The Info Everyone Wants to Know?
In my very first blog post I described what I believe to be a common marketing mistake that law firms make. That is asking the question “How did you hear about us?” when someone first contacts the firm. I heard from a number of people who agreed, disagreed and/or wanted to know how to acquire this useful information.
To clarify my point, I did not say that one should never ask this question, but only that it should not be among the first ones that are asked. So, when can you do it? One licensee sent me this comment:
“I ask this specific question at the end of the first telephone contact with the client – after Intake has finished the intake and has passed the call through to me for further assessment and making an appointment- and also in my initial meeting with the client when I am signing them up. Not the FIRST question…………And what usually ensues is a bit of a conversation with the new client about the many ways in which he/she has heard about our law firm. Very often, one way they have heard about us is from another person. Of course, they almost always say they are familiar with the TV ads……I find that the clients like being asked that question b/c it shows that I care about what the “thought process” was by which they ended up calling us.”
Excellent.
Establish rapport, cover their problems, make them feel like you will be taking care of them, and then ask the question in an “organic” way. The information you receive in this fashion will be more accurate and valuable than hitting them with it up front.
