I don’t know Ron Shevlin from a hole in the wall, but he’s a graduate of my alma mater so he can’t be all bad. I found Ron through an article on his blog, and now I’m hooked on him.
The article concerned the notion that one cannot advertise their way to greatness in business. A silly statement, of course – because we all know that to be the case But as with any great idea, it’s one that smacks of the obvious.
Here’s the thing: you can pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into marketing and advertising your consumer bankruptcy law office but if service fails then it isn’t going to garner long-term business success. Oh sure, your phone will ring and people will come in for assistance, but if you don’t treat ‘em right and perform beyond their expectations you might as well install a revolving door in your office because prospects are gonna hightail it outta there pretty quick.
Case in point is a client of mine, a successful consumer bankruptcy lawyer who makes money hand over fist in a high volume practice. He’s a good guy, a good lawyer, and an utter train wreck in business. He gets virtually no referrals, dumps a ton of cash into advertising, and wonders why he isn’t booming.
Surprise, surprise – his client service sucks. Files sit around for weeks before cases get files, means tests are incomplete and scattered on the floor of his office, and some of his clients haven’t followed up on their cases in months because they aren’t informed of what it is they need to do to make it happen.
So what are doing together? We blew apart his office, reconstructing it like a huge puzzle. Staffers are being re-trained, fired, move around, whatever sets the ship right. We’ve started a comprehensive program of client surveys to see what his clients love and hate about the office, and are taking every one to heart. We painted the office, updated the magazines in the reception area, started offering coloring books to the kids. The staff started dressing professionally, and we added some evening hours.
Weekly meetings are helping people keep track of their responsibilities, and simple calendaring tools are making it easier. We’ve developed a string of client letters to keep people informed.
Guess what? It’s working like a charm, and referrals are starting to trickle in. The staff is happier, clients are happier, and my client is happier. His office is starting to become the place he always wanted it to be – a profitability machine that spits out happy clients on one side and money on the other.
Take it to heart: when planning your marketing, make sure you’ve got the infrastructure to handle it.
