Can I have some new clients, please? No, you don't need them. Nick Jervis considers the art of seduction for lawyers

I talk with hundreds of solicitors every year, and the most common statement I hear from them is always this one: “I need to know how to attract more clients to my practice?”

When I say “No, you don’t”, I am usually met with an initially perplexed, then a somewhat frustrated look. ‘Why is the so-called law firm marketing expert being so difficult?’ I can feel them asking themselves.

Holy grail

Every solicitor is always chasing after new clients and new instructions, but the holy grail of marketing any form of business is actually to generate more work from your existing clients. I can guarantee that every firm reading this has clients who would willingly hand over more money to the practice if only they were given the chance to do so.

And that is where the problem lies. The solicitor is failing to ask for the extra work.

Why?

Usually the main reason is as simple as the solicitor thinking that the key to their success is to generate new instructions from new clients. This seems more exciting and more glamorous than simply asking existing clients to provide them with more instructions, but I can assure you it is generally the far more expensive option.

If a client has already used your services, as long as you did a good and competent job (which I am sure you did, didn’t you?), then they already know, like and trust you.

This means it is much easier to persuade them to use your services again, than it is to chase a brand new client and persuade them to use you when they have never heard of your law firm before. It is akin to courting a new partner (appropriate word for a legal blog no?), versus asking someone out on a date who has already been in a relationship with you for some weeks or months.

Date night

Approaching a potential new partner means flowers or chocolates, telephone calls, funny messages, guile, humour and any other number of methods to convince them that you are the person they have been waiting for and that they should invest a few hours with you to find out more.

However, approaching a current partner for a night out is usually as simple as picking up the telephone and suggesting the time and location.

It is no different when selling your legal services. It is much easier to sell your services to existing and past clients than it is to brand new ones. You have massive amounts of untapped income in your filing cabinets. You really should access it as it is the most cost-effective method available, bar none, for generating new income.

In next month’s blog I will share with you some easy and cost-effective ways for generating new instructions from past and existing clients, whether you have a useable database or not!

Nick Jervis is a solicitor (non-practising) and the managing director of Samson Consulting, a marketing consultancy for law firms. He offers a free guide “8 ways to win new clients” from his website www.samsonconsulting.co.uk. Email njervis@samsonconsulting.co.uk