When you are an attorney, for better or for worse, you are the product and service all rolled into one. Clients hire you and your firm because of your knowledge and your expertise in the law. They may also feel comfortable working with you because of how you treat them and how you care about the legal matters that you solve for them.
I would say the most important factor in hiring an attorney is trust. Does this attorney have my best interest at heart and are they going to protect those interests? Do they have the skills and resources to see around the corner for me and avoid any potential future difficulties. That trust represents their confidence in you and future confidence in the potential in working with you.
So how do you create trust with clients? Well, it happens in the way that you show up for them, you take the calls, you spend time with them, you help get them to a resolution of whatever their issue is and you’re available in the future when they need you on their side. So you create trust by creating trust and by being reliable and providing value for your clients.
How do you create that trust in a way so that it comes through in your marketing? How do you position your firm as a firm with expertise that has capable and reliable attorneys that care about their clients?
I would say there are three main ways to create that trust with potential clients.
The first is in a well-designed well thought out law firm website. Your website should look as good as any other competing firm, only better. It should be unique representation of you and your tastes but it shouldn’t try to do something it’s not supposed to do. Your website should showcase your brand and reflect your firm’s approach. What are the principles that you are founded on and how are your legal services delivered?
This website should have current information about your attorneys with updated photos that are not more than a few years old. You want people to see an updated version. They want to get the real you when they meet with you in person or over zoom.
You want to make sure that the links and contact forms work on your website and that your website is up and running at all times. You want to have a web site administrative person that you can trust and that you can call or text anytime of the day or night with any issues regarding your law firm website (even though there should be no issues.)
A second way to create trust is to have a strong and vibrant social media presence both for your firm and for your individual attorneys. With a strong presence you can showcase the great work you’re doing and the recognition that you’re getting for clients. By doing this, you can encourage engagement among your network which will also help build trust in the second or third tier outside of your network. Being active on social media and participating in different conversations will engage your network while creating trust with them so that they want to come check you out all while reinforcing your place as an expert.
Individual attorneys should also post articles on relevant topics that potential clients might be interested in and keep in mind it doesn’t always have to be about an award or some type of recognition. Some attorneys may want to share their own personal challenges and ups and downs, and social media provides a channel for attorneys to be authentic to be who they are. You may not want to overshare, but if you do your potential clients know what they’re getting and they know you aren’t afraid to be yourself
The third way to create trust is to do videos about topics that are happening in the law. This is a great medium and clients respond to this. If you release regular videos, clients know that you are thinking about the issues that are important and that you’re letting them know there are things they need to pay attention to.
You can also use video to make a great connection with your prospective client. Your video doesn’t have to be overly produced but if you think about what are the three things that somebody would want to know about you and your firm, why do you practice the law, what do you get out of your relationship with clients and what are the ways that you can help people.
Making a video that has quality production values and working with a producer to help you answer questions or be prompted to share a thoughtful response about your firm can go a long way. It can make the viewer feel like they have connected with you. You can show them how you might solve their problem by the way you think, the way you talk and answer questions. There is not much of a better way for attorneys to create trust than through a powerful video that tells a story.
We hope that this is a helpful look at a few ways to create trust as it’s the most important aspect of your legal marketing. If you would like to speak about ways that your firm can create trust online. Then please contact us today.