Blogs

The March 27 Capital Chapter program held at the Grand Hyatt featured Carol Schiro Greenwald, owner of MarketingPartners. Carol began the program, titled “Legal Brain Logic: How Lawyers Hear (and Learn from) Marketers,” with a discussion on myths that impede communication, followed by an overview on the workings of the brain and how and why we make decisions. Her presentation culminated with an assessment of the general characteristics of leaders and lawyers and tips for productively interacting with lawyers so that they are receptive and responsive.

At one point in her presentation, Carol explained that the prefrontal cortex can only hold seven thoughts at one time. Adhering to this limitation, here are seven key takeaways from the program for legal marketers.

1. Talk to the heart—the mind will follow. “Emotion wins over rational thinking,” explained Carol. The limbic system of the brain processes all incoming data, sorts it and sends seven to ten data pieces to the prefrontal cortex which then applies reasoning faculties to come up with what we call a rational decision. Persuasion combines emotion and reason, but emotion is paramount because humans are hooked first by emotion, emotion engages others, and engagement gets others to act. For legal marketers, this means that getting lawyers to think about what’s in an idea for them may help spur the emotional side of the equation.
2. Simon says. We are programmed to mimic what we see others do. Mirroring the person with whom you are interacting creates a feeling of shared experiences and understanding. To make lawyers feel comfortable, consider mirroring some of their habits, whether it’s the format of an e-mail they send, their body language in a meeting, or the language they use to communicate. To be most effective, make sure you understand and can use some of the legal terminology common to their practice.
3. Storytellers. “Stories are the fundamental form of emotional persuasion,” said Carol. For this reason, the “elevator pitch” we’ve all heard about is very important. Work with lawyers to come up with a story about their job that can serve as an elevator pitch. This will help them to engage others quickly and to be remembered.
4. Less is more. “Information overload overwhelms the system, especially the cortex,” Carol said. Every ten minutes, listeners tune out. Lawyers are no exception to this, so it’s important to keep communications short and succinct. People are most responsive when ideas are conveyed in bursts of 5-7 short sentences.
5. We can’t explain our thought process because 90% occurs in the unconscious. When asking a lawyer a question, be careful how you ask it. What you say can cue a response based on how the question is asked and the response they think you want.
6. Memories are important. Creating memories is one technique the brain uses to process information from the outside world. “Memory is a creative product of our encounters,” explained Carol. She went on to say that “memories are impressionable, based on context, shaped by prior experience, and most dependent on the first few seconds.” Therefore, it’s essential when interacting with lawyers, especially for the first time, that you make a first impression in the way in which you want the lawyers to remember you. Relatedly, people remember through repetition. Stating something three times helps people to remember. Hearing something three times increases the chances that it will be remembered. People remember things best when they hear it several times, especially if the locale is similar to the first time they hear it.
7. Ask, don’t tell. Many professionals, and lawyers in particular, want autonomy. They want to be invited to participate, not told to participate. Accordingly, legal marketers may be most effective when they ask open-ended questions to encourage dialogue and problem solving. Furthermore, “people will support what they help create,” Carol said.

The Annual Conference in Las Vegas will be held in April and thus there will be no Capital Chapter program this month, but we hope to see you at our next program, “How Leading Law Firm Marketers are Positioning their Firms and People to Succeed” on May 17, which will feature a panel of top legal marketers from our Senior Leaders Roundtable.

By: Jean Brinker Katz, Client Relations Manager, Covington & Burling LLP for the March/April 2013 Issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter.