Stop Selling, and Attract Clients with Marketing

By Larry Bodine, a strategic marketing and Web consultant. 

Reprinted with permission from The LawMarketing Portal.

I called him the Ranting Man.

He took up a position on top of a concrete flowerbed at the corner of Wacker Drive and Madison Street, a very busy intersection in Chicago.  Using a megaphone, he angrily yelled at the pedestrians headed to work about some incoherent nonsense.

The Ranting Man was there every morning and evening.  Day after day he raved at the passersby, who winced and politely ignored him.  A nearby cop declined to intervene.  On and on the Ranting Man blared into his megaphone, spewing loud and furious gibberish.  The Ranting Man annoyed everyone and was driving me crazy.

I finally decided to respond, personally.  One day I walked up to him and yelled, "Hey jackass!" until I got his attention. "Get a job!"  I did it again after work.  Every day I used my freedom of speech to yell back.  Fellow pedestrians would chuckle to themselves as I did it. 

I could tell by his expression that I was getting to the Ranting Man.  He would look out from his vantage point and see me coming.  One day I yelled back and he got down from his perch and came after me.  A friend of mine intervened and held him back.  Then the crowd surrounded him and pushed him onto the ground.  The nearby policeman arrived and arrested him.

That was the end of the Ranting Man. 

Selling vs. Marketing

Why do I tell this semi-bizarre story?   Believe it or not, it's an analogy for sales and marketing.  The Ranting Man has kindred spirits who live on in blaring TV commercials, pushy vendors at trade show exhibits, and intrusive online promotions on the LawMarketing Listserv (more on that soon).

There is a difference between direct selling and marketing.  Direct selling is a form of attack where a person promotes their product and calls on you to buy it.  Nobody likes being the target of this message.  In contrast, marketing is a program of attraction, where a person helps you out or solves your problem, demonstrating their skill.  You are left impressed and interested in buying from them.  Marketers who stop selling will be swimming in new business.

For those in law firm marketing, the difference is important.  It's a subtle distinction if you're the one composing the message.  But it's an obvious difference if you're the target of the marketing. Selling repels and marketing attracts.  I'm repeatedly struck by how many marketers don't understand the difference.

Debate Breaks Out on the Listserv

A debate over selling vs. marketing exploded on the LawMarketing Listserv recently, and grew into an online debate that raged for days.  (For those of you who are new to marketing, the LawMarketing Listserv is an online email discussion group about marketing.  It has 2,500 members and anyone who has an expertise in law firm marketing is a member.  Membership is free and you can join by visiting www.LawMarketing.comand clicking on Join Now.) 

The brouhaha concerned self-promotion on the Listserv.  The Listserv works when a member emails a message to a central computer, which broadcasts the message to all  2,500 members.  Self-hype is forbidden on the Listserv, to prevent anyone from sending commercials to members of the list, and to rein in vendors and consultants who would tout themselves.  Anyone who wants to send a commercial message can purchase an advertisement, instead.

The debate started when Nancy L. Myrland, Director of Marketing at Baker & Daniels in Indianapolis, asked the Listserv for a recommendation for a consultant to talk about marketing at a practice team retreat.  The purpose of the Listserv is for members to ask questions just like this, and to get advice and answers.

Recommendations poured in and sure enough, someone recommended his own services.  Alertly, Bob Henderson of RJH Consulting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, spotted the transgression and emailed, "It was my understanding that the 'rules of the game' were that we were not supposed to be self-promotional."

He was right.  Direct selling is not allowed on the listserv.

"If you have a product or service that you feel will benefit one of the Listserv members, solicit them through personal e-mail, not over the Listserv.  I have been deleting a lot of 'commercials' recently, and these types of messages tarnish what the Listserv is all about," wrote Michael J. Sacks, Director of Communications of Kimmel & Silverman.

Others disagreed.  Angela Spall, Director of Marketing at Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas, Nevada, backed her up.  " I understand the "no self-promotion ban," but I find knowing what is out there that impacts the legal marketing field is very useful to me both personally and professionally.   I wouldn't have known about them if they had not "promoted" themselves on our listserv.  We don't want to chase people away who might actually provide us some cutting-edge information or who can learn more about what our needs are to help us do our jobs better."

Test of Marketing Skill

Eventually, the viewpoint emerged that self-promotion does not work.  Gill Wagner, President of Honest Selling in St. Louis, Missouri, wrote, "What does work is to offer suggestions to those who request assistance -- actions, after all, speak much louder than words. And whenever you deliver value for free, the people to whom you deliver it are typically left with the feeling of, 'If that's what he does for free, imagine what I'd get if I paid this guy!'"

"Personally I think the self-promotion rule is a good test of marketing skill," said Paul Ward, President of Incubate.com in Tempe, Arizona.  "If your thoughts and insights stand alone and help you create relationships in this context --- without shameless hucksterism --- you probably have some moxy when it comes to marketing sophisticated professional services."

"A vendor can provide concise answers and benefits to an approach or question without touting his/her products and services.  If the vendor shows knowledge/expertise, interested parties will read the signature line and explore the products and services," said  Dale H. Tincher, President of Consultwebs.com in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This wisdom applies to law firm marketing.  Smart marketers, who understand the difference between selling and marketing, take the more sophisticated approach.  They give the answer when a client asks a question.  They explain to   their prospective customers how to solve a problem.  This approach makes them look smart, and demonstrates their expertise.  It demonstrates their helpfulness and generates good will.  It also prompts potential customers to hire them and buy their services.

Reprinted with permission from the August 2001 issue of Of Counsel.