Thinking like a lawyer may be costing you money

August 16, 2017 by
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On my walk today I saw a car parked in front of a neighbor’s house. On the car door was a magnetic sign advertising, “Pam’s house sitting and pet sitting” business. Attached to the sign was a plastic business card holder which was filled with her cards.

Many lawyers who saw this wouldn’t give it a second thought. They’re busy thinking about their cases and clients and all the work they need to do. Or they would think about whether Pam is bonded and insured. Does she have employees and are they also insured? Does she supervise them? Did the owner of the house put the jewelry in a safe deposit box before they went out of town?

You know, lawyer stuff.

Enlightened lawyers would look at that sign and think about marketing.

No, I’m not suggesting a lawyer put a magnetic sign on their car. But if you’ve trained yourself to think like a business owner as well as a lawyer, seeing that sign might prompt you to start asking yourself about other ways Pam might be building her business.

Does she rely solely on that sign and word of mouth or does she do other kinds of marketing? Does she have a website? Is she listed in business directories? Does she advertise in our community newsletter? Does she distribute flyers?

Does she network with other business owners who might have customers or clients who need her pet sitting services–pet stores, vets, dog groomers, and kennels for example? For house sitting, does she network with real estate agents and travel agents?

Does she have a mailing list? How much repeat business does she get? How about referrals?

Does she know other house and pet sitters and do they cover for each other when one is overbooked? Has she considered expanding her services to include dog walking or pet food delivery?

This is how a business person thinks. Lawyers need to think this way, too because a law practice is also a business.

Ideas are everywhere. You just have to look for them. You might not be able to use many of the ideas you see (like car signs) but ideas you can’t use often lead to ideas you can use.

You know you want them. Here’s how to get more referrals

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

Following up with leads

August 10, 2017 by
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My wife visited a real estate website and filled out a form to get some information. As you might expect, an agent called and left a message, offering information, encouraging my wife to call, yada yada. She did the same thing via text.

My wife didn’t respond, so naturally, the calls and texts continued.

A month later, they’re still coming.

My wife thought she would be nice and put the agent out of her misery. She called and politely told her that our plans had changed and we weren’t interested in getting more information.

The agent’s messages had been cheerful and positive. When my wife told her our plans had changed, the agent’s demeanor did a 180. She wasn’t rude or dismissive. More like defeated and unhappy.

When my wife told me the story, she said she would never want to work with an agent who is that moody.

What agent of any experience doesn’t know that leads are a numbers game and that most don’t turn into sales? What agent lets people who say “not interested” (which should be interpreted as “not now”) hear their disappointment?

What a missed opportunity.

A “no” today might be a “yes” tomorrow. Or a referral. Sadly, my wife and others we may assume, won’t contact Miss unhappy pants if and when things change.

Of course, this never happens to most lawyers. That’s because most lawyers don’t follow-up with inquiries and leads, even with people they’ve spoken to. They don’t follow-up at all.

And that’s even worse.

When someone contacts you to ask questions or get information, don’t give up on them if they don’t take the next step. Stay in touch, offer more information, and continue to let them know how you can help.

Should you call or text? Maybe once or twice in the beginning. Have your staff do it. After that, use email and snail mail.

They were interested once. They may be interested again. Follow-up until they buy or die. Or tell you to stop. And no matter what, never let them see you sweat.

They may never buy but they can send you referrals

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

Stop telling clients you’re not in your office

July 27, 2017 by
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Your clients don’t need to know that you are away from the office. Or on vacation. They don’t need to know that you received their email, or be told that you will reply as soon as possible.

So why do you tell them?

Being accessible is important, especially when so many attorneys aren’t. But that doesn’t mean you should put yourself on a leash.

Away messages, vacation messages, and “I got your email” messages send the wrong message. They say, “I’m here, you can always reach me, and if I’m away for a bit, I’m sorry, don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

It’s bad posture. It says, “I need your business,” when in truth, the message you want to convey is just the opposite.

Your clients need to know that you’re good at what you do, you work hard for them, and if they have you as their attorney, they are very fortunate.

They need you. You don’t need them.

Most clients shouldn’t even have your personal email address. They should have an “office” email and know that it is monitored by someone who works for you. If a client writes, they need to know that someone will read it and reply promptly.

That someone probably won’t be you.

You want clients to know that you’re busy, in demand by other clients, and successful. Your time is extremely valuable and you have people working for you who do most of the front line communication on your behalf.

You’re there, behind the scenes, calling the shots. If your staff can’t help them, or there’s an emergency, they can reach you.

But your clients need to go through them.

Just like when they call.

Delegate more and you will earn more

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Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management Tagged With:

Are you a finicky lawyer?

June 23, 2017 by
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I told you about a program I saw profiling a 20-year-old woman with a strange and dangerous addiction to sugar. She drinks 30 cans of cola a day and is on the fast track to a major illness.

The program is called “Finicky Eaters”. My wife found replays on YouTube. We’ve since seen episodes about a guy who has eaten nothing but cheeseburgers for the last 25 years (yep, three meals a day), the gal who eats nothing but french fries, and another about a man who likes to eat raw meat and little else.

As far as I’m concerned, this is more than finicky eating, it’s a sickness. Had these folks not received professional help, they would no doubt be looking at debilitating illness or death.

I was thinking about these poor souls on my walk this morning. It made me think about how many lawyers also have unhealthy habits with respect to their practices. Although usually not fatal, these habits prevent them from reaching their potential.

Many lawyers steadfastly refuse to delegate, for example. Doing all the work themselves can add stress and lead to burnout. It also limits their income. (I know, there’s a trade-off. If you’re not careful, delegating can lead to other problems. Note to self: delegate, but be careful.)

When it comes to marketing, many lawyers also have bad habits. They get set in their ways, refusing to try new strategies, or update old ones, and find themselves falling behind the competition.

How about you? Do you have any bad habits about how you manage your practice? Things you do that you shouldn’t, or things you should do but don’t?

Do you continue doing something a certain way because that’s how you’ve always done it, or because that’s how everyone else does it?

Do you stay in a bad partnership out of habit or fear that the alternative might be worse?

Do you continue paying for products or services you no longer need or could replace with lower-cost or better alternatives?

Start a new habit today of regularly examining what you do and how you do it. Pay attention to your habits, routines, and go-to strategies and consider what you might change or improve.

If you decide that you’re doing fine and no changes are necessary, I have one last suggestion for you: get someone else to take a look. Ask a friend, or hire a professional, to examine your ways and tell you what they see.

Because most of those finicky eaters didn’t realize they had a problem until someone else pointed it out to them.

Are you getting all of the referrals you want? 

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development Tagged With:

How smart lawyers get better reviews

June 16, 2017 by
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I heard from a couple of smart lawyers who shared what they do to get better online reviews.

Sharon said, “I only ask clients for a review if I’m confident they were happy with my services. If they don’t get around to it, I do not repeat the request–I don’t wish to annoy people.”

Joshua said, “One thing we do at our office to control or screen for good reviews is that we do an in-office review first before asking for an online review. If someone had a great experience then we will ask for an online review and follow up with them a few times.”

A few takeaways and suggestions:

(1) Make sure the client is happy before you ask for an online review. 

If the designer I talked about yesterday had done that, she would have known not to ask me to post a review.

At the end of the case or matter, interview the client about their experience with your firm or ask them to fill out a form. Get their feedback and comments. Find out if they would recommend you to others.

If they’re happy, ask them to post their comments online.

If possible, while the client is still in the office, call up the review site of your liking on your computer. Help them register and post their review, or at least show them how to do it (and give them a copy of their in-house review), so they can do it when they get home or back to work.

(2) If the interview or in-house review reveals issues, fix them. And learn from them.

If you fix the problem quickly and completely, or the problem wasn’t your fault and you can make the client see that, it might be okay to ask for an online review. Do another in-office review first, however, before you decide to do that.

(3) It’s okay to remind clients to leave an online review. Remind but don’t push.

At the time they complete the in-office review or interview and agree to post an online review, ask for permission to remind them. “I know you’re busy, I’ll have my secretary send an email reminder, okay?”

Thank them again for their positive review and point out that posting that review online is important. It will help other people who are looking for an attorney, and it will help you.

If you want to get more reviews, and better reviews, this is how you do it.

Earn more without working more. Here’s how 

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Filed Under: Law office management Tagged With:

When is good enough good enough?

May 18, 2017 by
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When is the document you drafted good enough to file? When is the letter you wrote good enough to mail? When is your case prepared enough to take to trial?

I don’t know but you do.

Maybe not consciously, more like a feeling in your gut. You know something isn’t perfect but you know, somehow, that it’s good enough.

One thing’s for sure, when you have a deadline, the notion of what’s good enough gets hazier. You’ve got to get it done or there will be consequences so you get it done. It is deemed good enough because it has to be.

In a pleasant bit of irony, the pressure of a deadline doesn’t necessarily cause more errors. Instead, it often allows you to cut through the fog and quickly find the right path. When you don’t have time for minutia, it’s easier to zero in on what’s important.

So good enough is a relative term. It means different things under different circumstances. How do you get comfortable with this murkiness? I think it comes down to understanding a few things:

  • Good enough really is good enough. You will get most things right most of the time. Most of what you fear will never happen.
  • While many errors are embarrassing, most aren’t fatal. If you can’t fix something, you’ve got insurance to protect you from the worst case scenario.
  • You can minimize problems with checklists, forms, templates, and boilerplate language, and by having another set of eyes edit or at least look at your work product.
  • You’ll get better over time. Experience will help you minimize errors and improve your ability to make decisions. You’ll also get things done faster because you’ve done the same thing so often.

Ultimately, the best way to find out if something is good enough is to release it into the world. The world (your clients, your opposition, your target market) will tell you if something is good enough. Most of the time, the answer will be in the affirmative.

Are you getting paid for all of your work? This can help

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Filed Under: Law office management, Productivity, Writing

Write your own Yelp reviews

May 11, 2017 by
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Many lawyers complain about review sites like Yelp. They point out that one bad review can do tremendous damage and that many bad reviews are dishonest and unfair.

You can’t stop the crazies from posting their opinion. All you can do is encourage your happy clients to post positive reviews and drown out the bad ones.

And that’s exactly what you should do.

Whenever a client thanks you or praises you or your staff, they should be asked to post a review. Explain that even a few words can make a difference. Tell them how much you appreciate it and point the way to your “page”.

You should also stimulate more good reviews by conducting surveys at the end of every case or engagement. A few questions will do the trick but make sure to include a field that allows them to add comments. When you see positive comments, ask the client to use those comments to post a review.

There’s something else you can do to get more positive reviews. Write your own.

Hold on, don’t get your panties in a festival. I’m not suggesting anything nefarious or unethical. Just the opposite.

Let me explain.

Go to Yelp or another review site and peruse a bunch of reviews for attorneys. Find some of the good ones, especially of attorneys in your practice area. Copy those reviews into a document. Then, do the same thing for the bad reviews.

Bad reviews? Yes, you’ll want those too.

Next, take the good reviews and pull out phrases and sentences and stories that resonate with you. Imagine that these things were said about you and your practice. Then, use them to write a mock review, saying nice things about yourself from the point of view of an extremely satisfied client.

Grab this faux review and a pile of negative reviews about other lawyers and call a meeting with your staff. Show them the faux review and point out why it so good. Then, let the brainstorming begin.

Ask for suggestions about how you could bring about the kinds of results mentioned in the faux review. What do you need to do or change to earn reviews like this one? Write it down.

What you’re doing is creating a manifesto for your firm. Things to do to make your client’s experiences so incredible they feel compelled to write (real) positive reviews. A standard to live up to from this day forward.

One more thing.

Break out the bad reviews and share them. Have a laugh or two, and thank your lucky stars that these things weren’t written about you. Take those bad reviews and add a bunch of “don’ts” to your manifesto.

Follow your manifesto and you won’t ever worry about reviews again.

Reviews are just one way your clients can help your practice grow

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Filed Under: Law office management Tagged With:

Firing clients out of a cannon

May 10, 2017 by
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It’s time to do some spring cleaning. Go through your client list and get rid of the clutter.

Start with the ones who owe you money and aren’t paying. You don’t need them. Oh, I know, you care about them. They’re just going through a tough time. They’ll pay you eventually.

Fine, make an arrangement. A payment schedule. Give them more time. But not much. You have a business to run and bills to pay and you can’t be chasing after people to pay you. If they don’t pay, show them the door.

Next up, get rid of the ones who make your life miserable. The complainers. The micro-managers. The trouble makers. Say bye bye to clients who are a nuisance to you and your employees.

What’s that? You need the money? You can’t afford to jettison paying clients no matter how much trouble they cause?

You can’t afford not to.

These clients may fill up your bank account but they are a drain on your psyche. They’re bad for your health and the health of your practice. You can replace them with better clients. If you’re not ready to fire these pain-in-the-ass clients today, make a plan to do it as soon as possible. 90 days at the latest.

(Nature really does abhor a vacuum. When you get rid of some clients, new clients will come your way to fill the void.)

Okay, that’s bad clients. Next, take a look at your “wrong” clients. The ones who have matters outside your primary practice areas. The ones with cases that are too small or who take up too much of your time relative to the fees you charge them. The ones with work you don’t enjoy. The ones who can’t or won’t pay top dollar to have you as their attorney.

Yep, fire them too.

Move them out and make room for more clients like your ideal client. They’re out there and they will come.

Clients owe you money? Here’s how to Get the Check

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Filed Under: Law office management

The $20 rule

May 9, 2017 by
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Years ago, I established a spending rule for myself. If there was something I wanted and it cost under $20, I bought it.

No research. No sleeping on it. No guilt.

C’mon, it’s just $20. My time is worth a lot more than that. So why spend any of it second-guessing or worrying about spending too much on things I might not need or use?

Capiche?

I shake my head in amazement reading app reviews or book reviews by people complaining about wasting $3 on something they didn’t like or didn’t use. I know, it’s their $3 and they have the right to say what they please. But seriously? If you don’t like it, throw it away. Move on. Stop embarrassing yourself.

And next time, read the damn product description before you click the buy button.

Anyway, I buy a lot of books using this rule, because, well, books. I don’t read all of them and I don’t get a lot out of all of the ones I do read, but I have another rule for that: if I get one tip or idea from a book, it was worth it.

Now, my rule only applies to one-time purchases. If something is $20 per month, that’s a different story. I’m much more careful. Thrifty, even. I take my time. I do my homework. I read reviews and think about whether I really need the item before I make a decision.

Because one-time purchases, even relatively big ones, usually don’t do as much damage as ongoing expenses.

Maybe you spent too much furnishing your office. I’ve done that. At a time when I could ill afford it, I spent thousands more than I needed to. (Keeping up appearances, and all that).

It wasn’t smart but it was a one-time purchase. One and done.

Overhead is another animal.

A hundred dollars a month here, $50 dollars there, before you know it, you might be wasting thousands of dollars a month.

And that could make a big different to your bottom line.

In sum:

One time purchases, especially small ones? Live a little.

Ongoing expense? Get your Scrooge on.

Here’s the formula for building a profitable law practice

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Filed Under: Law office management Tagged With:

It’s not how much you spend, it’s how much you earn

April 12, 2017 by
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In Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” Lord Darlington defined a cynic as “a man who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing”.

Not all lawyers are cynics, of course, but many lawyers focus too much on the cost of building their practice and too little on the potential return.

They pinch pennies that might earn a nice profit. They avoid “spending” billable hours executing strategies that might earn them a fortune.

They don’t want to lose money or waste time and their aversion to these risks clouds their vision and stifles their growth.

I know. When I finally started making money in my practice, I lost thousands of dollars to some people I thought I could trust. Having been broke for so long, the loss rattled me and I was afraid to take a chance on losing more.

I shared what happened with a doctor I knew who pointed out that the losses were simply a cost of doing business, that I should accept them and move on. “At the end of the year, if you made more money than you spent or lost, that’s what counts,” he said.

And he was right. Most of what I was doing was working. My practice was profitable and growing, despite the losses and expenses.

It was an important lesson for me, and maybe for you, too. In building a practice, our task isn’t to avoid all risk but to intelligently manage those risks and maximize our return.

If you are too focused on the costs of building your practice, if the idea of losing money or wasting time is an anathema to you, I encourage you to find a way let go of your fear and get comfortable taking more risk.

Because without risk there is no reward. And because it’s not how much you spend, it’s how much you earn.

Referrals provide an excellent return on investment. Here’s how to get more

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Filed Under: Law office management, success
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