Are you still struggling to find the formula for success when it comes to growing your law firm? Many attorneys are — primarily because they have not defined what is necessary for them to attract the people or companies that are most likely to do business with them initially, repeatedly and at the highest profit margin.

How you answer these 3 critical questions will help shape the type of law firm you build and determine whether you will just get by or if you will build something that is successful beyond your wildest dreams.

Question #1: What value do you provide?

We are not talking about your “product” — whatever type of law it is that you practice. We are not talking about your hopes and dreams for your practice because your clients do not care about that. We are talking about what kind of value you deliver to your clients. If someone hires you, what will they have tomorrow that they didn’t have today? How will they feel after working with you? How will their lives or the things or people they care about be better because they hired you? These are the questions you must answer to articulate the value you bring to a working relationship with your clients.

Question #2: Whom do you serve?

The idea of practicing law to serve the ideal called “justice” may be noble but it will not put dinner on the table. The ideal you must serve is the client and you must organize your firm around your ideal client. Identifying and defining your ideal client will tell you who your target market should be.  Without knowing your target market, you are wasting money marketing to the universe of “everyone.”

Question #3: How will you say no?

It’s not unusual for attorneys, especially those just starting out, to take on any client with a pulse. This is a mistake because you will work yourself and your staff to death on marginal business.

One of the biggest misconceptions is if you market like a specialist and niche your legal practice, your business is going to dramatically diminish. The truth is, when you niche your legal practice, you speak and communicate more powerfully to your ideal market than if you say you can help anyone and everyone.

Of course, there may be a few prospects you will no longer reach…but because you are stating a compelling reason why your ideal target should do business with you, your firm will begin to attract your ideal target market more powerfully.