A potential client rarely picks up the phone to call a law firm on their best day—and how that first moment is handled can make or break the relationship. In this episode, you’ll learn how to turn branding, digital footprint, and intake into a consistent, human experience that wins trust and converts more of the right clients.
In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Fiona Stevenson discuss:
- Unreasonable hospitality and the “2%” difference
- Brand vs. marketing for law firms
- Defining mission, values, and ideal clients
- Consistent intake and first-impression systems
- Human connection vs. AI in client intake
Key Takeaways:
- A law firm’s brand is defined less by its logo and more by what people say when the lawyers aren’t in the room.
- Clarity on mission, values, and the types of clients you do and do not want to serve should act as a north star for all marketing and client interactions.
- Consistency across every touchpoint (including your website, email, phone, live chat, and in-person conversations) is essential for building trust and a recognizable brand.
- The first phone call often happens on one of the worst days in a client’s life, so warmth, empathy, and active listening are non‑negotiable in intake.
- While AI can enhance efficiency behind the scenes, real humans at the end of the phone line remain critical to delivering the kind of experience that truly reflects a firm’s reputation.
“Brand is what people are saying about you when you’re not in the room. You might not have even spoken to that person, and they’ve already got a perception about what your brand is.” — Fiona Stevenson
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About Fiona Stevenson: Fiona Stevenson is Associate Director of Marketing at LEX Reception. She brings 20 years of B2B marketing experience across SaaS, professional services, retail, and the public sector. Her particular interest is customer insights – she believes good marketing starts with an honest understanding of what buyers actually need. She writes about legal operations, client experience, and practical growth for law firms.
Connect with Fiona Stevenson:
Website: https://www.lexreception.com/blog/author/fiona/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionahstevenson/
Connect with Steve Fretzin:
LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin
Twitter: @stevefretzin
Instagram: @fretzinsteve
Facebook: Fretzin, Inc.
Website: Fretzin.com
Email: [email protected]
Book: Legal Business Development Isn’t Rocket Science and more!
YouTube: Steve Fretzin
Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You’re the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Steve Fretzin [00:00]
Hey everybody, before we get to the show, just want to remind you that the Be That Lawyer community is up and running and rock and rolling. We have a lot of amazing business developer and rainmaking attorneys in there. We’ve got incredible content, courses, live events, and all kinds of ways to help you to be that lawyer. Check it out today at Be That lawyer.com/community And other than that, please enjoy the show.
Announcer [00:29]
You’re listening to Be That Lawyer: Life-Changing Strategies and Resources for Growing a Successful Law Practice. Each episode, your host, author, and lawyer coach, Steve Fretzin, will take a deeper dive, helping you grow your law practice in less time with greater results. Now, here’s your host, Steve Fretzin.
Steve Fretzin [00:51]
Hey everybody, Steve Fretzin. Welcome to the Be That Lawyer podcast. This is the show all about business development, marketing, branding, time management. Everything you didn’t learn in law school is taught and shown and demonstrated here through the incredible experts and rainmakers that I bring on to share their wisdom with you twice a week, every week, going on maybe six years, you know, not bad, not a bad run.
Fiona Stevenson [01:14]
Well, yeah, that’s really good. Yeah,
Steve Fretzin [01:15]
yeah. The other show I have is Future Rainmakers, it’s more me and some of my clients coming on to talk shop, and that one, I think we’re only 20 episodes in, or maybe like five or six months in, so definitely a newer show, but a very different approach to a podcast, and what you guys can learn. So, if you’re a fan of this show, definitely check out Future Rainmakers and see what that’s all about. Fiona, I’m so happy that you’re here. Lex Reception is one of our, one of our amazing sponsors, and I’m just so thrilled that I’m here to pull the nuggets of wisdom out of your brain and add more value to my audience here, and I was really impressed with your quote of the show, and let’s jump in and get to it. How do you feel about that?
Fiona Stevenson [01:55]
Yeah, sure. Thank you so much for having me.
Steve Fretzin [01:57]
Absolutely, your game for it. All right, here we go. This one is, no one who ever changed the game did so by being reasonable. Will was it Gurion Guidara?
Fiona Stevenson [02:07]
Will Goddara
Steve Fretzin [02:08]
Will Gadara? Yeah, I totally destroyed that name. Okay, that happens. That happens with me. I told you before we started taping that I just did a podcast on a one hour webinar, and now my brain is fried. So there you have it. But tell us about that quote, and welcome again to the show.
Fiona Stevenson [02:22]
No, thank you. So, this is a quote from one of my favorite business books. It’s not even a business book, it’s more a book about service in general, and providing a great customer experience. The book’s called Unreasonable Hospitality. I don’t know, read, yeah,
Steve Fretzin [02:41]
big time, that’s a big book, big book,
Fiona Stevenson [02:42]
yeah. I also based on, uh, the bear had an episode on it, if you’re a put on a butcher as well, which puts it into life too, but I think that it really just, I just loved how creative Will was when it comes to thinking about the restaurant trade and flipping it on its head, you know his aim was to achieve a Michelin star, but for him it wasn’t about the service that he provides or the menu, he felt like he was kind of top of the game, it was really actually obsessing over the 2% you know, he felt any restaurant could hit 90 98% what could he do that makes a difference when it comes to that 2% and what could he really obsess over and be unreasonable about in terms of some of his obsessions?
Steve Fretzin [03:27]
Yeah,
Fiona Stevenson [03:28]
and I think that that’s really what kind of made 11 Madison really stand out, because he used that 2% to really deliver wow, or magic, as he calls it. Yeah, and a really memorable, memorable experience,
Steve Fretzin [03:43]
yeah. Another thing I love from that show, by the way. If you’re not, if you’ve never seen the show, The Bear, really, really good, super hard to watch sometimes, because it’s so dramatic. But what are your non-negotiables? I love that, like, I’ve got non-negotiables, and I will not do that thing if it’s a non-negotiable, like, right. So everybody should have a list in there, by the way. Also, just in a, just a little tidbit, in Chicago, they have a bear food tour, so if you want to go to, like, where it was filmed, and learn about the history of the bear, and the restaurants, and see the scenes that they did, and all of that, and even those restaurants, it’s kind of, if you’re coming to Chicago, and you’re a hair fan, check that out. Yeah,
Fiona Stevenson [04:20]
actual, maybe
Steve Fretzin [04:21]
pretty cool, pretty cool,
Fiona Stevenson [04:22]
yeah, really cool.
Steve Fretzin [04:23]
Well, very good. Everybody, Fiona Stevenson is the associate marketing director at Lex Reception, as I mentioned, one of our amazing sponsors, and would love to hear a little bit about your journey leading up to this current role.
Fiona Stevenson [04:36]
Yeah, I mean, I have been in marketing for about 20 years, I thought I was going to be an art school student, but marketing was my calling. It mixes creativity with my scientific brain, and yeah, I have really loved being within the profession. I think we’re always kind of on the cusp of new things all the time. I’ve seen marketing go from print into. And digital, and now we’re into like the AI era, and yeah, I’ve been at Lex reception for about four and a half years now, working with attorneys is is such a pleasure to, you know, speak to different firms every day, and really understand that actually some of the marketing challenges that I face are very similar to challenges that firm faces, firms face as well,
Steve Fretzin [05:22]
really fantastic. And I know that law firms, lawyers, you know, people coming out of law school that didn’t learn business development, marketing, any of this stuff, they’re now being asked, hey, you now run a firm, or you now are starting a firm, or you’re getting elevated to managing partner, and what do they know about branding? What do they know about marketing? I mean, that’s really where should lawyers, whether they’re solos or they’re just building their own brand within a firm or they’re running a firm, where does like marketing and branding start? Like, what should, what’s, where should, like, the very first step be?
Fiona Stevenson [05:54]
I mean, I think that when it comes to like marketing and branding, like, even them themselves are different disciplines, right? And I think we think that brand is going to be a logo on a paper. Hey, it looks good, it’s going to stand out. It’s really more than that, you know. Brand is what people are seeing about you when you’re not in the room, and you might not even spoken to that person, and they’ve got a perception about what your brand is. So I think that the first place that really that perception starts off with it isn’t even that kind of first outreach, it’s it’s your digital footprint, it’s what people are saying about you online and how you show up online. So when it comes to searching at the moment, as well, the landscape is really changing, you know, everyone would go to Google, majority of people are going to Google now, but there’s also different social media platforms, there’s large language models, LLMs, such as, you know, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, ChatGPT, that sort of thing, and that, to be honest, is really quite a new era when it comes to how do I even show up in these places, so I think that you know I know firms have got a lot to juggle every day, and unfortunately, you know, the channel mix that’s available for clients searching for a firm, it’s just it’s expanding even more, so really thinking about how you show up in that search, first of all, it is your first impression.
Steve Fretzin [07:20]
Well, I mean, let’s even, if you don’t mind, let’s take a step back, even before that. I’m thinking about lawyers and law firms that maybe haven’t fully identified their targets, or they haven’t fully identified, like, what’s their why, or what’s what are they in this for, and how are they leveraging that to, you know, affect the name of their company, or the way that they’re presenting themselves, that the imagery on their LinkedIn or their website, take us back a little further to that.
Fiona Stevenson [07:45]
I think, yeah, that’s like really important. That is really almost your kind of stake in the ground in terms of who you are, what you’re doing, and what makes you different when it comes to that, that mission, I guess, that you have as an attorney, you know, like you said, there’s a reason why attorneys are going training and then opening up their own business. Why did you choose to do that? I think a lot of that reason is down to helping people and really making a change, but how do you articulate that and having that as your, I guess, like Northstar, when it comes to everything that you do, so not just about that logo or your website, how you actually engage with your clients, how you show up at networking events, for example, really just having that as your blueprint, and having that consistently, you’re not switching that every six months or every year, I think that that’s a nice thing about being a solo or a small firm attorney, like, if that is your personality, it really should shine through. I think that should really be part of what you’re presenting, you know. It’s not an act, and it’s truly kind of what you believe in, and clients will see that and feel that as well.
Steve Fretzin [08:59]
Yeah, sort of, my mantra, and I’d like to think people feel this way, is that I’m trying to get results for me through others, like if I can help another enough other people get what they want out of their lives and their careers and what they’re trying to accomplish, it comes back to me, right?
Fiona Stevenson [09:16]
Yeah,
Steve Fretzin [09:16]
so I think my clients can pick up on this, that I shouldn’t be more motivated to grow their book of business than they are, but I’m like a close second, right? They can tell that I’m not just sitting back hoping that things happen, that I’m very proactive in making sure that this partnership works out. And so I think, you know, lawyers need to really think about why they do what they do, who they work with, who they like to work with, and really come up with a platform. One of my clients is very forward thinking with AI, and the way that she’s pursuing the business, and she’s changing her name of her firm. And I looked at the name, and I thought I thought it was pretty good, but I’m thinking, like, I’m thinking it’s. Something that is more relevant to her and her mission, to you keep saying the word mission, which I love, that might I actually wrote down, I’m not going to share it online, because I want to steal it before I get it to it, but, um, like I’m going to give her a couple of alternatives that I think might be even better than what she has, because it maybe represents what I’m observing as the outside player in this game, with no, with you know nothing other than her best interests at heart, that there might be something that’s more in line with what her mission and her why
Fiona Stevenson [10:28]
- So, a couple of things that come to mind. So, when you’re thinking about, you know, maybe what your mission is, one of the exercises that we’ve thought about is if you were to kind of go to some sort of rally, what would your petition sign be? What do you stand for as a firm, and how do you articulate that on your board? So that’s quite a cool little kind of exercise.
Steve Fretzin [10:51]
Yeah,
Fiona Stevenson [10:52]
and the other thing to think about, you know, you mentioned about the clients that you want to work with, and also think about what you don’t want to be, how you don’t want to be perceived who you don’t like, who’s not every client’s a great fit. Who do you not want to work with, and why? And really kind of honing into that space that you want to be associated with as well, and
Steve Fretzin [11:11]
maybe even consider either asking clients or surveying clients to find out not only you know how they feel about you, but also, what do they feel is really, you know, unique about you? What’s unique about your firm? What do you do better than everybody else? And if the answers are nothing, you suck. Well, then you have problems, but you know, if the answer is, you know, I’ve never had a law firm or a lawyer that’s more responsive and that’s genuinely cares about, you know, making sure that we, you know, no, we’re not panicking, right? Like, we know we’ve got you in our corner. Well, that could change a lot of the marketing and the branding that you’re doing, because you thought it was all about, you know, oh, we have such a great culture. Well, that might be important, but not as important as it might be to your clients who are telling you something else.
Fiona Stevenson [11:58]
Oh, yeah, definitely, 100% I think the definitely the best thing is to speak to the people that you are working with, I think clients, but also if you have team members as well, speaking to them too, because that culture comes from within, right? Yeah, you know, however you work internally is kind of then how you’re presented externally as well, so talking to team members and clients, and maybe other, you know, attorneys that you work with as well, all of them have got different perceptions in terms of who you are, and I think that, you know, having that rounded kind of 360 view really does help, and might uncover things that you didn’t know about yourself as well.
Steve Fretzin [12:38]
Yeah, so the brand is, you know, not just coming up with that idea, and it’s everything that surrounds it. And then we’re in a position where all right now we’ve got to like get out and market it. We have to put it out there into the world. What are the different ways that people support a strong brand that they know is like, be that lawyer is a great brand, right? I love it. People love it. I could do something, say, like, oh, everybody tells me, whatever, but um, everybody’s telling me your tears in their eyes, they came to me and they said, “Sir, no, I’m just kidding, but, um, it’s.. it.. the fact is, is that when I saw it originally, when it was presented to me, I fell in love with it right away, and I said, “You just nailed it to this guy, who’s a brilliant marketing guy, shout out to Greg Miller. And, but ultimately, that’s just the beginning, like, what do you then do with a brand? Like, how do you take a great brand and a great idea and everything, and then how do you put it out there and stay consistent with it? What’s your take on that?
Fiona Stevenson [13:28]
Yeah, I was going to say consistency was going to be my main thing. So, what your brand looks like is going to be underpinned by probably different values that you have, like what we spoke about, who you are, who you’re not, and that then has to translate into everything. I’m not just talking about your website, I’m talking about the text that you use, how you talk to someone in person, on email, on phone, online chat, on your website. Everything should be all entwined back into who you want to be and how you want to be perceived through that brand, so probably sounds quite daunting. It is. It’s not an easy thing to do, you know. That refresh for your client, I feel your pain. That is a big change, and to make, and also it’s not just about a visual change, it could be behaviors that are changing as well, doing things differently. But yeah, I guess really just thinking about probably the kind of touch points are going to make the biggest difference, starting with there, and then cascading
Steve Fretzin [14:29]
that out. Yeah. Hey everybody, your next big client might call it 8pm on a Saturday night. The question is, who’s picking up with Lex reception? A real person answers every call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you never miss a lead, no matter when they reach out. No AI agents, no voicemail, just professional legal literate receptionists representing your firm the right way around the clock. And right now, you that lawyer listeners get 250 off their first month. Visit www dot let. Reception.com/partners/be that lawyer to claim your offer, that’s www dot lex reception.com/partners/be that lawyer. Hey everybody, Steve Fretson here. [email protected] they don’t just market law firms, they help them grow from connecting millions of consumers to trusted lawyers to smarter intake and industry leading events. They’re building stronger connections across legal visibility intake events growth. That’s lawyer.com Check them out today with proven SEO and digital marketing strategies that drive actual clients to your firm, rankings.io prides itself on proof, not promises mentality. The best firms hire rankings.io when they want rankings, traffic, and cases other law firm marketing agencies can’t deliver. Get more rankings, get cases, and schedule a free [email protected] today. So we put out this great brand, we’re doing our marketing, we’re being consistent, everything you just said, and then the business is coming through the door, and then how, how much shot thought should like firms and individual lawyers like put into what happens the moment someone makes that contact,
Fiona Stevenson [16:15]
a lot, a lot, probably an eye-watering amount to kind of attract that that person to reach out for you, so to see that follow the last hurdle is really heartbreaking. I think that to be honest, that’s often kind of what I see, and I think attorneys are really being a lot more cognizant of that now. Right, I see a lot of attorneys who reach out to us and say, hey, we’ve got a marketing campaign running, and they know, like, I’m going to have people kind of contact us, so I want to make sure that you know that gap between what marketing has generated and all the way through to having a retainer signed, like, actually, that that’s a big space in between, so yeah, super important, and I think quite critical, because that is your, that’s the first opportunity where someone’s actually taking everything that they’ve seen in your marketing and making that decision. Are you living up to the expectations of your marketing? You know, when I complete that web form on on the site, start a live chat, you know, have a call and speak to someone, is that the same experience I was expecting based on what your marketing has been telling me.
Steve Fretzin [17:25]
Well, maybe a good, good time to transition, just to, you know, not totally self-promote, but at least talk a little bit about why answering the phone is important, like, you know, day or night, the phony sponsored, and when I make calls to a landscaper, to a remodeler, to an accountant, and I’m just getting the voicemail, or I’m waiting around now all day to hear back from them. Like, that’s not the world we live in. The world we live in right now is, I’m going to call you, I’m going to leave, I’m going to hear that voicemail will go off, and I’m out. I’m out. Right at that point, I’m moving to number two, I’m moving to number three. I’m not going to leave a message, and I’m not going to, so people, I don’t know that people are understanding that, quite frankly, that how, what you know, how much business is being thrown away or not taken in because they don’t have a system in place.
Fiona Stevenson [18:13]
Yeah, but like you said, we are impatient now, you know, we get instant gratification. I was thinking, like, if we, if you go onto a website and that website takes more than five seconds to load, sorry, like, I’m going on to the next one. If I’m calling someone and there’s no answer, or you know, a lot of attorneys have a full voicemail and there’s not even room to kind of leave a message, like, use just 1000s of dollars to kind of get to that point, and then it’s that’s it disappears, and you don’t even know you’re losing those opportunities as well. So, yeah, it’s heartbreaking sometimes. You, I think, have to learn some tough lessons.
Steve Fretzin [18:52]
Yeah,
Fiona Stevenson [18:52]
but yeah, it is such a critical part.
Steve Fretzin [18:55]
But whether, whether someone’s using a service like yours, or they’re, you know, having a receptionist, hopefully they’re not picking up their own phones all day. I mean, obviously that’s a concern as well. Maybe you can, you could talk to it, but when whoever’s that’s the first impression. And so, what are some of the things that you train your team to do, and that people could learn from you about that initial call, whether that’s intake or just picking up and figuring out where that call should go?
Fiona Stevenson [19:20]
Yeah, I mean, it’s.. it is a consistent answer, I guess. Like, when someone is calling a firm, probably they don’t really want to make that phone call. It’s not going to be a great day in their life, or usually when they’re picking up a call to an attorney, they’re probably feeling quite intimidated by making that call. They don’t know what’s going to be next, they’re not sure how much this is going to cost them. They don’t know what the consequences are, and of this phone call.
Steve Fretzin [19:45]
Yeah,
Fiona Stevenson [19:45]
and you know, I think having warmth, empathy, active listening, these sorts of kind of soft skills are the real basis of a good and a great introduction. Even just acknowledging that the caller has reached the right place, you know, stating clearly what your name is, what your firm name is. You don’t know how much relief that can place on someone, just to know, okay, making like they probably pent on making this phone call, okay? Right, this is the first step, I’ve done it, I’m talking to someone, and then really just thinking about the questions to ask the order of the questions, you know, sometimes or quite often clients will just want to get their story out, like all in one place, but to provide, you know, that great service is asking the right questions at the right time as well, and sometimes it’s really not the best place to be regurgitating that whole conversation, you know, that that comes for a lot along the line. It’s really just, you know, we hear you making sure that they’re feeling heard, and yeah, having really that empathetic ear thing is just so important. So, yeah, the team we that we have, that’s really what the emphasis is on.
Steve Fretzin [20:58]
Yeah, well, I like that. Can you know you gotta be consistent that it’s not every time the phone rings, it’s a different person or a different hello versus the name of the firm versus whatever it is. There should be some training done, and it should be just like the marketing, where we’re saying consistency, same message, same this that needs to translate to that call, and I feel like a lot of lawyers just like a lot of things they do, which again it’s not necessarily their fault, it’s not something they learned early on, is you know, like what’s proper form, right? Like what is the best way to answer that call? What is the best way to transition that to a lawyer to schedule a time for them to meet to like do that intake, or at least open up the intake for the lawyer who’s going to then then take the qualified call, and a lot of the lawyers are so busy, they just pick up, they just pick up the phone, or somebody just sends them a call, and they’re like, oh my god, this is a solicitor, not a solicitor lawyer, right, like a solicitor, somebody trying to sell you some stuff, or it’s somebody that has a problem that’s so far out of bounds, like you’re just spent a half an hour listening to someone talk at you when you’ve got all this work to do, so I think it’s like we really have to think intelligently about this.
Fiona Stevenson [22:05]
Yeah, I think like what’s really important is the questions that you want your firm to have answers to before it gets to that
Steve Fretzin [22:12]
stage,
Fiona Stevenson [22:13]
and like you know, if say you have a receptionist, for example, and whoever’s answering those calls, that does build up kind of a bit of muscle memory, in terms of, okay, here’s the run through of the questions, the same every time. I’m going to be asking for, you know, first thing, lasting contact details, maybe a brief summary of the situation, depending on your practice area. There’s going to be some qualifying questions that were in within there as well, and having that not written on a post-it note, not kind of sitting scribbles like on the side, you know, having that in a digital form, ideally pushing that in through to your CRM, so everyone also has that single view of the client as well. So when it comes to the attorney picking up, they’re not asking the same questions, the person feels like they were heard on that first call, and they can get into the detail of that conversation that’s needed,
Steve Fretzin [23:01]
maybe also sneak in, maybe not at the first question you ask, but maybe as you’re winding down the call and everything is moving forward, they’re getting an appointment set to meet with a lawyer, whatever it might be, you know, How did you hear about us? How did you, you know, how did you come across us? Just get that, because if it’s 10 calls a day and they’re all coming from the same place, or they’re coming from 10 different places. Really important to know from a marketing perspective, you know where your spend should be, or or how people are finding you. The problem with me is like people hear the podcast, then they read an article, then they’re on LinkedIn, like I’m putting everything everywhere, so it’s hard for me to sometimes know where it originated. Definitely, but one way or the other, I try to dig down and figure it out, but it’s a little more challenging than someone that maybe just has a single, you know, two or three different places.
Fiona Stevenson [23:48]
Yeah, I think that attribution, that’s a challenge for any business. I think it’s not linear, you know, everyone kind of says, like, you know, the sales process starts with consideration and ends with conversion, it doesn’t. People move around all the time, they’re in and out, just because you know you might have kind of a some call tracking in place, just because that source and that call tracking says one thing, maybe might say, you know, they came from an LSA, or that sort of thing. Actually, chances are there’s a lot of other, I would say, like micro touch points along the way that have led them to that call. So, yeah, I agree, that’s a really important question to ask. Where they heard from me.
Steve Fretzin [24:24]
Well, I guess let me just ask you, what question haven’t I asked you that I should regarding marketing, you know, intake, just making sure that lawyers are truly prepared to take on and have the right approach with with new potential clients.
Fiona Stevenson [24:39]
Maybe one thing we haven’t spoken about is a great AI debate, in terms of you really
Steve Fretzin [24:44]
want to have that right now, right now, five minutes left, and we have the, the great, let’s have the great I AI debate, and let’s, in five minutes, right, good luck, let’s all right, let’s have a short I AI,
Fiona Stevenson [24:57]
I think that the, the question that for. Should ask, is do I use AI or not? An intake like that is really the crux of it, and really just have a have a think about, you know, what’s going to make your best first impression. I think that, you know, having a real person answer, you know, is the best way to represent your firm.
Steve Fretzin [25:19]
Yep, yep,
Fiona Stevenson [25:20]
and AI can be efficient elsewhere, but you know your reputation is built, like I said, across different micro touch points, and that voice at the end of the phone is also one of them. So
Steve Fretzin [25:31]
I just, I just enjoy the times when I’m on with AT&T, for example, just screaming customer support, customer support, like all I’m doing is they’re just moving me through these rooms, never never-ending rooms that none of it have to do with my call, and why I’m calling them to cancel the service, or whatever, and it’s just so I know AI is, you know, going to be better, and I know as six months in a year pass on, it’s going to be get better and better, better, and ultimately, though, my take, and maybe you agree with this, is that I, as it gets more and more improved and better, I’m going to be even longing more for the human connection, for the human touch, and I’m going to be, you know, looking to speak with humans specifically, because I’m AI overload, right? If everything’s AI, I’m going to go the other way, and I think it’s a lot like, you know, people that listen to podcasts. Well, they’re maybe they’re videoed out and they’re just like, I can’t watch any more freaking videos, I just need to like listen to something that calms me down or that sues me when I’m driving or whatever. So really cool. So let’s wrap up with my favorite question of the show. What’s Fiona’s big mistake?
Fiona Stevenson [26:34]
Oh gosh, my big mistake. I think one of my big, my biggest mistakes was when I first moved into my role at Lex. I’m really afraid to admit that I assumed all law lawyers and law firms were just in it for the money. I had this real stereotype.
Steve Fretzin [26:52]
Wait, there are..
Fiona Stevenson [26:53]
well, I know. I thought that, you know, oh my gosh, I’m going to be speaking to attorneys. They’re so intimidating, they’re like, you know, courtroom dramas that I see. Yeah, and I have actually, you know, really found that attorneys, yeah, you know, they’re attorneys, but actually they are more than that.
Steve Fretzin [27:17]
They’re, wait, attorneys are people too. I want to get that T-shirt. Attorneys are people too.
Fiona Stevenson [27:22]
Yeah, I know, but they’re like their bosses, entrepreneurs, and really fundamentally they’re in, you know, their rules to help others and make a real difference. And I really think my learning from that was just to kind of never assume,
Steve Fretzin [27:36]
yeah,
Fiona Stevenson [27:36]
and to always keep listening as well.
Steve Fretzin [27:39]
I believe this in my heart, and I’m so fortunate that I was selected to be in this community of lawyers, that they are some of the smartest, nicest, most unbelievable people I’ll ever have in my life. I mean, I, not just my clients, the people I network with, the people I interview, I get to know them as humans, and, and I just, you know, there’s always bad apples, it could be accounts, it could be what any industry’s got. Bad apples, I don’t really deal with them, so I don’t really see that ugly side of it, but I just.. I couldn’t be happier in such an incredible industry. And I think that’s that you and I are on the same page with that.
Fiona Stevenson [28:11]
Yeah, definitely.
Steve Fretzin [28:13]
Well, let’s take a moment. Let’s thank our sponsors, of course, Pim Con coming up in October in at the Venetian in Scottsdale. Just a first class experience. If you’re in personal injury, you’re going to want to be there. Do you guys show up for that? You guys do that now. Oh my god, wow! What a great.. you guys should be there, no doubt about it. Happy to give an inroad to their marketing team.
Fiona Stevenson [28:31]
Nice. Of
Steve Fretzin [28:32]
course, I want to also thank lawyer.com Great directory to get found as a lawyer to get the business in the door. And then I’m going to give you.. you give.. I’m going to talk about Lex reception. You tell everybody, what is Lex reception, anyway? I don’t know anything about it. What
Fiona Stevenson [28:47]
is it? So, Lex reception is a legal reception service. We are here to answer calls and schedule appointments on behalf of firms, 24/7 and we are, yeah, super passionate about real people action calls on behalf of firms as well,
Steve Fretzin [29:06]
yeah.
Fiona Stevenson [29:06]
And, yeah, find out [email protected]
Steve Fretzin [29:09]
Wow, fantastic. Well, thank you so much. You know, Fiona, I love having you guys as a sponsor, and I really was so appreciative when you accepted this invitation to come on the show and talk a little bit about your marketing experience and intake, and how you know things should be done, you know, for lawyers and law firms, and really, really fantastic best connection for people that want to just, that want to, you know, talk to Lex reception and come up with, you know, working with you guys, how do they reach you?
Fiona Stevenson [29:36]
The website, but also reach out to me on LinkedIn, I’m more than happy to help. I think you know, when it comes to, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about first impressions here. It’s hard to see your first impression when you’re in the deep of it every day, and often it takes someone else to kind of, you know, give you some tips of things that you might not have noticed. And yeah, I’m super happy to help out any firms, be a very. Prayer of eyes on how you maybe show up on search or that sort of thing. I’m in the UK, I can, you know, call your firm early in the morning and see what that intake experience is. Yeah, let’s do some
Steve Fretzin [30:12]
this, let’s do some mystery, mystery shopping and find out that people’s their phones are not being manned or not being handled well, and I mean, it’s actually a great idea. I mean, from a standpoint of how people really learn what’s going on, you know, under the hood, you know, they have someone, you know, call them up and figure out, and then, like, they’re so embarrassed or, or disappointed that things aren’t really happening the way that they had thought they were. It’s hard to read the label from inside the bottle, as I keep saying. Really, really great. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate you and doing that, and you know everybody. This shows you know every angle covered. Go back and listen to past episodes. Check out Be That Lawyer, the book, 101 top Rainmaker, secrets to growing successful practice. Anything and everything we can do, be that lawyer community to help you be that lawyer, confident, organized, and a skilled rainmaker. Thank you, Fiona. Thank you, everybody. Take care, be safe and well. Talk again real soon.
Announcer [31:07]
Thanks for listening to Be That Lawyer, life-changing strategies and resources for growing a successful law practice. Visit Steve’s website, fretzin.com, for additional information and to stay up to date on the latest legal business development and marketing trends. For more information and important links about today’s episode, check out today’s show notes.