Integrity Marketing

10 SMART MOVES

We are pleased to offer our newest booklet, Ten Smart Moves to Build Your Practice NOW, in Adobe Acrobat format. This 30-page booklet is chock-full of our favorite Smart Moves -- intelligent choices in marketing and practice management that will build more profitability into your practice. This booklet is being offered for FREE to estate attorneys with a "qualifying" membership, or association, with any of the following organizations:

• American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys
• Cowles
• Interactive Legal Systems (Wealth Transfer Planning)
• Integrity Marketing Solutions (current clients)
• National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys
• WealthCounsel

If you are a member or customer of any of these organizations, you can receive your free booklet by registering on our website at http://www.estateplanningpartners.com/MarketGuide.htm   

Client Relations

What is the most-valuable resource in your trusts and estates practice? It's neither time nor money. It is also the most likely wasted resource. And failure to understand this will cost you more money, and more liability, than any single other mistake you could make.

The most-valuable resource, the one most likely to be wasted, the one that costs you the most money and poses the most risk -- is your client.

Multiplied over the life of your practice, your success or failure at building fruitful client relationships determines your ultimate profitability -- including how hard you must work to maintain your practice, how much you must continually invest in marketing to new clients, and how much liability risk hangs over your head ... and how likely it is to rob you of your retirement!

Too many attorneys invest more in storing client files than in building client relationships. We have read the research, and conducted our own analysis of more than 200 estate firms across the country over the past 10 years.

Here are the most striking characteristics of highly successful firms -- the ones that have low expense ratios, high profitability, and a steady stream of quality new referrals

• At least 40 PERCENT of their new business is referred-in by CLIENTS.
• In firms with more than 10 years in the field, the number jumps to nearly 80 PERCENT.
• In all cases, CLIENTS are the most likely source of the firm's biggest, and most profitable new matters.

It's not hard to understand why profitability is so closely linked to CLIENT REFERRALS.  Even a cursory review of the financial habits of the affluent reveals that

1. Their friends, family and colleagues turn to them for advice and REFERRALS to trustworthy advisors.
2. They ENJOY making these referrals.  And
3. They find their own trusted advisors -- not by searching the web, phone directories or attending workshops but THROUGH REFERRALS FROM THEIR PEERS.

If client referrals are so important, why do so many attorneys waste this valuable resource?

Here is my list of the Top Three Client Relations Mistakes

• Transactional Treatment. Despite pledging allegiance to the concept of Relationship-Building, many attorneys give their clients mere Transactional Treatment -- booking appointments, drafting documents, collecting fees, and bidding farewell with as little personal interaction or long-term commitment as possible. Typically, these attorneys view their client files as storage and liability challenges.
• Poor Contact Management Systems. You cannot begin to communicate effectively with your clients on any kind of long-term basis if you do not capture their key information in a contact management system. Many attorneys have only a vague idea of the NUMBER of clients they would have in such a database, should such a database exist. Furthermore, it's not enough just to HAVE the key information -- such as referral source, net worth, business or industry code, birth date, client anniversary date, etc. -- but you must have a system to ACCESS and FILTER this information for appropriate communication.
• Sporadic Client Contact. If there is one thing worse than ignoring your clients completely, it is the sporadic client contact that so many attorneys implement in blatant efforts to generate revenue. Imagine being on the receiving end of a solicitation letter from an attorney who took your money several years ago, never bothered to contact you again, and is now imploring you to allow him to review his work -- for yet another fee.

To remedy all of these mistakes, and build long-term, fruitful client relationships newsletters use SELECT Newsletters with INTELLIGENT DESIGN, to send a fully-customized, personal message to your clients -- EVERY MONTH -- for less than $20 per year -- INCLUDING postage!

Printed newsletters have a high perceived-value among clients, and when delivered with frequency and consistency, they are a solid foundation for ongoing relationships.

Your SELECT Newsletter will never look like a "canned" message. We provide the resources, but this is YOUR newsletter. Choose your colors, your articles, even your photographs. Or submit your own articles -- photos, too, if you like.  Select one of our professionally-designed mast heads, or have one made from your firm's name or logo. Use a full half-page every month for brief news, announcements or client messages.

Don't have time to do all that customization? No problem. Your newsletters will still go out on time, every time because we do all of the work for you.

Less than $20 per year to build long-term client relationships. To stay in touch. Keep clients informed of changes that may affect their plans. Encourage them to come back to review and update their planning. Reduce your liability. Develop referrals.

Before you close another client file, buy another file cabinet or scan another document for long-term storage -- invest $20 in the future of that relationship. Add that new client to your newsletter mailing list. (And by the way, if you think that new client is not worth $20 a year, then call me. We need to talk about your practice positioning.)

For more information about SELECT Newsletters, visit our website: http://www.estateplanningpartners.com/select.htm

or call us toll-free: 1-877-352-2021, ext. 1.

New Product Line: Motivational Brochures

PRINT-IT-YOURSELF MOTIVATIONAL BROCHURES Take control of your marketing with these Print-It-Yourself Motivational Brochures! Personalized with Your name, Photo or logo (optional), Contact information, 4-line mission statement, and Personal message of up to 150 words, DELIVERED TO YOU AS AN ACROBAT FILE. Print small quantities  on your office color printer, or at a "quick-copy" shop. For larger quantities, you can easily upload the file to one of the many online printers for fast, affordable color printing delivered to your door! (for one example see National Color Copy.) WHAT ABOUT THOSE OTHERS? You have seen the other so-called "estate planning" brochures that focus on various planning "tools," such as revocable living trusts. Those brochures are boring. The design is stale and the content will make most readers' eyes glaze. They do NOT motivate anyone. But worst of all, they reduce your service to the level of a commodity. You are no longer a trusted advisor explaining and solving problems -- providing counsel. Instead, you are "selling" a Revocable Living Trust, or some other DOCUMENT. Tired of clients viewing attorneys as glorified word-processors? Well, you do that to yourself when you distribute those kinds of brochures! WHAT MAKES THESE DIFFERENT? You want a brochure that will Invite readers inside, Hold their interest with relevant content about challenges they face, and Motivate them to seek counsel. That's what these brochures deliver! And they make a beautiful color-coordinated display in your office (or the offices of your referral sources!). Most importantly, however, they are written to motivate clients, prospects and referral sources! Each of these ten topics focuses on estate planning challenges -- not solutions -- helping professional advisors spot potential estate planning referrals, while motivating clients and prospects to move forward with their planning objectives to solve specific problems. PAY-AS-YOU-GO AFFORDABILITY! As an added bonus, they are AFFORDABLE & CONVENIENT. Pay once for the file, then print as many -- or as few -- as you need, when you need them. Preparing for an initial consultation with a business owner? Print one copy of "Business Owner Blues," and send it along with your pre-appointment package. Have you been asked to speak to a group of business owners? Upload your file to an online printer for 100 or more -- printed, folded and delivered to your door in three days or less! VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE

   

Strategic Public Relations

Could your practice benefit from a successful Public Relations plan?

Probably.

Here are some of the major advantages of well-crafted Strategic PR Plan:

• High-Visibility -- Good PR can turn your firm into a "household name," creating top-of-mind awareness among prospective clients and professional referral sources.
• High-Impact -- Good PR is highly-influential. Widely-accepted public knowledge about your firm can sway decision-makers and dissuade potential deal-killers.
• Relatively Low-Cost -- A little savvy in this area can garner terrific results for pennies-on-the-dollar in comparison to traditional advertising techniques.

However, there is a flip-side to PR as well. The disadvantages include:

• It is very difficult to track DIRECT RESULTS to your PR efforts.

• A long-term effort is required for any measurable success.

• Because of it's high-visibility and high-impact, BAD PR can cause serious damage.

• Poorly executed, PR can become a VERY EXPENSIVE undertaking, particularly when ego's are involved!

In our second audio session of the Master's in Marketing series, we help you understand the fundamentals of Strategic Public Relations, and show you how to avoid some of the most common mistakes.

Follow this link: http://imslegal.libsyn.com/ to download. You can listen to the mp3 audio file online, or download it to your mp3 player -- and listen later (like during your morning workout!).