Competition: Wasteful Energy or Useful Synergy?
October 16, 2024
I recently had a conversation with a young attorney friend of mine, and he told me that he’s been having a difficult time attracting new clients. He said it’s really hurting business. What I didn’t tell him was recently I needed an attorney but didn’t have any luck deciding on one. You won’t believe the shocking truth that we both discovered.
After graduating college, my best friend and I both knew that it would be hard for us to hang out every weekend, but we wanted to make sure to keep in touch. So, we decided that we would meet up once a month for lunch.
As we waited for our food, he told me that he’d been in a rut lately and didn’t quite know what he was going to do. He said it was really beginning to hurt his business. Now you have to understand that my friend was always a huge prankster. So of course, I thought he was setting me up for a big punchline. It took everything in me not to pop his bubble. But when I saw his expression change, I said to myself this could be serious. So instead of laying all of his faults on the table, I decided to leave my good friend’s dignity intake. I decided to use a different approach.
I revealed to him that I recently needed an attorney but couldn’t quite decide on who to select.
“Mike, I didn’t know you needed a lawyer. Why didn’t you say something? I could have reached out to a few people. You know, I’m kind of a big deal. I’ve got a huge network,” Dave said, chuckling and stretching his arms wide.
“I know Dave, you’re still the big man on campus, but I didn’t want to bother… actually Dave, I didn’t want to hear you go on and on about how I should’ve gone to law school and yada yada yada.” I said, exaggerating to make my point.
“Yep, you should have… but afterwards I would’ve helped you out bro.” he said with a wide grin.
“I know. You’ve got a good heart, but my situation was different. When I needed a lawyer, I reached out to several law offices to see if they could help. There’s no doubt that any of them could do the job, but I wanted to know if they’d be a good FIT for me.
“Okay don’t leave me hanging bro…” Dave said. “What happened?”
“Okay, so the first attorney I met was a nice enough person. She was very knowledgeable about the law… VERY knowledgeable. The thing is… halfway through the consultation I felt lost in the sauce, overwhelmed with the all the technical stuff. I felt like I was in law school 101.”
Finishing my point, “What I DIDN’T feel was comfortable with my options because I don’t remember hearing any.”
“Yeah, Mike… sometimes as a new attorney starting out, your comfort zone tends to be all the legal stuff. You gotta be able to dial it back and connect with people first in order to find out what they need. Then you can help.”
“Exactly. Not a good fit there.” I agreed.
“So, the next attorney I met was a bit on the arrogant side I felt. Very intelligent, and by far the most experienced. But he kept interrupting and making assumptions about my case. He made me feel like it was my fault that I got into the situation in the first place. I was already anxious about the whole thing. Plus, it’s really hard letting someone else ‘take the wheel’. Our personalities just clashed. It just didn’t feel right, Dave.”
“Now wait a minute, Mike!” He said defensively. “It’s not my job as a lawyer to make you FEEL all warm and fuzzy inside. My job is to gather the facts, file the necessary documents, and win the case. And I’m damn good at my job.”
“I know that Dave, and I get it.” I shot back. “It’s technically NOT your job, but you can’t just…”
“Can’t just what?” asked Dave. I stayed silent, purposely leaving my thought open-ended for a reason. I wanted to let that thought sit with Dave for a minute. He slowly came back down to Earth.
“Okay, okay… sorry about that. You know I’m pretty passionate but Go on.” Dave gestured.
“Alright. So, I met with another attorney who was impressive. He knew the law and he was polite.”
“So, what was the problem this time?” Dave interjected.
“Let me finish!” I exclaimed. “He seemed like a good fit. I told him I needed to think about it. Next thing I knew, I could never get hold of the guy. I left several emails, texts, and phone messages. I didn’t know what happened. I felt like he disappeared on me. So, like a week later, he finally reached back out to me. By then, I had moved on.”
“Yeah, sometimes it’s tough to stay on top of everything. It’s like you need to clone yourself or something like that,” Dave admitted.
“The last attorney was interesting. He walked around in shorts and a t-shirt while holding a golf club. I was like what the hell? He portrayed himself as a hotshot out of the movies, but he didn’t look like a serious attorney. Long hair, no suit, no tie… didn’t present himself as a professional at all.”
“LOOK professional?” Dave asked incredulously.
“Yes, Dave! Look professional.” I said. “A suit and tie have always been associated with professionals… doctors, lawyers, bankers, you know… positions of authority. But not him. He looked like your average 20-something year old student.”
By this time, I could see the wheels turning a bit for Dave.
“Okay, Mike.” He said. “I get it… I see what you’re doing.”
BINGO! I continued to play it cool though. “What are you talking about Dave?” I said slyly. “I’m trying to tell you what happened, but you keep interrupting me. Nothing more than that.”
This is, of course, what I was trying to do… get Dave to see what other people see when they meet with him.
Conclusion
In the story above, Mike tried to get Dave to realize that keeping things as simple as possible, being an attentive listener, being accessible, and always presenting a professional appearance gets you in the door and keeps you there. People have to see you as a professional first. After they clear this hurdle, then you can build a rapport. Put yourself in their shoes. You wouldn’t trust a dentist if he showed up in a pair of farmers overalls covered in dirt, would you? Absolutely not. Proper appearance means EVERYTHING.
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