Archives for September 2018

Rewarding and incentivizing clients

September 14, 2018 by David M. Ward

Who says you have to charge all of your clients the same fee and/or the same terms?

You might offer

Former clients an incentive to return (e.g., lower fee, additional service as a bonus, extended payment plan, a free review, a free update, etc.)
First-time clients a special offer to try your firm
Existing clients an incentive to hire you for other services or to hire you more often
Longtime clients a lower rate or to “lock in” the existing rate for two years (by doing something)
A lower rate to new clients who provide a bigger retainer
Different packages, at different price points, to give clients incentives to “buy” more now instead of waiting

Are you getting any ideas?

Try it with a small segment of your client list. For example, you could send a letter to clients who haven’t hired you for ten years or more and make them a special offer. If you like the results, you could roll out the offer to other “old” clients.

Wait. Can you reward and incentivize lawyers and other professionals to provide more referrals? You betcha. You can learn all about it in Lawyer-to-Lawyer Referrals.

Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Law office management

Voicemail for grownups

September 13, 2018 by David M. Ward

I don’t know about you but I hate voicemail messages like this: “Hey, it’s Don and I’ve got a quick question. Call me back. Thanks.”

Phone tag much?

If you want me to respond, ask me what you want to ask me or tell me what you want to talk to me about, and make it as easy as possible for me to reply.

Like this:

“Hey, it’s Don; it’s Monday and I’m trying to figure out which form to use for [whatever]. I have to file by Wednesday at 5 pm so if possible, could you get back to me by the end of the day Tuesday? I’d really appreciate it. You can either email me at [email] or text or call me at [number]. Thank you so much!”

Of course, your outgoing voicemail message should prompt callers to leave sufficient information:

“This is Joe Lawyer. Please leave your full name and a detailed message about the purpose of your call. Also, make sure you leave your phone number or numbers, even if you think I have it, and the best time or times to reach you. For a quicker reply, please email me at [email]. Thank you.”

You should also tell callers when you or someone from your office will get back to them so they know what to expect.

Oh, and when a caller follows instructions, praise them because so many people don’t.

Do you know the formula for getting more clients?

The way the world works

September 12, 2018 by David M. Ward

It’s called “the tipping point”. Whether you’re opening a new law practice or building an existing one, starting a project or promoting a cause, it is the point where you have built up sufficient momentum to trigger accelerated growth.

You start at zero. Just you and an idea. Everything seems difficult. You see little or no results.Â When you reach the tipping point, things change. Your results start to get bigger and come faster. Before you grew by addition;Â now you grow by multiplication.

This is what you’re working for. This is where you get big, fast and people think you just got lucky.

Unfortunately, many people give up or go in another direction before they reach the tipping point. They couldn’t see the harvest that awaited them so they stopped sowing.

You have to trust that your efforts will pay off. You have to keep sowing until they do.

Keep sowing until you see some momentum, the point at which things get a little easier, and then keep sowing and building on that momentum.

That’s the way the world works. That’s how you get from where you are to where you want to go.

Build momentum in your practice with referrals

Filed Under: success

Gotta minute?

September 11, 2018 by David M. Ward

You’ve just finished a meeting and have ten or twenty minutes before your next appointment. Or you’ve finished a research or writing project but don’t feel like starting anything new.

To stay productive, maintain a running list of tasks you can do in five or ten minutes.

Ideas:

Send a note/email/social media message: thank you, birthday, networking, praise, etc.
Call a former client to say hello
Call a business contact and invite them to coffee/lunch
Stretching exercises/get some air
Clean your desktop or your computer desktop
Read an article or two in your “read later” list
Un-subscribe from email lists you don’t read
Empty your email inbox (respond/file/delete)
Empty your task inbox
Organize computer documents
Add new contacts to contact management app
Review your to-do list, re-prioritize tasks
Shop for a gift
Edit/outline/proofread a document
Clean up bookmarks
Backup files
Update software

Once a week, you might create a short list of contacts to connect with for theÂ week. That way, when you have an extra five minutes, you won’t have to use the time deciding who to contact.

So, what’s on your list?

Keep your list in this

Filed Under: Productivity

One of the simplest and most effective ways to build your practice

September 10, 2018 by David M. Ward

I did a marketing consultation last week with an attorney who has an email list and uses it to stay in touch with 1100 clients, prospects and professional contacts.

That’s good.

He writes to them every few weeks or so, when he has news or information to share.

Here’s an expanded version of some of my suggestions:

He built and maintains the list manually. I told him to automate the list building by putting an email sign-up form on his website so visitors could sign themselves up. Offer an incentive–a report or ebookâ€“ to encourage them to do that.

You’ll get more subscribers by capturing “first-time/one-time” visitors to your site,Â many of whom need to hear more before they’ll hire you.

Use the autoresponder function provided by the email service provider to send an automated welcome message, deliver the report, and send them a series of additional messages over time.

Use the “broadcast” function of the email service to send them additional messages.

I suggested emailing on a regular schedule. Aim for weekly. You want subscribers to get used to hearing from you. You want to be “in their minds and their mailboxes” when they need your services and are ready to hire you, or they have a referral.

To write more frequently:

Send shorter emails–a few paragraphs is enough
Send all text emails–don’t bother with HTML, images, etc., just type and send
Don’t limit your subject matter to legal matters. That’s boring for people who don’t currently have those issues. Write about consumer-related topics, personal stories, and anything else.

Make your emails informative and entertaining and use them to build a relationship with your subscribers.

This is one of the simplestÂ and most effective ways to bring in more business.

This will help you create a report and get more subscribers

Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services

I like pain. It feels so good when it stops

September 7, 2018 by David M. Ward

The economy is good. Incomes are up, unemployment is down, the future looks promising. Many are beginning to realize how bad things had been.

When you feel good, it’s easy to take it for granted. It’s only when you don’t feel good–when you’re sick or sore, stressed or sad, battered or broke–that you appreciate how good it is to not feel that way.

You don’t notice what you had until it’s gone. Or it returns.

One thing I do to keep my balance is to take inventory. Periodically, I sit down and note what I have, not what I don’t have. I make a list of people and experiences I appreciate. I note my talents and assets. I ruminate on the positive aspects of where I’ve been and where I’m going.

I do this because gratitude is essential to happiness.

When bad things happen, I remind myself that this too shall pass and note that it could have been worse (because it can almost always be worse). Then I look for the lesson.

If all else fails, if I’m in a bad place and can’t seem to extricate myself, I remind myself that I’m not going to live forever and I can choose to give up or suck it up and get back to business.

And then I feel much better.

Filed Under: Inspiration

Do everything in full-screen mode

September 6, 2018 by David M. Ward

On the radio this morning I heard a promo for an upcoming program. I wasn’t listening closely and don’t know what it’s about but the guy featured in the promo said something that caught my attention. He said, “Do everything in full-screen mode.”

I like the image. I like the idea of being so totally focused on what you’re doing that you can’t see anything else.

“Full screen,” says, “don’t multi-task,” do one thing at a time and give it your full attention.

It says, “pay attention to the details,” because they’re important. And make sure you have the proper tools and allocate sufficient time so you can do that.

When you’re working, work. When you’re playing or relaxing, praying or spending time with loved ones, do those things with everything you’ve got.

Do everything in full-screen mode and live a more productive and prosperous life.

Focus on getting more referrals

Filed Under: Inspiration, Productivity, success

Do you deserve a raise?

September 5, 2018 by David M. Ward

Whether you work for yourself or for a firm or other employer there will come a time when you feel compelled to ask for a raise. (Yes, you can ask yourself for a raise.) I encourage you to first do an exercise to prepare for that conversation.

The exercise is simple. Write down all of the reasons you deserve to get paid more than you do now. Not why you “want” a raise or “need” one, why you deserve it.

This will prepare you for the time when the salary conversation takes place or allow you to justify increasing your “draw”.

It will also show you where you need to up your game.

You might note that you’re more qualified or experienced than your competition, you get better results in the courtroom or boardroom, you are regularly singled out by the Bar or your community, and the other usual yardsticks.

But that’s just the foundation.

Your value to your firm might also be measured by how you save your firm money, viz a vie fewer complaints, claims, negative reviews, or lawsuits. You might also make the case that you don’t engage in extravagant spending.

Your value might be extolled in terms of how you get along well with your subordinates and coworkers and how you help them. Note that this means less turnover and greater productivity.

You might mention how you regularly find and implement new ideas, adopt new resources and methods, and keep your firm on the cutting edge.

Do you do anything extra for the firm, anything not on the job description but that helps your employees, clients, and friends of the firm? Add that to your list.

Write it all down and wherever possible demonstrate how each item makes the firm more profitable because at the end of the day, increased profit is how you best make the case for increasing your pay.

Which leads me to the biggie: You bring in lots of business.

Describe how many clients or cases you bring in each month, the quality of those clients or size of those cases (e.g., lifetime value). Also note how little your rainmaking costs the firm, e.g., most of your new business comes from referrals which take little or no time or money compared to other marketing methods.

Note how you create quality content or presentations that bring web traffic that builds your list and leads to more business.

Note how (and why) you have less client turnover, how you help other lawyers in the firm cross-sell their services, or how you are building a great reputation and following in one or more key target markets.

Write it all down and take a good long look at it. You might see that yes, you truly are entitled to a raise, or you might realize you have work to do.

This is the big one because if you do well in this department, if you regularly bring in lots of business and increase the firm’s bottom line, you can almost ignore the other areas.

Create your marketing plan with this

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

Reading wide and reading deep

September 4, 2018 by David M. Ward

I just logged into my Kindle account and found I have just under 7000 books.

I’ll never read most of them.

In fact, all my life I’ve purchased books I never read. I’m okay with that because I read as much as I can and I like having lots of options I can turn to.

Nearly every successful professional is a prolific reader. They read in their field and outside their field. They read books written by and about their colleagues, business leaders and a wide variety of subject matter experts.

They read broadly–to gain insights and ideas, to learn from the mistakes of others, to learn things they never knew and to think about things they’ve always known in different ways.

And when they find a superlative, transformative book, they read it more than once.

On a first reading, they might highlight or underline passages, make notes in the margins or elsewhere, so they can not only process the material at a deeper level, they will have a guide to that material when they return to read it again.

They reread books because each time they do that they pick up new ideas, insights and nuances they didn’t previously see or appreciate. And they reread books because each time they do, they bring to the material a different context.Â They’ve read other books that support or contrast the ideas in the first one. They’ve implemented the ideas and seen how they worked. They’ve allowed the passage of time to contemplate what they’ve learned. And thus, when they read the book again, they get more out of it.

If you asked them, they might say, “It’s better to read ten good books ten times than to read 100 books once.” And I agree.

How to get more referrals

Filed Under: Personal development