When to give your advice for free

Understanding where your clients are in their decision-making process will help you decide when to give advice for free – and how much to offer.

Can I give you a quick call?

Your clerk calls and asks you to have a strategy chat with a solicitor.

You’re busy. They’ve asked before. It didn’t lead to an instruction and you feel like saying no.

Here are three scenarios when giving your advice for free is a good idea.

1. The request comes from someone who matches your Ideal Client Profile (ICP)

An Ideal Client Profile is the fictional representation of the person your practice can help. We teach the concept of the Ideal Client in all our programmes. It’s the core exercise which helps you design a successful practice.

If the request comes from someone who matches your ICP, agree to the request without hesitation. Schedule a con, put a time limit on your availability (15 – 30 minutes is reasonable) and ask the requestor in advance for the one question they are hoping you can answer.

At the end of the call, ask these three questions:

•    Ask where the requestor heard about you. This information informs your networking strategy.
•    Ask which social media and print journals the requestor reads. This informs your choice of marketing channels in the future.
•    Ask for the instruction. It’s not pushy. It’s strategic.

2. The question is in your secondary practice area and you need a nudge to do the research

Your primary practice area is where most of your income is generated. Your secondary practice area is the one which is emerging, exciting and one you’d like to develop.

If the question is in your secondary practice area and you’re motivated by a deadline, accept the request.

You’ll have to do some research to be able to offer insight but it may be the push you need to get into the detail of a new area of work.

3. The requestor is already in your marketing funnel

Your marketing funnel consists of several stages through which you move your client before they decide to instruct you. It’s unusual for a client to learn about you on LinkedIn and decide to instruct you immediately. They will usually look for further evidence of your suitability.

You provide this evidence in stages. For example, you publish an article on LinkedIn (awareness) then host a seminar on a topic in your primary practice area (interest). Your potential client starts asking about your reputation in their own network (consideration) before asking you for a strategy chat (trial). The trial stage happens right before they instruct you (purchase).

You can make an assessment about how much advice to give away from their position in your marketing funnel.

If you are not yet using a structured process to move potential clients one step closer to instructing you, estimate their position in your marketing funnel by asking where they heard about your practice and when.

Be generous but establish boundaries

Be generous with your expertise but be clear on your boundaries. One question per free con is reasonable.

Work out where the requestor is in your marketing funnel; if they are very close to instructing Counsel, offer them so much value that they won’t want to choose anyone else for the work.

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By Heidi Smith
Creator of Jurilogical.com