Different Personalities, Unified Approach
Both Ed and Mark understand the importance of messaging.
Ed’s undergraduate college degree was in creative writing, focused in poetry. To this day, Ed finds inspiration from poetry. “In poetry, you learn every single word matters,” Ed says. “It’s not the original idea…it’s the ability to fine-tune it.”
Like Ed, Mark’s undergraduate degree in speech pathology focused on words. Mark finds his daily inspiration from the words in the book, The Tao of Physics – the book that led him to a belief in Buddhism. “As a Buddhist, you think everything is connected,” Mark says.
Together, their firm, Caldwell & Ober, located in Phoenix, is one of America’s leading Social Security Disability firms. But you may be surprised to learn that Mark Caldwell and Ed Ober (despite their ways with words) owe a lot to a single phone call. A call from a disability claimant who wanted legal help, but ultimately did not hire Caldwell & Ober.
Success from a Missed Opportunity
That phone call mattered. The claimant failed to show for his initial appointment. The law firm attempted to reschedule, but it was too late. The claimant hired another firm.
The claimant explained that after making the appointment with Caldwell & Ober, but while waiting for the day of his appointment, he saw a television commercial for another law firm. This firm happened to be a national firm, without an office in Arizona. After calling, the claimant was told he didn’t need an appointment at all! The law firm could take all his information over the phone. The claimant loved it.
“In a time of computers and technology, people want help when they ask for it. They don’t want to be told they have to wait several days” to get started, Ed explains.
Mark agrees. “We were wondering why anyone would want to hire an out-of-town law firm over a good local one. We know the judges and what works in court with a particular judge.” Of course, the average claimant didn’t know that.
Light Bulb Moment
From this single phone call, Caldwell & Ober realized the importance of handling claimants’ needs in a real-time setting. They formed an internal committee to evaluate their entire intake process. They studied the numbers. They brainstormed ideas. They tracked the results. They debriefed and tried again.
Eventually it was decided that when claimants called for the first time, they would be offered an appointment, similar to the past process. However, now they would be given the options of beginning the process over the phone or by coming into the law office that very same day. The goal was to start helping the claimant immediately. Like every single word, every single minute matters.
In the midst of revising their intake process, they consulted with The Marketing Center – the agency’s focus is solely on Social Security Disability marketing. From there, a plan was made to film commercials at the firm’s location in Phoenix. The spots raised viewer awareness that Caldwell & Ober Law Offices was local, and the importance of hiring local attorneys.
“The television ads generated a lot of calls for us.” Ed says. “We designed our procedures and structured our staff to act on those calls.”
“It definitely worked. Intakes went way up.” Mark says with pride. “Television is what people remember.” That’s why the firm wants the commercials’ messaging to reflect its values, including a commitment to quality and, of course, to helping others.
Poetry in Interconnected Motion
Caldwell & Ober wasn’t looking for a procedural change: It was looking for a change in the culture of the firm. The Marketing Center came to the firm’s aid when it wanted to act based on a single claimant’s phone call.
Losing a client. From the loss, a cultural shift begins. A firm, now energized and empowered, helps so many more claimants. One might say it’s practically poetic. Another might say it’s all interconnected as in the teaching of Buddha. Maybe it’s both: Poetry in interconnected motion.
“It’s to their credit that Ed and Mark didn’t dismiss that single call as just being one person,” explains The Marketing Center’s Nathan Chapman. “Marketing researches have long recognized that negative feedback is an opportunity to learn how to improve.”
To improve your Social Security Disability law firm’s marketing, contact The Marketing Center today!
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