Originally published on October 25, 2010 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.
I loved Michael Gerber's book, The E-Myth. The first half of the book tells the story of a small business owner named Sarah. Gerber goes on for page after page showing us the life that Sarah is living. He explains what works and what doesn't work in her business. We come to understand her stress, her ups, and, more importantly, her downs. I learned something from this book that I never expected to learn and that Gerber didn't intend to teach.Work On Your Business Instead of in It — and Understand Your Client's Problems
As I read the book, I kept feeling like Gerber wasn't describing Sarah — he was describing me. It was as if he knew me. I felt he had been watching me in my business. I started to believe Gerber must have been a fly on the wall in my life. It was eerie. It was as if Gerber had looked inside my brain and my heart.
By the time I finished reading The E-Myth, I was sold. I thought Gerber understood me better than my wife. I was ready to buy anything Gerber was selling. I really wanted to meet the guy. I had found my business guru.
Only later did I realize something odd: Gerber had described my problems, but he hadn't really provided me with a solution. He gave me some vague ideas about heading in the right direction, but I didn't know what to do to solve the problems he had described so well. I was still lost except that I was certain that Gerber could help me. I knew he would know what to do.
I went to California to see him. I attended an E-Myth Seminar. I hired an E-Myth coach, and in fact I learned how to solve my problems with the help of the E-Myth approach. I have nothing but fond memories of my time with Gerber's people. I learned plenty from them. We built amazing systems, and I moved from working "in" my business to working "on" my business. But the most important lesson I learned from Gerber came long after the consulting ended.
Only later did I realize that Gerber is much more than a business "fixer." He is also a marketing genius. Although he never tried to sell me anything, I desperately wanted to buy whatever he was selling. I was sold because I knew Gerber understood me. I was convinced that if he understood my problems as well as it seemed, he certainly understood how to solve my problems.
That's the big lesson I learned — show me that you understand my problem, and I'll buy your solution. You don't need to show me the solution. You just need to make it clear that you understand me and my problems. Then you've sold many others and me.
How To Make Prospects Feel Like You Understand Them
How does Gerber's approach to selling apply to my practice and to yours?
If you want to sell your services effectively, you've got to be able to tell your clients their own story. You've got to be able to describe what's happening to them, how they're feeling, what they fear, and what they dream about. When you're able to create that "fly on the wall" feeling, you've got clients for life. They'll know that you understand their problem, and they'll be certain that you know the solution.
How can you be a fly on the wall? How can you create that experience for them?
It's easy. You've been gathering data for as long as you've been practicing law. Your clients have been telling you what's happening in their lives. They talk about their worries and concerns. They talk about what's bothering them and how upset they have become. Unfortunately, we tend to ignore this information — the "legally insignificant" stuff we don't put in our notes.
We've been discounting the most important material when we listen to our clients because it usually doesn't make much difference from a legal perspective. Much of what they've been telling us matters only from an emotional perspective.
It's time to shift gears. We've got to go back and think about what our clients tell us. All that extraneous information turns out to be the most valuable marketing information. It will enable you to retell the client's story and create that fly-on-the-wall feeling.
Master the story. Be able to tell it anytime, anyplace.
Then tell it. Tell it in on your Web site, in your initial consultations, in advertisements, during referral source lunches, and everywhere else you communicate your marketing message.
Let prospective clients know that you understand. Once they know that you know, they'll line up at your door. You'll be their legal guru. You'll be the lawyer with services they want to buy even if you never offer anything for sale.
[Editor's Note: Perhaps because of his experience helping Lee Rosen and other lawyers, Michael Gerber published a new book a few months ago entitled The E-Myth Attorney: Why Most Legal Practices Don't Work and What to Do About It.]
Written by Lee Rosen of Divorce Discourse.
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