Turn Calls/Inquiries into Signed Retainer
Agreements and Cash in the Bank… Remotely
interviewer The reason I brought up how many leads I saw was to give people an inkling, which we’ll get into more, of the different world you live in and the different world you created with your marketing. I wanted to ask you if you feel like because you focus a lot of time on marketing, it takes away from your ability to defend people properly to do a good job?
Robert No. The exact opposite is the case, Richard. I’ll tell you why. One thing that is preliminarily very tough for lawyers to get through their mind is that your profession is that you are a lawyer. Your business is the marketing of your legal practice. Once people can get their mind truly around that and understand that, then they have a chance if turning things around and really having the type of success that I’ve seen in a ton of lawyers who have taken the time to do this.
But the reality is that if you think about it, I know you’ve talked about the 100 or so people who filled out your survey. All of those guys in there, they have that same feeling in the pit of their stomach saying “Is my phone going to ring? Is another client going to come in here?” If someone comes in and is in an area that they don’t want to take or they say “It’s kind of close and I like these types of cases”, because of financial pressures, they are pressured to take on these types of cases and that’s where disaster occurs.
I can give horror story after horror story of perfectly good lawyers who maybe took on an employment law situation where someone said they were wrongly fired and they found themselves in federal court, where they had no business being, dealing with federal laws. I know a couple of people who have gotten their licenses suspended. This is the issue time and time again.
For me, it’s getting cases in the areas I want to practice and charging enough so that I can spend the time that needs to be spent on those cases so that I’m not pressured to take every case that comes in. I can niche it, so it’s very easy to stay on top of all the latest developments in DUI and reckless driving speeding law as opposed to being someone who is trying to keep track of everything.
I’ve got an older brother and one of his specialties is defending legal malpractice. He had joked many years ago that “It’s amazing how many lawyers who, through their Yellow Page ad says, ‘I do bankruptcy, wills, criminal defense, family practice’.” and had every specialty listed, that he had defended. It’s impossible to keep track of those things. As I said, no, the exact opposite is the case. I am charging a premium price and am able to do everything possible for the clients.
interviewer In talking about price, I was shocked, and it probably shocked you, that over the past six or eight months, asking attorneys how much they charge for a first time no trial DUI, the national average I’m seeing is about $1,500. For some people, that’s crazy. For some people, that’s too much. They feel like people are just not going to pay that, but that’s what I’m seeing all across the U.S. If you’re comfortable with it, would you let the listeners know how much you charge?
Robert Yes. In Virginia, the prosecutors don’t look into cases ahead of time. You’re going to go to the prosecutor not knowing if he’s going to make a plea offer that’s acceptable or not. You’re either going to work it out or try it that day. If you want a jury trial, you can appeal and get a trial, the no-vote to the other trial-level court, which in Virginia is known as the circuit court.
The other bizarre thing about Virginia, and I believe it’s only one of two states left, where juries sentence. On DUI cases, there are probably fewer jury trials in Virginia because the jurors are such a wild card than in any other state. What I charge for a DUI case is a flat fee of $5,000 which includes, if they do wish to appeal and they want a judge as opposed to a jury to appeal, I agree to represent them for free on appeal.
interviewer Out of all these potential clients you’re getting every day, what percentage do you turn away or do you let other people handle?
Robert One of the things I think a lot of lawyers don’t do and let’s start with some marketing key concepts in what I’m doing. One is that a lawyer needs to sit down and decide who their ideal client is. They should know someone, specifically as to their age range, area of employment, area of money they make, et cetera. They should be marketing to attract these people and marketing to repel the tire-kickers.
Many people say they’re losing clients to lawyers who are willing to drop their prices to bargain basement but I throw that back at the lawyers. I say “Look, your marketing needs to give them a reason why they should pick you among all these other lawyers”. If you don’t give them a reason in any shopping or buying experience, all they know is to pick on price.
It’s the marketing’s fault if someone is only concerned with price, whereas I’ve offered free information products which are designed to be delivered to people when they come to my website. As I said, it answers questions for them, in a completely non-pressured fashion. A lot of people think “If I get a lawyer on the phone, am I going to get some sales pitch? Am I going to get pressured?” I offer a free consumer guide on my website.
For DUI, it’s called “How to Choose A DUI Lawyer in Virginia”, because most people don’t see themselves as every getting a DUI. They need to figure out quickly what they need to be asking and what the different criteria are. My book does that. In part two of the book I talk about the 20 issues I see lawyers miss that lose winnable cases. There is a non-exhaustive list, but it also gets in their heads that “Hey, good lawyers win cases that bad lawyers don’t”.
I say on my website and I say it in the videos on my website: True, no lawyer wins every case but it’s absolute fact that you can’t win an issue your lawyer doesn’t recognize and raise. That consumer guide, when they get that, they can read that for free and they can listen to all the different things about my practice, how I do things and my background. I can answer these questions for them so I’m letting the client make up their own mind.
Generally, as opposed to every other lawyer, by providing free, useful information, this is what’s known as information marketing. It’s also known as direct response marketing. You fill out the form, give me your information and I will send you this guide which is very helpful to folks. At that point, I can follow up and invite the client to contact my office. Very often, the client has made the decision that they hope I’m willing to take their case as opposed to every other lawyer situation where they’re saying “Geez, I hope this guy hires me. Maybe I should lower my price or maybe I should ask who else he’s talked to and what sort of prices”. The reality is that if people are that desperate, the clients sense that.