To a prospective client, hiring you is a gamble. Choosing a lawyer is an expensive and important decision. And yet, there are no money-back guarantees and no Consumer Reports on which to rely. 

Given this paucity of information, your marketing may play a significant role in how a prospective client views you and your services. How you approach your business development activities may be the first experience potential clients have of what you have to offer and what it might be like to work with you. So, ask yourself this: Is your marketing a fair representation of the quality of services you provide?

An in-house lawyer recently told me a story that illustrates the importance of this question:

She was deciding between two firms to handle an important piece of litigation. She invited both firms to make a presentation. She liked the members of one team more than the other and so she assumed her decision had been made. (After all, she reasoned, it's easier and more fun to work with people you like.)

But after the initial meeting, she heard nothing from her "favorite" team. In contrast, the other team followed up the next day to provide her more detailed information about one of the issues they had discussed. Later that week, the head of the team called her and said, "I've been thinking a lot about this case, and it occurs to me that maybe your strategy should include..." Finally, about a week later, another member of the team sent an article from that day's Wall Street Journal with some cogent comments on why it might be of interest to her.

The result: She hired the team she had initially liked less.

She felt that the kind of client-focus and follow-up that they displayed after their presentation was probably a good indication of the energy, thoroughness and engagement they'd bring to her litigation.

So is your marketing as good as your work? Think of your website bio -- is it a carefully crafted representation of your expertise or is it a grab bag of facts about your past, some dating as far back as college?

Would a client take away from it that you are focused and strategic in your thinking and communication, or a "throw the kitchen sink at it" type of lawyer (which, from a client's perspective, means expensive)?

What might prospective clients learn about you from the way you approached a marketing lunch? Did you do your homework in advance so that you demonstrated that you are knowledgeable about their industry and their company? Did you ask thoughtful questions to deepen your grasp of their needs? Did you really listen to their answers?

How did you follow up from your last business development lunch? Would clients conclude from your follow-up that you do what you say you will do when you say you will do it? Would they feel that you keep their interests top of mind -- that you are engaged in the relationship -- or that you are only interested in them when they are in a position to send you business?

What about the last time you asked for business? Would they conclude from the conversation that you are better at persuading than listening? Or would they feel that you put meeting their needs above landing a sale? Would they conclude that you are confident and direct by the way you asked for their business?

In every marketing interaction you have with potential clients, you have the opportunity to showcase just how good you are as a lawyer. Are you taking advantage of those opportunities?