As I write this, it’s 95 degrees in Salem, Oregon. I’m sure by the time you read this it’ll be closer to 75, but still.
I know how to handle 95 degrees in Florida. Don’t move. Blast the AC. Bring a kiddie pool inside and lay in it.
I do not know how to handle that in Oregon, especially when our place didn’t have central AC or even a portable kiddie pool.
Well, I figured it out.
At 9:00 pm, when it was still 85 degrees inside, we abandoned the Airbnb and found a new place to stay.
I’ve never been more proud of my wife. She was tossing lighter stuff off the second floor while I loaded the car, and she found us a new place with real air conditioning at the same time.
Because here’s the thing.
Things are easy when things are easy.
So what does this have to do with your firm?
Everyone keeps saying we’re headed for a recession.
Maybe that makes things easier for some people, but not for most of us.
And if they’re right, and I think they are, there are two really dumb things firms tend to do.
1) Some firms cut marketing expenses and try to ride it out.
2) Other firms keep doing the same marketing and try to ride it out.
So what are smart firms doing?
They’re investing in a CRM now.
They’re tracking their leads now.
They’re figuring out what actually works now.
They’re probably listening to and stealing some of my ideas here.
Actually, forget that. I’m not that vain, and I don’t think that song is about me.
Here’s what my firm is doing right now to prepare for a recession.
The Jordan Law 5 Tips to Recession Planning
1) We are rebranding to be less focused on me. This is way overdue, and there’s a much longer story coming as we get closer to launch.
2) We are having LegalEase Marketing re-audit our CRM to make sure everything follows best practices and that we’re tracking correctly.
3) We are double-checking all of our marketing tracking efforts.
4) We are doubling down on staying top of mind with referral sources.
5) We are saving cash so we can expand wisely.
Here’s why this matters.
With what we have set up, I know which marketing drives leads. Even better, I know which marketing drives cases.
If PPC ad A goes to landing page A, which has contact form A, my CRM, Lawmatics, can tell me what Google Analytics cannot. It tells me which clicks actually turned into clients.
So while ad number 27 might look amazing on paper with a great click-through rate and cheap cost per click, if it doesn’t send me people who hire us, it’s not very helpful.
The same goes for referral sources. I can see which ones send us the clients we love working with most.
And then something interesting happens.
As other firms stop marketing, it becomes cheaper to get more of the right cases. I already know which strategies drive those.
As insurance companies get even stingier with their money, I can see which marketing opportunities to skip this year.
As everyone feels the squeeze, I can see which referral sources go quiet and which ones double down to gain market share.
And maybe that saved cash goes into more ads. Maybe I hire employees who wouldn’t otherwise be available. Maybe I take some friends out for a drink and we commiserate.
Who knows?
What matters is that I’m positioned to make the right decision.
That’s why it’s essential to have a clear plan for your firm and know which cases you want.
That’s why it’s essential to have a CRM and track the cases you’re actually getting.
And it’s essential to do this now, so you have a real baseline of data when you need to make decisions later.
Resources
If you have no tracking in place, download the spreadsheet and start there.
If you have no idea whether you’re tracking the right things or what system to use, let’s chat.
If you just want a second set of eyes on your CRM, hire us for that.
You can look at a recession as something terrible happening to you and everyone else.
Or you can look at it as an opportunity.
I know which one I prefer.