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Court-paper serving can be hard. You’re not only facing clients who owe you money but all kinds of legal paperwork, above your head fines and penalties, and a penalty that comes in the form of a criminal charge.
However, if we dig deep in the marketing world, the strategies outlined in this guide can help you win more assignments.
Why Court-Paper Serving is a Unique Business
Lucrative and rewarding
Serving as a court-appointed legal process server for attorneys and private clients can provide you with a steady stream of work. The job requires you to conduct investigations, gather information, and document your findings. It’s an opportunity to learn new skills, earn extra income, and help others.
Flexibility
You can choose how much time you spend on this business each day. If you’re just starting, consider working for just a few hours each week until your business gains traction. As demand increases, increase your hours to meet it.
Control
Keep 100 percent of your income by managing everything from start to finish yourself instead of having other people take a cut out of your profits.
High demand
There is always a high demand for court paper servers as there will always be people who need their documents served.
Travel opportunities
To run this business, you do not have to stay in one place all the time as there are high chances that you will have to travel anywhere within or outside your state or country.
Increase your income potential
Since there is no limit to how much you can earn in this field, it’s easy to increase your income potential by working more hours or taking on more clients.
Low start-up cost
Starting your own paper serving business will cost you a small amount of money but it’s easy to get started without needing a large investment. You’ll first need to find an available business name and then find a place to store your filing cabinets and mailboxes so that you can keep up with all your incoming and outgoing mail.
Main Court-Paper Serving Business Challenges
Competition from established businesses
Many court-paper serving agencies in the market have already garnered a client base. This could be challenging for you if you want to gain a foothold in the market with new clients.
Concerns over privacy and safety
If you intend to serve court documents in person, you might face threats of physical harm or lawsuits from clients who may not want their information widely known by third parties.
Marketing is not easy
Marketing a court-paper serving business is no different than marketing any other business, but it is a lot harder because you are selling a service where people may not fully understand why they should hire you to do the job instead of doing it themselves, or they may feel comfortable handling their legal matter without your help.
Dealing with the unexpected
Dealing with the unexpected when delivering court paper to someone’s door, such as a barking dog or an angry resident who has no idea who you are and doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone, especially not by someone representing the court system or their ex-spouse (the plaintiff).
You can’t create your niche
If you want to work for yourself, you have to be able to discover a business niche that’s not very crowded and then find a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. But if you’re in the court-paper serving business, there’s no such thing as a made-to-order niche. Court papers are served to people in connection with various legal cases, and they’re served by whoever is available–not necessarily someone who specializes in the kind of case involved.
Time management
This is one of the most complex things you will have to deal with when running a court-paper serving business. You will have deadlines to meet and you will have to be prompt.
Finding the right person
If you are serving someone who works for a company or an organization, then finding their contact information is straightforward. However, if you are trying to serve someone who lives alone or who has no family members or acquaintances, then finding their contact information may be challenging.
Pros and Cons of Court-Paper Serving Business
Pros
- You can set your hours.
- You can pick which areas of town you serve.
- You get to choose the best equipment for your needs.
- Your cost of operation depends entirely on what equipment you choose.
- Increase your income by doing other paper runs or office work.
- Make new friends along the way as you become known in your community.
- Follow your moral compass and serve papers for those who need it most.
Cons
- You’re dealing with people who are often not happy to be served.
- You’re dealing with very specific and confusing laws.
- Staying within budget.
- Getting licensed or certified.
- Depending on what state you live in, you might have to deal with different laws depending on whether you’re serving a defendant or plaintiff.
- There are different rules for serving in civil cases versus criminal ones.
- There can be legal consequences for failing to serve someone correctly, so it pays to do your homework.
- Making sure you get paid by your client for all services rendered before starting the case against them in court.
Best Court-Paper Serving Marketing Strategies
Personalized envelopes
Personalized envelopes are a great way to get your message in front of a potential customer before the court date.
Personalized envelopes can also be used as a marketing strategy for court-paper serving. When you’re serving papers on someone, it’s important to stand out.
You don’t want papers being delivered by mistake or being tossed by accident. A personalized envelope will show the recipient that these papers were sent directly to them and will get them to pay attention.
There are many ways that you can use personalized envelopes for your own business or court-paper serving. They’re affordable and easy to find, so give them a try!
Below are some steps on how to use personalized envelopes as a court-paper serving marketing strategy:
1. Choose a color of the envelope that suits your business. Make sure you have enough envelopes to use as the primary way to deliver court papers. You may also want to consider using custom self-sealing envelopes to ensure the documents stay secure in transit.
2. Place an advertisement or coupon in the envelope. This will help you get repeat customers and help give your company a good reputation for service, making it more likely for customers to come back to you in the future.
3. Offer a discount if someone who gets sued sends you their information within a specified period, such as 24 hours, 48 hours, or 7 days. For example, if they send you their information within 24 hours, they’ll get 20 percent off their next order. Over time, this will not only help your business grow but also give people an incentive to send you their information so they can get money off their next order.
4. Provide a list of your competitors on the back of your advertisement explaining who else offers this type of service and how much they charge. You can even go so far as putting down prices and telling potential clients if you are less expensive than your competition if this is true.
Protip: It’s always a good idea to include a business card with the name of the person being sued and the case information on it. This way, if they have any questions regarding the lawsuit, they have an easy way to contact you.
Phone book ads
By using phone book ads as a court-paper serving marketing strategy, businesses that have to serve legal papers on clients or defendants can market their services at the same time. This can be a win-win for all parties involved.
Using this method, you can still run your traditional ads in other outlets, but the phone book is perfect for getting your company’s name and address in front of your target audience.
While there are many options out there, you’ll need to look into specific directories based on what you’re trying to accomplish.
For example, if you’re looking to reach out to a local clientele, then the local phone book is a logical choice. If you want to hit a larger audience, then the white pages would probably be best.
As with any marketing campaign, make sure that you know what you’re doing before making any decisions or wasting any money.
You don’t want to send people looking for one type of service to another business that they can’t use.
Phone book ads are a great way to get your legal advertising message in front of potential clients.
Here are several reasons they’re an effective marketing tool:
- Cost. Phone book ads are an effective, low-cost way to reach potential clients. And, unlike other forms of print advertising, phone book ads are often free!
- Style. With phone book ads, you can easily choose your ad’s style. If your campaign theme is “We Make Things Easy,” for example, choose an ad with a headline that says just that — something like, “We make things easy.” Or, if you want to show people how much you care about your clients’ well-being, use an ad with a headline that says something like, “We treat our clients the way we’d treat members of our family.”
- Reach. Often overlooked by lawyers is the fact that phone books affect virtually every household in the area they serve — not just those who may be looking for legal counsel right now. It’s one of the few forms of advertising that reaches every household in its coverage area — even those who don’t need legal help right now.
Deliver a memorable experience
Sometimes it can feel like you’re following a script when you deliver court papers. You indeed have to follow the procedures, but the presentation doesn’t have to be stodgy and impersonal.
While court-paper serving is a necessary part of your job, it can also be an opportunity to make an impression on the recipient and leave them with a memorable experience.
The goal of every court-paper delivery should be to build trust, develop relationships and demonstrate respect for the recipient.
Key elements of the process:
1) Positive attitude towards the customer (no matter what is happening to him/her);
2) Personal approach – the court-paper server delivers papers in person;
3) Handling sensitivity – the server talks to the debtor as if he is a close friend;
4) Creativeness – the server leaves a small gift or a business card or both.
Stake out your territory
Staking out your territory as a court-paper serving marketing strategy is a valuable way to expand your service area, especially if you’re already established in one or two neighboring counties.
How do you go about staking out your territory? Here are the steps:
- Find the small claims court in each of the counties you want to serve. Small claims courts are located in every county, but you may have to get creative when searching for them. Sometimes they are called magistrate courts, justice of the peace courts, or commissioners’ courts.
- You will also want to find the district clerk’s office in each county. The clerk is usually located at the courthouse but sometimes is a separate entity. The clerk’s office has all the information you need on potential customers and service areas available for purchase. You will have to visit in person, bring photo identification and fill out an application.
- Mapping out your territory can be time-consuming, but it’s worthwhile because it allows you to estimate how much business you might be missing out on if you don’t expand your service area.
- Once you’ve determined which counties to serve, map them out and go over them with a client or two to make sure everything makes sense.
Make connections in local businesses
There are many companies with resources that have been around much longer than you, and they have the upper hand.
So, if you want to come out on top in this industry, then you need to be thinking outside of the box.
The most effective way to market your services is by making connections with local businesses. This is a great way for you to do business and further your reputation at the same time.
These are some tips to help you get started.
1) Establish a strong reputation as a reliable, professional, and friendly person. Your reputation must precede you when you introduce yourself to a new business person.
2) Be prepared. Before you go into a business make sure that you have a story prepared about yourself and your company, including why you are there, how long your company has been in business and what services or products you offer.
3) Be confident in your product or service. If it is something that you believe in 100% then it will be reflected in your presentation. You can’t sell something that you don’t believe in!
4) Smile and relax! When you enter the establishment introduce yourself with a smile and an outstretched hand. If the person is interested they will take the time to talk to you either right then or at some other time once they have gotten to know more about you and your company.
5) Use social media whenever possible to spread the word about yourself and your company! Post pictures of events that involve businesses as well as pictures of past clients with their positive comments about your work. This will create trust in potential clients who may need your services.
Try door-to-door
Door knocking is a simple and friendly way to get face time with your customers.
The key is to remember that people don’t know who you are, so your delivery must stand out and show value. Treat every door knock like an introduction to your business.
If you can create a good first impression, and build on it, you’ll be on the path to delivering a memorable experience your customers will appreciate.
Here are some tips for making your next door knock more effective:
1) Be on time. No one likes waiting. Arrive at the customer’s home or place of business during the time frame you identified when booking the appointment.
2) Smile and introduce yourself. When you arrive at their door, smile and say hello while they open it. Acknowledge them by name or ask if they’re expecting someone else.
3) Watch their face. People can tell if you’re being genuine and they’ll pick up on it immediately. Deliver a positive greeting that reflects the tone of your business.
Door hangers
The Door Hanger is one of the most powerful marketing techniques that you can use that can work wonders for your business when done correctly.
Protip: Please make sure to write out a script before going about doing this marketing technique as it can save you a lot of time and headaches. Scripts are also great for making sure you are following proper local court-paper serving protocol. Here is a sample door hanger script that you can use as a starting point:
“Hello, I am from the law offices of (your name or company name). We are attempting to locate (name of person) and have reason to believe they may be at(your address). The nature of our business with (name of person) is private and urgent. We will not take up much of your time as we simply need to speak with them. Please contact us back on (phone number) as soon as possible so that we may get this matter resolved.”
Below is a list of steps on how you can use door hangers for court-paper serving marketing strategy:
Step 1: Design your door hanger You need to design door hangers that will be memorable but not too flashy. This should be easy because the courts already have templates available. All you have to do is fill in the blanks with the correct information. Step
Step 2: Get your legal papers together Legal papers are easy to find online, so you’ll want to make sure you’ve got everything before you head out the door. If you’re serving a summons and complaint, those two documents should be all you need. But if there are multiple defendants or someone is being sued for more than one thing, you’ll also need other documents relevant to your case like notice of hearing and answer forms (when applicable).
Step 3: Research addresses with legal papers in hand, it’s time to go find a place to serve them.
Marketing postcards
Marketing postcards are used by businesses to attract new customers and promote their products. They’re also great for marketing your business.
You can use them as a court-paper serving marketing strategy, a way to capture court-goers information, and a way to collect testimonials from previous customers.
Protip: Make sure the card includes your business name, address, phone number, and website address.
Use the back of your marketing postcard as your “sales pitch.” Include what you offer and why people should choose to buy it, such as;
- Testimonials – People love seeing other people’s opinions on a product or service. Including testimonials on your marketing postcard can create trust between you and your customer.
- Call-to-action – It should be short and sweet so that it draws people in to give you a call or visit your website. Include what you want people to do with one simple action like “call now” or “visit our website.”
- Use colors and graphics – that will attract attention to the card. A good photo of your business or employees can also be used in combination with a compelling headline to draw attention and pique curiosity about your business.
Final Thoughts
A lot of people in the court reporting field forget to take advantage of marketing. It is all too easy to feel like doing just a few court papers is more than enough to keep you busy, but truly all court reporters need to remember that their business is first and foremost in marketing themselves—not in serving papers, not in taking shorthand, and not in rendering transcripts.
