September is back to school time. Even if you haven't attended school for a while, September still may make you feel as if it's time for a new start - a fresh perspective. Often that means looking at your plans for your practice moving forward. It's an opportunity to review what you've been doing and whether it is serving the goals you have identified for your practice. Since your practice revolves around your clients, that's a good place to start.
Where do your clients come from?
Whenever I ask lawyers where their clients come from, they tell me 'word of mouth.' But when pressed, many of these same lawyers can't say which referral sources refer the most business, or the best business. Most lawyers make assumptions about where their clients come from, without doing a good job of keeping track of those statistics. To learn a simple way to do that, see my post on keeping track of your clients.
Are the clients you have the clients you want?
In addition to being aware of where your business comes from, you need to know what business is good business for you - and that means being well aware of who your ideal clients are and comparing the profile of your ideal client with your existing client list.
If you've kept track of the above information, you'll want to review it with these questions in mind:
Who refers business to you? Is it existing clients? Former clients? Lawyers or other professionals? In what fields and/or practice areas? Do you receive referrals from networking groups or contacts related to specific groups or activities? Which ones?
Once you know who refers business to you, explore what kinds of business you receive from each referral source. Which referral sources refer your ideal clients to you?
Do a mini makeover
Armed with this information, you can improve your marketing and business development efforts.
During this back to school season, when you are re-evaluating old tasks or considering taking on new ones, joining groups or determining which activities to undertake, determine whether those activities are likely to bring you into contact with your ideal clients and referral sources that can lead you to your ideal clients.
How can you allocate your resources adequately to target your ideal clients and your best referral sources? Should you eliminate a group or activity that hasn't resulted in business or doesn't bring you in contact with your target market?
Can you step up your efforts with respect to those sources from whom you haven't been receiving business? For example, if you aren't receiving referrals from former clients, can you plan a better method of keeping in touch with former clients to stay 'top of mind?'
Which referral sources refer you the most/best business? Where can you find more referral sources like them?
Which referral sources could use additional education about your services or the clients you're seeking to represent?
Set goals informed by the above questions and then create strategies for achieving them, with specific, scheduled action steps to move you forward.
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