by Trey Ryder

You won't enjoy or pursue a marketing program that's inefficient or wastes a lot of your time.

Still, if you hope your practice will succeed, you must maintain an assertive marketing effort.

Over the years, you have learned what you need to say to prospects that will result in their hiring your services. In fact, you probably use nearly the same explanation with each of your prospective clients.

Likewise, you have learned the questions prospects are most likely to ask. Truth be told, you've probably heard those questions hundreds of times.

So: How do we make your marketing more efficient?

Simple. We put your marketing message in a form that you can easily duplicate and distribute to prospective clients.

This makes your program more efficient and saves you a great deal of time. Plus, it is more convenient for your prospect than scheduling an appointment and coming into your office. In most cases, your message doesn't take the place of coming into your office. But it does explain to your prospect everything you would have said during the first hour of your first visit.

Right now, if you meet with 20 prospects each month -- at one hour each -- you invest 20 hours repeating pretty much the same information. Why not duplicate your information and provide it to your prospects before they come in for your first meeting. Immediately, you save 20 hours every month. What are 20 hours of your time worth? Plenty, I bet.

Here are smart ways to deliver your marketing message that save time and increase your marketing's efficiency.

SMART WAY #1: FACT KIT.

Prepare the documents that make up a compelling marketing presentation and argument. They include

(1) Educational materials that explain your prospect's problem and the solutions you can provide;

(2) Biographical material that outlines your background and experience, along with your photo;

(3) Articles you've written or in which you've been quoted, reinforcing the fact that you are an authority in your field;

(4) Articles that support the depth of your prospect's problem, proof that your recommended solution works, or both, even if you did not write or are not quoted in the articles.

(5) Letters of recommendation from clients and colleagues attesting to your honesty, integrity, knowledge, skill, judgment and experience. (Testimonials are not allowed in some jurisdictions, so be sure to check your rules of professional conduct.)

(6) A detailed letter that explains the services you offer, answers frequently asked questions, and provides information about fees.

(7) A handout that explains the many benefits clients receive from hiring you.

(8) A handout that explains how you differ from other lawyers (your competitive advantages), listing reasons prospects hire you.

(9) A single sheet form that lists objectives most prospects want to achieve. Involve your prospect by asking him to fill out the form, check the objectives that are important to him, and then fax the form to you or bring it to your initial meeting.

(10) Information and advice about how to hire a lawyer in your field of law.

Then, rather than inviting prospects to call you at the office, you offer your fact kit. Prospects will request your fact kit and you simply drop it into the mail -- or send it by e-mail. (When I have done this with my prospects, I've found that I can often save one to two hours that I would have spent on the phone explaining what I have already explained in my packet.)

SMART WAY #2: WEB SITE.

Once you have all your marketing documents prepared, you can easily post them on your web site. Prospects can read your entire marketing message on your web site, saving you a tremendous amount of time. (If prospects call you before visiting your web site, you simply give them the domain address and explain where they can find answers to their questions.) Then, when they call to speak with you, you're not dealing with a cold prospect. You're speaking with someone who has already read your materials and is now inquiring to find out specifically if and how you can help him.

SMART WAY #3: BROCHURE.

You can reduce your packet of information into a practice or firm brochure. Then, in this one brochure, you can provide the essential parts of your marketing message. It won't be your entire message, but your scaled-down message can provide enough information to take your prospect to the next level of interest. By itself, your brochure might cause prospects to call you. Or, it might offer your larger packet, which prospects receive by mail or e-mail after calling your office. Or, your brochure could also refer them to your web site for more details.

The point is to take them from your smaller marketing message (your brochure) to your larger, more in-depth marketing message, in your packet or on your Web site.

SMART WAY #4: NEWSLETTER.

Your newsletter should repeat key, motivating parts of your marketing message every month. It won't contain your entire message at any one time, but it will deliver your message, restate its most important points and offer sound reasons for your prospects to act sooner rather than later.

SMART WAY #5: SEMINARS.

You address many prospects at once when you present a seminar. This is why so many lawyers like this educational and marketing forum. After all, why sit in your office talking with one prospect after another, when you could present your program to 10, 20 or 50 at once. (In recent years, many lawyers have found that the people attending their seminars are not good prospects -- or that not enough people show up. Both of these problems are classic marketing problems that can be corrected.)

Case history: Several months ago, I helped a lawyer fine-tune his seminar promotion materials. Here's what he wrote as a testimonial:

"I increased my seminar attendance by 100% by making Trey Ryder's suggested changes to my seminar flyers. At one recent seminar, we had to close the doors after 130 people showed up. Trey's suggestions have been invaluable in making my seminars so successful."

Summary: If you have given up on seminars, please reconsider.

SMART WAY #6: RECORDED MESSAGE.

Many prospects like to receive recorded information on CDs, DVDs and MP3 files. You could record one of your live seminars. Or you could take key parts of your written materials and put them onto a CD.

Our society loves recorded information. Every week, Americans buy thousands of CDs and DVDs -- and download scads of MP3 files. When your prospect is sitting in his car -- stalled in traffic on the way to work -- you have a captive audience who has the time and opportunity to listen to your marketing message.

During the 1980s, I used a single audio cassette tape to deliver my marketing message. It was 70 minutes long, roughly 35 minutes per side. When someone called and asked how my marketing program worked, I offered to send them a free tape, which every single person accepted. I immediately saved two hours that I could use for other purposes. And if they wanted to ask specific questions about how I could help them, I invited them to call on my toll-free line.

(Today I rely on my web site and documents I send by e-mail to deliver my marketing message.)

WHAT ELSE? You can probably think of other ways your prospects would like to receive information from you. Test each way. Once you find out how convenient marketing can be for both you and your prospects, your renewed effort will bring you many new clients.

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© Trey Ryder

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