Having too many security guards can destroy your law firm. This has everything to do with marketing your law firm.
I’ll tell you how in a moment. But first, let’s start with a story!
My wife and I were on vacation in St. Maarten. It’s one of our favorite places to go. We have a timeshare there. We’ve been going to St. Maarten for more than 28 years. But I only noticed this during this last vacation. The main shopping is in Philipsburg, located on the Dutch side of the island. When cruise ships disgorge their thousands of passengers, they do it in Philipsburg. There are jewelry shops. There are “required” T-shirts and electronics shops. The town has a certain structure to it.
There’s ‘Front Street’, and naturally, there’s ‘Back Street.’ Front Street has all the nice shops and jewelry stores. Back street faces the beach and lengthy boardwalk. The center of town has the most upscale stores. That’s where you will find the high-end jewelry and watches and designer fashion. However, as you walk down to the right or left from the center of town, the quality of the stores deteriorates. You can feel it as you walk into each store. You can see it in the quality of the items for sale on the periphery. The further you go from the center of town, the quality begins to suffer.
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This vacation, my family and I ventured into town a few different days. We parked at one end of Front street and then started our walk to the center of town. The first time we walked past a particular jewelry store, I didn’t think much of it. It was the second time, a few days later, that I realized how they were destroying their business.
Let me explain…
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Hurricane IRMA destroyed and devastated this island in 2017. The Dutch side has done a great job rebuilding. The French side has barely rebuilt and, sadly, looks decrepit. During the immediate days after the hurricane, there was looting in Philipsburg. There was no running water or electricity. Of course, TV’s and electronics were very useful for those looters.
When the city began to rebuild, one of the high-end jewelry stores, far from the center of town, decided to safeguard their valuables by installing a double door lock. That means that if you want to enter their store, you must be buzzed in by someone inside. They must unlock the first door. There’s only enough room for one or two people to enter through the front door. Once you squeeze into that locked environment, you are faced with another locked door leading into the store. You have no room to move. The second door cannot and will not be opened until the first door has firmly locked behind you. Once the second door has been opened, you feel like you’ve just entered a protected jail. Everyone inside looks like a captive salesperson who cannot exit until told to do so.
But here’s what I noticed the second time I passed by this jewelry store. There were two guards standing prominently outside this store. There’s a narrow sidewalk in front of the store, and you must carefully navigate your way around these intimidating figures. There’s parking in the street on a narrow road and not much room to walk. These two uniformed guards held a buzzer to decide whom to let into the store.
I didn’t realize it immediately, but on the way back to our car, I observed many people walking by these guards without making any effort to go into this store. In fact, most people avoided these burly guards and this store by crossing the street and even walking in the street.
These guards and this double locked door were repelling customers. I guarantee you that the owner of the store had no idea what effect this was having on their business. The store was empty each time I passed it. Not a single customer wanted to expend the effort needed to make their way into their protected little enclave they call a store. I have been inside this store before, and they carry nice watches and jewelry. But their vibe is so different from the jewelry stores in the center of town.
In the center of town, the jewelry stores are open and welcoming. They have no doors. They have greeters by the front door to openly welcome customers into their store. They blow ice-cold air conditioning out the door to entice hot and bothered visitors to their store. They make it easy for someone to walk right in and feel great the moment they step foot in their well-lit and very pleasant store.
Now, let’s transition to how you are repelling your ideal clients. It starts with their initial communication with you and your firm. I know you’ve created many obstacles before a new client gets to speak to you. Maybe you have a communication policy that requires a new client to make an appointment before you speak to them. Maybe you require a new caller to fill out a form online. Maybe you require their name, address, date of birth, the town they live in, and many biographical details before you’ll let them speak to someone.
I know from personal experience that I’ve done this; I set up many hoops for new clients to jump through. They had to watch a few of my videos before I’d speak to them. I’d only talk to new clients in the afternoon on the day after they initially called. I wanted to make sure they watched my videos and read a chapter of my book.
Maybe you ask potential clients to fill out a detailed form, explaining exactly why they are reaching out to you. Whether you realize it or not, you are currently making your potential new clients jump through hoops. In many cases, just like these guards standing in front of the jewelry store, you are repelling many new clients.
“Now wait one second…didn’t Dan Kennedy, the marketing master, say that we should be repelling those clients and customers we don’t want? The answer is yes, he did. And you should. But the problem is that many times you’re repelling potential new clients before you even realize if they are your ideal client. That’s a big difference.
Going back to the St. Maarten jewelry store example, these intimidating guards prevent people from approaching the store. Then, most people don’t want to exert the effort to make their way into the store. It’s too exhausting.
One of the great benefits of educational videos is that someone is online looking for information about the type of case you handle. They have a question. They want an answer. Often, they will have very specific questions.
By making your videos informative and educational for your ideal client, you have removed many of the barriers (also known as security guards) these people would normally encounter when walking past your office. Your videos allow them to get to know you. They feel like they are familiar with you. They form a bond with you before you ever actually meet them.
“I don’t want to speak to a secretary and tell her my private problems.”
“I don’t want the hassle of making an appointment, schlepping across town for 45 minutes, then have to find somewhere to park, then sit in a waiting room endlessly and then sit in front of an attorney for an hour. That’s just exhausting.”
“I want to speak to Gerry…I know he can help me.”
“No, I don’t want to wait for his book in the mail.”
“No, I can’t wait till this afternoon. I need to know whether to perform an autopsy now!”
“No, I can’t sit in the waiting room for an hour. I have to pick up my kids from school.”
Make it easy for your new prospective clients. Eliminate the barriers to entry. Your clients will appreciate the effort you’ve made to make it simple to hire you. Go through your client experience from step one, from where they first reach out to you, whether by email, phone, or snail mail, or maybe even a walk-in.
Go through every single step each of these people will need to engage in before they get to talk to you. As you do this exercise, ask yourself whether you are making it easy for them to walk into your law firm (and then you can filter out and repel those clients you don’t want), or are you making it as difficult as possible for new clients to hire you?
You might be surprised at the answer. Hopefully, by examining each step in your client experience, you can be more like the jewelry stores in the center of town rather than the buttoned-up store pretending to be an exclusive store open only to a select few.
By the way, while on vacation in St. Maarten, I created over 25 videos that I shot on a deserted island while my wife was picking seashells at that same location. If I can shoot video on vacation on a deserted island, you can shoot video in your office… and there’s simply no excuse for not doing so.
Till next time, see you on video! ◆
