Turn Calls/Inquiries into Signed Retainer
Agreements and Cash in the Bank… Remotely
Interviewer: All right. So how do you ask for the goodnight kiss? How do you, literally, ask for the business at the right time? What do you say?
Josh: It’s situational, generally. Many of my phone calls will use the phrase or something along the phrase of, “Okay. Josh, if I want to work with you, what do we need to do next?” That’s a real easy one. That’s the homerun, hit it out of the ballpark, “Okay. Let me send you the contract while we’re on the phone. Sign the contract. You signed it. I’m your attorney. If you need anything else, here’s my phone number.” That’s the easy one.
Probably the next level is where somebody says, “Well, what do I do now?” Generally what I do is I’d say, “Look,” and this is another sales technique that’s a non-sales technique. I say, “Look, I’m not a salesman. I don’t want to be a salesman to you. I want to be your attorney. You’ve got to let me know if you want to work with me. If I make you feel comfortable and I make you feel like I know what I’m doing and I make you feel like you’re going to be safe in my hands, then this is the steps we’re going to take for me to be your attorney.” That one works pretty good, if they ask you that question.
It’s the person who just is non-committal that’s the hard one. It’s, “Well, you know, I don’t know what to do and I talked to 30 attorneys and I still really don’t know. It’s a lot of money.” Some of them are digging for a discount. I don’t fight with other attorneys on the basis of how much my services are. I just don’t do it. Other attorneys do. If they’re digging for a discount, then by that time I’ve probably lost the client, that’s what they want, this discount.
There are also those clients that are just so lost that they don’t know what to do so what you’re trying to do is give them direction. You’re trying to say, “Look, you called me and you had some questions, correct?” and most of the time they’re going to say, “Yes.” And you’re going to say, “Did I answer all your questions?” and a lot of times they’ll say, “Yes.” “Okay. I’ve answered all your questions. You know what’s going to go on. You know what it means to have an attorney work for you. You know this. You know that. You know this. Now, if I’ve answered all your questions, are you comfortable with me?” Just as blunt as can be.
Some people will say, “I don’t know,” and you say, “Okay. What can I do to make you comfortable?” Some people will say, “Well, yes, I’m comfortable with you. You sound like a straight-shooter.” I hear the word “straight-shooter” a lot. I don’t know why. I think people like the idea of the old West but they say, “You’re a straight-shooter. Yes, I trust you.” I say, “Well, if I’ve answered all your questions and you trust me, then would you like to retain me because I’ll tell you what I need from you for you to retain me.”
Generally, if you get to that point, they’re going to say ‘yes or no’. They’re going to say, “Well, I don’t know. I’m going to shop around.” If they’re shopping around, they’re price shopping and, ultimately, the reason that I don’t discount my services at all to anybody is another lesson I learned the first year I was in practice. The more I discount my services, the less the client appreciates me. I don’t know why. I’ve never figured that one out, but I just don’t do it. I give discounts to people that are in the military. I give discounts to people who are currently full-time students but in so far as discounting my services on the basis of what another attorney does, I won’t do it. If they want to go with the other attorney who’s discounting more than me, please work with that attorney because I don’t want the headache.
Interviewer: You’re giving specific reasons why. It’s not just, “Oh, all right, I’ll give you a discount.” There’s a specific reason why so people know the rules, you communicate the rules even if it means not working with you so, I understand what you mean. Got you.
Is it worth it to ask you about when you can tell that someone is not going to retain you or is it worth to ask about how you can tell if someone’s there just to waste your time?
Josh: I think all attorneys get phone calls from the people that are . . . oh, it’s almost like they’re just wanting somebody to talk to and the second that I realize that it’s that person, a lot of times I’ll get off and say, “I’ve got other things to attend to. You can call me back if you decide to retain me.” I let them down as easy as possible but, ultimately, I don’t want to talk to them. They’re a perspective client. They’re not a friend. If they need to talk to a friend, they should call a friend. Once they decide they want an attorney, they should call me.
There’s that sort of waste of time. There the people that are price shopping and that’s a complete waste of time for my office because I don’t lower my price. I tell people that at the get go. I say, “I’ve done pretty well for my clients. I continue to do well for my clients and I will fight for all my clients. Therefore, I feel my price is fair. I don’t change it based on what other attorneys do.” I tell them that ahead of time. If you want to tell me that another attorney is lowering his price, I will simply say, “That’s very nice of him. I’ll refer the next client that wants to have their DUI handled for $0.99. I won’t do that. I’ve got to make a living.”
I think when you’re really blunt with people like that, they have an understanding of what you’re willing and not willing to do. If they acquiesce to whatever the price it is that you have, that means they want to work with you. If you acquiesce to the price that they want, it means you want to work with them and there’s a big difference.
Interviewer: What if the first question out of their mouth is, “I’m just calling around, had a DUI. I’m just trying to see how much you charge.” What do you say to that?
Josh: It kind of depends on how they say it. If they’re just as blunt as what you’re saying, I’ll generally say exactly what my price is and I’ll say just exactly what a lot of people have said in sales since the beginning of time, “You’re paying for quality. You can go to the guy that charges you $200.00 and spends a half-hour on your case or you can go to me and I charge this much and I’m going to take as much time as I need to. I’m not going to compete with that guy. I’ve got no interest in only spending a half-hour on your case. I want to help you. I don’t know what he wants to do but I want to help you.” If they ask another question, you normally have a chance at retaining them. If they say, “You’re too high,” then you say, “Have a good life.”