Law office management

When should an attorney hire (more) people?

September 20, 2012 by David M. Ward

I don’t have any employees right now, but over the years I have hired, trained, and supervised many. Having employees allowed me to substantially increase my income and decrease my workload. It gave me the leverage I needed to grow my practice.

But just because I don’t have employees today doesn’t mean I don’t have that leverage. There are many ways to utilize the time and talents of other people without having them fill out a W-2.

In one of my businesses, I “work with” hundreds of independent contractors who contribute to my income. I’ve never met most of them. And in my attorney marketing business, I use outside contractors who provide professional and technical assistance and are very good at what they do.

Lawyers can do the same thing by using the services of paralegals, attorneys, virtual assistants and other independent contractors. The more you hire, the more time you will have to do high-paid legal work and bring in more clients.

If you’re trying to do everything yourself, not only are you working harder than you need to, you’re not earning as much as you could. You don’t have to take on the headaches of hiring employees, you have other options.

Some attorneys say they can’t afford to hire others because they don’t have enough work. I say they don’t have enough work because they’re not hiring others.

There is an African saying: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group.”

Learn how to use other people’s efforts to earn more and work less. GetÂ The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Leverage, Productivity

Jay Foonberg asks: Is the practice of law a business or profession?

September 12, 2012 by David M. Ward

Jay Foonberg is writing an update to his book, “How to Start and Build a Law Practice”. He posted the following on Facebook:

From the chapter “The Profession of Law is Not the Business of Law”

“In my opinion, those who call the profession of law a ‘business’ insult and demean the legal profession and you as a lawyer, in addition to simultaneously displaying their own lack of knowledge of the differences between a profession and a business”

Your thoughts?

One attorney said, “I strongly agree! We are here to find justice, or help a person in need.” Another said, “I agree with Jay Foonberg. I also think being a Human Being is not a business. Socrates, General Patton, Einstein, and Mother Theresa weren’t in business. But they advanced the human race.” Another commented, “If you want to sell stuff, go sell houses, or coffee, or cell phones.”

My comment:

“It’s both a profession and a business. If you are self-employed, you (the professional) work for the business (practice).”

That’s what I said, but what I wanted to say was, “are you nuts? Of course it is a business, and it’s naive not to recognize that reality.”

It’s a business because you sell services, pay your expenses, and earn a profit. If you don’t earn a profit, you’re out of business. You’ll still be a professional, but broke and looking for a job.

It’s a business because you have to bring in clients and if you don’t know how to market your services, you’re not going to make it, no matter how good you are as a lawyer or how selfless you might be.

It’s a business because you have to hire and manage employees, stay up to date with technology, and keep your expenses under control. If you don’t, there won’t be enough left over to pay yourself a draw and you’ll have to fire yourself because you can’t afford yourself.

You know what’s insulting and demeaning? Telling new attorneys that it’s not a business. Letting them think that all they have to do is hang out a shingle and be a good professional and the world will beat a path to their door. If they put other people’s interests before their own, their rewards will come.

That’s the wrong message.

When you’re on an airplane, the flight attendant tells you that if there is a drop in cabin pressure, you should put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Then, you can take care of others who might need help. You can’t help anyone if you lose consciousness, you have to take care of yourself, first.

That’s reality. On an airplane or in the business of law.

I went to law school to make money and to help people, but you can’t do one without the other. You can’t practice your profession unless your business is successful.

Many of the other comments agree that it is a business and a profession. And to his credit, Jay is seeking our feedback and “Liked” my comment.

The world was a simpler place when Jay wrote the first edition of his book. Today, we’re on a plane and losing pressure fast. We should all do our part to make the world a better place, but first, we have to pay the bills.

If you want to earn higher profits in your “business,” pick up a copy ofÂ The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Filed Under: Image, Law office management, Legal industry Tagged With: -jay-g-foonberg-how-to-start, bit-ly, How to Start and Build a Law Practice, is-the-practice-of-law-a-business-or-profession, Jay Foonberg, jay-foonberg-blog, jay-foonberg-filetypepdf-filetypeps-filetypedwf-filetypekml-filetypekmz-filetypexls-filetypeppt-filetypedoc-filetypertf-filetypeswf, jay-foonberg-law-business-or-profession, www-attorneymarketing-com, www-attorneymarketing-comjay-foonberg-asks-is-the-practice-of-law-a-business-or-profession

Stupidity is contagious

September 7, 2012 by David M. Ward

At one point in the presentation I gave last night I said, “stupidity is contagious.” I was referring to people who without thinking, buy into what someone else is saying or doing. We see this in politics, don’t we? Someone takes a position and others follow suit, often for no other reason than the person who said it sounds like they know what they are talking about.

It’s also true in business and marketing. An”expert” declares the new direction and like lemmings, legions follow. They sign up for the webinars, buy the courses, and invest countless hours with the new tools. Of course their friends take notice and they don’t want to be left behind so they do it, too. Before you know it, everyone is rushing after mobile or ebook publishing or Pinterest pinning, until something newer and better comes along.

People get caught up in the excitement. Greed sets in. Like the Gold Rush, nobody wants to be left behind. But like the Gold Rush, the only ones who make money are the ones who sell the picks and shovels. Most of the miners get the shaft.

I’m not saying these are bad ideas. Some are quite good. Some will take off and change the world. But you don’t have to be an early adopter to leverage these new ideas. Someone signing up for Facebook for the first time today, after nearly a billion other people beat them to it, can be just as successful in using it to generate leads and referrals. Arguably more so now that it has proven itself for so many others.

What I’m saying is, wait a bit. Don’t rush in. Stand back and observe. Let others spend their time and money sorting through the multitude of things that don’t work or don’t last, to find the few that do. Spend your time and money doing things that have proven themselves over time.

Technology comes and goes. There will always be something new. What has never changed, and never will, are strategies that invoke the human element: giving your clients extraordinary service, positioning yourself for referrals, and leveraging your existing relationships to create new ones.

Now, excuse me, I have to post a link to this post on Facebook.

If you want to learn the strategies that have always worked and always will, pick up a copy of The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Technology Tagged With: reviews-the-marketing-formula-by-david-ward, sample-attorney-marketing-letter, sticker-png, stupidity-is-contagious, stupidity-is-contagious-sign

How do you handle wealthy clients who want to negotiate fees?

September 5, 2012 by David M. Ward

An attorney asked for advice in dealing with a wealthy client who tries to negotiate every bill. “I really want to fire him but how do I make him understand?”

If you bill by the hour, it is not uncommon for clients to have doubts about your bill. They question whether the work was necessary and why it took so long, and even though they agreed to your hourly rate, they can’t understand why it is so high.Â That’s why clients prefer flat rate billing. They know in advance how much something is going to cost and there are no surprises.

Whatever fee model you use, you must help clients to see the value of what you do for them. This is primarily done in advance, before they sign your retainer agreement.

Educate them about what you do and how you do it. Explain what they get for their money and why it is necessary. Talk to them about the options and contingencies. Show them other cases you have handled like theirs, explain the time line, and tell them how much those clients paid.

Of course you must also show them what those clients got for their money. What outcomes? What benefits? How were they better off as a result of hiring you?

If you do this right, clients will see the value of what you are about to do for them and they will rarely question your bill.

What about the wealthy client who tries to negotiate every bill? Here’s my advice:

Lawyers should never negotiate fees. It sounds like you have done this with him in the past and unfortunately, this puts you in a weaker position.Â You have three choices.

You could change your billing model. Quote him a flat rate for each matter, a monthly rate that covers everything, or a hybrid that covers much of what you do flat rate but allows for additional charges in the event of certain contingencies.
You could sit him down and show him the value of what you do, as described above. Do this one time. If he is convinced that you’re being fair with him, he must agree not to question you in the future. Kiss and make up.
You could fire him. Be honest. Tell him it’s obvious that he doesn’t see the value of what you’re doing for him and that you don’t negotiate fees (or will not do so in the future if you have previously). Tell him you can recommend an attorney who charges less than you do.

If a client doesn’t see the value of what you do, it’s your fault, not his. Yes, there are clients who try to negotiate everything (it’s in their DNA), but you must not give in to this. Do what you have to do to get them to see that you are worth every penny you ask (and then some) and if they don’t get it, move on.

For more on how to convey the value of what you do, see The Attorney Marketing Formula.

Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Law office management Tagged With: how-to-make-a-client-understand-you-dont-bargain, negotiating fees, negotiating-with-wealthy, what-information-do-wealthy-clients, when-clients-want-to-negotiage, where-to-meet-your-wealthy-clients

Turn voice mail and email away message into a commercial

September 4, 2012 by David M. Ward

Many phone systems now allow you to customize your “on hold” messages. You can program your message so that callers hear about your various practice areas, office hours, directions, or any other information. It’s a simple way to promote your services or offer.

You could

Describe your different practice areas or feature a new one
Promote a free consultation or special offer
Offer a free report, video, or ebook
Promote your web site content
Promote your upcoming seminar
Invite people to connect with you on social media
Ask for referrals
Promote your charity event (i.e., golf tournament)
Announce a new hire or new feature (i.e., “We now offer free consultations by phone”)

You could also do this in your voice mail message or in your email “away” (“out of office”) autoresponse.

For example, your voice mail message might be

This is Joe Lawyer. Please leave your name, number and reason for the call and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. By the way, on September 21 I’m doing a free phone seminar and you’re invited. It’s called, “12 simple steps to protecting your money.” You can get the details on my web page at JoeLawyer.com or mention the seminar when you leave your message and I’ll have someone call you back with the details. Thank you very much.

When you tell people you’re on vacation, away from the office, or just not available to take their call, use that email or voice mail to promote something or offer something of value.

Yep, marketing is simple.

Filed Under: Advertising, Email, Law office management, Marketing legal services Tagged With: attorney-marketing, commercial-email-locus, email away message, law firm marketing, lawyer-marketing, Marketing legal services, on hold advertising, on hold marketing, voice mail marketing, voice-mail-away-message, voice-mail-message-examples-for-lawyers

How to answer the phone in your law office

August 31, 2012 by David M. Ward

If you want to be more productive and deliver a higher level of service (aka “earn more income”), every element of your law office operations should be planned in advance. Put it in a checklist, template, form, or script, so that everyone knows what to do, they do it right, and they do it that way every single time.

A good place to start is how you want the phone to be answered. Here’s how:

Greeting (“Good Morning,” etc.)
Lawyer/Firm Name (“Mr. Jones’ office,” “Jones & Michaels”)
Name (“This is Sally speaking,”)
“How may I help you?” (or, “How may I direct your call?”)

This lets the caller know they have reached the right place and that you are organized, professional, friendly, and ready to help. Ending with a question (“How may I help you?”) gets the caller focused on stating his or her business.

You should also have a standing instruction that no caller should be put on hold for more than 29 seconds. 30 seconds is too long. The receptionist should come back on the line, tell the caller why they are still on hold, and ask if they would like to continue to hold or be put through to voicemail (or take a message).

This is far more important than you might imagine. Clients, prospects, opposing counsel, and everyone else, judge you on these things.

Do yourself a favor, call your office right now and listen to how the phone is answered. If it’s not exactly the way you want it, write down what you want and make sure everyone who answers the phones has a copy and practices it.

Including you.

Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Image, Law office management, Productivity Tagged With: answering the phone, answering-the-phone-for-your-clients, answering-the-phone-templates-for-office, evernote-for-lawyers, fp, how-should-a-law-office-answer-the-phone, how-should-an-attorney-answer-the-phone, how-to-answer-a-phone-a-at-law-office, how-to-answer-phone-in-office, how-to-answer-phone-law-office, how-to-answer-telephone-for-attorneys, how-to-answer-the-phone, how-to-answer-the-phone-at-the-office, how-to-answer-the-phone-in-a-law-office, how-to-answer-the-phone-in-attorney-office, how-to-market-a-law-office, law-office-everyone-answers-the-phones, template-to-answer-phones-for-law-firm, why-do-attorneys-answer-the-phone-with-law-office

The most important question you can ask a new client

August 28, 2012 by David M. Ward

How many new clients did you get last month?

If you don’t know the number, either you didn’t get any new clients or you’re not keeping track.

You need to keep track.

You also need to keep track of where they came from. Who referred them? Which keyword did they use to find your website? Which ad did they click on?

You need to know how every new client made his or her way to your doorstep. That’s why the most important question you can ask a new client is: “How did you hear about us?”

You need to know so you know what’s working. Are your ads pulling or are you throwing your money away? Which ad is working better? Are you getting clients through your efforts on social media or are you wasting your time? Which social media platform is working better? Which posts?

John Wanamaker, who owned department stores in the early part of the twentieth century and spent a fortune on advertising, once said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Department stores do “brand advertising”. They don’t usually track response. Although they can do focus groups and track coupons, they don’t know with any degree of accuracy if what they are doing is working. You won’t have that problem if you ask, “How did you hear about us?”

Don’t just ask new clients, however, ask everyone. If they call your office, if they contact you through email, if they show up at your door, ask them.

In my office, our new client intake form had a space to record the name of the person who referred the new client. We kept track, so we knew who to thank. It also allowed us to bring up the subject of referrals with the new client.

We had a form next to the phone to record the name of the referring person or the phone book or other ad that prompted them to call. We tracked them after the call, to see if they became a client. In this way, we learned which of our ads generated new business and which ones didn’t. (Some brought a lot of calls but not a lot of clients.)

Today, there are other options for measuring response to ads and traffic to our web sites. But nothing beats asking, “How did you hear about us?”

Filed Under: Advertising, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Referrals Tagged With: an-important-question-is-how-do, how-yoo-call-your-most-important-clients, Testing, the-client-is-the-most-important-person, tracking, what-is-another-way-to-ask-what-is-most-important-to-you, what-questions-do-you-ask-a-new-client

New marketing course shows attorneys how to dramatically increase their income

August 27, 2012 by David M. Ward

The Attorney Marketing Center has released The Attorney Marketing Formula, a new course for attorneys who want to increase their income but don’t have a lot of time for marketing.

The course is based on the work of attorney David M. Ward, founder of The Attorney Marketing Center. “Every day I talk to attorneys who could dramatically increase their income by leveraging their existing talents, assets, contacts, and opportunities. This course shows them what to do and how to do it.”

More and more attorneys have realized that marketing is essential to their success. Unfortunately, their efforts often produce poor results. Ward says one reason is that they are using tactics without mastering the strategies that make them work. “It doesn’t matter which techniques you use–networking, social media, blogging, advertising–without the right strategies, you’re not going to get optimal results. The good news is that with the right strategies, almost any technique will work.”

The course presents strategies in six key areas: focus, value, trust, money, people, and time. “Implement one strategy,” Ward says, “and you’ll increase your income. Implement all six and the results will be staggering.”

Busy attorneys will be glad to know that marketing doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Significant progress can be made in just 15 minutes a day. “If you’re doing the right things and doing them consistently, you can build a big practice without working harder. “Using the strategies in this course,” Ward says,” I was able to quadruple my income and cut my work week from six days to three.”

The course brings everything together in a bonus module that helps attorneys create an effective marketing plan.

The Attorney Marketing Formula is $79. For a limited time, it is available at the introductory price of $59.

For additional information, visit The Attorney Marketing Formula.

David M. Ward practiced law for more than twenty years. He is the author of several marketing programs for attorneys. His blog, The Attorney Marketing Center, provides free tips and resources for attorneys who want to earn more and work less.

Filed Under: Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan Tagged With: Attorney Marketing Formula, attorney-marketing-course, attorneys-who-improve-income, david-m-ward, david-ward-attorney-marketing-formula, the-attorney-markeing-formula, the-attorney-marketing-formula-ward

Targeting the Hispanic market by going in the side door

August 22, 2012 by David M. Ward

In most of the many offices I have had in my legal career I have had Spanish speaking employees. This only made sense in a city like Los Angeles.

According to this article on the dramatic growth of the U.S. Hispanic market, today you might want to have Spanish speaking employees no matter where you practice.Â But there’s another way you can leverage this growing market.

The article lists seven industries that will benefit most from the growing Hispanic population:

Residential buying, food (grocery and restaurants)
Retail (especially clothing and electronics)
Education (higher education and technical schools)
Financial services
Transportation (automotive and airline)
Entertainment
Media

Legal is not on this list, but it doesn’t matter. You can leverage the growth of the Hispanic population by aligning yourself with professionals and businesses in these industries who already target the Hispanic market.

Let’s take financial services, for example. By networking with bankers, brokers, financial planners, and CPAs who target the Hispanic market, you can grow with them.

What this means is that you don’t have to re-brand yourself for the Hispanic market in order to benefit from its growth. You can piggy-back on the influence of business owners and professionals who have already established themselves in that market.

Of course this is good advice in any market. When I moved out of Los Angeles and started over in a city where I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t merely hang up a shingle and try to compete with already established firms. I hired someone who had a lot of contacts in the market I chose to target and through him, met many professionals and business owners who already had influence in that market. My practice grew quickly because I wasn’t really starting from scratch.

The next time you want to get into a new market, try the side door.

Filed Under: Law office management, Legal industry, Leverage, Marketing legal services, Relationship marketing Tagged With: 19-of-the-u-s-hispanic-population-speak-only-spanish, article-speaking-to-the-hispanic-market-aug-1, articles-on-marketing-law-to-hispanics, attorney-marketing-office-management-spanish-speaking, attorney-marketing-to-hispanic-market, benefits-to-brand-in-hispanic-market, callicon, Hispanic market, hispanic-lawyer-marketing, hispanic-marketing-marketing-for-lawyer, how-has-the-apparel-industry-benefited-from-the-hispanic-market, how-will-my-business-benefit-from-targeting-the-hispanic-market, phoneicon, where-to-marketing-yourself-in-the-spanish-market

How to grow your law practice by establishing routines

August 17, 2012 by David M. Ward

Lifehack has a post today on improving productivity by turning important tasks into routines. The idea is that you are more likely to do something when it’s part of a regular routine, just like you do, for example, every morning when you get ready for work.

How might this be applied to marketing?

We know it’s important to regularly reach out to clients and former clients, via email, regular mail, phone (and possibly, social media). The return on your investment of time, in terms of repeat business and referrals, is tremendous. A few minutes a day spent connecting like this could bring you thousands of dollars in additional revenue every month.

Arguably, there is nothing more important to the growth of your practice.

It’s important, you know it’s important, you WANT to do it, but somehow, you’re not doing it. Life keeps getting in the way.

What if you established a new routine whereby every day at lunchtime, before you eat or before you leave for a lunch meeting, you take ten minutes to connect? You send out ten emails, make three phone calls, or write and mail a handwritten note.

Easy stuff. And because it’s your part of your daily routine, you do it.

At first, you schedule this ten minutes on your calendar. You see it there every day, reminding you to take action. You have an app send you an alarm. Later, when you’ve been doing it for a month or three, when it has become a habit, you won’t need to be reminded. It’s as much a part of lunchtime as eating.

Make a list of marketing activities you do, or know you need to do. Look for ways to make them routine.

Marketing is easy. The hardest part is remembering to do it.

Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Increase your income, Law office management, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: evernote-for-lawyers, growing-your-law-practice-articles, how-to-cultivate-clients-in-your-law-practice, how-to-grow-a-law-practice, how-to-grow-my-law-practice, how-to-grow-your-law-practice, how-to-grow-your-law-practice-free, how-to-start-a-law-practice-firm