If your law firm marketing plan follows typical law firm marketing strategies employed by many other practices, you are failing miserably and you know it. Yet other firms out there have a steady stream of clients in and out of their offices. You see them every day: consistently busy and constantly entertaining new clients that afford them wardrobes of expensive suits and prestigious new sports cars.

You see them making it work; making their firm all it can be. You've got to do something to make your practice successful, too.

The accounting firm featured on the cover of the business journal in your waiting room is well-known nationwide. The CEO of that firm emerges from the elevator. Your heart leaps as he heads your way. Forget about it! He's heading for the law firm down the hall, just they way they all do. You won't even get a second glance.

Once again, you feel like shoving everything off of the coffee table with a frustrated swipe of your fists. You grit your teeth and glare at the neighboring law firm. What are they doing that you aren't? You're sick and tired of being out done, but don't know how to fix it. Here are several law firm marketing mistakes you may be making and what you can do to fix them.

* You have failed to convince them of the value your service gives to them specifically. Solution: Go back and do more research on your target market's "points of pain." Use more of these in all of your conversations with prospects.

* They don't trust you. Solution: Develop a list of specific things you can do to build your credibility. Examine your personal image: your clothes, your mannerisms, your listening skills. Analyze your business image: your office location, your office furniture, the quality of your stationary, your business cards, etc.

* They perceive your cost out weighs your value. Solution: Either temporarily

reduce your price or immediately find ways to significantly increase your

perceived value.

* They don't believe your benefits or values because you haven't demonstrated

them. Solution: Find a way to give them a FREE sample of your services.

* Their risk seems too great. Solution: Find creative ways to reduce or eliminate

the risk of working with you.

* They don't feel like you listen to them. Solution: Stop talking so much during your presentation (lawyers often talk too much when they are either nervous or feeding their ego). Ask more questions. Develop a list of questions to ask prospects. Work on reading their body language. Use active listening skills and reflective feedback. Use the 25/75 Rule. A good attorney talks less than 25% of the time during the initial interview. They ask good questions and then listen 75% of the time. The interesting thing is that prospects will feel you are more competent the less you talk, the more you listen and the better your questions are.

* Prospects will not hire you when they don't want you, don't believe they need you or can't afford you. Solution: Cut your losses and move on. They are

currently NOT in your target market.

If you are tired of buying the cheap suits off the bargain racks and driving the foreign economy car that gets great mileage and matches the car the old retired woman down the street drives, then do something about it! To be a winner you must act like a winner and that includes successful marketing techniques.

There are professional, skilled services out there that are in business to help you successfully employ law firm marketing strategies to make your practice a success. It is time you contact one to get the help you need.