Save time and reduce mistakes with form letters

February 2, 2012 by
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I suspect that as much as one third of the mail and email messages you send each week are routine responses or messages. Inquires are answered, new clients information is transmitted, newsletters are mailed. You probably have some of these saved as form letters. You may also store snippets of text you use frequently, ready to copy and paste into your outgoing messages.

If you’re not doing this, now is the time to begin assembling a library of form letters, just as I’m sure you have for pleadings, discovery, and agreements.

If you do use form letters, it’s a good idea to review them to see how you can make them better.

Not only do form letters save the time otherwise spent drafting an original letter, they also save time spent instructing others who respond on your behalf. After all, it’s a lot quicker to tell your assistant to “send letter 3-B” rather than explain what you want them to say (or dictate the letter yourself).

Form letters also reduce mistakes. You won’t forget to tell someone something that is already in your letter.

Form letters also reduce the number of incoming calls seeking additional information or clarification. Clients and prospects will like seeing that you are prepared and thorough.

The first step to improving your form letter library is to make extra copies of every letter and email you send over the next week or two. If you use Evernote, you can send everything into a temporary notebook for this purpose or assign a “form_letters” tag. You might also want to go through your sent email folder for the last few months and selectively forward emails to your Evernote email account. You can do the same with digital copies of letters sent by regular mail.

Also, go through your incoming mail. You may be getting letters sent to you that are (a) answered by phone or in person (i.e., at the consultation or meeting), (b) not being sufficiently answered, or (c) not being answered at all. Send these to your email account, too.

(For more ways to use Evernote in your law practice, check out my Evernote for Lawyers eBook.)

Once you have assembled a sampling of letters and emails, the next step is go through them and ask yourself,

  • How often do I send all or part of this information?
  • Is there anything in here that I could save and use?
  • Is there anything here that could be improved? Expanded? Clarified?
  • Is there anything here that could be put into a form letter?

Take the time to create or expand your library of form letters and get in the habit of using them. And every time you dictate an original letter, ask yourself if some or all of it could be added to your library.

If five percent of your current messages today are form letters, and you could increase this to just ten percent, you should see a significant time savings.

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Filed Under: Email, Law office management, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Networking 101: What Do I Do After I’ve Made a New Contact?

February 1, 2012 by
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An attorney emailed and asked:

“Last week, I met a man who is the head of the [an influential association]. Good contact. I sent him an email saying nice to meet you, he responded likewise and hopes to see me around. Now what?”

Great question. What do you do after you meet someone? How do you develop a relationship that will bear fruit?

Of course there isn’t a simple answer. Each situation is as different as the individuals involved. And while every nascent networking relationship has the potential to grow and develop, it’s possible that it won’t. The chemistry isn’t there, the timing isn’t right or one of the parties simply isn’t amenable to taking the relationship to a higher level.

So you meet a lot of people, try a lot of things, and see what works. Most relationships probably won’t pan, out but that’s okay. You only need a few good ones.

When you meet a new contact, here’s what to do next:

First, never leave anything to the other party. Always take the initiative to move things forward. You invite them, you call them, you ask them. The reason we give people our business cards when we meet them, isn’t so they have our contact information, it’s to get theirs.

So you’ve done that. You took the lead and emailed “nice to meet you”. That’s good. He replied. Even better. The door is open to future contact and there is now a chance that he will remember you.

Second, when we meet new people, during those uncomfortable first few minutes where we exchange small talk, we are searching for “commonalities”. When we find them (a school, a mutual friend, a shared interest in golf, for example) we are united in that common interest and we have something we can talk about. When you find something in common with your new contact, however banal, you can use that to continue the conversation at a later time.

So, did you discover any commonalities with your new contact? Did you discuss anything that you can use to continue the conversation? If not, in your next communication, find a reason to ask him a question. Ask if he knows someone you know or what he thinks about an idea that is important to his industry. Share an article you think he may like and ask for his thoughts.

Third, and most important, networking isn’t about you getting something from the other person, at least not initially. In the beginning, networking is the search for people with problems you can help solve or objectives you can help meet. I am not necessarily referring to your legal services.

What does the other person want? Where is his pain? What is on his mind? You need to find out so you can help.

You might have information that can help. You might introduce him to someone. Or give him a referral.

You get what you want by first helping other people get what they want. The more you give, the more (eventually) you will get.

So, if you don’t know what this individual wants, find out. Ask him–“how can I help you with. . .?” Or ask people who know him or his organization what might be needed. Or do some research.

Once you know what someone wants, look for ways to help him get it. If you can’t help them yourself, turn to your existing network of clients and contacts and find someone who can. If your contacts can’t help, they may know someone who can.

Your role is to position yourself as the “go to” person when people need something. You connect people with problems with people who have solutions. In doing so, you help both people and you also help yourself.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Networking, Relationship marketing, Thank you letters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dear Attorney: Would You Hire You?

January 31, 2012 by
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I’ve been conducting free consultations with attorneys who want to earn more and/or work less. I’m pretty quick at getting to the heart of the matter, but since we have just a few minutes together, I’ve asked each attorney to answer a few questions before we speak. One of those questions is, “What are your strengths?”

Most of the attorneys say pretty much the same thing. They’re good at what they do, they provide good service, and their clients seem to like them.

Good stuff. But is it true?

How do you know you provide good service? How do you know your clients like you? This is your perception, after all, and let’s face it, you are just a little biased.

Do you ever ask your clients for feedback, through surveys, questionnaires, or interviews?

Do you ever have a “mystery shopper” sit in your waiting room and watch the way clients are greeted? Does your staff greet them with a smile and make them feel welcome? Are they offered something to drink? How long do they have to wait?

Have you ever listened in on phone conversations between your staff and your clients? Have you ever recorded yourself speaking with clients and listened to the conversation?

No matter how well you’re doing you can always do better. But you have to put some energy into it. Start by looking at what your firm does through the eyes of your clients. Take inventory of what you do and how well you do it.

Your clients like you but that’s not enough. You want them to love you, to be so enamored with the way you treat them that they are not only willing to refer clients to you, they go out of their way to look for people they can refer.

Commit to making superlative service a fundamental part of your firm’s culture. Conduct meetings, trainings and weekend retreats with your staff, focused on improving client relations. Recognize and reward your employees who treat clients right.

If you regularly receive referrals, testimonial letters and thank you notes from your clients, that’s good. But don’t settle for good when you can be great.

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

Prioritizing tasks: what do I do first?

January 30, 2012 by
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Many productivity experts today avoid using the term “time management” because in truth, we cannot manage time. The only thing we can manage are our priorities.

If you have a list of tasks (“todos”) that’s longer than Joe Biden’s gag reel, you may be wondering how to prioritize that list so that you get the most important things done.

“What do I do first?” you ask.

Of course only you can answer that question (unless you’re married–just kidding, dear. . .).

The challenge is in looking at everything on your list within the context of a single day. There’s too much to do and it is overwhelming.

I’ve written before about how I use the concept of “MITs” (Most Important Tasks). Every day, I choose three MITs from my greater list and focus on those. If I get those done and I have time for more, I’ll go back to my list and choose another, but if I don’t, I’m satisfied because I completed the three most important tasks for the day.

I also wrote about how I use MITs in my Evernote for Lawyers eBook.

I first learned about this concept in “Think and Grow Rich”. Napoleon Hill tells the story of Ivy Lee who was doing some consulting work for Charles Schwab, the head of Bethlehem Steel. Schwab told Lee that the biggest problem he had was making his managers more effective in the use of their time. Lee said he would give him the solution to his problem and Schwab agreed to try the system for a few weeks and send Lee a check for what he thought the idea was worth.

Lee told Schwab that at the end of every day, his managers should write down their top six priorities for the following day. Then, they should put the list in the order of importance. The following day they should begin with the first task on the list and work on it until it was completed. Then do the second task on the list and repeat this until the end of the day. Any unfinished tasks should be put on the list for the following day.

Schwab tried the system. In a couple of weeks, he sent Lee a check for $25,000, the equivalent of $250,000 today.

Whether you choose three MITs or six top priorities, the idea is the same: select from your greater list a finite number of priorities and work on those first. You may have a large list of important tasks but importance is a relative term–some things are more important than others.

Another popular method of prioritizing tasks, which could be combined with MITs, is the method taught by Franklin-Covey. The idea is to go through your task list and assign a priority to each item:

A—urgent and important
B—important but not urgent
C—urgent but not important
D—not urgent or important

At the beginning of each day, start on your A’s first. If you get those done, move to the B’s, then the C’s.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything we need to do. We can reduce our anxiety and increase our effectiveness by prioritizing our tasks and working on the most important things first. “What is the the most important thing you need to do right now? Don’t worry about everything else.

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Three ways to get clients to hire you NOW

January 27, 2012 by
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I just spoke to an attorney who sent his list an article about the importance of getting their Will prepared. He later spoke to some of them and they said they enjoyed the article and acknowledged that they needed to get their Will prepared or updated. When he asked them to book an appointment, they made excuses.

Sound familiar?

How do you get someone who acknowledges his or her need for your services to stop procrastinating and make the appointment?

Here are three techniques you can use:

  1. Tell stories. Facts tell but stories sell. In your writing and on the phone, make sure you illustrate your points with stories of people who followed your advice (e.g., to get their Will prepared) and especially with stories about those who didn’t. Let people know the consequences of inaction or procrastination by hearing about people who waited.
  2. Use a deadline. If you are offering some kind of special offer–a bonus, freebie, or discount, for example–put a deadline on it: “To get this bonus, you must book your appointment by. . .”. Fear of loss is a powerful motivator. You’ll find people hiring you who might otherwise procrastinate because they don’t want to lose the special offer.
  3. Push ’em. If the benefits of the service being offered are truly in their best interests to have, you’re not doing them any favors by letting them wait. In fact, as a compassionate advisor, it is your responsibility to urge them to act. So use your authority, credibility, and persuasiveness to get them to “take care of this right now”.

These three techniques will get more people to book an appointment. One additional technique, “alternative choice,” will get even more. Give them two options to choose from, either of which moves them forward. “So, can you come in this week or would next week be better?” Tuesday or Wednesday? 10 or 4?

Change the decision from “yes or no” to “today or tomorrow”.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to write an article in ten minutes or a book in two hours

January 26, 2012 by
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One way to write more articles, reports, blog posts, or anything else, is by writing faster. One way to write faster is to dictate and record your thoughts and then have them transcribed.

When I first started practicing law we dictated everything and somebody else did the typing. Today, I write everything on a computer and find that I can turn out a finished document almost as quickly. But sometimes, I get caught up in the process of writing and something that should have taken ten minutes winds up taking an hour.

I also find that speaking my thoughts lends a freshness and clarity that is sometimes missing when I write. And so for my next big writing project, I’m going to go back to writing the way I used to do it, by speaking my first draft into a recorder and having it transcribed.

Here are the steps I will be following:

  1. Create an outline. No matter how well you know your material, having the points you want to cover in the order in which you want to cover them will help you stay on point and get the job done more quickly.
  2. Speak and record. The best way to do this is to keep in your mind’s eye a real person you know (or an amalgam of your target audience) and speak to that person. Pretend they are sitting across the desk from you.
  3. Transcribe. You can have someone do this or do it yourself. Doing it yourself allows you to edit as you type.
  4. Edit. Cut out unnecessary ideas and words, flesh out thoughts that need it, and re-order material to enhance clarity. Take any “leftovers” and store them for future articles.
  5. Add an intro and conclusion.
  6. Final edit.

The average human being speaks at a rate of 125 to 150 words per minute. This means that you could dictate the first draft of a 500 word article in just a few minutes or an 18,000 word ebook in a couple of hours. Now, if we could just get paid by the word.

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The problem with most consumer law practices

January 25, 2012 by
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Most consumer oriented law practices have a big problem. Lawyers who practice family law, bankruptcy, criminal defense, estate planning, personal injury, real estate, and other areas, have a preponderance of “one time” clients. Once the initial case or engagement is completed, the attorney gets no additional revenue, or at best, very little.

The problem is worsening. It costs more to bring in a new client today, and overhead and manpower expenses to service those clients are also higher. But clients aren’t willing to pay more, and they don’t have to. With more lawyers competing for the same clients, clients have more options.

I just spoke to an attorney who is spending $13,000 a month on yellow pages. The good news is that her ads bring in a lot of new clients. The bad news is that she loses money on every one.

The solution to this problem is for attorneys to develop their “back end”–services and other profitable initiatives they can offer their clients after the initial engagement.

In any business, most of the profits are made on the back end. There is a cost to acquire a new customer, and while it is hoped that this can be done at a profit, it’s not required. So long as the business can make enough profit after the initial sale, if the back end is big enough, most businesses are willing to lose money on the front end.

How can an attorney develop a back end?

Some attorneys are branching out into new practice areas. So the bankruptcy lawyer who sees a downturn in new clients starts offering family law or estate planning services. The problem with this is that it makes it much harder to get referrals from family law and estate planning attorneys with whom you are now competing. It’s also more difficult to market a general practice than a specialized one.

Instead of taking on new practice areas, here are two things an attorney can do to develop a back end:

  1. Expand and systematize referrals. Focus on getting more referrals, better referrals, and more frequent referrals from your clients. In this way, each client you bring in on the front end represents more profits on the back end. If you spend $1000 to bring in a new client who pays you $1000 on the front end, but you earn an average of $3000 from their back-end referrals, you can afford to bring in as many “break even” clients as possible. You can even lose money on the front end.
  2. Market the services of other lawyers to your clients. Instead of you taking on a new practice area, associate with other attorneys who are specialists in those areas and offer their services to your clients in return for a share of the fees (if ethically permissible) or in exchange for marketing your services to their clients. (You aren’t limited to working with other attorneys; you can also market the services of other professionals and businesses.)

A key number every attorney must know is the “lifetime value” of a new client. This includes the value of their repeat business, their referrals, and other revenue derived as a result of having them on your list. Take some time to determine this number and then work on increasing it.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Specializing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why attorneys need to drink more booze

January 24, 2012 by
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My wife once told me I needed to drink more alcohol. She said I was too uptight and needed to loosen up.

She wasn’t serious (about the alcohol part) but I had to admit she had a point. Attorneys can be pretty serious folks at times.

You and I know a lot of attorneys. As a group, what are they like? Most of the ones I know are intelligent, hard working, responsible, and professional. They have families and hobbies and a life outside of the office. They are successful and well-rounded.

At the same time, most of the attorneys I know are very analytical and a bit uptight.

Like me.

No matter what kind of law we practice, we are all in the people business. People hire (and employ) lawyers they like and if you’re not likable, you’re making things harder on yourself.

So, if you’re a stick in the mud, or have a stick where the sun doesn’t shine, if people don’t “get” you, if you are completely unable to win friends and influence people, you might want to work on that.

I use humor to overcome my natural tendencies. I like to make people laugh. It’s a great ice breaker and helps when I’m speaking to a group.

If you need to loosen up, consider doing something different:

  • Acting classes
  • Public speaking classes
  • Stand up comedy
  • Music/art
  • Exercise
  • Sky diving/race car driving/fire walking
  • Personal development courses
  • Therapy

If you want more people to like you, you don’t have to become the life of the party. You do need to have that stick removed.

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Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Personal development, success Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Apps for lawyers: do you really need one?

January 23, 2012 by
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If you have a smart phone, the chances are you’ve seen more than a few law firm apps coming through the app store. A lot of law firms are getting them and you may be tempted to do the same. With all the smart phones out there, it’s got to bring you some business, right? Hey, even one new client will pay for the app.

Before you get out your checkbook, there are some things you should consider.

Most apps fall into two categories. The first is of the “digital brochure” variety. This may do a great job of showing your firm’s capabilities but you’re not going to bring in much business with an app that nobody downloads and if a brochure is all you’ve got, not many will.

The second category of app falls into the utilitarian category: it does something useful. Personal injury lawyers seem to have a preponderance of this kind of app, of the “what to do in case of accident” variety. There are places to fill in information about the other parties, witnesses, insurance information, and also some pointers on what to do.

This sounds good but think about it: when you’re in an accident, nervous, waiting for the police or ambulance or tow truck, will you really want to launch an app and start typing with your thumbs?

Some of these apps have audio recorders, but still, in the heat of the moment, most people aren’t going to use it.

“Ah, but the point isn’t that they use it, it’s that they have it so that when they get home, they’ll remember they have it, look through it, and call us.”

This is true, but you don’t need an app for that. An old fashioned booklet in the glove box will accomplish the same thing. A booklet is a lot cheaper (free if the client prints it themselves from your pdf) and a booklet is something people might actually use.

Another form of utilitarian app is one that contains information. It might be a summary of bankruptcy laws, divorce options, or tips for protecting your small business. If a prospective client is browsing through the app store and sees an app that promises to inform him about something that’s currently on his mind, this could get his attention. The big question is, “will he see it?”

When an app is released, it appears in the list of new apps for a few days, and then it’s no longer “new”. Unless an app is extremely popular, very unlikely for a law firm app., the odds are that nobody will ever see it again in the app store.

What good is an app that nobody knows about?

It will be up to you to promote your app via your web site, newsletter, and social media. If it’s good, people will download it and promote it. But you can accomplish the same thing without an app. All you need to do is put your information into a report or ebook.

Can an app bring in some business? Yes, it can. But before you rush into having one made, lest you be “left behind” by your competition, remember that getting the app made is just the beginning. If you’re not willing to invest in promoting the app, don’t bother getting one. If you are prepared to promote your app, you might simply write a report and save yourself several thousand dollars.

Does your law firm have an app? Has it brought in any business? Please share your experiences in the comments.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Referrals, Social media marketing, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The paperless law office: what’s the big deal?

January 20, 2012 by
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I like the idea of going paperless. I think most people do. Millions of people have opted for paperless billing and banking, reducing the paper and clutter in their lives and saving on postage and fees. Millions more are investing in scanners to eliminate paper that resides in their closets and file cabinets.

Lawyers in particular, who have more than their fair share of paper, are coming to understand the benefits of a paperless law practice:

  • Saving money. A paperless practice saves the not inconsiderable costs of paper, copy machines, toner, file cabinets, office space, and storage space, not to mention the wages of staff members responsible for creating, storing, and retrieving all that paper
  • Increasing productivity. Digital information can be retrieved, and therefore, utilized, much more readily than paper files. And having information in the cloud means it is available to you anywhere–from home, office, the courtroom, in a meeting.

Converting a law practice to paperless, or even “paper-lite,” is not a simple task for most lawyers. First, there is the process of converting thousands of closed files to their digital equivalents. Then there is the issue of working with current files and open cases using a laptop or iPad instead of a manila folder. How do you get the information in, and how do you get it out? All of this has to be thought through before the first page is scanned. Finally, lawyers must consider the security of client data, both on their hard drive and in “the cloud”.

The larger your practice, the more complicated these issues become. A big practice will probably hire a consulting firm to advise them on the process of going paperless and selecting the tools for doing so. A smaller practice must address the same issues as the big firm but they have more options, many of which are free or low cost.

I wrote about “going paperless” and “data security” in my new eBook, Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide for Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity. If you want to eliminate or reduce the use of paper in your law practice, Evernote is a great tool for doing so. If you are a small firm, it could be all you need.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Legal industry, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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