You Can’t Target Everyone

I have seen many new lawyers open practices featuring a wide variety of services.  They offer help with bankruptcy cases, divorces, criminal matters, estate planing – you name it, they do it.  The reasoning seems to be that the more services they offer, the more clients they can attract.

Think about it though – a big part of the message that conveys to potential clients is the the attorney is not an expert at anything, since they spend their time doing so many different things.  If you had been injured in an airplane crash, which attorney would you hire: 1) the attorney who advertises that they do all kinds of personal injuries, dog bites, car crashes, product liability cases, slip and falls, etc., or 2) the attorney who says they do nothing but plane crash personal injury cases?  Chances are you would pick #2, because you would assume they know more about how to settle YOUR case.

Therefore, narrowing your practice can actually help you get more work.  The attorney who does everything is generally only going to get the clients who will settle for any live body – because the client lives close by, they liked the lawyer’s picture, or they perceive the lawyer as inexpensive or easy to push around.  Are those really the clients you want?  On the other hand, the lawyer who says they do nothing but dog bite cases is perceived as the dog bit expert.  They may not get any bankruptcies, but they are likely to get everyone who has been bitten by a dog.  If that is a big enough market, it should keep them quite busy.

Moreover, the client who SETTLES for you is likely to not be a very good client.  They don’t respect you, they don’t listen to your advice, and they don’t pay your bill.  On the other hand, the client who hires you because they perceive you as an expert in your particular field comes in with a totally different attitude.  They are HOPING you will agree to represent them (rather than feeling like they are doing YOU a favor), and will value your opinions if you do them the favor of accepting their case.

You can also apply this to other aspects of the message you put our about yourself and your practice.  The more you can focus on a particular target audience, the more likely you are to appeal to them.  A generic message doesn’t target anyone, and is not likely to be all that appealing to anyone.  Generic messages also ring hollow – they just sound like more advertising, and we have become very adept at screening out advertising.  A very targeted message is much more likely to resonate with the audience it is targeted at.  Think of it this way, if you want to fish for salmon, are you going to get better results with a marshmallow on your hook, or specially developed salmon bait?

Of course, to ring true, your message needs to reflect you, not just be some slogan you think people want to hear.  If you can communicate a message that reflects who you are, that targets the clients you really want to work with, and addresses their deepest fears and concerns, the clients you get will be the ones who are the best fit for you.  You will be happier and so will they.