How to get more work done in less time

September 7, 2017 by
Share

I’m on a perpetual quest to work faster. The faster I complete my work, the quicker I accomplish my goals.

Why take eight hours to do your work when you can do it in five?

If you want to get your work done faster, I suggest that you create a list of questions to ask yourself each time you do a new task or project.

Here’s a starter list of questions:

  • Is this task really necessary? Is there another way to accomplish the same thing?
  • Could I delegate some or all of this to someone else?
  • Could I recycle or adapt something I’ve done before?
  • Can I leave out any steps?
  • Can I combine any steps?
  • Would it help to do the steps in a different order?
  • How could I break this up into smaller steps I could do in smaller bites of time?
  • Could I do this faster if I used a different tool?
  • Would it help to assemble all of the resources I need before I begin?
  • What could I do to increase my focus when I do this (e.g., mono-task, listen to music/white noise, work at the library or another quiet place)?
  • Would I do this faster if I promised myself a reward?
  • Would an accountability partner help?
  • Could I do this faster at a different time of day when I have more energy or fewer distractions?
  • Could I do any of this in the car or while exercising (e.g., dictating)?
  • Would it help to plan this out the night before?
  • Could I batch this with other tasks?
  • Would an updated form, checklist, or template help?
  • Would it help to give myself less time to finish (e.g., a shorter deadline)?
  • How could I transition from one step to the next with less delay?
  • Am I willing to give up some quality in return for speed? If so, what could I do to achieve that?
  • Who do I know who does this in their work and would allow me to see how they do it?

Start recording what you do–all of the steps and how long it takes to do them. Before long, you’ll see yourself getting more work done in less time.

Once you’ve mastered the habit of asking, “How can I do this faster?” start a new habit. Ask yourself, “How can I do this better?”

How can I get referrals more quickly? Here’s the answer

Share
Filed Under: Productivity

If your mom managed your law firm

September 6, 2017 by
Share

When we were kids our moms made sure we followed the rules. We ate our peas, did our homework, studied for tests, and told them if we were going to be late for dinner. Our parents wanted to protect us and get a good start in life so they made us follow the rules. Or else.

If your mom managed your law firm, she would do the same thing.

She’d make sure you did your work, calendared every date, filed every document, and billed every client. If a client didn’t pay, she’d be on the phone, reminding them and threatening to call their mom.

No doubt, she’d also make you tidy up your office at the end of the day.

You would be more productive and profitable but nobody wants their mom telling them what to do, or telling everyone embarrassing stories about something we did when we were six.

Besides, we have administrators to do most of the things our mom would do.

The problem is, an administrator does what you tell them to do, not the other way around.

So you need self-discipline. Which is loosely defined as doing things you need to do whether you feel like doing them or not.

Self-discipline means conquering procrastination and developing consistency. Not because your mom made you but because you made yourself.

One way to develop self-discipline is to start small. If you find it difficult to do marketing 15 minutes a day, start with 5 minutes. Or one minute. Or start doing it once a week.

Develop the habit of doing it consistently, first, and go from there.

Another way to develop self-discipline is to first develop it in other areas of your life. If you are undisciplined about following your task management system, start by getting self-disciplined about reading every day or going to bed 30 minutes earlier.

Someone said, “How you do anything is how you do everything,” and if that’s true, when you develop discipline in one area of your life, it helps you become disciplined in others.

A good place to start is with physical activity. Taking a twenty-minute walk three days a week, for example, is easy to do and easy to measure. You’re either doing it or you’re not.

Walking will not only improve your health and give you more energy, it will help you to become more disciplined about doing more cerebral activities like writing, personal development, or marketing.

Walking is also good for getting ideas. Where do you think I got the idea for this post?

Does your website need more content? This will help

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Personal development Tagged With: ,

Getting clients when you’re a new attorney

September 5, 2017 by
Share

I got an email from a young lawyer who just completed law school, asking for advice:

“I got a job as a legal marketer for a sole practitioner who has been in business for over 20years.

I am expected to find new clients, set up websites and yet I have not been given the appropriate tools to market this practice and attract clients. Worst part is I don’t earn a salary, only 10% commission for every client I sign. It’s been two months and I haven’t brought anything.

So how do I make this work and attract new clients with no referrals, no tools, no contacts in the legal field?

Please help.

JB

I’ve got news for you JB, you don’t have a job. You have a very bad deal.

Okay, you get an office and someone to answer your phone, I presume. That’s good. That has value. But it’s not worth giving up 90% of the fees on clients you bring in.

Time to re-negotiate.

I would offer to “pay” for the office space by doing work for your landlord, on his existing files. Research, draft documents, meet with clients, do court appearances, that sort of thing. Two hours a day, perhaps, in return for an office or even a desk and access to the conference room is a good deal for both of you.

If he wants your help in marketing HIS practice, he needs to pay you. A salary and/or a reasonable percentage of the fees. Start with 50-50.

Otherwise, if you bring in clients, they’re yours. You get 100% of the fees, unless you choose to associate with your landlord because he has experience and resources you don’t yet have.

If he won’t agree to this, there are other attorneys who will. They have empty space, they need an attorney in the office to do some of their work but don’t want to hire someone. “Time for space” is a good deal for them, and for you.

Okay, what about marketing?

First, consider that your current landlord (or another lawyer or firm with whom you choose to associate) has something valuable you don’t have. They have a reputation. You can use that to get better results in your marketing.

For you, starting out, it might be easier to market this other attorney or firm than to market yourself. Make sure prospective clients and referral sources see you are associated with an experienced firm.

Now, how do you bring in clients?

First, set up a simple website. You need to have something to point to when someone asks what you do and how you can help them or their referrals.

Next, contact (by phone) every attorney you can find and tell them you are available for appearances (for pay) and for overflow. You’ll take cases that are too small for them, for example, or outside their practice area. Ask them to recommend other attorneys who might need your help.

Then, write a “referral letter” that describes what you do (or what the attorney or firm you are marketing does). Explain what you can do for an attorney’s clients when they refer them to you, and why they should. Send this to attorneys you know, and to attorneys you don’t know, and follow up.

Next, write a report that prospective clients would want to read. Things they need to know about their legal problem and the available solutions. Explain why they should contact you to take the next step. Put a form on your website so prospective clients can sign up to get your report. Keep in touch with them via email.

This only scratches the surface but it’s a good place to start. And it will bring in clients.

How to write a referral letter to send to lawyers and other professionals

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With:

I’ve got a legal problem and I need your advice

September 1, 2017 by
Share

A man contacted me with a legal problem. He explained what had happened and asked, “What should I do?”

I said, “You should get our your checkbook and write me a big fat check with lots of zeros in it. In fact, empty your bank account. I’m good at what I do, my advice is extremely valuable, and I don’t work for free. So pay up, bub, or get lost and never darken my doorstep again.”

And then I woke up.

I think it was my subconscious mind reminding me to be nice, explain prospective clients’ options, tell them your policy regarding fees and retainers, and ask them what they wanted to do.

Damn subconscious. What, did it graduate from a seminary? Work for the state bar? Talk to my wife?

I was thinking about this and wondering why I ever bothered to go to law school. I’m not cut out for being nice to people. What was I thinking?

And then I woke up. I realized I wasn’t a lawyer after all, I was having a nightmare about the last few decades and none of it was true.

What a relief. Being a lawyer is hard. You have to talk to people and do things for them and you don’t earn anywhere near what most people think. Law school is a scam!

Can you guess what happened next? Yep, I woke up. Realized it wasn’t a dream, I was an attorney, and I had an email to write and send you. So I got busy and wrote down what you just read.

The point? The point is it’s Friday, most of us didn’t lose our home to a Cat 5 hurricane, we don’t live in Venezuela or North Korea, we have our health, people who love us, work we care about, (and the ability to change anything if we want to), and we all need to lighten up. Have some fun with this thing before it’s over.

My challenge to you: write a semi-silly email (that actually makes a point) and send it to your clients and prospects. Make stuff up. Pretend it’s April Fool’s Day. Write something you would never otherwise write, just to see who’s out there and who’s paying attention.

I promise you, it will be a lot of fun. Especially if you actually send it.

Share
Filed Under: Email, Just for fun

Who are you and why are you calling me?

August 31, 2017 by
Share

I received an email from an attorney who asks two questions:

“I’m a sole practitioner, I wanted to enquire on how do I go about getting new clients if I don’t have any referrals?

What’s your take on cold calling as a marketing strategy?”

I’ll address the second question first.

Is cold calling a viable marketing strategy? Is it something I recommend? The short answer is “yes”. Absolutely. It always has been a viable marketing strategy and always will be.

The short answer is “yes”. Absolutely. It always has been a viable marketing strategy and always will be. In fact, cold calling should be a mainstay of every lawyer’s marketing.

But there are caveats.

If you’re calling lawyers, other professionals, business owners or other centers of influence in your local market or your niche market, hunky dory. One professional calling another, to introduce him or herself, to inquire about what the other person does and how the two of you might work together for your mutual benefit–that’s simply networking done over the phone.

Frankly, if you’re not doing this, you’re missing out on one of the simplest and most effective marketing strategies on God’s Green Earth.

If you want to know more about what to say and how to follow up after your first conversation, get my Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals course. You’ll know exactly what to say and what to do.

Now, if you’re thinking about cold calling prospective clients, that’s different.

If they are a prospective “consumer” client and they don’t know you, don’t call. Even if a mutual friend asked you to. Even if you’re not calling about a specific legal matter but are calling to invite them to your upcoming seminar.

Don’t do it.

Sidebar: if you’re calling as a member of the community, to invite your neighbors to a local picnic or charity golf tournament or something else that has nothing to do with you or your practice, that’s different. And worth consideration. But that’s a subject for another day.

That leaves cold calling prospective business clients.

If we assume that there are no ethical issues with doing that (make sure you check), why not? It’s like walking up to a business owner or executive you don’t know at a networking event, introducing yourself and asking to talk to them. You then tell them what you do and how you can help their company. Or offer to send them some information about legal issues in their industry.

It’s done all the time and it works.

But it works better when you have someone else introduce you.

Find someone who has a connection with the powers that be at the company and ask them to introduce you. Or, get their permission to use their name when you call.

Then, it’s not a cold call. It’s not cold because you have a mutual friend or business contact. Much better posture. Much better likelihood of success.

Now, as to the first question, getting clients when you don’t have referrals to offer prospective referral sources.

Surprise. This is also covered in Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals.

Are you still reading? Go get some referrals: Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals 

Share
Filed Under: Referrals

Let them go

August 30, 2017 by
Share

You have an email subscriber who wants to leave your list. Let them go. In fact, encourage them to do so. If they’re not happy with what you’re sending them, why should they remain?

That same goes for you and me. If you’re not digging my emails, if you think I email too often and you can’t keep up, if you don’t want to follow any of my advice, there’s no point in you sticking around. And from my perspective, if you don’t “dig” me, you’re not going to buy anything from me, so there’s no point in keeping you on my list.

Let’s part friends. But let’s part.

That’s the proper attitude whether we’re talking about email subscribers, social media connections, networking friends, or clients. If one or both of you isn’t been served by the relationship, one of you has to let the other go.

If a client isn’t happy with something and you’ve tried to work it out but it’s just not happening, you have to let them go. It’s best for both of you.

Don’t let them storm off, however. Use a little finesse.

I would say, “It sounds like you might be happier with another lawyer. Would you like me to give you a referral?”

Why this?

Because it’s kick-ass posture. You’re not only suggesting they might want to work with someone else, you’re offering to help them find them.

It says, “I’d love to continue to work with you, but I don’t need your business. I want you to be happy and if I’m not your guy, I know other lawyers who might be a better fit for you.”

Confident. Strong. Successful. The very picture of a lawyer who is in demand and whose clients are fortunate to be with them.

Of course by saying, “You might be. . ,” the word “might” keeps the door open. You’re giving them a chance to realize that they might NOT be happy with another lawyer and realize that maybe the reason they’re not happy isn’t entirely your fault.

By taking the high road, not arguing, not trying to convince them to say, you’re confirming that you really don’t need their business. By letting them go this way, clients often realize they really don’t want to go.

Anyway, you can’t stop them from leaving, so don’t try. Let them go. It may be the best way to get them to stay.

Good client relations is your best marketing strategy.

Share
Filed Under: Client relations

How to talk to strangers

August 29, 2017 by
Share

Okay, so you know the simplest way to start a conversation with a stranger is to ask a question or pay a compliment.

What do you say after that?

You know you shouldn’t talk about politics, religion, or sex. What’s left?

Here are four “safe” topics that can help you keep the conversation going and allow you to build rapport.

You can remember these four topics with the acronym, F.O.R.M.

F is for family.

Do they have kids? Are they married or in a relationship? Do they have a crazy uncle?

People like to talk about their family but you have to be careful about how you bring up the subject. You don’t want to ask too many personal questions when you first meet. The best way to find out about their family is to start talking about your own.

Mention something interesting or funny one of your kids did recently. Talk about something you and spouse like to do together. Tell them something your brother told you recently. You can then ask if they have kids or like to do what you and your spouse like to do.

O is for occupation.

Ask them what they do for a living. If they are college age, ask about their major or future plans.

When they tell you what they do or plan to do, comment on it. Tell them something you know or heard about their field or tell them about someone you know who does something similar.

You can then ask them what they like best about their job or business or how they got started.

R is for recreation.

What are their hobbies? What do they like to do for fun? You might ask, “What do you like to do when you’re not working?”

If you’re in a sports bar or the other person is wearing a jersey for their favorite team, you can ask if they go to the games or who their favorite player is.

If you don’t know anything about their sport or hobby, ask them what they like about it or how long they’ve been doing it.

M is for motivation.

What do they dream about doing? What drives them? What is their long term goal?

Getting someone to tell you about their dreams and goals is one of the most valuable ways to get to know them and bond with them but it can be difficult to get a stranger to open up to you. Therefore, start with one of the other rapport-building topics and look for clues you can use to ask about their dreams.

If they’ve told you they don’t like what they do for a living, you can ask what they would like to do instead. If they’ve told you their hobby is sky diving, you could ask if they know any professional sky divers and then ask if they’ve ever thought about doing the same thing.

Get people talking about themselves. I guarantee they’ll enjoy talking to you.

When you ask people what they do, they usually ask what you do. Be prepared to tell them

Share
Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: ,

Disaster preparedness for law firms

August 28, 2017 by
Share

Houston, TX. is undergoing a world of hurt right now. Some say that certain public officials were warned but didn’t do enough to prepare. True or not, their plight should serve as a warning to all of us about the need to prepare for emergencies.

In your home and in your office, you need tools and supplies.  You need food and water, first aid kits, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, flashlights, batteries, and tools to shut off the gas and water.

You also need to know what you will do if there’s a fire, flood, or earthquake. How will you get out? How will you communicate if phones are down?

Take some time to craft a plan and make sure everyone you care about has a copy.

But that’s just the beginning. You also need a plan in case of financial and business disasters.

What will you do if a Bar complaint or a lawsuit is filed against you? Who will you call? What will you say or do?

Put it in writing so if and when it happens, you don’t have to think about it, you can just “do”.

What should your family and employees or partners do if you become incapacitated or die? Put it in writing.

What will you do if a major client leaves and takes a third of your revenue with them? What will you do if you suffer a big financial loss due to embezzlement, bad investments, or partnership disputes?

If something big could go wrong, you should have a plan in place to address it.

While you’re thinking about what to do if disaster strikes, you should also think about what you can do to prevent it and/or mitigate your losses.

Make sure you have redundant systems in place for your calendars. Make sure your client data is encrypted and stored safely. Make sure you have enough insurance and enough cash in savings.

Yeah, I know, it’s no fun being an adult. But these things have to be done. If you find yourself procrastinating, or you realize you’re not very good at this sort of thing, ask someone else to do it. Ask your spouse, your office administrator, or a lawyer-friend for help.

Just make sure you get it done.

Be safe, not sorry. Make sure you have a plan in place for getting referrals

Share
Filed Under: Law office management

Quantity or quality?

August 25, 2017 by
Share

If you had to choose, would you choose more clients or better clients? Quantity or quality?

There are benefits to having a lot of clients:

  • More opportunities to learn and improve your skills
  • More opportunities to test different approaches and strategies (marketing, client relations, promotions, etc.
  • More clients mean more people contributing to overhead
  • Protection from loss. If you lose a few clients, you’ll have others to fill the gap.
  • More opportunities for repeat business, referrals, and introductions to other professionals
  • More opportunities to grow with small clients who become big clients

On the other hand, more clients mean more risks. More opportunities to make mistakes, more people clamoring for your attention, more people who might be unhappy and file a complaint or leave a bad review. There’s also more competition for smaller clients from the majority of lawyers who focus on them.

Well, how about the benefits that come with quality?

  • Bigger cases or clients means higher margins; you earn more per case or client
  • Higher profits allows you to deliver more value to each client, earning their repeat business and referrals
  • Better clients have more work for you; you don’t have to do additional outside marketing to get it
  • Better clients means referrals and introductions to better prospective clients
  • Better clients make it easier to build your reputation and stand out from the crowd
  • Leverage: one client could provide you with ten times the revenue of one new average client
  • Potential for more interesting work

But better clients aren’t all sunshine and lollipops. Lose one big client and your income could drop precipitously. Bigger clients aren’t as easy to replace. Bigger clients can be more demanding and more expensive to serve (more staff, better office, bigger overhead).

So, if the question is quantity or quality, what’s the answer?

How about “both”. How about a quantity of better clients and bigger cases?

That’s the goal. Getting there is a process.

When you’re starting out, you take what you can get. Later, you replace smaller clients with bigger and better ones and reject or refer smaller cases.

Your client mix changes over time as you continually work to increase revenue, lower costs, and increase profits. And it never stops. You never find the perfect balance because as soon as you get to a certain level you’ll want to get to the next one.

The only constant is constant change. Managing that is why you earn the big bucks.

Learn how to choose your target market and ideal client

Share
Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services

When your gut argues with your bank account

August 24, 2017 by
Share

I remember a client I considered one of my favorites. He brought me a lot of business. He never made any trouble. And he was easy to get along with.

Mike wore a lot of gold jewelry, had expensive clothes, wore strong smelling cologne, talked fast and was always in a hurry. He gambled on sports. And he always had a cold, if you know what I mean.

But that was his business. When the phone rang and Mike was on the line, it made my day.

Soon, things began to change.

I never had any problems with his cases. No accusations of anything funny. But he was either the most accident-prone guy on Earth or something shady was going on.

He called me with another case. I turned it down. There wasn’t anything wrong with it that I could see but when you smell trouble, you’ve got to go with what your gut tells you and my gut was yelling and screaming that Mike was up to no good.

Mike stopped calling. Did he find another attorney? Did the law catch up with him? A drug dealer? A bookie? Did he wrap himself around a telephone pole?

I never found out. He was gone and I was glad.

For awhile, Mike was my favorite client. But he was hardly an ideal client. It was early in my practice and I needed the money but I would never want more “Mikes”. An ideal client is someone who touches all the bases and Mike didn’t make the cut.

As you create a profile for your ideal client, don’t forget to check your gut. Even if your bank account says not to.

Need help creating a profile of your ideal client? Here it is

Share
Filed Under: Marketing legal services
« Previous Page
Next Page »