What your clients don't know

If you relieve your criminal defense clients' stress and anxiety, they'll have confidence in your ability to help them.

When I first started my criminal defense practice, I tried to prove to potential clients that I was a good lawyer:

• I’ve tried this many cases.

• I’ve been to these trainings.

• I’ve been doing this for this many years.

To my surprise, my clients’ eyes nearly always glazed over. It wasn’t resonating them, and at first I didn’t know why.

Eventually, I realized that those credentials don’t mean much to them. Every lawyer’s credentials sound pretty similar to a lay person.

It’s really hard to tell a good lawyer from a bad one.

So how do clients decide whom to hire?

As in many areas of our lives, our clients substitute an easier question for a difficult one. In my experience, they ask themselves this question:

How do I feel when I’m with this lawyer?

Often my clients have known about their case for months before they hire me. What motivated them to finally take action on this day and meet with a lawyer?

Usually the answer is, they got so stressed out about the case that they decided they’d rather meet with a lawyer than keep feeling this stress. They’re hoping for some relief from that stress and anxiety when they meet with me.

If they’re looking for relief and you give it to them better than the other two lawyers they meet with, they’re going to be motivated to work with you.

Takeaway question: What can you do to relieve your clients’ stress and anxiety?

If you can answer that question, you’ll find clients who will do whatever it takes to work with you.