Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Relationship Building, Part 2: Check Motivations

By Kimberly Alford Rice
October 02, 2015

Relationships only happen when we are committed to make them a priority, and that takes time and a commitment to 'water' the relationship seeds we sow.

While I could outline the precise steps lawyers need to take in assembling, organizing, categorizing and systemizing their contacts, I'll spare the reader the administrative details in this article except to point out that once the task of gathering and entering all your contacts into a central system (even Outlook does a decent job of this) is complete, lawyers would be sorely remiss if they did not 'categorize' their contact names.

What does this mean?

For purposes of communicating regularly with your various constituents (clients, referral sources, prospects, etc.), no one communication message will be of interest to everyone on your contact list. That is to say, if you develop an e-newsletter or legal update on the importance of developing social media policies for the workplace and send it to your human resource clients, that topic may be of little interest to your charitable organization contacts unless they are involved in employment law issues. Basically, you want to tailor your message to an intended audience and there is no better way than to develop 'categories' of contacts.

When it comes to knowing how, when and how often to reach out, paramount on most attorneys' minds is that they do not want to be perceived as 'too pushy,' 'aggressive' or otherwise annoying. Understandable. One principle I often convey to my clients is that most people are so involved in their own world, business, family, etc., that you are not capturing 100 percent of their attention most of the time. In other words, to adequately 'register' on your targets' radar, there must be regular, consistent and persistence 'touch points', be they via email, telephone call, face-to-face (for which there is no substitute) or social media outlets, just to name a few.

Check Motivations

To build and grow a healthy practice, it is imperative to develop a system of getting and staying in touch but doing so with the appropriate mindset. In short: 'It's not about you.'

Lawyers often ask me, 'What is it that I'm saying to all these people?' 'I don't want to bother these folks' and other such sentiments.

My response is usually a variation on the theme of reaching out with a helpful spirit and with true intentions of checking in on your contacts' business, seeing how they are making out with a recent transition or starting a new position, or a company move, etc. Those who sow seeds of goodwill certainly reap good things. Or, said another way, employing Newton's law of motion, 'for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.' The more 'goodwill' you put out, the more it will come back to you ' multi-fold.


Kimberly Alford Rice'is Editor-in-Chief of Marketing the Law Firm and Principal of KLA Marketing Associates (www.klamarketing.net). Reach her at 609-458-0415 or'
[email protected].

Relationships only happen when we are committed to make them a priority, and that takes time and a commitment to 'water' the relationship seeds we sow.

While I could outline the precise steps lawyers need to take in assembling, organizing, categorizing and systemizing their contacts, I'll spare the reader the administrative details in this article except to point out that once the task of gathering and entering all your contacts into a central system (even Outlook does a decent job of this) is complete, lawyers would be sorely remiss if they did not 'categorize' their contact names.

What does this mean?

For purposes of communicating regularly with your various constituents (clients, referral sources, prospects, etc.), no one communication message will be of interest to everyone on your contact list. That is to say, if you develop an e-newsletter or legal update on the importance of developing social media policies for the workplace and send it to your human resource clients, that topic may be of little interest to your charitable organization contacts unless they are involved in employment law issues. Basically, you want to tailor your message to an intended audience and there is no better way than to develop 'categories' of contacts.

When it comes to knowing how, when and how often to reach out, paramount on most attorneys' minds is that they do not want to be perceived as 'too pushy,' 'aggressive' or otherwise annoying. Understandable. One principle I often convey to my clients is that most people are so involved in their own world, business, family, etc., that you are not capturing 100 percent of their attention most of the time. In other words, to adequately 'register' on your targets' radar, there must be regular, consistent and persistence 'touch points', be they via email, telephone call, face-to-face (for which there is no substitute) or social media outlets, just to name a few.

Check Motivations

To build and grow a healthy practice, it is imperative to develop a system of getting and staying in touch but doing so with the appropriate mindset. In short: 'It's not about you.'

Lawyers often ask me, 'What is it that I'm saying to all these people?' 'I don't want to bother these folks' and other such sentiments.

My response is usually a variation on the theme of reaching out with a helpful spirit and with true intentions of checking in on your contacts' business, seeing how they are making out with a recent transition or starting a new position, or a company move, etc. Those who sow seeds of goodwill certainly reap good things. Or, said another way, employing Newton's law of motion, 'for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.' The more 'goodwill' you put out, the more it will come back to you ' multi-fold.


Kimberly Alford Rice'is Editor-in-Chief of Marketing the Law Firm and Principal of KLA Marketing Associates (www.klamarketing.net). Reach her at 609-458-0415 or'
[email protected].

Read These Next
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin Image

With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.

'Huguenot LLC v. Megalith Capital Group Fund I, L.P.': A Tutorial On Contract Liability for Real Estate Purchasers Image

In June 2024, the First Department decided Huguenot LLC v. Megalith Capital Group Fund I, L.P., which resolved a question of liability for a group of condominium apartment buyers and in so doing, touched on a wide range of issues about how contracts can obligate purchasers of real property.

The Article 8 Opt In Image

The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.

Fresh Filings Image

Notable recent court filings in entertainment law.

Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws Image

This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.