Law Firm Marketing by Mark Merenda | Smart Blog

Welcome Matters

I have written previously on the importance of the receptionist position, most notably perhaps in an article I did for Bloomberg Wealth Manager entitled "Welcome Matters" (you can dowload a PDF here). I said I thought the position was the the second most important job in any law firm. My experience since I wrote that article over three years ago has only strengthened that opinion. As Malcolm Gladwell described the importance of taking charge of the first 30-90 seconds in Blink, so now comes Seth Godin with a similar message, and my friend Matt Homan with a reference to the Just Looking blog and some great recruiting advice. Some of my favorite marketing bloggers, Gerry Riskin, Tom Kane, and  Michelle Golden, weigh in on the same subject.

The problem is that most employers will not treat the receptionist position (Director of First Impressions) as important, and will not pay appropriately. Their system seems to be: "We can get some high school graduate to do a little filing, a little typing, and, oh yeah, answer the phone." The result can be measured in ticked off clients and lost sales.

Click If You're Impatient

Many of you are aware that on the Smart Marketing home page there is a big red button that  says "Click if you're impatient."  I didn't put it there to be clever, but because I understand a little bit about the attorneys who are my clients. Apparently I am not the only one with a red button. Only click on the link if you are prepared to waste a half hour or so laughing. And thanks to Seth Godin for the tip.