The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

Last week in this space, we addressed the fact that law firms have really low  net promoter score s, with an NPS equal to about the average airline provider.  As we discussed, that means that your clients like you about as much as they like Spirit Airlines.  You can do better.   Fi guring out your  net promoter score is step one.  Step two is  improving  your net promoter score.  And, the answer to improving your net promoter score  comes from the question:  ‘how can I make it more likely that my clients will refer business to me’?  Here are at least a few ways:   Ask for Referrals.   It’s funny: some attorneys don’t ask for referrals.  But, how are your clients supposed to know that you want referrals, if you don’t address the elephant in the room?  So, be sure to tell your clients that you want referrals, and that your  business thrives on them.  If they know, they’re more lik...

Did you know that law firms have a really poor not promoter score?   Wait, wait.  Let’s backtrack for a second.  Do you know what a ‘net promoter score’  is ?  Essentially, it’s a  KPI  (key performance indicator), that  attempts to determine how likely your clients are to recommend you .  The higher your net promotor score, the more likely your clients are to recommend you.  The lower your net promoter score, the less likely your clients are to recommend you.   Unfortunately for law firms, their average net promoter score is 25 .  That’s on par with wireless carriers.   What does that mean?  Well, it means that, the way you feel about Verizon, is how your clients feel about you.  In other words, your clients don’t like you.   But, just because an average exists, doesn’t mean your law firm hits it.   So,  take the time to figure out your net promoter score ,...

Lawyers are often so head - down on substantive work that they spend very little time considering their ‘ sales cycle ’, which every business has.  Whereas software companies consider metrics like ‘ cost  of  acquisition ’, law firms merely send out cadres of attorneys to network, with the fervent hope that that activity generates business, at some  undetermined  point in the future.     I remember having a conversation with a lawyer who told me that his marketing goal was to have lunch with a nother  business professional every day.  I asked him to track how many referrals he got from that.  A month later, I asked him how things were going, and he said, ‘Well, I guess I was just having lunch .’   The point is that, while marketing seems inscrutable, the results of your efforts are predictable, to a large degree.  If you track your intake, you too can figure out your own cost of acquisition, best sources for ref...