Haiku Your Way to a Better Elevator Pitch
I'm a fan of Haiku, and have been doing an exercise based upon it for several years now at conferences and law firm retreats. Instead of the 5-7-5 syllable format, I ask my audiences to answer three questions, using just five words for the first question, seven for the second and five again for the third.
Though I'll use different questions depending upon the event, I recently spoke to the New York City Bar about in-person networking and gave these three questions as a way to quickly develop an "elevator speech" that responds to the "What do you do?" question we get all the time.
The three questions, which must be answered with the specified number of words, are:
- Who do I help? (Answer in Five Words)
- What do I do for them? (Answer in Seven Words)
- Why do they need me? (Answer in Five Words)
An example response to these questions from a business lawyer could be:
I help small business owners
incorporate their businesses and protect their assets
so they can sleep better.
Another example for a personal injury lawyer may be:
I help injured accident victims
understand their rights and recover medical expenses
from people who are responsible.
Give it a try. It isn't an easy exercise, but it will help you answer that all-to-common networking question with something other than, "I'm a lawyer."
Ten (New) Truths of CLE
To many lawyers, their state-mandated continuing legal education (CLE) is a necessary chore to be completed, rather than an anticipated opportunity to hone their skills in an exciting and stimulating environment. Part of the reason lawyers don’t love CLE more is that the traditional panel-centric format has -- to put it nicely -- grown stale. Even if listening to three speakers reading their slides worked once, it doesn’t work now. The audience has changed -- and the industry must change with it.
In this article, I offer ten observations, tips and even some advice to those in the CLE business. Though these aren’t my talking points, they mirror much of what I’m going to be speaking about at the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) in my talk “The Innovative CLE: Ten Bold Proposals for Change” later this month in New York City.
1. If you ask your attendees what they’re buying from you and they answer “CLE credit,” you’ve got a terrible problem. Stop selling credit, and instead sell understanding, collaboration and community. Give lawyers what they need to keep their clients happy -- not just what they need to keep their license.2. Your audience has far less attention to pay than they once did. Recognize that your events must change because your attendees already have. And never confuse your audience’s attendance for their attention: while you only have to earn their attendance once, you’ve got to earn their attention all event long.
3. Your audience’s ability to pay attention at your event is inversely proportional to their ability to pay attention to the outside world. There’s a very fine line between supporting their technology and giving them yet another way to check their fantasy football standings.
4. Lawyers love online CLE -- not because it improves upon the in-person experience, but because it duplicates it. If lawyers are going to passively consume information from a speaker or panelist, they might as well do it from their desk as they get some “real” work done. If you want lawyers to attend your programs, offer them something they can’t get online, like the ability to work with (and learn from) the other attendees in the room.
5. Convincing lawyers to attend your programs begins with answering their one simple question: “How will this make me better at what I do?” Focus less on the specific things they’ll learn, and more upon how their practice will improve the moment they leave your event.
6. People complain loudest about the price of things they don’t want to buy. If your customers say your prices are too high, focus first on giving them more value -- and if you must cut the price, don’t be afraid to give them less. Also, never forget that the price of your event matters less to attendees than their cost to attend it.
7. Your attendees will get far more “networking” done when they are thinking together than when they are drinking together.
8. Imagine a second-grade class room where the teacher never makes time toanswer the students’ questions. Asking 300 people, with two minutesleft before the next session starts, “Are there any questions?” is alot like that.
9. You aren’t serving lawyers well if you refuse to teach them to attract great clients and run their businesses better. It is a hell of a lot easier to be a competent, ethical attorney when you’re not worried about keeping your lights on and your family fed.
10. Just because your audiences aren’t asking for a better experience doesn’t mean they don’t deserve one. Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Think about ways to build a better CLE. Experiment, and try new and novel things. Your audience is far more likely to forgive your ambitiousness as they are to tolerate your ambivalence.
Who Can Change Your Firm?
I ran across this idea from an interview with a "Disney Expert" Bill Capodagli in this 37 Signals post on supportive conflict. It seems Disney gave everyone in the organization an opportunity to "pitch" a movie to the heads of the company:
Take the regular meeting they hold called The Gong Show, which is based on the old TV amateur-hour show. It's a concept where, two or three times a year, any Disney employee can present an idea for a full-length feature animation before Michael Eisner, CEO and chairman of the board, and Roy Disney, vice chairman of the board, and other executives. Hercules, the animated film, for example, came about from an animator's idea that was presented at a Gong Show. The company benefits because they get thousands of good ideas from their employees, some of which are developed into feature films. And the employees benefit because they know they have the freedom to submit ideas that will be listened to. Even if their idea is "gonged," they celebrate it and learn from it.
Does your firm give every employee -- from junior partner to part-time file clerk -- the chance to share their ideas for ways to make the firm better? It should!
Build Your Culture Like Zappos Does
File this one under the "Hmmmmm, that's kinda cool!" category. In this Inc. Magazine article, Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh talks about why he (reluctantly) sold his company to Amazon.
What stood out to me, was his take on keeping his company's famous culture alive, even as they grow:
I've noticed that at company happy hours, you don't see as manyemployees from different departments hanging out with one another.
To address that, we've begun tracking employee relationships. Whenemployees log in to their computers, we ask them to look at a pictureof a random employee and then ask them how well they know that person-- the options include "say hi in the halls," "hang out outside ofwork," and "we're going to be longtime friends." We're starting to keeptrack of the number and strength of cross-departmental relationships --and we're planning a class on the topic. My hope is that we can havemore employees who plan to be close friends.
Imagine a law firm doing that!
Ten Rules of Law Firm Retreats
Whether your next law firm retreat takes place at a tropical location or in the firm’s conference room, there are several things to keep in mind to make it productive, useful and fun. Here are my Ten “Rules” for law firm retreats. Feel free to add your own in the comments. Enjoy!
1. When planning a retreat, the most important voice at the table should belong to your best clients. Ask them what you need to improve upon in the coming year, and invite them if you dare.2. At a good retreat, firm management spends as much time listening to the lawyers as they do talking to them. At a great retreat, that ratio is closer to 3:1.
3. It is far more important for attorneys to think together at your next firm retreat than it is for them to golf together.
4. If you don’t make time for lawyers to improve your firm during the retreat, they’re less likely to take time to improve your firm when the retreat is done.
5. In big firms, the first thing you should teach lawyers is one another’s names. Familiarity builds collegiality. Lawyers won’t care what their colleagues do until they know who they are.
6. “Networking” cocktail parties don’t encourage firm-wide collaboration as much as they encourage firm-wide inebriation.
7. If the firm retreat is the only time lawyers talk about marketing, it will be the only time they think about marketing. Same goes for client service.
8. Your staff knows more about how to serve your clients well than your associates do. Bring them along, value their opinions and act on their suggestions. You’ll find that the cost of their attendance is far lower than the cost of their absence.
9. The three questions every lawyer should be able to answer after a retreat are: “What can I do better?” “Who should I know better?” and “Why should I be better?”
10. The two costliest items at any firm retreat are the time and attention of the attendees. Use them wisely.
If you'd like some help implementing some of these suggestions, check out LexThink and drop me a line. If you'd like to see more Ten Rules posts, here they are.
Tired of Talking About the Weather?
Here's a great collection of conversation starters from CanTeach. Organized helpfully in categories of "What is..." "What if..." "What do you think..." etc., I'd take a quick look at these next time you've got a get together and want to come up with something for everyone to talk about besides the weather or their occupation.
Who needs those Guinness Book folks?
Ever wanted to set a world record and not have to worry about those sticklers from the Guinness Book of World Records? Check out The Universal Record Database. An open, participatory site for posting your own world "record" and daring anyone out there to top it.
Some of the featured records include: Most People Complimented in One Minute, Most Panama Kicks in One Minute, and Fastest Time to Open a Can of Campbell's Alphabet Soup and Spell "Pantyhose".
The site is equal parts brilliance and sheer stupidity -- and it is utterly addictive.
Now for the "legal" bit: How about brainstorming a world record for your firm to set? You can post it for the world to see. Imagine how much fun you'd have, and think about the all the fun press you'd get. I'm already thinking about what we can attempt at LexThink Innovate. Any ideas?
UPDATE: As I write this, there are no "records" posted involving "law" "lawyer" or "legal".
The Perfect Law Firm Retreat: Let Your Clients Set the Agenda
So you're working on the agenda for your firm's next retreat? You've got the standard bases covered:
Message from the Chairperson? Check.
Firm financials? Check.
Important legal decisions? Check.
Practice-group breakouts? Check.
Rainmaking training?
Golf? Check.Client concerns? Huh?
You've asked your clients what they'd like you to talk about, haven't you? You should. And I'm not just talking about mastering their new billing requirements. I'm suggesting you should poll your most important clients and ask them what they'd like you to cover at your next retreat.
You might be surprised at what they'd like you to learn -- and they'll be surprised you cared enough to do so.
The Perfect Law Firm Retreat: Leave the Lawyers at Home
If you are serious about making your firm better, next time you are thinking about a law firm retreat, stop. Cancel (or postpone) your lawyer's retreat and spend your money on a staff retreat instead.
Here are seven reasons you should consider a staff retreat this year:
1. Your staff know how your firm works better than you do. You know how your firm is supposed to work. They know how it actually works. They observe, notice and understand the little things that you may overlook. Unlocking their creativity will give you dozens (if not hundreds) of practical ideas to make your firm work better.2. Your staff doesn't know what your lawyers know, but they know what your lawyers should know. If you wanted to improve the efficiency of your firms lawyers by training them to do one thing better, what would it be? You might think a seminar on "rainmaking" will improve your firm's bottom line. The staff might suggest "copier training" instead -- and they'd probably be right.
3. Your staff knows how to save you money. Every single person on your staff has at least three ways to save you $100 each month. Whether you want to reduce your overhead or prioritize your technology spending, your staff will give you better ideas than your attorneys will.
4. Your clients don't act like clients around your staff. When "on the clock," your clients act like clients. When talking to your receptionist, secretary or paralegal, your clients act like people. Your staff know better than you what your clients hate about your firm. Ask them nicely and they'll tell you.
5. Your staff are your best source for competitive intelligence. Want to know what your competitors are up to? Ask your staff. They talk with their peers at other firms, and they know what's happening in your slice of the legal market. They also know (probably before you) when and why your clients won't pay their bills.
6. Your staff can help you say no. Your staff know which clients don't deserve your firm's work, and which ones you should fire. They also know the least talented and productive members of your firm, but we'll leave that topic for another day.
7. Your staff is cheap. Well, not really "cheap," but compared to the hourly billing rates for a day of the firm's attorneys' time, a day-long staff retreat is a bargain. The staff probably doesn't expect four days in Maui, either.
The most important reason to do a staff retreat, however, is that your staff will feel great knowing you value their ideas. The single most effective way to engage youremployees and make them feel good about working for you is to listen tothem -- and asking them to help your firm solve its most pressing challengesis a tremendous way to do it.
One important key: whether you hire LexThink or someone else, you absolutely should not facilitate this one by yourself. Keep lawyers out of the room if you want your staff to speak freely. You'll be rewarded with their candor.
And when they get back to the office, make sure they each have their own set of business cards. If you value them, there's no better way to show it, than by allowing them to be ambassadors for your firm.
The Perfect Law Firm Retreat: Introduction
Over at LexThink, I offer creative law firm retreat design and facilitation. It is something I really love to do, and it is tremendously rewarding to work with a firm's lawyers as they collaborate and develop amazing ideas -- along with a plan to implement those ideas -- that will make their business better.
However, not every firm can afford to hire someone to design and facilitate their retreat or practice group meeting. Starting this week, I'm going to be posting some of my thoughts on building the "Perfect Law Firm Retreat." I'll include ideas, sample agendas and descriptions of exercises I've used to get people working (and thinking) together.
I'll also include fun/crazy ideas for holding an "on-site" retreat (or even eliminating retreats all together) that will he help firms get most of the benefits of holding an off-site retreat without the costs.
I'd love your input, via comment, email or twitter (@mhomann). Thanks!