By Trey Ryder

In yesterday's mail I received a pamphlet I requested about a company's products. The problem is I requested this pamphlet at least two months ago and long since gave up on receiving it. What's more, I already bought the product I wanted from a competing company.

When prospects call your office and ask for your materials, first they evaluate how you and your staff treat them on the telephone. Second, they evaluate how quickly they receive your materials. (The moment they hang up the receiver, their subconscious clock starts ticking.) So even before they receive and open your envelope, they have already evaluated you in two important ways.

When your prospect asks to receive your materials, he is primed and ready to read. After two or three days, his interest wanes. (At this point, he often concludes that his business is not important to you -- or that you forgot to send his materials.) And after five or six days, your prospect has all but forgotten that he called your office -- except for the negative comments he makes about you to his friends and associates.

If you hope to strike while the iron's hot, you must get your materials out quickly. Preferably, the same day you receive the inquiry. This reinforces the value of having a website, where prospects can read your materials immediately.

If this prospect called your office for materials, he also could have called other lawyers' offices. Fortunately for you, most lawyers don't have anything persuasive to send. So if you have powerful educational materials, you're far, far ahead of your competitors. But... if you're like most attorneys and don't have a persuasive marketing piece you can mail or e-mail, I urge you to correct this situation immediately.

I suggest you proceed on the assumption that your prospect called several attorneys -- and will hire the lawyer whose materials he receives first.

Do everything in your power to make sure those materials belong to you!

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© Trey Ryder
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