The Reality Of Being A Solo Lawyer? - The Constant Worry Of Where The Next Client Comes From?
The worry of never having enough clients as a lawyer never really goes away for many lawyers especially solos including myself.
In the early years of starting out, you’re always worried about whether you’ll attract enough clients, where they’ll come from, and when the next one will appear.
I was actually comforted early on when I got my first client lead before I could even had my law firm approved by the Law Society. Even better it was one of the bankers I’d gone to ask for an overdraft. Clearly I’d impressed him enough that he came to me as a potential client - sadly who I could not take on yet!
From that moment, I had a good feeling my practice would take off. Yes a client lead has that effect on you.
But the underlying truth remained and remains - the worry of where the next client is coming from never really goes away.
And, ironically, you have very little control over it. The sooner you understand that, the better.
All you can do is keep doing the things you know you should be doing to build a solo law practice - the business development, the connecting, the visible presence until the phone actually rings or more relevantly the email lands.
Then comes a mix of emotions - elation, excitement, a bit of terror mixed with overwhelm.
After that comes the next set of challenges, which one really prepared you for - empathising with the client, providing some confidence to them and converting the work then actually fitting it and doing it! And heaven forbid, if the phone keeps ringing, wondering how on earth are you going to juggle and get it all done - which is ironic.
Regardless, if you're out there connecting with people, enjoying the connections you’re making and building along the way or doing the many other business-development activities available - it’s only a matter of time before the phone rings.
You never know where your next client is coming from or who they’ll refer you to. That’s just reality as I said before - so it is better just to let go of this.
Early on especially as a sole practitioner I used to meet lots of professionals for coffee so I could build a good network and have trusted advisors I could send clients to.
I was rarely knocked back but I remember one financial planner who told me they were too busy to meet. That was fine. What I didn’t expect was that a month later them starting to send me clients, sight unseen, regularly. As I said, you never quite know where your next job’s coming from.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the generosity of professionals in general, including local lawyers who knew I’d just set up on my own. Many of them, after nothing more than a short coffee were happy to send me leads and clients without any expectation of anything in return. That support mattered. A lot. It also did wonders for my confidence.
But the client challenges didn’t end there. That was only the beginning, and the struggles came from a lack of marketing, selling, and pricing expertise. Once a lead came in, I had to learn how to convert it over the phone. What do I say? What do I ask? What signals do I look for? How do I know I can help the person and that they’re right for me? Can I fit it in? Is my expertise right? These were all things that I had little or no practical training and experience of. I was a real work in progress on this front for such a long time, years in fact.
Oh and the biggest one of all (the one that never truly ever goes away!) - pricing. Saying the price out loud and then pausing, closing my eyes, waiting, hoping my pitch hit the mark until the person responds yes or no or worse, “I’ll think about it” . No one teaches you how to do that. No one teaches you how to bring in work, convert it, or deal with client questions and objections.
To be frank, the lawyering part is the easy bit. We all get trained as lawyers, but selling ourselves in our own businesses is completely different. Especially doing it without sounding too salesy or pushy, while not having any proper marketing knowledge about what works.
And that was before online became the dominant way to get clients. That adds a whole different dimension to it all.
With practice and time, this stuff does however get better (sorry not the pricing part).
These days I advise coaching clients to take proper training in branding, sales, and marketing - (I even told someone to go to acting classes the other day for confidence issues).
Being able to convert a lead in a highly competitive market is an art form. Online and human business development is even more complex as I said above in an increasingly digital age.
But the question of “Where is my next client coming from?” never fully goes away.
All you can do is your part before the client arrives as best you can and your part after, as best as you possibly can!
If you’re thinking about going out on your own, our guide When Is The Right Time To Go Out On Your Own? will help you make that decision with clarity and confidence.
