BY ELLEN TOPLIN
When it comes to legal marketing, nothing beats personal networking and relationship building. Lawyers get business from the corporations, executives and colleague attorneys who know and trust them.
But clearly there are marketing tactics that can enhance or cultivate those relationships. Having represented hundreds of lawyers over the past 21 years, I know that lawyers will agree: speaking engagements before targeted groups are valuable marketing opportunities.
However, one stand up gig doesn’t make lasting headlines; you have to take proactive measures to make sure your voice and memory carry well beyond the dais. Effective marketers establish and reinforce their position by creating and sustaining direct connections to the audience, both before and after their actual speaking engagement. However, many lawyers don’t take the time to plan for any marketing beyond their 15 to 30 minute spotlight and the obligatory few handshakes that follow.
It is a commonly accepted statistic that people have to hear something seven times before they can recall it, including your name or its association with a legal matter. The key to any speaking engagement marketing is, therefore, turning the one presentation into seven solid connections that leave a lasting memory and, in turn, mean business.
Here are some marketing tactics to consider before the presentations, during the program and as follow-up activities. Whether you’re able to implement all or any of these suggestions will vary, based on your personal comfort level, time availability, and the practices accepted by the organization sponsoring your program. Obviously if you are speaking at a national symposium, where you’re one of 200 presenters, you’ll have less authority and latitude than if your law firm is sponsoring its own seminar for clients and friends. However, the tactics suggested here can be adapted and applied to most situations, in one form or another.
Before the Seminar
Let’s assume you are booked as a speaker on a program. (This article isn’t meant to address how to get the placement – only what to do when you already have. Getting booked is another article entirely.)
Most programs require advance registration. While there are sponsoring organizations that consider attendee names as proprietary information, many are willing to give you access to a representative sample of the attendees, if you explain that you would like to contact individuals to help you insure that your speech addresses participants’ concerns. There is no harm in asking, for example, for a list of 10 people and contacting them with a mini telephone, e-mail or letter questionnaire to help you refine your topic. If this list is not available to you, consider calling the conference chair to ask for names, selecting people from last year’s attendee list or going through the member organization’s directory.
The key here is to seize the opportunity to pick up the phone and make an initial connection to a target client or referral source. And because you are not calling to ask for business or an introduction, but rather for advice about how you can best meet the needs of attendees at a conference that person is or has attended, you are more likely to engage someone in a discussion.
If you succeed in making that contact, you have created the first of the required seven communications. Also, you have gotten your name out and associated it with a legal concern that is important to that individual, while positioning yourself as the “expert” lecturer on the topic. Another benefit, you added a name to your database of marketing contacts for future follow up.
You can also use your participation in the program as a reason to invite your network of contacts to attend the presentation and/or meet you at an event they may be attending. Don‘t assume that a sponsoring organization should or will do all the promotion for you. You should send personal letters to people you know, asking them to attend, and schedule personal meetings around it. If they can’t attend, this is a chance for you to offer to send them a follow up note with a copy of your presentation.
In your advance attendee communications, you may want to ask participants to come prepared with their concerns about or a summary of how their business is handling three specific situations. This engages attendees in your topic and with you prior to your presentation. It also insures that people will be prepared for questions you pose to the audience during your talk. This is another step in creating a relationship. Now people are not just coming to hear you speak, they have thought of a concern they want addressed.
If it’s a big enough conference, your firm may want to support you by hosting a social gathering or sponsoring a program event. Some firms have also obtained lists of attendees at major conferences, and sent hospitality baskets, or specialty giveaways to key attendees.
During your preplanning, don’t forget the media. Feel free to invite relevant media to your program, assuming that is fine with the sponsoring organization. (There is a whole separate media relations strategy to both promote speeches and cultivate media relationships during formal programs. However, that too, is the subject of another article.)
During Your Presentation
Let’s assume you know your audience. You have done your homework and structured your presentation based on your informed understanding of audience needs.
If you have connected with specific attendees in advance, there is nothing wrong with mentioning a few people by name during your presentation. For instance, “I had a discussion before this presentation with X and he said….” Or “Three of you in the audience have previously told me…” This communicates that you’re already connected to people in the group and creates a perception of trust. You’re not perceived as a talking head; you already have a relationship with colleagues in the group.
During your presentation, also consider referencing a case, article, or some piece of relevant timely information filed back at the office that would be of interest to the audience. By not having that information immediately at hand gives you a reason to ask the audience for their business cards and offer a follow up connection.
In the same regard, you can offer to do some sort of free analysis of a problem or an issue that was raised during the meeting. This too gives you a chance to request people’s card or e-mail addresses. Use your speech as a launching pad to position yourself as a trusted source for information or support.
And don’t be afraid to pass out a sign up sheet. Tell the audience that you regularly send communications, (reprints of articles, memoranda of law, a legal update newsletter) to people interested in a particular subject. Again, this builds relationships and adds names to your database.
Post-Presentation
In a perfect world, you’ve done everything that has been outlined here, and implemented some of your own creative ideas. By doing so, you may have made four or five contacts with some people -- you talked to them by phone in advance of the program, e-mailed them something, talked to them at the event, maybe even shared drinks or a lunch. You certainly have established yourself as much more than a speaker standing 50 feet away at a podium.
So, how do you keep the ball rolling? Immediately after the program, identify the 10 people who are your best potential clients or referral sources and drop each a personalized e-mail the day after the program. The mailing can be social in nature, provide a piece of information, or ask the participant to complete a feedback questionnaire to help you refine future presentations. If you opt to ask for such feedback, make it clear that you chose this person because you believe he/she has a global perspective of the issues critical to his/her industry or profession. People are usually complimented when you ask for their advice and willing to help you serve their colleagues better.
Post your speech and related issues or addendums on your firm’s Web site. You can then e-mail attendees to advise them of updates or additional information and provide a link to that page.
As another follow up tactic, some people even choose to develop a target market brochure or specific service offering (e.g. a special type of legal audit). Mailing that with a cover letter to participants soon after a presentation can positively reinforce your connection and show how you created something in response to the specific concerns voiced during the program.
Finally, take the time to make personal calls to the top people on your marketing list and set up follow up meetings to get to know their company needs. However, sometimes calling to set a lunch date or to ask for business may seem too pushy to a new acquaintance. In those cases, you might consider forming an advisory board or an ad hoc group that will be meeting again (in person, or through teleconference) to explore a particular issue discussed during the program, or to advance an agenda item of concern to the association or industry group. You can deepen a new business relationship by working with someone on an initiative of common concern.
These are only a few of the strategies to consider; there are certainly many more. The important thing to remember is that all marketing efforts must be developed as part of an overall plan. No single marketing tactic drives referrals or requests for service; only an integrated ongoing process that builds relationships will ultimately deliver business.