As the final part in my 3 blog series (you can see part one on Networking and Events here and part two on social media for Business Development here) I am talking cross-selling and why it is still so elusive to law firms.
It’s important to address the elephant in the room straight away – selling… and the fact that for some reason, lawyers still have a real aversion to the term. Let’s get over that straight away. Your fee-earners need to understand that cross-selling is simply good customer service, it is not selling, and in fact, if your team aren’t doing it they are potentially being negligent!
Take a first-time buyer who wasn’t encouraged to write a Will? And, no, a paragraph at the end of the initial letter is not sufficient – most clients don’t read them in detail and have other priorities (like buying the house) at that time. Try and put yourself in the clients shoes. Cross-selling a Will to a first-time buyer needs to be part of your internal process, you are the expert and at this point the home buyer knows and trusts you. It also needs to be easy. I’m going to give an example of how this can be done with the property/Will example below:
1.2.2021 New client instructs you to buy a property for them, you do all the relevant file opening and documents. You have your standard letter which mentions a Will but you can do so much more. Here is what your letter could say:
‘Buying your first property is an exciting time. As your biggest asset, is it vital that after completion you make sure that you have a Will in place. To make life easy for you we have included the Will questionnaire now, you can either complete it along with this paperwork or my colleague xx will call you to arrange an appointment once completion has taken place.’
15.4.2021 Property purchase exchanges, in the letter to the client you remind them of the importance of booking an appointment now to sort out their Will.
30.4.2021 Property purchase completes. In the conversation telling the client they have completed, you tell them that in 2-3 weeks time xx in your Private Client Team will call them to sort out their Will.
15.5.21 xx in the Private Client Team calls the client to arrange their Will.
The above is obviously just a rough guide how this might work. As you can see, there is no ‘uncomfortable’ selling. Provided you have done a good job of the purchase, there is no reason why the client wouldn’t go ahead with sorting out their Will. You could even offer an existing client discount if you wanted to encourage the sign-up.
Once you have the above process nailed, you can roll this out across other work areas. For example, divorce clients that need to update their Will, business clients that need n Lasting Power of Attorney, and existing Wills clients that need a review.
If you need any more of an incentive as to why this is a good idea, have a look at some examples of what income it could generate:
XYZ Law Firm, has a conveyancing team carrying out 100 property transactions per calendar month.
Lets say that’s 70 unique clients, 50 of which are purchases.
That’s a potential 50 new Wills @£250 = £12,500pcm (£150,000 per annum).
If you or your team need more step-by-step guidance and advice, why not book a tailored training session with me here and remember, as a Law Firm Marketing Club member, you will benefit from a discount.