In law school, most lawyers decide what kind of law they want to practice. It’s done in isolation without client contact or input, and it’s based on the lawyer’s needs and desires.

Most of us decide what we want to sell having never met our first client.

That’s a classic business mistake. We decide to provide a service that we want to deliver. We don’t examine the market and decide to offer a service that clients are actually clamoring for, need, or want.

We want to sell “family law.” That’s not really something clients think they want. Dad, for instance, wants his kids to grow up right. He wants to be sure they become productive, happy citizens, love him, and respect him. He wants to make sure they get along with his new wife and their new stepsiblings. He wants peace and tranquility in his home. He doesn’t care about family law.

Dad might need some help in court in a child custody case. He might need help in mediation or in a collaborative divorce. But he might also need some help with real estate decisions, college investing, discipline issues, and a better understanding of algebra when his kid is in the eighth grade.

He’d be thrilled to buy the package that helps him achieve the outcome he desires. He’d like to understand how the pieces fit together and how he can work to overcome the obstacles he’s facing. He feels lost and needs help getting where he wants to go since the plan has suddenly changed and he’s navigating unfamiliar territory.

Unfortunately, the system conspires against giving the client what he wants, and we find it difficult to twist our education and training into a product or service that helps us help clients get from where they are to where they want to be. We learned about the law, and we’re expected to sell legal services. It’s a problem when we offer one thing and clients are looking for something else.

The rewards go to the attorney who can overcome the systemic barriers that stand between clients and their desires. Help them get what they want, and they’re more likely to hire you and pay you. Think about things from the perspective of a buyer. Don’t get locked in to thinking as a seller even though that’s all we know and that’s all we’ve been shown by our teachers.

It’s time to be different. It’s time to break free of the confines of our education, environment, and community. It’s time to deliver what your clients want.

Offer only what everyone else is offering, and you’re going to get what everyone else is getting. I don’t know about you, but I want clients to feel helped by what I offer and I want them lined up banging on our door. That doesn’t come from being like everyone else.

We can’t always make something because it’s what we want to make and expect to make a living. For most people, making what you want to make is called a hobby, not a business. We’ve got to serve people what they want and need. We’ve got find a tidal wave of desire and get in front of it.