Lots of lawyers are thinking about starting a bankruptcy law practice. After all, the news keeps telling us how the economy’s in free fall and that people are in worse shape than ever before (at least, worse than they’ve been in a long, long while).
But what’s the first step?
Do you need to know bankruptcy law? The best computer software? The right organizations to join? The perfect books to buy?
Sure, that’s all important – but it isn’t the very first thing to do.
The first thing – absolute, positive Step One – is to make sure you’re cut out for it when thinking about starting a bankruptcy practice. Know thyself and all that.
You need to know how to market your bankruptcy practice. Because if you’ve got all the knowledge but no clients then it’s all an academic exercise. And I’m morally opposed to exercise (though I’m starting to go to the gym, it’s because I feel the creaks in my bones and not because I’m so in love with it).
You can put up an ad, a website, produce a fancy TV and radio commercial, dress up in a suit and play the part. But unless you attain an understanding of your own motives those legal marketing efforts will ring hollow with your prospects. And if it isn’t genuine, it isn’t going to work.
Let’s take a step back.
Have you ever gone into a store and been approached by a really good salesperson? He knows all about the product, the specs, the bells-and-whistles. He gives you his speech, works out the price, and pretty much does everything right. Yet when it comes time to open your wallet you stop and decide against it.
Something just isn’t right. The sales pitch is good, but you’re just not feeling it. You can sniff the bulls**t, and accordingly take a step back.
Other times, you can walk into a store and meet a salesperson who may not do everything right – he may not know everything about the product, maybe his pricing is a little high, his tie is undone, whatever. But there’s SOMETHING about this salesperson that just . . . clicks.
He gets you. He understands your needs, and seems genuinely interested in getting you what you want. Bingo, he gets the sale.
Same thing here. If you start a bankruptcy law practice but don’t personally believe in using bankruptcy as a solution and a tool for financial rehabilitation, you’re not going to be genuine. You may talk the talk well enough, but you’re not going to be able to walk the walk.
Maybe you’ll do OK for awhile, but your prospects will smell it – just like a dog smells fear. Your marketing will fail at that core level, and your consultations won’t ring true. They may not be able to put their finger on it, but they’ll know something isn’t right. And you’ll lose the client to someone else.
Don’t be a bankruptcy lawyer for the money. Don’t be a bankruptcy lawyer because it’s the latest, hottest trend. Don’t do it because the bottom fell out of your real estate practice, or because your business has dried up.
Sounds all “new age, touchy-feely,” I know. But if you can’t get behind something 100%, if your heart isn’t in it, all the other stuff won’t save you.
Great article that applies universally, not just to the practice of bankruptcy law. I think we're all learning that marketing and sales – even in the professions – are no longer dirty words, but underneath all the technique must reside commitment.
Human beings making decisions like to think they're making an intellectual choice – which is in play during the research stages – but at the ultimate point of taking action – the yes or no always comes from an emotional place. That place can only be influenced through the commitment of the selling/marketing party. If you can't commit 100% to what you do, find something else to which you can – or you're leaving money on the table.
Thanks, Jay!
Great article that applies universally, not just to the practice of bankruptcy law. I think we’re all learning that marketing and sales – even in the professions – are no longer dirty words, but underneath all the technique must reside commitment.
Human beings making decisions like to think they’re making an intellectual choice – which is in play during the research stages – but at the ultimate point of taking action – the yes or no always comes from an emotional place. That place can only be influenced through the commitment of the selling/marketing party. If you can’t commit 100% to what you do, find something else to which you can – or you’re leaving money on the table.
Thanks, Jay!
Wow. I have to say I'm as guilty as the next person of assuming lawyers are tough, no nonsense, take no prisoners, show me the money, kind of people. It's great to realize many of you do what you do for all the 'right' reasons. Great post.
Wow. I have to say I’m as guilty as the next person of assuming lawyers are tough, no nonsense, take no prisoners, show me the money, kind of people. It’s great to realize many of you do what you do for all the ‘right’ reasons. Great post.
A lawyer should be tough and no-nonsense when facing an adversary. But if you are a prospect or a client and don’t make a personal connection that rings true then you’re not talking with the right person. Commonality is, I think, critical to good lawyer-client working relations.
Thank you so much for providing this article. Lots of lawyers are trying to build a bankruptcy practice these days. Many make the critical mistake of using outmoded ways of getting the practice off the ground, and end up being an also-ran in their area.
A lawyer should be tough and no-nonsense when facing an adversary. But if you are a prospect or a client and don't make a personal connection that rings true then you're not talking with the right person. Commonality is, I think, critical to good lawyer-client working relations.