Most people who get into mediation or other ADR services don’t do it because they love to market their services. For many of us, marketing has a pejorative feel to it; marketing feels unprofessional for a professional service industry. Yet, because so much of the public is unfamiliar with the types of services that ADR practitioners offer, and with less support from litigation attorneys than we’d like, we need to find an authentic, comfortable way to market our services and mediation programs.
Written by Diana Mercer
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As a modern business, mediators and arbitrators need to make sure you focus as much as possible on how you are going to market your practice. You need to do as much as possible to make a big difference here, and it is important to have a procedure in place to deal with this. There are a lot of things you can do when it comes to improving this, and trying to develop the best possible marketing process is vital for continued practice success.
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Two terms, use interchangeably but really shouldn’t be. Your marketing plan and your marketing strategy are two different parts of your business.
Simply put:
Your marketing strategy is what you need to achieve with your business. This will be tied to your business goals and vision.
Your marketing plan is how you are going to achieve what is set out on your marketing strategy.
Both are necessary for you to move forward with your business, and they will work in unison.
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What has not changed is that no matter the situation mediators and arbitrators are finding themselves in, there is one goal among all of them. Finding a way to keep their practices thriving.
When this is over (and it will end) things will be business as usual. Stopping your marketing efforts in the midst of something like this is a lot like deciding to give up your diet and exercise regime because you are stuck at home. I don’t want that for you. I want you and all my clients to surface from this in better shape than when we went into living with this virus.
The best way to do that, is to keep your marketing efforts going and your mediation or arbitration practice growing.
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“That’s a good idea”
“And then what happens?”
Repeat the second question 100 times. Because after every good idea, there are at least 100 steps of iteration, learning, adjustment, innovation and effort.
Starting with the wrong idea is a waste of energy and time.
But not committing to the 100 steps is a waste of a good idea.
We put a lot of pressure on the idea to be perfect because it distracts us from the reality that the hundred steps after the idea are going to make all the difference. Nearly every organization you can point to is built around an idea that wasn’t original or perfect.
The effort and investment and evolution made the difference.
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Striking a balance between self-promotion and professional promotion can be the defining combination for success. If you're not a business-minded mediator find someone to help with business development. If you're not entrepreneurial find someone who is to help create that never-ending drive for you. If you're not a bookkeeper - outsource your books to a professional. Essentially - do what you do best (mediate) and find professionals to augment your business with their special talents.
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Are You Making Any of These 10 Deadly Business Mistakes?
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How can you build a Board of your own? Seek out those individuals in your area that are successful business people. They will provide you much needed advice and may become tremendous advocates of ADR. Also seek out some of the successful resolutionists in your area to serve as both ADR and business mentors. Explain your current position as well as your goals and endeavors. Go to them with specific questions and challenges that your practice is facing and listen carefully to their advice. My experience has been that the advice from my Advisory Board has been a treasure trove of information that no college degree could ever provide.
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One of the most rewarding things about being an entrepreneur and a mediator is how you personally identify with your company. Since most of us are solo-practitioners we tend to feel tremendous pride in our practice creation. However, too frequently practitioners treat their practices in an officious and overformal way. Instead try treating your small business a little more warmth.
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Writing copy (or content) is all about persuading and motivating your reader. In order to persuade and motivate your reader you will need to break the process of writing into two sections – the first is prior to writing and the second is while you’re writing
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A confession: I have a reading disorder.
A serious vice that requires between 2 and 5 books each week to be satiated. I am a bookstore owner's fantasy and my library's least profit-producing cardholder.
On that note - while in my favorite bookstore, perusing the business section, I began to count the number of books that attempt to tell you how to grow your business. I lost count, then lost interest. Now I have spent hundreds of dollars and euros to own a good number of these kinds of books, and have read even more of them. If they're good, they eventually get around telling you that the following 3 activities are key to growing any business.
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Time for your annual marketing check up. Use the short survey of Robert Middleton's
below to assess your practice development health. Give yourself from 1 to 5 points
on each statement. A perfect score is 125 points.
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Unless you’re already exceptionally well positioned, getting business coming to you will take time. How long it will take depends on how ready you are. You might find that you’re ready immediately. Conversely you might find that you have several weeks or months to get yourself and your practice in a position to begin attracting clients. If you rush into trying to get business without positioning yourself solidly, you’ll just have to go back later and redevelop your practice into a better position.
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Getting lost or overwhelmed by all the choices in social media platforms is easy to do. It wasn't always this way. Until the late 1990's marketing and promoting a practice was as easy buying space in newspapers and periodicals or on TV, and doing some smart networking to build trust and lasting relationships. That was it. That was the magic bullet.
But in today's market there's no such thing as a magic bullet.
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Although I do miss the first two versions of conferences and meetings, they were expensive, complicated and sometimes difficult processes. This new normal has its own challenges for sure, but if new effort is required, we have the chance to do what we’ve always done in the resolution industry, which is figure out what works and to commit to it.
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Volunteering can be a great way to gain experience, lighten the load on your local court docket, help people who really need help, and meet turn potential clients into prospective clients and then into paying clients. But don’t let volunteering distract you from doing what you know you need to do – build your practice. Be a businessperson first. Be a business person who happens to specialize in ADR, but be a smart businessperson.
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As mediators and arbitrators we talk a lot about having empathy—for each other, for our community, and for our clients. As you contemplate the best way to communicate with your clients and as we collectively navigate this crisis, I’ve put together a few notes on displaying empathy during this time and how to effectively and appropriately get your message across.
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3 Easy Steps to Making Your ADR Practice Successful
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