Are Legal Services Like Vegetables?

Cathy Sierra has another great post on motivating web visitors, that applies broadly to anyone selling anything.  Cathy discusses the two levels of motivation:  “motivation to interact and motivation to do something as a result of that interaction.”  Think of your marketing as the first kind of motivation and your in-person client meeting as the second. 

Just how do you motivate your prospects to hire you?  Cathy first tells us how not to motivate them:

Trying to motivate someone to action by telling them it's good for them doesn't... actually... work …  because it doesn't invoke the right feelings.

In other words, don’t suggest your clients hire you because of what will happen if they don’t.  Instead, as Cathy suggests, citing a great Fast Company article , emphasize the positive things that will come out of your lawyer/client relationship.  Can’t think of any?  Try this exercise: 

Ask your clients to visualize a “best case scenario” conclusion to their matter .  Then ask them what personal or business benefits they’ll reap and how they expect to “feel” if the matter concludes in that positive way.  Keep track of their responses (maybe even suggesting they write them down).  After doing this for ten or twenty clients, you’ll start to see themes emerge.  These are the themes you should focus on when you are trying to motivate your clients to hire you.