Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I visited IKEA. Among other items, I bought a side chair for my home office. This morning, I opened the box and looked at the instructions for setting it up.

Note to self: never look at instructions before having coffee.

I’m sitting here now, coffee mug at hand, remembering the other IKEA furniture I’ve set up. As intimidating as some of the instructions have been, I never once failed to set up anything, and I’m not what anyone would call handy.

IKEA sells millions of items that need to be set up, to millions of people who aren’t handy, many of whom don’t speak English. Or Swedish. They do it by providing caveman-simple picture instructions that spell out everything. No words, just big, easy-to-understand drawings of all of the parts and what to do with them.

If you don’t understand something, they tell you to call to get help. Yep, they use pictures to explain that, too.

Now, do you think your clients would like this kind of help when they buy your services?

Yes they would. They would like to know exactly what you are doing with their case and exactly what they should do and not do. They don’t want to have to call you to explain everything, but they like knowing that if they wanted to, they could.

You need written, detailed, dead-simple instructions for every service you offer, and for every stage of those services. You can’t use pictures, and you probably need to translate everything into other languages, but this is definitely something that should be a hallmark of your practice.

Think about it. When you prep a client for a deposition, you talk to them and explain what’s going to happen and what they should and shouldn’t do. How much of what you tell them registers and is remembered?

You probably role-play with them. You may show them videos that demonstrate the process. That’s all good, but they should also have written, detailed instructions they can refer to, with plenty of if/then statements, explanations, and examples.

If an IKEA rep had EXPLAINED to me how to set up my new chair, even if he role-played with me, without written instructions in front of me, I’m not sure I could set the thing up. Even if I could, I know it would take longer, I would make mistakes, and the entire experience would be a stressful mess.

IKEA does a lot of things right but do you think one of the reasons people buy from them instead of other retailers is that they make things easy? If you make things easy for your clients, do you think some might choose you instead of other lawyers who don’t?

Some real estate investors look for properties they can improve by remodeling the kitchens and bathrooms. Others look for “tear-downs” and build new structures from the ground up. And some look for “ugly” properties that need nothing more than cosmetic improvements like floor and window coverings, paint, and minor landscaping.

Ugly property investors seek a quick turn around and look for properties with “the right things wrong with them”.

How would your practice fair as a potential investment? How could you quickly increase your cash flow and profits?

No matter how well run and profitable your practice is, there’s always room for improvement. Some practices need a little paint and polish and other “cosmetic” improvements. Some have structural problems and need major work. And some practices should be probably be torn down and rebuilt from scratch.

Take a look at your practice through the eyes of a potential investor. What do you see?

Are you in an office that’s too big or too expensive? Renegotiating your lease or moving to a less expensive building might help. If your office is too small for you or poorly located, however, a new location might allow you to bring in more clients or better clients and give you room to expand.

Examine your staff. Do they need to improve their skills? Does anyone need to be replaced? Do you need more people helping you so you can focus on marketing and big-picture projects?

Examine your computers, software, library, and other resources. What needs to be repaired or replaced? What would allow you to do your job quicker, more efficiently, or at lower cost?

Do you need new practice areas? Do you need to “fire” some of your clients to make room for better ones?

Do you do something in-house that might be done better or less expensively by an outside contractor? Are you spending too much outsourcing tasks that could be done by your employees?

Once or twice a year you and your staff should stand down from your regular activities and ask these kinds of questions. Take inventory of what you have and how it could be improved. Look for ways to lower overhead, increase your billing and bottom line.

Does your practice need major repairs or cosmetic improvements? Does it have the right things wrong with it?

Your marketing should start with this