You Need a Strong Review Strategy to Attract More Estate Planning Clients

By Foster Web Marketing

A lot of the estate planning lawyers I talk to see reviews as a kind of nice “extra.” They don’t ask for them. They don’t look for them, and they don’t necessarily know what kind of impact their reviews are having on their incoming visitors and leads.

In a profession that depends on your good name and reputation, doesn’t that seem like a huge oversight?

Someone checking out your estate planning firm for the first time wants to know what kinds of experiences other people have had. They want to know if you can actually help them and if you’ve helped others with similar concerns. They want to feel like you’re a choice that will make sense for them, and they want reassurance that you are someone who can guide them through difficult situations and decisions.

They might visit your website or social media pages to learn more about you, and that’s great! But most of the time, they’re only going to do that after they’ve already checked out your reviews.

Why Estate Planning Attorneys Should Take Online Reviews Seriously

When you’re curious about a new restaurant, want to switch landscapers, need a haircut, or need some other professional service, you probably do a quick search before going straight to the reviews. We all do it!

Google puts them right in front of you, especially for local searches. You see the reviews and ratings for a business almost immediately. Even more importantly, you see those reviews and ratings in comparison to their competitors. And you probably see highly rated businesses higher on the page because—you guessed it—reviews boost your trust, your authority, and ultimately your search rankings.

Obviously, this makes maintaining a positive review strategy critical for any kind of business. Those opinions and ratings truly matter! However, it’s even more important for professionals who get a lot of inquiries based on word-of-mouth referrals and name recognition. These kinds of potential clients aren’t necessarily asking questions that might lead them to your landing pages via organic search. Instead, they’re searching for your name or “estate planning near me,” and they’re often making decisions directly based on what they see in your reviews.

Today Can Be the Day You Take Control of Your Review Strategy

The best way to get positive reviews from your happy clients is to simply ask. Does that sound too easy? Does that sound like “generic” advice? If so, then tell me why so many lawyers and other businesses don’t do it!

You can’t buy fake reviews and get results. You can’t force people to review you or tell them what to say. You are building trust and authority, so you only want sincere reviews that are freely given from actual clients.

And, sure, you can get there faster with a marketing company coaching you or handling it for you. It helps to have great software and a little bit of a strategy in place so that you keep those reviews coming in over time, not just in one big push. You can get deep into all kinds of creative, ethical ways to foster great reviews when you have a whole team working for you.

But you can also do a whole lot on your own to lay the foundations for a great review strategy. You can absolutely start with some simple changes to get your review strategy on track—without any extra equipment or tech required.

Here’s how:

  • As you finish up with your next client, I challenge you to simply ask them for feedback on their experience with you. You can do this in person, over the phone, or by email.
  • If they’re happy, ask them to write a review of your law firm on a popular review site like Google or Yelp. You’re done!
  • If they’re not happy, then you have an opportunity to make it right. You can address their issues right away, and you’ve potentially avoided a bad review.
  • Repeat the process for the next client, too. Make it a routine part of your intake and exit processes.
  • Check up on your review profiles regularly. This gives you a chance to see how you’re doing, catch any negative reviews, and respond to both positive and negative reviews so that people know you’re really listening.

There you go—you have a basic review strategy.

Again, you can improve on this with reputation management software (which you’ll find in our DSS software suite), a little creativity, and a little advice from the pros. But it seriously starts with these kinds of simple changes that anyone can make.

Need a hand building a review strategy that puts you ahead of your competitors? Looking for better ways to attract potential clients and nurture past clients? Our websites and marketing experts have been growing law firms for more than 25 years, and we are focused on time-proven strategies that produce measurable success.

You can request a free website and marketing analysis with our team to get valuable knowledge about potential gaps and opportunities in your current strategy, as well as more information about how to build a review strategy that really works for you.

RELATED EDUCATION

If you found this article interesting, here are some other educational programs that you might find helpful:

ABOUT FOSTER WEB MARKETING

Since 1998, Foster Web Marketing has provided boutique website design and digital marketing services to lawyers, doctors, and other professionals across the U.S. and around the world. We use our in-house website design, content writing, search engine optimization, and coaching teams to strategize more effective marketing plans for our clients. We also provide powerful marketing software that supports businesses in attracting their “perfect clients” and achieving consistent success online.

Foster Web Marketing is the current web designer of nationally renowned estate planning attorney and Ultimate Estate Planner’s President, Philip Kavesh’s, law firm’s website.  Take a look at www.kaveshlaw.com.

For more information about Foster Web Marketing and to get a free website analysis, click here.

 

 

Leave a Comment