The Game Changing Attorney Podcast with Michael Mogill 49. Kyle Bachus — Embracing Change as the Catalyst to Growth
"I think that all along the path of the history of our law firm, we have tried to stay on the front side of technology, the front side of the marketing curve, and to try to make sure that we are committed to change, not committed to the same." - Kyle Bachus
- Why did Kyle Bachus leave his life in Florida behind for the unknowns of Colorado?
- How did Kyle start his practice with little to no money?
- Why do lawyers need to commit to progress and be mindful of new media technologies?
- How did Kyle's firm lose out on $10 million — and how you can avoid the same mistake?
Kyle Bachus: Natural Born Lawyer
Kyle Bachus is a personal injury lawyer and founding partner of Bachus & Schanker in Denver, Colorado. Kyle has been standing up to authority and rooting for the underdogs since high school, and at 17 he successfully argued his case in front of the Florida Supreme Court in a mock trial.
Kyle's passion for advocating for the little guy drove him to become a personal injury attorney, and he now represents victims and their families in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases.
In this episode, Kyle tells us about his professional journey, why he left the familiarity of Florida behind to strike out on his own in Colorado, and how he and his partner built one of the most successful law firms in the US out of nothing.
Adapting and Overcoming: Keeping Ahead in the Legal Marketing Space
Life isn't like Field of Dreams, and getting people through your doors isn't as easy as hoping "if you build it, they will come." Kyle recognized early on that organic growth on its own wasn't going to take his firm to where he and his partner wanted it to go.
Kyle tells us why he made such huge investments in TV advertising and how it was a long time before he earned his $1 million gamble back in cases. He also shares why good law firms need to have great marketing campaigns and why you shouldn't be blinkered to new and emerging media technologies if you want to remain competitive.
Missed Calls are Dollars Burned
You can throw as much money at marketing as you want, but if you're not able to take all the calls that are coming in, you may as well be flushing money down the drain.
Kyle recognized that his firm didn't have a problem with call volume — but it did have a problem with client experience. Calls and clients were slipping through his fingers because the systems weren't in place to respond to every query that came in. He explains why it's vital to be responsive to any incoming request and why you shouldn't burden non-call-center staff with answering phones.
Key takeaways:
- Put clients at the heart of your processes, and always be looking for ways to improve the structures you have in place to offer a greater user experience.
- Big rewards require big risks, but it doesn't mean they can't be calculated. So don't dismiss large investments with even larger long-term rewards.
- Do what's best for your clients, even if that means fighting your superiors to ensure you get the resources necessary to put forward the best case you can.
Links and Resources