Yesterday, I encouraged you to put more white space in your life. Don’t try to fill every minute with activities–give yourself room to breathe and think and recharge.
Today, I’m encouraging you to do the same thing for your clients.
Especially clients with a stressful legal situation or who aren’t used to working with attorneys.
What can you do to give them more white space?
A few ideas:
When you send documents, don’t weigh them down with everything all at once. Dole it out. A little to start, a little more on another day. Let them know there’s more, but give them time to digest what you’ve already sent.
Preface your message with an executive summary–a few paragraphs that tell them the bottom line–so they don’t have to wade through everything to find out what happened or what you recommend.
Make your documents and correspondence easier to read by using, yes, lots of white space. Use short sentences, short paragraphs, and bullet points, so they can scan and get the gist of the document without having to read every word.
Consider highlighting key words or phrases, with bold or CAPITAL LETTERS, or other visual cues.
Instead of a monthly newsletter covering everything under the sun, break it up and send a shorter newsletter once a week.
You can also add white space in meetings and phone calls. Keep them short, get to the point quickly, and only tell them what’s essential for them to know. Then, tell them where to get additional information if they want it and invite them to ask questions.
In your writing, conversations, and presentations, number your points. Then, as you begin, tell them how many points you’re going to cover.
When you begin with, “There are five reasons I’m recommending you take the offer,” the client knows what to expect and is better able to absorb your message.
When you speak to a client, you can help them relax and feel more confident by letting them hear that you are relaxed and confident. If you’re in person, use body language (eye contact, smiling, relaxed posture).
Give your clients more white space and you will make it easier for them to hear you, trust you, and follow your advice. When you make it easier for them to work with you, they’ll make it easier for you to do a good job for them.
How to write an effective email newsletter
