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Lawyers are said to be as sharp as hawks.  Hence, the phrase ‘Legal Eagles’.  To stand out among them, you have to soar like them and not quack around below them.  To do so, first you have to dress like one.

It goes without saying that not only do first impressions count but people like people who are most like themselves.

So, suit up!  If you’re a guy, wear white and black, nothing too flashy but differently dress classily.

If you’re a lady, dress like a pirate.  No, seriously, have you seen what lawyers wear these days?  Pencil skirts, toe-revealing shoes, high heels, tanktops and nightie-looking attire!

Well, you don’t have to be like some of them but you do need to stand out with the lawyers by dressing smart as it is in our human nature to like those who are like ourselves.

So dress up, be well-fitted and put on that game face!

Correct, correct, correct.  Learn their lingo.  Don’t use common words or phrases like “share with you”, “or” and “can I”.

Instead, put on slight air and use phrases like “submit to you”, “in the alternative” and “if it pleases you”.  Lawyers would instantly get a flush of “This guy/girl gets me!” or “Wow, for once, I’ve been talked up to instead of the other way around!”

Lawyers by nature of their profession are masters of wordplay, the verbal foreplay.  To get into your wallets, you have to master this art yourself or at least give the impression you ‘get’ them.  Be immune to their power of negotiation and persuasion or at the very least be prepared to face them.  Best of all, turn the tables on them, and sound like them and give the appearance that you know what they are up to!

According to a quick Google search on the terms “addiction” and “lawyers”, statistics indicate that lawyers have 50% more stress and nearly two times more substance abuse than the usual populace.

Shocking? Yes.  Usable to your advantage?  Of course!

Your job is to pamper, nurture and feed these poor overworked, stressed and easily-addicted creatures.  At your booth, have food, a sofa, a manicurist, a coffee machine and/or maybe some alcohol/Coca-Cola if possible to keep them going.  With these at your booth, lawyers will be drawn in like flies to a blue light and you will have them zapping at your products/services in no time!

Better still, if you’re selling any of these substances (either illegal or not), pat yourself on the back, you’re marketing to the right crowd already!  Hurrah!

Be loud and proud like it is the Mardi Gras.  Well, no, I’m not asking you to dress according to the recently-published “gay-spotting” guidelines by our government (or did they?) but to attract lawyers, you definitely need some “Oooomph”.

Loud music, smoke machines, stages and rock stars are probably out of your budget but a well-decorated booth with an LCD screen, tablet computers, life-size buntings and a model or two may be well within your budget.  All this ensures that there are enough visual cues (read: eye candy) to draw some attention to your booth and get them curious about your products/services.

When taking a picture with a lawyer, never tell them to say cheese but say fees, instead!  Or so the old joke goes.

Lawyers will know want to know how your product/service will help their bottom line.  How will your offering benefit them?  Will that swanky car or coffee machine give them the prestige and/or ego that justifies their exorbitant fees?  Do you have statistics or case studies to back up such effects, eg once Lawyer A bought this car, his clients were so impressed, they gave him 50% more fees to help him live it up!

It’s in our DNA.  Our Malaysian DNA.  We like, no, we love, no, we go crazy over free stuff!  Have free food and free merchandise promoting your brand/product/service, to give away at your booth.  If it’s edible, it’s sample-able.

Also, remember, free pens are so 20th century but pen drives are not!

Other favourite items for lawyers are calendars, organisers and note pads.  These are not too expensive to give out, yet are practical freebies for lawyers.  They will subconciously love you for it and one day, without them realising it, think of you when they require your product/service!

Just like any good relationship, there needs to be a good amount of follow-up.  More so for lawyers who are constantly bombarded with information, busy putting out “fires” at the office and have a lot of “face” to keep.  After years of honing their skills, they will not want making a decision which will leave them looking silly, so they will require time to consider your product/service.  So by all means, give them the space and time they need, and follow up as necessary.

With all these tips, if you do sell more of your product/service at the IMLC 2012 this year and the years to come or at whatever events, make sure your cheque is in this writer’s mail!  Happy exhibiting, and may the odds ever be in your favour!

¹ Joachim Leong has studied, trained, researched, drunk, partied and of course, worked as a lawyer but today, he shares how to market to one.  After leaving practice, he has visited numerous firms and lawyers across the country and been part of numerous roadshows at Annual General Meetings and Bar events to market his company (Denning IT)’s offering to help them take control of their law offices and increase productivity with technology.  He does not take full responsibility from any untoward incidents that may happen from taking his advice but will take full credit if they do work! Some advice here may or may not be practised by him in his course of his work but he wishes to make clear that this article is written in his personal capacity.