you any more money. You already have the media channels, now you simply need to integrate your story into those channels. It’s easier than you may think.
Too much marketing happens without focusing on the emotional reasons that cause people make decisions. You can tap into those emotions by telling your personal story. When you do, you will have discovered and fi lled the hole in your marketing. ◆
