Word of Mouth for Lawyers

In this post, Creating Customer Evangelists author Ben McConnell comments on the recent Time Magazine Article on the new movie Troy. From the Time article:

Before a movie opens, studios can generate inauthentic signals by securing a star and advertising heavily, creating the impression of a phenomenon. This puts butts in seats on opening weekend and gets the competition out of the way. "You can orchestrate an opening," says [economist Arthur] De Vany. "What you're doing is briefly dominating supply. That's not demand. The long-term demand necessary to sustain a blockbuster is still dependent on the authentic signal, word of mouth

Ben's take:

In other words, you can advertise the hell out of a movie, or a product, and create artificial demand, but it's still word of mouth that drives long-term, profitable success.

We lawyers already are at a disadvantage when it comes to this kind of customer evangelism. Our profession is so maligned that we must first convince our clients/customers/prospects that we are, "not like other lawyers." Once you get past that barrier, however, good "buzz" or word of mouth will be your best measure of success.