Clients need and assume that lawyers have the needed practice skills, but they want friendly, accessible, concerned lawyers who understand their emotional wants and respond to them. They choose people they like and feel comfortable with, and they tell their friends how their lawyer makes them feel. Plan all client contacts and practice building efforts accordingly. People choose the familiar. Imagine driving late at night in unfamiliar territory and seeing a Holiday Inn and, on the other side of the road, the Jones Motel.
Prospective clients do the same thing when choosing a lawyer.
So you should make every effort to be as familiar as you can be in the world of prospective clients for your services. Maybe that means attending the Lions Club meeting each month, joining the Chamber of Commerce, participating actively in your church or synagogue, or attending meetings of people in industries related to your specialty. Be as familiar in your market as the Holiday Inn is in the travel market. And don't forget the principle of recency. If the two hotels you see on the road are a new Hampton Inn and a new Marriott Courtyard, but you saw a Hampton Inn ad on TV last night, you might well choose the Hampton Inn.