Legal services: how to keep your offer from arousing suspicion

by Trey Ryder

I received a letter from a lawyer, asking me to evaluate his offer and whether I thought it would attract new clients. This lawyer has an extensive background in marketing, so his letter and related materials were far beyond what most lawyers would create.

Here's the problem: His marketing materials were too good. They were not written in a way a lawyer might offer services. Instead, they were written more like a marketer would write to a low level consumer audience. They were too powerful, too compelling, too convincing, too slick. As soon as I read them, the red lights started flashing and the bells went off. No client would hire this lawyer because his offer was "too good to be true."

When you offer to provide legal services, you want your services and the terms and conditions on which you offer them to appear fair and reasonable to both parties. And, naturally, you want to do your best to reduce your prospect's risk.

But when your offer sounds too good, as this one did (it almost sounded like a late night infomercial) you arouse suspicion and skepticism. You lose credibility.

Make your offer as clean and straightforward as you can, but be careful not to make it too good. Because if you do, all the credibility you've built to that point will evaporate. And, rather than decide to hire you, your prospect will likely choose to "think about it," and you will never hear from him again.