Idea Garage Sale - Unattributed Leftovers

Here are a bunch of ideas I've had lying around.  I'm sure I've bought them from somewhere, but I can't remember where.  If I've taken them (or stolen them) from you, I apologize for not giving you credit.

Weekly Free Time -- Give employees an hour of "quiet time" every week -- when the phones aren't answered and meetings aren't scheduled -- to think, read a book, or just relax.

Incorporate Design -- Hire a graphic design artist (with no legal portfolio) to review the format and design of every piece of mail and every type of document that goes out to customers.  Also, find the best interior designer in your town and ask them for one hour of time to give you tips on making your office more inviting and less intimidating.  Go to the most expensive and most popular stores and restaurants in your neighborhood.  Look at how they are designed.  Look at the people in them.  These people are comfortable in those environments.  If you want those types of people to be your clients, make your environment similar.

Commit to Clients, Send a Report Card-- Prepare a list of client commitments and stick to them.  Include returning phone calls within a specified period of time.  Send the commitments to clients with every bill.  Offer discounts if you don't live up to any of your commitments.  Give clients a small discount if they send back a "Report Card" with their payment.  Make it look like the ones kids got in the fifties.  Follow up with them on any grade they give below an "A."

The Monthly Status -- Get a boilerplate monthly status report saved in every client's file with their address, etc.  Send it every month and tell them what happened on their case that month.

Find Spaces to Collaborate, Not Just to Meet -- Look for space in your office where you can have a comfortable conversation with a client, partner, or staff member.  Having a white board or other brainstorming tool would be a big plus.  Make it a fun place to think.

Create a Firm Master To-Do List -- This list isn't for client matters, but for firm matters.  Make marketing and firm development high priorities.  Make sure everyone has access to the list and place at least one item on the calendar each week to make sure it gets done.

Fund a Local "Genius Grant" -- Find the biggest problem in your community and have a competition to solve it.  Involve the schools and retirement homes.  Give a prize for the best solution.  Make sure everyone knows your firm sponsored the competition.  Set aside another part of the prize money to go toward funding the solution.

Start an Exclusive Client Club -- Come up with an unprecedented level of service and benefits (at a premium price) and offer it only to your best three customers.  Tell them they can invite others to join the club, but they must "vouch" for the new prospect.  Wait ten years, then retire.

Rewrite all of your Firm Documents -- Every week, pick one of your "standard" forms (like retainer agreement) and give it to a sixth grader.  Ask them if they understand it.  Then rewrite it from scratch. 

Offer Gift Certificates -- Find some kind of work you do and prepare gift certificates.  Send a notice to your clients telling them the certificates are available for the holidays.  In an estate planning practice, encourage clients to give the certificates to young couples who've just married or had children and might need a simple will.  The certificate could be for a will, or even a "free" consultation.

Open Ended Billing -- Send a bill with no amount on the bottom.  Make sure you communicate all you've done for the client, then let them decide how much it was worth.

Open All Night -- Find employees who want to work second and third shifts and experiment with one or two days a month where the firm never closes.  Advertise these days, and find out how many people who've never had time to meet with a lawyer come calling!

Find the Smartest People -- Ask everyone you know for the names of the smartest people they know.  Invite those people to an exclusive dinner and offer to pay them for one hour each month of their advice -- on anything.

Give Books -- Go to your local school or library and donate several books on a topic that complements one of your primary practice area.  For instance, if you do divorce work, give the school several books about how children can best deal with divorce; or give the local library several volumes on divorce for adults.  Get your name in the front of each book and get your picture in the paper.