5 Tips to “No”-Proof Your Law Firm and Close Prospective Clients Like the Best Rainmakers

If 2020 kicked your butt and made you want to drown your sorrows in the sea of broken dreams, you’re not alone.

The year was a dumpster fire of note thanks to COVID.

And as new data is released, it’s becoming abundantly clear the legal world hasn’t escaped unscathed.

While one report disclosed the average law firm billed 27% less than the same time the previous year, another survey revealed the pandemic has produced a 40% drop in the number of new legal matters being opened in the U.S. each week.

Top law firms have seen pay cuts, layoffs, and furloughs, while many smaller firms haven’t survived at all.

Although things appear to be returning to some semblance of normalcy, the reality is that the landscape has shifted for attorneys. Competition is tighter than ever before-not just for law firms looking to grow their caseload but also for lawyers seeking employment.

Now, more than ever, developing killer client closing skills is going to be a major priority.

Look, I get it. Not everyone is built for sales.

You’re not a marketer. You’re not a salesman. You’re a lawyer.

Even the most well-adjusted communicators can become introverted, sweaty palmed, and tongue-tied when faced with the prospect of closing new business.

The good news is that great closing skills are learnable and the process gets easier over time.

So, how do you tip prospective clients over the edge when they’re thisclose to signing?

Here are five tips on how to bring out your inner rainmaker and take down every doubt, objection, and “no” like a pro.

1. Forget About Silver Bullets and Do This Instead

There’s a popular restaurant scene in The Wolf of Wall Street where Jordan Belfort’s character (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) attempts to teach a group of his colleagues the art of sales. Belfort hands his friend, Brad, a pen and then asks Brad to sell it to him.

Brad says, “Do me a favor. Write your name down on that napkin for me.”

“I don’t have a pen,” replies Belfort.

“Exactly, supply and demand,” says Brad smugly, handing back the pen.

“You see what I’m saying? He’s creating urgency,” Belfort explains.

Many viewers believe they’re watching a little piece of slick salesmanship genius, but-while the scene is clever-the overall concept and presentation is flawed.

You see, there’s no context. In an interview with Piers Morgan, the real Jordan Belfort admits this himself.

Many people believe there’s some magical phrase or Jedi mind trick that rainmakers use to seal the deal. And so, they scour through sales books looking for that elusive closing technique or sales script designed to hypnotize prospects into a “yes.”

It doesn’t quite work that way.

In a real-life scenario, you don’t know anything about your prospects: their needs, their wants, or their desires. Just because they don’t have what you’re offering doesn’t mean they necessarily have an urgent demand for it.

As a result, diving right into selling your legal services is the fastest way to tank the deal.

The problem is that clever closing statements are all about manipulation-something consumers can smell a mile away. Successful consultative selling, on the other hand, is about prioritizing relationships and creating open dialogue so that you can match the benefits of your offering to your prospect’s needs. Instead of looking for a silver bullet, start asking questions and gathering information that will help you better understand the individual’s problem.

If you or other lawyers at your firm are meeting lots of prospects but not winning lots of new business, the chances are you’re not creating value, building trust, or fully exploring your prospect’s needs before offering a solution.

2. Stop Selling and Start Educating

One of the biggest reasons objections rear their ugly heads during the close-especially pricing objections-is because lawyers fail to demonstrate sufficient value to prospective clients to justify the expense. In many cases, the firm will resort to offering a discount to win work, but all this does is erode profitability and create price pressure within the industry.

While you don’t want to share too much of the knowledge you’d expect existing clients to pay for, you should at least focus on quantifying the cost of inaction, the benefits of a favorable outcome, and the value your firm can bring in delivering that outcome. Educating prospective clients first will build trust and belief in your expertise while helping them understand the true value you can bring to their individual case.

3. Build a Belief Ladder

When the persuasion process is done right, you don’t need to close people. They’ll be begging you to sign the deal and take their money.

One of the easiest ways to ensure your sales and closing process is powerfully persuasive, is to look at it through the lens of the belief ladder. Coined by Bushra Azhar of The Persuasion Revolution, a belief ladder is essentially a series of things your prospects need to believe before they get to that “yes” on the top rung.

They need to believe:

1. You have the solution you’re promising
2. You have their best interests at heart
3. You have the expertise
4. They can achieve the outcome they want
5. Your offer caters to their specific needs and is the best solution for them (customized)
6. All other offers from competitors are not the right fit for them (e.g. not as strategic, transformative, etc.)
7. Their past experiences dealing with similar matters have no bearing on this one

Does your typical sales process and closing contain elements that establish these beliefs? If not, it’s time to overhaul what you’re saying and showing to prospective clients so that you’re moving them towards the outcome you desire.

4. Brush Up on Neuro-Linguistic Programming Techniques

Selling is all about communication, building rapport, and understanding your prospect. It’s about transitioning someone from their way of thinking to your own.

As you can imagine, that’s not always easy.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a powerful sales psychology that helps you achieve this through specific models, techniques, and strategies. It helps you better understand thought processes and behavior, including how language influences the way we think and the results we get, so that you can influence a positive change in your prospect.

Someone who is trained in NLP knows how to communicate in a way that engages a prospect’s thinking processes in order to stimulate the decision and behavior required for that individual to become a client and feel good about their choice.

When it comes to successful selling and closing, it’s not just what you say that matters but how you say it.

As mentioned earlier, there are no magic words per se. The secret weapon of influence lies in your tonality and body language. If you present yourself as an enthusiastic, experienced, sharp problem-solver, you’ll be perceived as someone worth listening to-someone who can help your client achieve their goals and get them what they want. When they perceive you the right way, they hand you control of the sale.

How can you incorporate some easy NLP techniques into your next conversation?

• Engage in active listening: Besides concentrating on what your prospect is saying, you should understand it, respond appropriately, and remember it. You should also be aware of non-verbal signals you’re giving out, such as your posture and tone of voice, which could either signal your interest or disinterest in the conversation.
• Use mirroring and matching/pacing and leading: Research shows we’re drawn to people like us, so subtly imitating your prospect’s body language, gestures, tone of voice, speech rate, choice of words, and communication style can help them feel more comfortable while building rapport.
• Be aware of your emotional state: Don’t be on the defense-especially when faced with a negative comment or objection. Go into the conversation with positivity and enthusiasm and make sure you maintain that mindset throughout.
• Leverage the power of high emotion words to elicit positive feelings and responses: Certain words can evoke feelings of happiness, satisfaction, curiosity, safety, etc. Learning to insert these words into your language will help steer the prospect in the right direction.

If you’re new to NLP, consider taking a course or doing some research online. These simple techniques can help you build that critical trust factor while persuading prospects into taking the desired action.

5. Be Ready to Obliterate Objections

The last thing you want during your close is to be faced with an objection and not have a satisfactory response. If the barrier is big enough or you can’t overcome it, your prospect will be out of your office faster than you can pick up your fancy Parker pen to ink the deal.

Whether it’s about pricing, process, your availability, or any one of the other myriad issues that tend to come up, be sure to write a list of common objections and carefully script answers to them. Ask your colleagues for input as they’ll likely have heard some interesting things during their own conversations with prospects. This will ensure your responses flow naturally and that you’re less likely to be caught off guard when an objection does arise.

Closing Statement

Closing is the make-or-break moment in your sales process. You can have the best campaigns in the world to attract leads, but if your closing skills aren’t there you’re screwed. Adding these five tips to your persuasion arsenal will help you get over the line and close deals like the rainmakers you envy.

Need help filling your client pipeline? Click here to book a consultation or call me on 504–612–7773 and let’s chat about how I can help your firm grow with qualified LIVE TRANSFERS ready to close. NOT leads, but real people who are actively seeking a lawyer like you to take on their case.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.