Law office management

Striking a balance between accessibility and availability

July 3, 2014 by David M. Ward

At one extreme are lawyers who are always available. They give out their cell phone number to everyone, answer their own phone, and respond almost immediately to email. There is no buffer between them and the world.

At the other extreme are lawyers who are hard to reach and hardly ever available. Clients and prospects speak to intermediaries. If they want to speak with the lawyer, they make an appointment and it might be days or weeks before that takes place.

Always being available is neither good posture, nor a good way to value and manage your time. If you are always reachable, people will start to expect it. You don’t make your schedule, others do. Â It doesn’t allow you to focus on the most important people and tasks in front of you. And, if people can’t reach you when they want to, as they have come to expect, you will have disappointed them.

Some lawyers can (and do) successfully maintain the other extreme. They are very difficult to reach and are thus seen as successful and desirable. Not everyone can pick up the phone and speak to Donald Trump whenever they want to. You have to pass through the gauntlet before you get an audience with The Donald.

It takes the right practice area and clientele to pull this off, however, as well as a high degree of confidence. If you are inclined towards this position, do you establish these guidelines first, before you are busy and successful, or do you evolve into this persona when you’ve got the chops to prove it? Tough call.

For most lawyers, it’s probably best to strike a balance between availability and accessibility. Be reasonably accessible but not always available. Don’t give out your cell phone number to everyone, reserve that for your inner circle or perhaps also for your best clients. Don’t make people wait weeks to see you, but don’t tell them they can see you “any time this week”. (Give them a couple of open time slots later in the week.) Don’t ignore messages or turn everything over to intermediaries. Return messages in a reasonably timely manner.

Show people that you are accessible but that you value your time and are busy doing important work. Unless it is an emergency, they need to accommodate your schedule, and they may need to speak to someone else before they can speak to you.

Filed Under: Career satisfaction, Client relations, Image, Law office management, Productivity

Is it unethical for lawyers to use ghostwritten blog posts?

June 30, 2014 by David M. Ward

Kevin O’Keefe says that ghostwritten blog posts are unethical for lawyers. Unlike legal briefs or other work a lawyer may have penned by others, blogs are considered a form of advertising. If you say you wrote the piece but you didn’t, you are guilty of misrepresentation.

O’Keefe says that clients rely on blog posts to choose attorneys. “The ghost-written post may be better written, funnier, or just plain different than the attorneyâ€™s own work product. Even worse, the post may have a completely different perspective or contain better ideas than what the attorney is capable of.”

Basically, clients might hire you because you made them believe you are a better lawyer than you really are.

I have a question. What if you’re a great writer but a mediocre lawyer? Don’t your blog posts misrepresent your abilities? Should we tell average lawyers who write well to dumb down their writing, lest they entice unsuspecting clients to hire them under false pretenses?

How about lawyers who are better at public speaking than they are in the courtroom. Doesn’t their speaking ability give people a false impression of their lawyering skills?

While we’re at it, should we also charge lawyers with misrepresentation if they wear a hairpiece, makeup, or an expensive suit? Won’t prospective clients think they are better looking (and thus more effective) or more successful than they really are?

Just out of law school? Better not have nice office furniture. Clients may think you have more experience than you do.

Are clients so stupid and helpless that we have to protect them against every possible harm? By attempting to do so, don’t we make it more likely that someone will get hurt because people rely on the government to protect them and stop thinking for themselves?

I realize lawyers are held to a higher standard, but what part of arms length transaction is unclear? When did caveat emptor become bad advice?

Anyway, if people who can take away our licenses say we mustn’t say we wrote blog posts we didn’t write, we probably shouldn’t ignore it.

Are there any loopholes?

Can you use ghostwritten material without any byline? If you add the name of the ghostwriter to the byline will that do the trick? How about a disclaimer that the article wasn’t written by you but is posted with your approval?

I don’t know if any of this will suffice to stave off the wolves, but I have another idea.

See, I don’t recommend using “canned” articles or hiring a ghostwriter to write you blog, but not because they may cause harm. I’m against them because they aren’t very good.

Canned articles are usually generic and simplistic. Lifeless and boring. They don’t reflect the real life experiences or opinions of the attorney, and thus, aren’t effective at connecting with readers or persuading them to choose the lawyer who posts them over anyone else.

All this huffing and puffing about how ghostwritten articles get clients to hire lawyers under false pretenses is much ado about nothing. If anything, they usually do the opposite.

Ironic, isn’t it? You post canned articles, thinking clients will be impressed and choose you, but they yawn and look elsewhere instead.

The system polices itself. Imagine that.

On the other hand, ghostwritten material may still be useful by giving Â you a place to start.

Re-write the ghostwritten article. Put it in your own words and add your own examples and stories.

Problem solved. The final piece will be more interesting and engaging than the original, and you can honestly say that you wrote it.

Just make sure it’s not too good, or that your head shot isn’t too flattering. The bar police are watching.

Want to get better at writing blog posts? ThisÂ is what you need.

Filed Under: Blogging, Law office management, Legal industry, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing Tagged With: blawg, canned-newsletters, ghostwritten blog posts

5 critical skills to teach yourself before opening your own law office

June 27, 2014 by David M. Ward

Reasonable minds may differ, but rarely do they differ so completely.

Exhibit A is this article: 5 critical skills to teach yourself before starting your first business. The skills, along with my comments:

1. Daily routine

I wouldn’t classify this as a skill. More like a habit. Quibbling aside, should this really be number one on the list of “critical” skills to teach yourself “before” starting your first business? Valuable? Yes. Critical? Not really. Could you develop this habit after you start your business? Um, yes you could. But then, reasonable minds may differ.

2. Email management (etiquette, productivity, security)

Okay, you haven’t opened your business, so you’ve got no emails to worry about. Are these skills going to bring in business? Help you get financing? Or do anything else a new business owner needs to survive and thrive? And couldn’t you just read an article or two to learn what you need to know and do?

3. HTML and CSS

Seriously?

I run a business. I know basic HTML (very basic) and nothing about CSS. I certainly didn’t need to learn anything before opening shop. I could make the case that this knowledge is even less important today, in view of WYSIWYG options like WordPress.

4. Marketing and Promotion

Finally, something we can agree on. Sort of. Marketing is a critical skill (a set of critical skills, actually), but you learn marketing mostly by doing it. Reading about it (or taking classes) doesn’t provide real world context.

In the real world, you learn an idea, you try it and see how it works. You adjust, make changes or try something different. You develop your skills by taking to real people. You learn by making mistakes.

In my humble (but accurate) opinion, you will learn more about marketing in a month of running yourÂ business than you willÂ Â in four years of college.

5. DataÂ AnalyticsÂ (Google, social media metrics)

Seriously?

Again, helpful, but not critical. And something you can learn as you grow. By the way, I can’t remember the last time I checked my stats. Just sayin.

Okay, what do you think about the author’s choices of critical skills?

What’s that? You want to see my list? Well, I have a different take on the whole subject.

I think that what’s needed before opening a business or a law office aren’t skills so much as values and attributes. Things like guts and persistence, the desire to change the world, a love of problem solving, and a passion for what you’re doing. That, and a big pile of cash, so you have time to learn and make mistakes.

I don’t think there any critical skills needed before opening your ownÂ law office. But if you want to be successful, hereÂ are 5Â critical skills you should develop as soon as you can:

1. Salesmanship

Lawyers sell clients on hiring us, judges and juries on finding for us, and opposing parties on settling with us. There’s probably no more valuable skill for a professional or business owner than the ability to communicate ideas and persuade people to act on them. But like marketing, this isÂ best learned in the act of doing.

2. Writing

If you’re not a good writer, you need to become one. You can read and take classes, (hint: study copy writing) but you have to apply what you learn. Write every day. In a year, you can become a good writer.

3. Networking

Arguably the most valuable marketing skill for professionals.

4. Leadership

Leadership is a skill and it can be learned. And it should be. If you have employees, or intend to, if you want to become a leader in your community or organization, study leadership, and start applying what you learn.

5. Touch typing

In terms of every day productivity, this is theÂ skill that that I would put at the top of the list. And hey, it is something you can learn before opening your ownÂ law office.

That’s my list and I’m sticking to it. So there.

The formula for marketing legal services.

Filed Under: Copywriting, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Networking, Productivity

20 hours a week marketing your law practice?

May 28, 2014 by David M. Ward

Email provider Constant Contact conducted a survey of 1,300 small business owners. They found that, “A small business owner â€” along with another employee â€” will spend an average of 20 hours per week on marketing.”

Does this sound like a lot?

The business owners weren’t selected at random. They were part of the company’s “Small Biz Council,” which suggests they weren’t your average small business because (a) they use email marketing, and (b) they areÂ part of a “Small Biz Council”.

Before you read further, how would you answer this question? How many hours per week do you spend marketing your law practice?

Your answer will depend on how you define marketing.

If you believe that “marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients,” as I do, you will realize that marketing is deeply baked into our daily activities. It’s not something we put on our calendars and “do” once a week, we do it all day long.

Take client relations, for example. If you spend ten hours a week speaking with, or writing to clients, all of the little things you say and do (and avoid saying and doing) count as marketing. How you greet them–your smile, your handshake, offering them something to drink, cleaning up your desk before escorting them into your private office–it all counts.

Now how about the time you spend writing blog posts, articles, and newsletters, and time spent speaking and networking (including on social media)? You can also count the time you spend reading things you can use in your writing or in conversation with clients and prospects and referral sources.

You’re reading this post right now, either in your email or on my blog. Â In my book, time spent learning about marketing counts as marketing.

Are you adding this up?

Don’t forget the time you spend communicating with staff or outside vendors about your website, advertising, PR, or content creation.

Are you on any committees? Do you do any charitable work? The time you spend at meetings or playing in charity golf tournaments is at least partially marketing related since you are building relationships with people who can send you business or otherwise further your career.

So, you spend a lot more time on marketing than you thought. Now that you are aware of this, you can consciously improve your marketing.

The next time you meet with a client, think about how you can improve their experience. What else can you do or say? What can you give them?

Look at everything you do throughout your day and think about how you can do it better, faster, or more effectively. Because marketing is everything we do to get and keep good clients.

Want to get better at marketing your law practice? Here’s what you need.

Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan

Marketing legal services like a bookkeeper

May 6, 2014 by David M. Ward

Bookkeepers aren’t usually known for their prowess in marketing legal services, but if you put them in charge of marketing for your firm, they’d probably advise you to do something like the following:

STEP ONE

Make a list of your “best” clients over the last two years. These are the ones who pay you the biggest fees, give you the most business, and other factors (e.g., provide the most referrals, most enjoyable to work with).

STEP TWO

Write down a few details about each client. For business clients, record their industry, size (revenue, employees, units), etc.; for consumers, record their occupation, age group, and other demographic factors. Also note the client’s “presenting problem,” i.e., legal issue or objective they first approached you about.

STEP THREE

For each client, note how they found you (or you found them):

Referrals: From whom? Client? Professional? How did I meet that person? What prompted the referral?
Internet search: What keywords? What landing page? (Note, start tracking this going forward)
Internet other: What article, site, or page did they come to your site from? (Start tracking this, too)
Social media: Which platform? Which post/tweet, etc? Who re-posted/tweeted/recommended?
Networking: Which group? Who introduced you? What did you say, do, offer? What did they ask you?
Ad: Which publication? Which ad? Was it the first time they had seen it?
Other: Speaking, articles, etc.

If you don’t know the answers, ask the client, and update your systems to start tracking this data in the future.

STEP FOUR

Based on this information, think about what you can do to get more clients like your best clients. If most of them are coming from referrals from other professionals, think about how you can strengthen your relationship with those professionals and how you can reciprocate. If you’re getting a lot of referrals from certain clients, reach out to them to thank them and look for other ways you can help them outside of your legal services.

How much business are you getting from ads, speaking, or social media? If not much, cut down on or eliminate time and money in those areas. If you do get good clients from these efforts, do more of these.

Now that you’ve identified your “best” clients, speak to them and find out more about them. What groups do they belong to and network at? What publications do they regularly read? Where are they active in their industry or community? The more you know about them, the more you can focus on activities that may help you identify and attract clients who are similar to them.

Ask your best clients to identify other professionals they work with and ask them to introduce you. Contact those professionals, let them know you have a mutual client, invite them to coffee.

Your bookkeeper would tell you to identify things that have worked best for you in the past so you can do more of them. She would also tell you to reduce or eliminate those things that have not worked well for you in the past.

The numbers tell the story.

Please say hello to your bookkeeper for me, and ask her if she would like to write a guest post for my blog.

Do you know The Formula? Go here now

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

Periodic maintenance on your law practice

April 29, 2014 by David M. Ward

I was sitting in our backyard this morning, looking at the house we’ve lived in for the last twenty years. We’ve had to replace appliances, make repairs, and do regular maintenance inside and out, of course, and because we have, the house is still in very good shape.

A law practice also needs upkeep. Periodically, you need to take inventory, make repairs and upgrades, and improve your processes.

I jotted down some of the areas to consider in this partial checklist:

PEOPLE

Hire? Fire?
Training/certification
Updated info for HR
Build culture (retreats, days off, recognition)
CLE/Personal development

OFFICE/INFRASTRUCTURE

Furniture/fixtures (repair, replace, clean)
Computers/software (upgrade, backup, replace, new)
Re-negotiate/extend lease?
More space? Less? New location? Second office?
Off site/Cloud storage
Insurance
Supplies

PROCESS

Greeting clients
Intake (forms, procedure)
Closing files
Litigation
Archiving documents
Forms/checklists (update, new, purge, digitize)

MARKETING

Client relations/stay-in-touch
Professional relations/joint ventures
Website(s)/traffic
Reaching out methods (speaking, networking, advertising, social media, blogging, etc.)
Content marketing (blog, newsletter, articles, seminars, etc.)

Every practice is different. Use this as a starting point to create your own checklist. Then, calendar once or twice a year to review it and see what you might need to do. Some items, like office space, will need attention every few years. Others, like supplies and CLE and marketing, more often.

Filed Under: Law office management

The Fortune is in the Follow-up

April 21, 2014 by David M. Ward

One of the most important aspects of marketing any business or professional practice is follow-up. For many, it’s also one of the most challenging.

Because they must, most attorneys have a process for communicating with existing clients. This process is driven by the demands of the case or legal matter. Copies are mailed, calls are made to discuss strategy, progress reports are sent on a pre-determined schedule. Once the case is settled or the matter is completed, however, follow-up is often done haphazardly and too often, not at all.

And then there’s everyone else.

Prospective clients
Former clients
Referral sources/professional contacts/”friends of the firm”
Prospective referral sources
Bloggers/editors/publishers
Meeting planners
Etc.

Each category has a different purpose. Following-up with former clients, for example, can lead to repeat business, updates, referrals, traffic to your website or sign-ups for your event. Following-up with bloggers can lead to guest posts, interviews, and links to your web content. Following-up with prospective clients can lead to new cases or engagements but can also lead to referrals.

Within each category are individuals who are further along in their relationship with you and thus more likely to respond to your contact. There are also individuals who have more potential than others, e.g., a prospective referral source who is well known in your target market, a prospective client who could bring you a lot of business, etc.

I’m sure you appreciate the value of following-up with these people. You know that former clients are your best source of new business (repeat, referrals). You know that staying in touch with prospective clients is good for business.

But how do you manage everything?

You start by creating lists. There are many software solutions for doing that. Pick one. Import your existing database or create new lists manually. It is time well spent.

Add a code or tag or field to each contact in your database so you can sort your lists by type and date range and other criteria. For example, you should be able to do a sort and find a list of former clients with whom you haven’t spoken OR emailed in more than 90 days.

Now what?

You’re almost there. The hard part is done. Now, you just need a plan for staying in touch with everyone. There are three parts to the plan:

Schedule. How often will you contact them?
Media. Will you use email, phone, regular mail, or social media?
Content. For example will you send them personal emails, a general newsletter, or both?

You’ll probably find it easier to start with one category. Create a plan for following-up with former clients, for example. Once that’s done, you can consider other categories.

Once you have things set up, flag key individuals for customized follow-ups. You’ll want to call certain people more often, for example, or call some people but only send email to others.

This may seem a daunting task but if you take it step by step, you can do it. Once you have, you’ll be glad you did.

Marketing is easy, when you know The Formula

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Communication, Law office management, Marketing Plan, Referral sources, Referrals Tagged With: follow up, staying in touch

How to get your work done on time

April 18, 2014 by David M. Ward

The statute runs on the ninth, so we get the complaint filed by the eighth. We have to, so we do.

What about things that don’t have a deadline? We put them off. We procrastinate. Especially if it’s something we don’t want to do.

But we know this is a bad habit and we want to overcome it. So we make up a deadline. A firm date when we will have the work done. We put it on our calendar. It’s in writing. We see the due date coming up. We’re determined to beat the deadline.

But we don’t.

The day comes and goes and we don’tÂ do the work. We were probably busy doing things that had a real deadline.

I read about a study that confirmsÂ what we already know: self-imposed deadlines don’t work. At least for things we really don’t want to do. We procrastinate for a reason, and writing down a deadline doesn’t eliminate that reason.

There is a solution. A way to make a self-imposed deadline work.

You need a deadline AND a penalty for missing it.

When you set a deadline, tell someone. Someone who will hold you accountable.

Tell your client when the work will be done. Promise to deliver it on that day. Put that in writing. You don’t want an unhappy client. Or a client who thinks you are incompetent. Or a client who sues. So you get the work done. Because you have to.

If you really have a problem with procrastination, put in your retainer agreement that the work will be delivered on the date promised or there will be no fee. Or, 10% reduction for every day it is late. Or some other costly consequence.

You’ll get the work done on time, won’t you? Yeah, you will.

You can do something similar with non-billable work or projects. Have you beenÂ procrastinating on your website?Â Tell your boss, partner, or spouse when the work will be done and ask them to hold you accountable.

If you have difficulty estimating when you can finish a big project, break it down intoÂ componentsÂ and set a deadline for the first one. If you want to write a book, for example, set a deadline for completing the first chapter or the first draft. After that, set another deadline for the next component.

You can use penalties to finish any project or achieve any goal.Â I know a vegetarian who publicly promised that if she didn’t meet a certain goal, she would eat a McDonald’s hamburger every day for a month. Her goal was a big one, but yeah, she made it.

Get serious about marketing. Here’s help.

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Law office management, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: procrastination

Why you should offer multiple versions of your legal services

April 4, 2014 by David M. Ward

If you only offer one version of your services, you may be losing business and short-changing your income.

Think about it, when a prospective client thinks the fee you quoted is more than he wants to spend, he has two choices: hire you or go away. One of those choices is bad for both of you. If you offer two versions, however, the client might choose the lower cost version. They’ll get some of what they need now, they can get more later, and you get a client.

When I was selling my big ticket referral marketing course a few years back, I offered Basic and Deluxe versions. The Deluxe version offered more information and more help (consulting). Most lawyers chose the Deluxe package, which meant I got more customers and earned more on the average sale.

You want prospective clients to think “which package should I get?” instead of “should I get this?” In marketing, it’s called “alternative choice”. It’s used extensively Â in direct response. Â And sales people use it to set appointments: “could I come out tomorrow or would some time next week work better?”

If you currently offer a menu of different services, see if you can combine some of them into bigger packages. You’ll make it easier for clients to choose, because they will have fewer options, and you’ll earn more for the same work.

If you charge by the hour, see if you can break off some of what you do, package it, and offer it for a flat fee.

And, if you currently offer a package of legal services for one set fee, see if you could break up that package into two or three separate packages. You can charge more for each package separately, or offer a lower price if they sign up for both (or all three). Not only will you get more first time clients, you’ll also earn more for each component of your work.

Learn more about packaging your services. Click here.

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: alternative choice

What do clients want from their lawyers?

April 3, 2014 by David M. Ward

What do clients want from their lawyers? You can ask your clients what they want. You can conduct surveys. You can do research. But as Steve Jobs once said, “A lot of times, people donâ€™t know what they want until you show it to them.”

A client comes in, thinking he wants a certain document or course of action. You show him his other options, recommend one, and tell him why.

A prospective client visits your website, looking for a solution he thinks he needs. He reads your articles and learns that something else might be better for him.

A client comes to see you, asking about your cheapest solution. You show him why this will cost more in the long run, or expose him to too much risk, and suggest a more expensive option.

A client wants you to go to trial. You show him why it makes sense to settle.

But your job is about more than the delivery of your core services. It is about creating the complete client experience. This includes how you answer the phone, how you schedule appointments, how you keep clients informed during the case, your billing practices, how you dress, your office decor, your bedside manor, and everything else.

If the client has hired an attorney in the past, they are probably expecting you to treat them the way other attorneys have. It probably won’t take much to exceed their expectations.

If they client hasn’t hired an attorney before, they may not know what to expect. That means you have to work a little harder to explain your recommendations. It means you have to manage their expectations, by under-promising, so you can over-deliver.

In your marketing, are you advertising or promoting the same services and features other attorneys offer or are you taking some risks and offering something different?

In any business or professional practice, you have to give clients what they want. But sometimes, they don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

Filed Under: Client relations, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: exceeding expectations, innovating