Not every attorney is your ideal LNC client. There are some who will never hire you and you should not be working with them. Do you know where you are wasting your time?
Have you done the exercise of creating an ideal client avatar? This vision of your ideal client guides everything you do, including your marketing, fees, services, and even the color of your logo.
Spend a few hours considering things such as:
- Age group
- Status within law firm (senior partner? managing partner?)
- Type of law practice
- Size of law practice
- Location
Create a description of the ideal LNC client. Give him a name, a couple of kids, hobbies and type of law practice. You know quite a bit about him, you think.
But you would be wrong, and if you stop there, you may be missing a huge piece of the puzzle—and losing out on the best clients because of it.
Personality Mismatch Affects Your Perspective on the Ideal LNC Client
Here’s something that’s rarely considered in the “ideal client” equation, and it’s arguably the most important part: personality.
If you hate to get into confrontations, then an attorney who nitpicks your invoices and wants you to take off hours on every invoice is not a good fit for you. Sure, she might need your help, and she might love your services, but she is going to suck the oxygen out of your business by fighting about every invoice. Either she will be uncomfortable with your billing, or you’ll be miserable trying to justify your charges.
On the other hand, you may gravitate to working with attorneys who are respectful and appreciative. Attorneys used to call me when they had clients in their office with potential medical malpractice cases. The attorney would call me up and ask me what I thought about the facts.
After discussing the case with me, my ideal LNC client would offer to pay me for the 15 minutes we were on the phone. I’d always decline, knowing I was generating repeat business and good will.
Drive Determines Success
This one can be difficult to calculate from the start, but once you recognize it (or the lack thereof) it’s worth paying attention to. The client without the commitment to you and your services will—more often than not—only end up frustrating you both.
Better to end your relationship as soon as you see the signs of this than to waste your time working with attorneys who will not listen to you, or want you to cut corners and do dishonest and unethical things.
If you look at your current and past attorney clients, you’ll begin to see patterns. You can easily look back and see what made some clients a joy to work with, while others were a struggle. Think about what those differences are, and add them to your ideal LNC client profile. Then compare any new potential clients to this ideal LNC client profile, and you’ll never again sign on with a less-than-perfect client.
My new book released in 2017 focuses specifically on client management. How to Manage Your LNC Business shares tools and techniques for deepening your relationships with your clients. You will discover how to win over and retain the clients you want and recognize those who are too much trouble. Mastering negotiation, business communication and conflict are essential. I show you how. This is the book to use to build a stable foundation for your business. Order it at the Creating A Successful LNC Practice Series page on this website.