Profitable Law Firm Guide: The Impact of Online Payments on Your Bottom Line

Taking steps to increase law firm profitability is always in the back of lawyers minds but their daily responsibilities can quickly take up the need to focus on growing their business. However, it doesn’t have to be time consuming to enhance profitability. These 4 strategies can easily be implemented all at once or at your own pace to support your law firms growth.

1. Position yourself as a thought leaders

Education attracts client attention; information converts client attention to revenue. You can use the “teach or be taught” framework to approach partners who have an audience filled with your clients. 

Here are a few examples: 

• Business law firms can reach out to notable or up and coming education providers, including Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, Fortune, Fast Company, or Success magazine. You can offer first and second-tier providers content that helps their audience and drives more traffic to your business. 
• Real estate law firms with deep knowledge or expertise can partner with local clubs, e.g., high net worth, investor clubs, real estate companies, lenders, and real estate agents to provide education. As a real estate professional, you can host events, conduct workshops, run seminars, or give talks that educate and inform prospective clients. 
• Tax law firms can create unicorns in their industries — training their associates so they have their LL.M (master of law degree in taxation), and are designated as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). They can then use this, along with other factors, to advertise their firm effectively and educate their prospects. 

The teach or be taught framework is helpful because it positions you as the ideal solution for the specific prospects who consume your educational materials. 

2. Give what you have

You can approach publishers and content providers with a deal. You provide their audience with helpful content in exchange for a small mention or micro offer from your business. These offers can include: 

• A weekly or monthly column on a publisher’s website, app, or portal
• Hosting regular Q&As for your publishers and partners
• Creating exclusive content in a variety of formats for your publisher or partner

What’s great about this strategy is it provides you with significant leverage. The content you create for one partner can be reused, repurposed, and republished elsewhere. You can create education pieces that generate results again and again, for years on end that continue to perform, independent of your day-to-day efforts. 

3. Provide relevant solutions

This is what you do for clients. It’s an inherent part of practicing law, but it’s also a component that’s neglected by most attorneys and law firms.

Protecting prospects before they become clients is helpful because it shows clients your primary concern isn’t about money. Instead of appearing needy or desperate to close the sale, you present your firm as the quality firm it is. Model Rule 1.18 is in agreement with this. 

Client-lawyer relationship

“[1]  Prospective clients, like clients, may disclose information to a lawyer, place documents or other property in the lawyer’s custody, or rely on the lawyer’s advice. A lawyer’s consultations with a prospective client usually are limited in time and depth and leave both the prospective client and the lawyer free (and sometimes required) to proceed no further. Hence, prospective clients should receive some but not all of the protection afforded clients.”

It’s important to protect prospects without creating an attorney-client relationship prematurely. Here are a few ways to achieve this:

• Limit direct, one-on-one consultations with prospective clients
• Focus your attention on creating one-to-many interactions in a public, semi-public, or group setting
• Don’t specifically request or invite prospects to submit information about a potential representation without clear and reasonably understandable warnings and cautionary statements that limit the lawyer’s obligations

You provide clients with information in a public setting on a one-to-many basis. This means you can share more general or introductory information. You can do this in a few ways:

• Q&A format
• On forums that focus on high-level topics
• As a guest on the news, television or web show
• In speeches in a public, semi-public or group setting 
• Teach courses in a specific context for an established organization

There’s more you can do to protect prospective clients, but this is generally oriented around a one-to-many relationship.

4. Be a people connector

The thinking behind this framework is simple. You find and connect people to solutions or support they need. You provide ready access to influential people becoming an influencer yourself. Connecting people who can help each other is one of the most useful skills you can cultivate in your law firm, especially if you’re in a B2B practice area. 

The best part, there’s more than one way to do it.

• Introduce people who can provide value to others
• Introduce two influencers to each other
• Introduce two people, but seed the relationship with an idea
• Host an event (e.g., webinar, conference, speech, dinner) but invite influential and complementary partners
• Position yourself as someone who can connect others to the people, resources, and opportunities they need
• Nurture the relationships you spark

This strategy takes a long term approach. Introduce people and organizations that can help each other. Give people what they want, seed the relationships with value, then watch the positive results customers, sales, reviews, pour in.

Using these strategies can increase law firm profitability 

You promote your partnership, advocacy, education, or support publicly in a way that’s appropriate and respectful of all parties involved in the framework. The more value you’ve created, the more you promote the work, the further word will spread. Doing this generates goodwill in a way that’s difficult to quantify and difficult to dispute. 

In your capable hands, these frameworks can provide you with the peace of mind you need to outperform your competitors. Combine these strategies to increase law firm profitability and propel your firm further than your competitors expect. 

Customer service skills for attorneys should always be a work in progress to improve the client experience. According to Lexis-Nexis’ Age of the Client, “eight out of ten lawyers believe they are delivering ‘Very well’ or ‘Quite well’ on all of the top client priorities.”

However, only 60 percent of clients believe the service they receive from their firm is above average. In my previous post, I shared the four keys of law firm customer service. These keys to customer service are incomplete due to attorney misperceptions surrounding indispensable customer service skills. 

Why attorneys aren’t providing outstanding customer service

Most attorneys believe that their only job is to know the law and close this case for their client, but they should not overlook the power of customer service at each interaction with their clients. Attorneys and legal professionals have the misconception that good attorneys don’t have to focus their energies on anything but the case. As a result, clients do not receive the adequate care, guidance, and protection they need from their firm. 

That’s your advantage. If you can overcome these stigmas, you’ll be able to achieve results other attorneys and firms can only dream off. Here are three customer service skills firms need. 

#1: Selling to clients

Attorneys hate selling. At least, the vast majority of attorneys hate selling. Several pundits create strategies for attorneys who absolutely hate selling. Others, like James Bliwas, write provocative quotes stating that attorneys are incapable of selling. 

“We have 231 lawyers and maybe 15 bring in nearly all of our new work. They’re good at it, but they’d be good selling widgets or mouse traps. Most of us don’t have the personality to ‘sell’ as you note in your essay. Expecting lawyers to sell is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.”

Is this a case of can’t or don’t want to sell? 

Gallup puts business executives and used car salespeople at the bottom of their honesty/ethics index. The perception here is that clients don’t like salespeople; salespeople don’t like selling. It can feel like they’re pushing services on clients they don’t need or want. 

These behaviors create rejection. When most law firms attempt to “sell,” they make this mistake. They “pitch” unwanted products instead of identifying their client’s needs. It hurts to be on the receiving end of that rejection. That’s not selling. If that’s not selling, what exactly is it? Selling is matchmaking. 

There’s a key distinction that needs to be made here. 

• Poor customer service: Salespeople try to push their products and services on to clients (regardless of need.)
• Outstanding customer service: Professionals match solutions to their client’s problems. 

The difference is the quality of service you provide your clients is taking in account what they need and where your services can help provide a solution that will benefit them. Selling them services they don’t need will feels like a sales conversation and may put them off because you’re not listening to their needs. Clients have problems, you have solutions. Most will need your help indefinitely, provided that you deliver superior value.  Here’s an example of how you can effectively provide solutions to your clients needs that will also retain their business.

Problem: Your client needs to protect their business. 

Solution: Help them incorporate their business. 

Your client now needs: 

• All operating, partnership and employee agreements
• Help and advice to protect their intellectual property  
• To negotiate your lease of office or retail space
• Someone to draft software licensing agreements
• A resident agent

Providing a solution for your clients in one area creates additional opportunities in many other areas. 

# 2: Marketing and business development

The term “business development” is used synonymously with marketing. The trouble with that is the fact that they’re not the same thing. Here’s the difference:

• Marketing is essentially everything you do to raise a decision maker’s awareness of the firm. It involves identifying your firm’s points of differentiation, developing a key message, and creating a strong positioning in your firm’s target markets. Traditional marketing tools and strategies for firms include advertising, sales collateral, website content, media relations, thought leadership materials, and other credentialing activities.
• Business development is all about the individual lawyer creating, fostering, and leveraging partnerships and strategic relationships with existing clients and new prospects to generate business. At its core, business development is leveraging existing clients and referral sources as door-openers to prospective clients, as well as consistently creating new contacts and relationships. This is the attorney’s chance to sell themselves and their points of differentiation.

Business development is persuasion one-to-one, while marketing is teaching one-to-many. This isn’t an either-or proposition as attorneys and firms need both. As a lawyer, you’re a knowledge worker. This means giving your knowledge freely to your clients, prospects, and peers. If you’re a small business attorney, this could mean: 

• Writing articles for Entrepreneur.com, Fast Company, and Business Insider
• Giving speeches at entrepreneur, startup and small business events
• Hosting meetups or Q&As for business owners
• Creating or appearing on radio shows and podcasts

Sharing your knowledge means you (a) identify your client’s problems (b) explain the consequences of ignoring the problem (c) provide solutions to their problems. All of which leads back to you. 

#3: Providing realistic legal guidance to your clients

Having great customer skills as an attorney means having tough conversations with your clients. It’s important to provide realistic solutions and goals for your clients even if they might disagree. Presenting tough information to your client is all about the delivery. You want to come from a place of understanding, but also firm in your expertise and ensuring the client you’re keeping their best interest in mind.

In some firm cultures, it’s viewed as a serious breach of protocol to tell clients the truth. However, with good customer service training and learning to deliver difficult information with compassion and professionalism, your firm will build a reputation that clients will admire.

Sometimes customer service skills for attorneys require having difficult conversations with clients that will ultimately benefit them in the long run.

The takeaway on customer service skills for attorneys 

Customer service skills for attorneys are vital to maintaining a healthy client-attorney relationship. From going above and beyond to wow your clients to having tough conversations, quality customer service comes goes a long way. Attorney’s should present themselves as understanding and compassionate to their clients, yet firm and confident in their legal guidance. With these 3 tips, you’ll build a loyal following of clients.

Cross-selling for law firms is not only great to build revenue, but it helps retain more clients by becoming their “one-stop shop” for legal services. Sixty percent of firms see retaining clients as a significant challenge. Competition from likeminded firms and industry disruption continues to erode client/law firm relationships.

The solution? Using online payments to cross sell the services at your law firm. This strategy isn’t new, but it is effective. Let’s take a look at a few strategies you can use to increase your firm’s revenues by as much as 17x your current revenues.

Use your client’s (saved) billing profile + tangential problems

The S word tends to conjure up cringe-worthy images of used car salesmen, sleazy infomercials pitchmen and hustlers who refuse to accept the word No. That makes sense; it’s also part of the reason why so many lawyers seem to dislike the idea of selling. 

It’s a perception problem. When we understand the scientific principles behind “selling,” it suddenly becomes easier to attract, convert and retain new clients. I’m talking about our negative bias.

John Cacioppo, Ph.D., discovered that our brains have a negative bias. Our brains are tuned to seek out negative information obsessively. This is present even before birth. We respond more strongly to stimuli we’ve flagged as negative.

What does this have to do with your clients?

Your client’s negative bias means they come to you with specific problems they’d like you to solve. Here’s the good news. Every solution creates a new set of problems clients need you to solve.

Here’s an example.

1. You set up an LLC for your clients.
2. They’re running a consulting firm, so you ask about agreements. They hire you to craft a range of agreements for them.
3. You ask about their estate plans. They’re aware of a new problem that you’re able to solve.
4. You help your client with their commercial real estate lease or purchase — more business.
5. They acquire a significant amount of assets. Those assets need protection. More work for you.

Cross-selling for law firms means you’re offering your existing clients solutions to the additional legal problems they don’t know they have. You’re not manufacturing a problem. It’s the opposite. You’re telling clients about the problems that are waiting to ambush them. Then, you’re solving those problems for a price.

This is the power of our negative bias.

Say nothing to your client and their business and assets remain unprotected. Avoid bringing up their lack of agreements, and you leave their consulting business vulnerable to a lawsuit.
See what I mean.

How do online payments support cross-selling for law firms?

If you have your client’s credit card information on file, the cross-sell is easy and simple. Just ask your clients to say yes, bill the card you have on file and continue to handle the matters they present you with! The easier it is for clients to pay you, the easier it is for you to increase your cross-sells.

But it starts with saving your client’s credit card profile. Built-in payments processors like, Bill4Time Payments, allows your clients to easily pay online and safely stores their information for future payments. This way, you’ll have the reporting and data you need to suggest cross-sells consistently.

Use online payments reporting + origination credits to boost revenue

A recent study via Law.com found clients who were served by three practice groups had revenues that were 5.7 times higher than those served by one. Clients who were served by five practice groups generated fees that were 17.6 times higher than those served by one.

This is a massive increase.

How do you make this happen in your law firm? It’s simple. You create (or revamp) the origination policy in your firm. Remember the billing profile I just mentioned? That’s an indispensable part of this process. You’re going to need that.

Here’s how you use it.

1. Contact existing clients who’ve already submitted a saved billing profile with your firm. Whenever possible, request credit card data from clients in place of checks or wire transfers. For many practice areas, credit/debit card data can be your default payment method. 

2. Reach out to trustworthy attorneys in your firm and offer them generous origination credit if they help you close existing clients on new matters. Finally, use the reporting provided by your online payments provider to keep track of origination credits.

3. Pitch clients on specific attorneys in your firm who can deliver results or help them solve a particular problem. You’re looking for specialists rather than generalists. Rely on trustworthy attorneys to help you close the business.

4.  Repeat these steps, working to generate new business for your colleagues, provided that you receive origination credit for your hard work, referrals and access to your client. You’ll want to ensure that you’re compensated well for your referral. Use the reports provided by your practice management software or payment processor to determine who gets credit for what, how much and why.

Here’s why this simple, almost boring strategy works so well.

A 2012 study by Randall L. Rose et al. found that consumers who use credit cards spend more than double, more than if they had simply paid via cash, check or wire transfer.  A saved billing profile means clients are focused on the potential benefits of your pitch, not the cost.

They just have to say yes.

Why online payments work

A strong origination plan combined with saved billing profiles or credit authorization means it’s easier for clients to bring in a large yet consistent amount of revenue. Sixty percent of firms see retaining clients as a significant challenge. Competition from likeminded firms and industry disruption continues to erode client/law firm relationships.

Typically, when customers are in the market for a particular type of software, they compare features. Tools with the largest feature-set, best reviews and the lowest price typically win. However, approaching software with a “less is more mindset,” you can find the best legal practice management software that your firm needs to improve performance. 

Why less is more with legal software

The vast majority of customers want more; it’s completely understandable. They’re focused on getting the most value for their money. They want a reliable provider who’s interested are aligned with their own. Features are a good indication of that, right? 

It’s actually the opposite. Features and benefits are a fantastic way to sell software to customers on the front end, but it’s a surefire way to lose them on the back end. 

There are a variety of unexpected factors law firms need to take into consideration. A large feature set exacerbates these problems, because they: 

• Increase transitional pain due to the longer onboarding and training times needed to get up to speed
• Large features spread the ROI out across the features. You’re getting 20 percent of your results from 80 percent of the features. It should be the opposite. 
• More features mean it’s harder for your timekeepers to learn, which means they’re less likely to use it. Timekeepers are forced into no-win scenarios. Hitting their billable hours for the month or learn to use the software you’ve paid for? 
• If your timekeepers are focused on learning how to use all of the features in your software, they’re not producing billable work. That also means your utilization rates are poor. 

All of this from a bloated features list. But most legal customers want a “robust feature list!” How can software providers and law firms get what they want? 

Start with a core set of features 

These are the important features that enable law firms to get their teams up and running in minutes. Time tracking, billing, invoices, calendaring. 

The legal industry is complicated. A good software provider, like Bill4Time, will keep things simple, using conventions your timekeepers are already familiar with and work to minimize downsides. Here’s a simple list of dos and don’ts you can use as a guide.

Your software won’t: 

• Complicate your work unnecessarily 
• Decrease the ROI you’re supposed to receive from your firm
• Overcomplicate things for your employees or timekeepers, they’ll be able to jump in quickly
• Won’t keep your team from working on the details that matter (e.g., billable hours, tasks, events, invoicing, etc.)

Now let’s take a look again at a real-life example of software that makes these mistakes. 

This customer review, and others like it, show that this particular software provider has made all four of these mistakes. How do we know this? Look at the quote at the bottom of their review.

“This program literally has the potential to cause your business to fold, because it is impossible to evaluate success and change your process accordingly without robust, reliable reporting features.” 

Imagine being sold on a tool for your firm and experiencing this kind of outcome. Can you blame this law firm owner for being so upset? 

The best legal practice management software minimizes your problems

Customers want more features. Legal software providers should give their customers more features – at the appropriate time. As a legal professional, you’ll want to focus your attention on providers who can do two things: 

1. Provide easy onboarding 
2. Minimize transitional pain and unnecessary confusion

It’s a counterintuitive approach, and it’s one the best practice management software providers use often. Search for a provider with a “less is more” approach. Test their claims out for yourself. You’ll find the best software providers are eager to show you what their tools can do for your firm. 

If you found yourself searching for law firm website tips, you understand the value a strong website has on your clients impression of your law firm. Client decision making is a process. Your clients all need the same ingredients to make their decision. When your website provides these ingredients, clients proceed to the next step. When they’re missing, clients raise objections or they walk away. 

Your clients use this unspoken decision-making process to determine whether your firm is a good fit for them (or not). Work with them and you’ll attract the kind of high-quality clients your firm deserves. Ignore these ingredients and you’ll repel them. 

Let’s take a look at the top 7 law firm website tips that will create a steady stream of prospective clients.

Tip #1: Targeting clients precisely

If you’re a savvy attorney, you’re targeting clients who meet three simple criteria. 

1. They want your services.
2. They’re able to pay for your services. 
3. They’re willing to pay for your services. 

Simple, right? Any client who fails to meet these criteria should be disqualified (i.e., removed from consideration as a possible client). Finding answers to these questions requires research – sitting down with clients, surveying clients, running split tests, etc.

How does your website fit in? Your website lays out the information that gets clients to qualify or disqualify themselves (i.e., real estate is our only practice area). 

Tip #2: Amplifying your client’s problems

Your clients have problems.  Many of them prefer to ignore these problems, to put them off until completely necessary. When they finally arrive on your doorstep, these clients expect you to create miracles on their behalf. Sometimes you can, and sometimes you can’t. 

When it comes to your client’s problems, your website should do several things well. 

• Explain their problem fully. 
• Grab their attention immediately (i.e., 90% of fathers lose custody of their kids when they make this mistake)
• Outline the emotional weight, suffering and loss associated with their problem. 
• Amplify the consequences of the problem (denial, for most clients, is a self-protective measure that needs to be addressed)
• State the outcomes clearly if they do something vs. do nothing. 

Here’s why this is crucial. 

• Problems create stress and anxiety
• Hiring you gives them a solution and begins to relieve that stress and anxiety

You’ll want to lead with your client’s biggest problems. 

The problem/solution paradigm isn’t the only method, but it is one that gets clients to see their problems as you do; a serious issue that requires their immediate attention. 

Tip #3: Make the solution easy 

Do you provide cognitive fluency? Not sure what that is? You’re in good company. Cognitive fluency is defined as: 

“Cognitive fluency is the ease with which we process information to generate an understanding of what that information means. This ease or difficulty refers not only to the experience of a task or instruction itself, but the feeling people associate with that task.” 

Here’s what this means. 

Easy	Hard
Three blind mice, Three blind mice See how they run.See how they run! They all ran after The farmer’s wife, She cut off their tails With a carving knife, Did you ever see Such a sight in your life As three blind mice?	A trio of sightless rodents,A trio of sightless rodents, Observe how they perambulate, Observe how they perambulate; They all pursued the agriculturalist’s spouse, Who severed their caudal appendages with a carving utensil. Have you previously observed such a phenomenon in your existence As a trio of sightless rodents?

The “easy” version of our three blind mice story worked well because it increased cognitive fluency. It made the story easy to read, so it took less effort, mental energy and processing power. This applies to visual, written and auditory content. 

Communicating with simplicity, clarity and preciseness means your website easier to process. 

Tip #4: Answer client objections 

It’s common for firms to run from their client’s objections. Questions like “How much does this cost” or “What’s your hourly rate” seem to be avoided by firms until it’s absolutely necessary. Many firms do their very best to avoid client objections until they’re able to get them in for an in-person meeting. 

They hope they’ll be able to “close” them anyway. Most of the time, these clients move on, preferring to work with a firm that faces their objections head-on. 

Why does this happen? 

Objections are the inevitable part of business development and marketing that gets worse if you run. We all make objections to protect ourselves. Objections keep us safe. They protect us from making a mistake (and the embarrassment that follows). When we decide anything, we do our best to justify that decision in our heads. Objections are part of the justification process. We want to be sure we’re making the right choice.

Your clients are no different. 

Your clients may have objections about your trustworthiness, pricing or the timing of the engagement. They may be disinterested but unwilling to tell you. But these objections, whatever the case, need to be addressed fully. Contrary to popular belief, objections aren’t the enemy. 

Tip #5: Online reviews borrow trust

Reviews answer the question of trustworthiness. Online reviews from both happy and unhappy clients painted an accurate picture of the relative trustworthiness of your firm. These reviews have a significant impact on your firm’s sales and revenue.

Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Center analyzed 57,000 reviews from anonymous consumers and 65,000 reviews from verified buyers of more than 13,500 unique products in diverse categories. Their findings mentioned reviews could increase conversion rates by 270%!
Imagine that! A 270% lift in the number of clients signing up with your law firm. 

Tip #6: Risk reversals remove buyer’s remorse

Josh Kaufman, author of the book, The Personal MBA, describes a risk reversal this way: 

“Risk Reversal is a strategy that transfers some (or all) of the risk of a transaction from the buyer to the seller. The seller agrees to make things right in advance if the purchaser doesn’t end up satisfied. Risk Reversal is a great way to eliminate some Barriers to Purchase.

This strategy may be feel uncomfortable to the seller as well, because no one wants to lose. The difference is that a seller can spread that risk among many customers. The customer can’t do the same.

By eliminating the risk of purchase, you’ll close more sales and eventually make more money than what you’ll lose if some customers take advantage of your generosity.”

Pretty self-explanatory, right? To be fair, this is much more difficult in the legal industry but it can be done. This can be done in a variety of ways: 

• Promises: Our clients have 24/7 access to an associate who’s working on your case
• Warranties: 10 years 100,000 mile warranty
• Guarantees: We’ll return your call within 30 min. or we’ll pay you $500
• Free consultation: We’ll provide you with a free consultation if you’re able to…

I’ll cover this in more detail in future posts. 

Tip #7: Uniqueness shows clients you’re the only firm for them

A strong value proposition meets four distinct criteria in your client’s mind:

1. I want what this law firm is offering
2. I can’t get this specific offering (or combination of offerings) anywhere else 
3. I’m able to understand their message
4. I truly believe you and your law firm are trustworthy.

If your value proposition doesn’t meet all four criteria, you don’t have a strong value proposition. It takes a significant amount of time to come up with something truly unique. The good news is this: a strong value proposition is created; it’s not inherent. 

Here are some examples in other industries:

• M&Ms: Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
• Dominos Pizza: You get a fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free. 
• FedEx: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight

These are classic examples. These businesses drew a line in the sand; they decided to stand for something significant. Something that meets all four of the criteria I’ve laid out above. 

These law firm website tips will attract clients

Provide clients with the resources they need, and it’s easy for them to say “yes.” Ignore these details and you inadvertently repel clients, pushing them away from your firm. 

By using the law firm website tips, you’ll find that more clients are attracted to your firm, value proposition and quality of service you provide.