It is impossible to achieve the goal of effective consultation without ensuring its foundations, namely the internal state of the lawyer-consultant, which affects the way the lawyer looks and the client’s perception of him.
The internal state includes:
- Benevolence;
- Sincerity;
- Basic Expertise;
- Confidence
If real benevolence – the desire to help a person is inside you, it will show on the outside. But at the same time, remember to make sure that your voice sounds benevolent.
Sincerity – say what you think. If you do not know something or doubt something, do not be afraid to say confidently that it is so, that you need time to work out the law or court practice on this issue.
Don’t be afraid that a potential client will develop a belief that you are incompetent. Anyone knows that “It is impossible to know everything or remember everything.”
Boldly admit your ignorance, take time to work through the issue, work through it – work through it – identify the prospect – call the client back and confidently inform them of what you have analyzed.
Be sure, if the case is promising, despite the fact that you immediately could not give an answer to this question – the client will turn to you.
However, in this case, it is necessary to separate the clients to whom you have already provided a service or those to whom you were recommended and contacted by marketing activities, for example, on the site.
In the first two cases, the client can wait for an answer to his question and possibly until the next day. In the latter, however, the client will not wait. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately work through the question and give a detailed conclusion on it.
Basic expertise – lay the foundations of specialization, which will give you the ability to clearly navigate the questions, immediately answer those of them, the lack of a quick answer to which may indicate that you are not a professional. For example, the question of whether debts are divided between spouses, or to what line of inheritance belong grandchildren of the testator. In addition, such knowledge will enable you to provide the 4th necessary internal component of effective counseling – “confidence.”
Confidence – anything you say without it will not matter, inner confidence is evident in your look, voice, timbre, mannerisms – in your whole appearance. In the opinion of almost any potential client – an insecure lawyer will not be able to give qualified legal advice, much less win a dispute in court.