Law office management

Lawyers need an “Easy” button

September 18, 2015 by David M. Ward

Apple has a new app that makes it easier for Android users to switch to iOS. It allows new users to securely transfer contacts, photos, videos, email accounts, calendars, and so on, and helps them reconstruct their Android app collection on their new iOS device.

That’s smart. Very smart. By making it easier to switch, more people will.

There are probably millions of people who have thought about switching but hesitated because it seems like a major headache to do it. If this app makes it quick and easy to switch, I’m sure many more users will come to the dark side.

I thought, “Lawyers need an app like that.” They need a way to make it easy for clients to sub-out their current attorney and sub-in with them. They should supply them a document that explains their rights to switch lawyers, what to say to their current attorney, their rights to their file, and so on.

Actually, lawyers should make it easy for clients at every stage:

A lawyer’s website needs a page or widget that directs first-time visitors to the content that is specific to their interests.
Lawyers should have checklists or forms or a kit that makes it easier for new clients to gather up the information they need to bring to their first appointment.
The person who answers the phone should have a checklist or script that allows them to zero in on what the caller needs, tell them what they need to know, and transition them to making an appointment.
Lawyers should give their clients materials that help them identify prospective clients and refer them.

To grow your practice, make it easier for clients to find you, hire you, work with you, and send you referrals.

ThisÂ makesÂ it easier to get referrals from other lawyers

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Referrals

Are you excited about practicing law?

September 17, 2015 by David M. Ward

Are you excited about practicing law? I was, when I started. But it didn’t take long before the thrill was gone.

I liked helping people and I liked the challenge of building something from scratch. But I didn’t love what I was doing.

Is that all there is? Is that all there is? If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing.

I kept going because I had invested so much into my career, how could I walk away?

How could I not? How could I wait twenty years before finally giving myself permission to do something else.

Successful people are passionate about what they do. Monday morning can’t come soon enough. They can’t imagine doing anything else.

Successful people don’t need to push themselves, they do what they do because they love doing it. Steve Jobs said, “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you donâ€™t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”

That’s what I want for you.

I’m not saying you need to leave the law, although that may be the right thing for you at some point. I’m saying you need to find a way to get excited about your work.

How?

In The One Thing You Need to Know,Â Marcus Buckingham distilled years of research about personal success down to one thing: “Find out what you don’t like doing and stop doing it.”

Get rid of the things you don’t love about your practice so you can do more of what you are good at and enjoy.

It sounds simplistic but imagine if the things you don’t like about your work were gone. Handled. Not something you need to think about.

It would be liberating, wouldn’t it?

Is thisÂ possible? Could you delegate or outsource all of the things that cause you stress? Probably not. When you’re in charge, there are always burdens on your shoulders. But if you could get rid of 80% of the things you don’t like, you might smile a lot more.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Dealing with stress, Law office management, Personal development, success

Building a successful law practice without marketing

September 8, 2015 by David M. Ward

Is it possible to build a successful law practice without doing any marketing?

The answer is no. It’s not possible, because there’s no such thing as practicing law without marketing.

Everything you do in your practice is marketing. Everything.

You’re either doing a good job of it or you aren’t.

The way you treat your clients is marketing. Treat them well (good marketing) and they will come back to you and send referrals. Treat them poorly and they won’t.

Building a successful law practice takes more than just winning the case or delivering the work product. Not when clients can choose one of your many competitors instead of you. Building a successful law practice means getting a lot of little things right, to make your clients feel appreciated and see the value you deliver, and you either do a good job of that or you don’t.

When someone asks, “What do you do?” the way you answer that question is marketing. Your response either tells them how you can help them or someone they know, and makes them want to know more, or it doesn’t.

Good marketing or bad marketing, but marketing nonetheless.

Do you have a website, social media accounts, or a listing in a legal directory? Do other lawyers ever send you referrals? Have you ever handed out your business card to anyone?

You’re marketing.

You might hate marketing, and refuse to admit that you’re doing it, but doing it you are.

Even if you have a job that doesn’t require you to bring in clients, you’re marketing. Every day you go to work and “sell” your employer on continuing to employ you. Do a great job of marketing and they might give you a raise. Do a bad job of marketing and they might let you go.

Everything you do is marketing.

The question is, how well are you doing it?

No matter how well you are doing it, or how poorly, you can improve your marketing and get better results.

You can also do MORE marketing. There are other ways to attract clients than whatever it is that you’re doing now.

Speaking, networking, writing, advertising–they all work. You can do some of them, or all of them, or you can decide to stick with what you’re doing now and do more of THAT.

So we agree, then, you are marketing. You can improve your marketing and you can do more of it, but you cannot avoid marketing, and you can’t build a successful law practice without it.

Need a marketing plan? Here you goÂ

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Your doctor doesn’t use an away message so why do you?

September 2, 2015 by David M. Ward

I saw an article this morning about how to write a goodÂ out-of-office email and reminded myself that I’ve never used one. I don’t want to tell anyone that I am in or out of the office. I don’t want a leash.

Why do your clients need to know where you are? And why does it matter if youâ€™re out? Do you need to be “in the office” to receive or reply to an email?

No, you don’t.

“What about when I’m out of town and cannot be “reached” (i.e., on vacation?) I won’t even look at their email for two weeks. Don’t I need to tell them that?”

No. Nobody needs to know where you are, or for how long, or when you might read or reply to their email.

Yes, you do need to be accessible. Clients need to know that when they need help, they can count on you. But that doesnâ€™t mean they should expect a personal reply to every email or phone call. You have staff to do that for you.

In fact, why are you even giving your clients your email? Do you have your doctor’s email? If he provides one at all, it’s for his office, and if you write to him, someone in the office will reply. You don’t know whether your doctor is in the office, at the hospital, or on the golf course. If itâ€™s an emergency, someone will be able to reach him.

And thatâ€™s how it should work for you.

If you are a lone wolf, have one email for your office, another for you in your capacity as a lawyer, and another for personal matters. Don’t give everyone your lawyer email. Give them the official office email, and make sure they know that someone else will be reading it.

Donâ€™t give everyone your cell number, either. Get an answering service who can call you if itâ€™s an emergency, and take messages if it is not.

When I started practicing, in the days before email and cell phones, I had a secretary, an answering service, and a pager. A client could reach my â€œofficeâ€ at midnight if they wanted to, but unless it was a true emergency, nobody called them back until the morning.

I was accessible, but on my terms. I served my clients, but I wasn’t at their beck and call.

Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Law office management, Time Management Tagged With: away message, out-of-office message, vacation message

The best way to increase your income

August 31, 2015 by David M. Ward

My wife is a good shopper. On major purchases especially, she does her homework and makes sure that we always get a good price. She saves money by shopping online as much as possible. She buys fruits and vegetables at one grocery store, and paper goods at another. And she’s pretty good at finding sales when she buys clothes.

But although she is a good shopper, she’s not a great shopper. She doesn’t count pennies, she doesn’t clip coupons, and she doesn’t drive miles out of her way to save a dollar or two.

And that’s good because her time is valuable.

Now, how about you? Are you a good shopper or a great shopper?

I know attorneys who are good at keeping their overhead to a minimum. That’s good, but some attorneys go too far.Â If you want better clients, you have to have a decent office and clothing. It’s part of the deal.

I also know attorneys at the other extreme. They spend money needlessly. Ten dollars here, fifty dollars there, and before you know it, they’re wasting hundreds or thousands of dollars per month.

Every attorney shouldÂ periodically audit theirÂ expenses. Do this for your practice and your home. Look for ways to cut expenses and lower your overhead. It’s the easiest way to increase your income.

Focus mostly on big expenses and recurring expenses. If you buy a new piece of software, it’s okay if you don’t get the best deal in town. But if you’re buying insurance or renting a new office, it obviously makes sense to invest extra time to find or negotiate the lowest cost.

But don’t spend too much time. I don’t want you to save 0 a month when you could use that time and energy to find ways to earn an additional ,000 a month.

Be a good shopper, not a great one.

Earn more without working more. Here’s The Formula.

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management

What should I have my virtual assistant do for me?

August 21, 2015 by David M. Ward

I got an e-mail from attorney who uses a virtual assistant “to write and edit letters to prospective clients”. He asked me what else he could have her do.

Great question.

To answer it, I’ll share a (slightly edited) email I received in response to aÂ post I did about justifying the cost of hiring outside assistants:

I have a full-time VA in the Philippines. She costs me about $75 per WEEK (full time). I gladly pay this even though I often donâ€™t have 40 hoursâ€™ worth of stuff for her to do. I donâ€™t let her handle much for my law practice. Her English grammar is a bit off sometimes, but she updates websites, edits video, does show notes for my podcast, handles blog posting, social media promotion of my stuff, etc. Sheâ€™s been invaluable in getting my courses and info products created and published. This frees up some time for marketing, client service, and for ME… I get to have dinner with my kids almost every night.

Letting go of control is my big challenge, but Iâ€™m working on it, and Managing a VA is a skill set that needs to be developed, tooâ€¦ the time/distance and cultural differences require some finesseâ€¦ But Iâ€™m glad to have Joanna on my team. I encourage everyone to find a VA to help out with things.

So, here’s what I would do.

Make a list of every task that is performed in your practice, by you or anyone on your behalf. Write down everything, from opening the mail, opening and closing files, meeting with clients, writing articles, and everything in between.

Then, look at that list and put a check mark next to every task that can only be done by YOU.

You probably do a lot of things that someone else could do. They may not do it as well, but as long as they canÂ do it at an acceptable level, you should let them do it.

Make sure break down the tasks that only you can doÂ into sub-tasks that others can do. Â You may be the one who conducts the trial, but you can have others assemble documents and write (the first draft) of motions.

Now, what about theÂ tasks that nobody is doing? What could you have a VA or employee do to help you with marketing, for example? That depends on your objectivesÂ and what you’re willing to do to accomplish them.

If you want to do Facebook advertising, you can have an assistant find keywords, create the ad graphics and copy (or co-ordinate with freelancers), and manage the campaigns.

If you have my new course on getting referrals from lawyers, you would have your assistant find other lawyers that you can contact to discuss referrals and joint ventures. The VAÂ can compile details about what they do, make the initial contact on your behalf, and follow-up with those who respond affirmatively.

Do only those things that only you can do and delegate everything else. But first you have to figure out what needs to be done.

GetÂ more referrals from other lawyers: click here

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: Delegating, delegation, VA, virtual assistant

What’s next?

August 20, 2015 by David M. Ward

What are you working on right now? What will do after that?

What project(s) have you lined up for next week, next month, and later this year?

It could be anything: hiring a new virtual assistant, updating your website, or getting trained on a new contact management system. Whatever it is, you need to know what’s next.

I just finished a project (Lawyer to Lawyer Referrals) and I’m already working on the next one. I also know what I’ll do after that.

For me, knowing my next project gives me time to think about that project before I start it. I can do research, outline and plan. My subconscious mind will cogitate on the subject and prompt me with ideas and questions.

Knowing what’s next also means I don’t have any “dead air”. I go from one project to the next without missing a step. And if I have any challenges with a project, or it fizzles out, I always have something else to turn to.

It’s exciting to think about what I’ve got lined up. Thinking about future projects inspires me to finish the current one.

I don’t know my next ten projects, just the next two or three. But I have a list of hundreds of ideas to draw from, and as I complete the next few projects, I’ll have the next few lined up.

Mind you, I’m not obsessed with planning. I like a little spontaneity in my life. When I stumble upon a new idea that excites me, I’m fine with pushing aside my other projects to make room for it.

No matter what productivity system or method use, or if you don’t use any, develop the habit of always knowing what’s next. Whenever you start a project, ask yourself, “What’s will I do after this?”

When you know what’s next, your productivity will soar.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing Plan, Productivity, success

Lawyers make the worst clients

August 14, 2015 by David M. Ward

Just as most doctors will tell you that doctors make the worst patients, I think most lawyers would say the same thing about our species.

It’s because we know how things are supposed to work. And it’s because of ego. We’re not comfortable letting someone else call the shots.

And soÂ we routinely handle our own legal affairs, often to our detriment. Nowhere is this detriment more apparent than when we have a dispute with another lawyer.

A lawyer friend contacted me the other day and told me about one of his clients, another lawyer, who has become the proverbial clientÂ from hell.

She isn’t happy with anything and blames him for things outside of his control. She wants what she wants and steadfastly refuses to compromise, despite his many attempts to accommodate her. At first, he wanted to save the client. Now, he just wants to save himself.

How bad is it? She’s reported him for imagined ethical violations and is threatening to file a criminal complaint.

As I say, the client from hell.

He asked for my take on it. Naturally, I suggested he turn it over to another lawyer. Not just because of the ethical and criminal risks, but because the whole thing is making him miserable.

“You’re too close to the situation and she will continue to push your buttons,” I said.

If he’s lucky, she will get a lawyer, too. Then the two lawyers can negotiate without the animus or emotion that has gripped this situation. It will cost him, but can you put a price on your sanity?

I’ve met lawyers who swear they will never again have a lawyer for a client. What say you? Have you represented any lawyers who made you wish you hadn’t?

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Law office management, Legal industry

You can expect what you inspect

August 13, 2015 by David M. Ward

In marketing legal services, you need to know your numbers. You need to know whereÂ prospects and new clients and website traffic are coming from so you can do more of what’sÂ working and less of what isn’t.

Knowing your numbers allows you to cut expenses (time, money) and increase profits.

For starters, ask your new clients how they heard about you. If they found you through aÂ search engine, ask which one, and which keywords they used. If they saw one of yourÂ articles or blog posts or videos, on your site or elsewhere, ask them to identify it. IfÂ someone shared one of your blog posts or social media posts, which one?

Do the same for prospects who call to ask questions or schedule a consultation.

If the client or prospect was referred to you, you need to know the source of theÂ referral. Was it a client? Another lawyer or other professional?

Who was it? What did they say about you?

You need to know so you can thank the referral source, even if the referral doesn’t become a client. When you show people that you appreciate what they have done, they are more likely to do it again.

What you recognize, grows.

Of course you also want to know which of your referral sources deserves more of your thanks and your attention. You may know 100 lawyers, but ifÂ four or five are sending you more referrals (or better referrals) than the rest, you’llÂ want to send your referrals to them.

When someone calls your office, they shouldÂ routinely be asked where they heard about you.Â Your intake form should ask this question.

Because you need to know.

You can track referrals and other metrics with a simple text document, a spread sheet,Â or on a legal pad.

Once a month, examine your global numbers, i.e., how much new business (traffic, opt-ins,Â etc.) you got for the month, and from what sources. If one of your articles is drawingÂ lots of traffic to your site, you need to know this so you can write more articles likeÂ it. If you’re getting more business from referrals and less business from social media,Â knowing this will help you know where to invest your time.

In addition, once a month, look atÂ your numbers for each individual source of business–each ad, your blog, speaking, individual referral sources, etc.

Know your numbers, because you can expect what you inspect.

Filed Under: Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals

What would you do with a $200,000 line of credit?

August 7, 2015 by David M. Ward

What would you do with a $200,000 line of credit, or a windfall in that amount?

What would you buy? Who would you hire? What would you do to grow your practice or free up more time?

Would you hire more or better employees? What would you have them do?

Would you invest inÂ additional web assets?

Would you invest in advertising, or increase your ad buys?

It’s up to you.

You might pay off higher interest debt. Maybe you’d open a second office, or move to a bigger one. Maybe you’d buy new computers or furniture or invest in training your staff to work more efficiently.

Think about your SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. How would access to cash allow you to maximize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities, or neutralize threats?

What do you want to accomplish this year? Where do you want to be in five years?

Maybe you would invest in a business venture outside of your practice. For additional profit, for retirement, or just something you’ve always wanted to do.

AsÂ you think this through, you might decide to do nothing. You know you’re on track to meet your goals and you don’t need a pile of cash to get there.

The point of this exercise is to make you think about where you are and where you want to be. It’s to make you see what’s possible if money wasn’t an issue. It’s to give you ideas you can put on the drawing board.

If cash or credit would help you accomplish your goals more quickly, begin working towards acquiring a line of credit or amassing a pile of cash.

If you don’t need capital to get to the next level, however, consider building a line of credit anyway, because once you get to the next level, you might need cash to get to the level after that.

Do you know The Formula?

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, success, Technology