There are many ups and downs, difficulties and challenges in marketing your services to prospective clients. It is easy to let rejection and other obstacles take us out. In challenging times, the key to successful marketing and sales starts with one word – bounce.
No, it’s not fabric softener. And it’s not some soft, fuzzy, “feel-good” concept either. Bounce is a practical tool, a working principle that can help you gain the upper hand and build the business you want, on your terms.
If we live and breathe, we deal with stress – with obstacles, setbacks, challenges. Our resilience, our adaptability in the face of stress is all about bouncing back from hard times and through that process, becoming better and stronger. Bouncing back has two equally important steps: Disintegration, or the sense of things falling apart and reintegration, or the process of building a better outlook or a new way. Here’s how it works.
When we encounter a significant challenge, whether it’s in our work or personal life, it’s not unusual to experience a sense of disintegration or “loss of altitude.” The initial and very human response to this loss or drop is to resist it. We want to keep things as they are, even though the way things are isn’t working very well. We need to overcome our initial fear of change and recognize the call to try something different. We need to replace the fear of change with a fear of what will happen if we do not change. This new fear can motivate us to explore new ways to solve our problems and build a better plan to move forward. With a good plan and productive fear, we are ready to bounce back.
Many of us may be facing a more challenging selling environment where it takes more work to make estate planning relevant. Today, it is less about minimizing estate tax and more about finding family-specific reasons for estate planning. Truth be told, these changes may have made marketing your services a bit tougher. Perhaps that's the “disintegration” you’re experiencing right now.
That experience of loss, of feeling stalled or stuck in our marketing/sales efforts, however, could be the valuable first step toward a stronger, more successful law business. In this example, “losing sales altitude” can push us to readdress some marketing questions: What is my vision for my practice? What are my strengths, shortcomings? In this changing industry environment, who is my ideal client? And how do I best reach and engage them?
Answering these questions may result in a plan to update and expand our referral sources. Or to create a series of seminars and webinars to better reach and connect with prospective clients about helping them build their legacy. Or it could mean a total repositioning campaign, with a whole new set of marketing/sales materials. The key is to maintain our vision – and our willingness - to step back, get creative and do something different.
Many have discovered that the most important qualities we possess to help us grow and advance – persistence, confidence, and resilience – are learned when times are tough. As we replace our fear of change with a fear of what will happen if we don't change, a transformation becomes possible. We will see things more clearly and drive toward something new – a new approach, a new strategy, a new level of commitment – and ultimately reach a better place than where we began. That’s a real business advantage. That’s bounce.
If you're looking to take your law practice to the next level, we have the practice development resources to help. From useful toolkits to coaching and mentoring programs, you'll learn the legal marketing skills you need to achieve your goals.
