Remind Your Clients of Their Apointments

Here's an interesting (and free) application called Oh, Don't Forget ... that allows you to send a future text message to any phone at at predetermined date and time.  Use it to send yourself reminders, or to remind your clients when they are supposed to show up for court, appointments, etc.

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Some Hiring Advice for Clients

If you are hiring (or advising a client who will be), take a look at these 30 Interview Questions You Can't Ask (and the accompanying sneaky legal alternatives you can ask to get the same info).

Some Great Tips for Keeping In Touch

Over at 43 Folders, they share some great tips from the late Leslie Harpold on keeping in in touch.  There are some great client-focused tips in there.  Here's my favorite:

2. Send Thank You notes.  When you receive something from someone else, it’s important to let them know you appreciate the time and effort it took them to think about you, and reward the courtesy with a little token of thanks. A written note is a much nicer compliment than an e-mail, and it doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes to write one and mail it away.This step also does double-duty by making you keep track of people’s contact information so you don’t have to continually ask them for it. We tend, in this electronic age, not to remember street addresses and phone numbers, relying on our mobiles to remember who called and what number to call them back. Keeping an address book may seem old fashioned, but doing so allows you to easily send out baby gifts, birthday gifts, anniversary gifts and any other kind of token of friendship and appreciation that allows us to continue to like each other in a monetary fashion.Leslie even thoughtfully provided a step-by-step method of composing and sending thanks at one of her stomping grounds. Take a trip over to The Morning News and refresh your manners.

15 Thoughts for Law Students: A Mini-Manifesto

I've written a few mini-manifestos for clients and lawyers before and remain quite enamored with the format.  Here's one for law students with some random (semi-related) thoughts on law school and the legal profession.  Let me know what you think, and feel free to add your own in the comments.

1.  Law school is a trade school.  The only people who don't believe this to be true are the professors and deans.

2.  Want to piss off your professors?  Ask them if they've ever run a successful law practice.

3.  Being good at writing makes you a good law student.  Being good atunderstanding makes you a good lawyer.  Being good at arguing makes youan ass.

4.  You can learn more about client service by working at Starbucks for three weeks than you can by going to law school for three years.

5.  Law school doesn't teach you to think like a lawyer.  Law schoolteaches you to think like a law professor.  Believe me, there's a hugedifference.

6.  You can get through law school without understanding anything about what it is like to be a lawyer.  That is a terrible shame.

7.  The people who will help you the most in your legal career aresitting next to you in class.  Get to know them outside of law school.They are pretty cool people.  They are even cooler when you stop talking about the Rule Against Perpetuities.

8.  Your reputation as a lawyer begins now.  Don't screw it up (and quitbragging on your MySpace page about how drunk you got last night).

9.  Law is a precedent-based profession.  It doesn't have to be a precedent-based business.  Be prepared to challenge the prevailing business model.  Somebody has to.

10. Experienced lawyers work with clients.  Young lawyers work with paper.  You like working with paper, right?

11. You are about to enter a world where getting your work done in half the time as your peers doesn't get you rewarded.  It gets you more work.

12. Except for prosecutors and public defenders, nobody tries cases anymore.  Especially not second year associates.

13. You have a choice:  You can help people and make a decent living, or you can help corporations and make a killing.  Choose wisely. 

14. There are plenty of things you don't know, and even more things you'llnever know.  Get used to it.  Use your ignorance to your benefit.  Themost significant advantage you possess over those who've come beforeyou is that you don't believe what they do.

15. People don't tell lawyer jokes just because they think they are funny.  They tell lawyer jokes because they think they are true.  Spend your career proving them wrong.

Got er Done!

Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba share a great idea in this post about a condo development that posts huge "SOLD" signs on the outside of each unit, arguing that the signs "are the best possible evidence" that the condos are desirable.

I was wondering if this idea could also work for lawyers.  Imagine a weekly or monthly full-page newspaper ad that shows all the new business formations, real estate closings, or even "newly single" divorce clients a firm helped (with their permission, of course).  Not sure how this works in some jurisdictions, but it is a thought.  What do you think?

The Mobile Lawyer 2.0

It has been a long while since I've been so WOW'd by a business model as I've been this morning.  Simply put, this is the BEST template I've seen for building a home-based practice from, of all people, a physician.  Dr. Jay Parkinson, MD is building a web-based medical practice.  From his website:

• I AM A NEW KIND OF PHYSICIAN.
• I strictly make house calls either at your home or work. 
• Once you become my patient and I've personally met you, we can also e-visit by video chat, IM and email for certain problems and follow-ups.
• I'm based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  My fees are very reasonable.
• I'm extremely accessible.  Contact me by phone, email, IM, text, or video chat.  Mon-Fri 8AM-5PM.  24/7 for emergencies.
• I specialize in young adults age 18 to 40 without traditional health insurance.
• When you need more than I provide, I make sure you wisely spend your money and pay the lowest price for the highest quality.
• I've gathered costs for NYC specialists, medications, x-rays, MRIs, ER visits, blood tests, etc...just like a Google price search.
• I mix the service of an old-time, small town doctor with the latest technology to keep you and your bank account healthyl

How much for this service?  According to the "How it Works" on his site, his fee is "far less than your yearly coffee budget but a little more than your Netflix."  His web site also provides "Real Life Examples" that describe, in plain English, how you'd use his service.  Oh, and he's blogging, too.

Lawyers, if you are looking for a real dose of inspiration (or a glimpse to the future of mobile practice) you HAVE to check this Parkinson's site and business model.  Simply brilliant.  Great idea, great web site, amazing copy.  If I were still practicing, I'd steal it in a heartbeat.  Look at it now.

Via: Zoli's Blog.

Youth Plus Inexperience Equal Success

I ran across a paper published by my friend Betha L. Whitlow, the director of the Visual Resources Collection at Washington University, titled "The Shock of the New: Using Youth and Inexperience as Tools for Success."  In the paper (link to Word document), Betha argues that newcomers to her field of Visual Resources should view their youth and inexperience as distinct advantages to be leveraged, not handicaps to be overcome: 

[Because] there are still many people at your institution who are unable to letgo of the previous culture, thus limiting their ability to move forwardand offer your institution a new and highly productive perspective ... [i]t is my belief that by the very nature of being a [young] Visual Resources professional, you are uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of changes in the culture of your institution. With just a little bit of a brave and diplomatic push forward, [you] can embody the new role of the resource provider, promote interdisciplinary teaching and learning, be the model of the flexible professional, and tread the fine line between providing access to solid yet technologically innovative resources.

Young professionals, take this advice to heart.  There are plenty of things you don't know, and even more things you'll never know.  Get used to it.  Use your ignorance to your benefit.  The most significant advantage you possess over those who've come before you is that you don't believe what they do.  Because you've never "always done it that way," you're free to do it differently.  Question the business model.  Deliver products (yes, products) and services your elders would never consider.  Embrace technology.  Innovate.  Revel in your inexperience.  You have but one opportunity to start from scratch.  Don't waste it.

Client Stuff

Paul Graham has another great essay.  This one's on Stuff -- and more particularly, how to acquire less of it.  Here's my favorite quote:

Another way to resist acquiring stuff is to think of the overall cost of owning it. The purchase price is just the beginning. You're going to have to think about that thing for years—perhaps for the rest of your life. Every thing you own takes energy away from you. Some give more than they take. Those are the only things worth having.

I can't think of a better thought to have before taking that next client.  When you take a client -- especially that client that your gut tells you not to take -- think about the overall cost of having that client.  Don't focus just on the money you'll make from them, but how you'll feel while working for them.  Will their file keep you up at night?  Will you dread their call?  Will you be able to give them your best work?   Search for clients whose personality matches yours and whose work challenges you to do your best.  They are the only clients worth having.

Grow Your Practice by Asking Clients to Leave

Interesting post on the Church Marketing Sucks blog titled "Grow Your Church by Asking People to Leave."  It is a point I've made before: your practice is often far healthier if you stop serving clients you don't want to (and who are often unhappy with your service anyway).  From the post:

Craig gives an examplewhere he preached on the church's vision trying to get everybody onboard. If people weren't on board with the vision, he asked them tofind another church. He even offered brochures from 10 other churcheshe knew and recommended. It was a serious challenge and 500 people ended up leaving. Most people would freak out at that thought. Not Craig:

The next week, we had about 500 new seats for people whocould get excited about the vision. Within a short period of time, Godfilled those seats with passionate people. Many of those who left ourchurch found great, biblical churches where they could worship and usetheir gifts.

Everybody won!

That's why I sometimes say, "You can grow your church by asking people to leave."

Craig focuses on making leaving a church a graceful option and a positive thing and not the bitter experience it often is.

I love it!

For Administrative Professionals Day -- Let Your Staff Fire a Client

I've written about this one before:  the best gift you can give your administrative professional/secretary is to let them fire a client of their choice.  Here's the post from 2004:

Several years ago, I told my secretary she could fire one client, no questions asked. After she picked herself off the floor, she chose a client that surprised me. Turns out that this client, while perfectly cordial to me, was consistently rude to her on the phone and made inappropriate comments to her when he came into the office. I sent the client a nice letter telling him I would be unable to represent him any longer, and my secretary told me it was one of the best presents she had ever gotten.

The moral to this story is that there are clients who, if they treat your staff badly, don't deserve your hard work. Every day you work for them sends a message that you value their business more than the happiness of your staff. The trouble is that you probably don't even know who these clients are. So ask your assistant, and go ahead and give yourself a little bonus and fire your least-liked client too.

Of course, flowers are also nice.

Cool Tool(Bar) for Clients?

How about giving your tech-savvy clients their own firm- (or client-) specific toolbar for their browsers?  Techcrunch profiles Conduit, a company that makes it easy to "roll-your-own" toolbars.  Here's the Techcrunch Toolbar, for an example.

Help Clients Worry Less

If you are a lawyer, your clients worry.  They worry about their case, their upcoming deposition, even your bill.  Here is a good checklist to share with them to help them worry less.  I really like this one as a way to keep those daily (hourly?) phone calls from freaked out clients to a minimum:

Write down your concerns and worries in a journal.

    Reserve a time for your worries and concerns at daytime. So you should try to develop a routine and reserved time for all the concerns and problems of the day. By writing your worries you will identify your common negative thoughts and worries. It will be much easier to find solutions when you’ll know the exact content and meaning of your worries.

    Take your time for these worries but not in the evening. The best time might be late afternoon. Sit down with a journal and write down your concerns of the day. This will take at least 30 to 60 minutes. Force yourself to think about all the worries and problems of the past and coming day.

Promise the clients a weekly phone call to go over their journaled "worries" and see how many of those "emergency" issues have already resolved themselves before the call.

My (Client) Maps

Where are your clients?  Google just announced My Maps, a dead-simple way to create a (public or private) personal map.  You can embed photos, tags, links, etc. to each map.

Here's a tip:  Add your client's addresses to a (private) map.  Every time you are running errands or visiting clients, you can check and see if you will be near any of your other clients.  Drop in and say hi.  They will appreciate that you are thinking of them.

I am going to start a legal bloggers map today.

I'm Sorry for Your Loss. Was He Funny?

A quick tip for meeting the family of a decedent at estate wrap-up time, courtesy of Tricks of the Trade:

If you have to interview a grieving family after a death, a good question to ask is: "Did he have a good sense of humor?"

This will almost always shake the family out of their grief, makingit easier for them to talk to you, and bring up an anecdote that reallyshows the character of the dead person.

Building the Perfect Innovation Retreat - Call for Help

Readers, I need your help.  I'm designing an intensive, two-day, innovation-focused law firm retreat that I can sell to medium and large firms.  Before it goes "live" I need to do it at least twice to iron out the kinks and make it hum.

Here's what I'd like to do:

• Do the retreat for a firm of 10-20 lawyers, their staff and selected clients (yes, I said clients).  The cost to the firm will be my travel, lodging and retreat materials.  I'll also ask the firm to pay me an amount commensurate with the "value" of the retreat to the firm -- but only if they thought it was the best retreat they'd ever done.

• Assemble a group of 10-20 small firm or solo lawyers for a two-day innovation retreat here in St. Louis in early June.  Because most solo and small-firm lawyers don't get the benefits of a law firm retreat, I want to bring several of these lawyers together to collaborate with one another and to bring innovation into all of their practices.  Also, I want to see if the concept of a solo/small firm "retreat" will work.  If I get enough people, I'll set the fee at an amount sufficient to cover my costs (probably at $250 per attendee or so).  Each attendee will be on their own for travel and lodging.

Let me know if you are interested.  You can e-mail me at Matt@LexThink.com if you or your firm would like to participate.  Thanks.
 

Does Your Firm Have the Guts to Seek Anonymous Client Feedback?

Mike Arrington posts about The Gorb, a online reputation monitoring service:

Gorb allows, even insists on, anonymous comments and ratings about anindividual. Like someone? Hate them? Tell Gorb all about it, usingtheir handy Ajax slider to rate them from 1 - 10 in their professionaland personal lives, and leave written comments as well.

According to Gorb:

The professional marketplace in general is inefficient when it comesto distributing information about a person's reputation. Many of usoften make daily decisions based on relatively few inputs, some whichare poorly validated. When these decisions begin to form the basis forour perceptions about others that we don't know, it should be nosurprise that there's a hit-and-miss nature to this "off-line" system!

Onthe other hand, many of us also use people that we know very well asreferences to gather information and make decisions about others. TheGORB aims to leverge reliable professional references and personalopinions to provide a balanced and widely adopted "online" ratingsystem, that allows us to gauge the reputations of one another.

What do you think?  Would you or your firm tell your clients about The Gorb and ask them for an anonymous review of your services?  Why or why not?  What are you afraid of?

Buy Your Clients a Virtual Lunch

My friend Scott Ginsberg (who has some really cool things up his sleeve, BTW) shares this really great way to connect with someone who doesn't live or work close by.  I'll let Scott tell the story:

A month ago, I got a surprising email from a woman named Lena West.

Lena lives in New York, which explains why I was so surprised.

See, she invited me to have lunch with her.

A VIRTUAL lunch.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Well, I buy you lunch from your favorite delivery place. Then we eat while chatting on the phone for an hour.”

Hmm. Cool idea.

So, last week we did it.

And our Virtual Lunch rocked.

Lena and I had an enlightening, energizing conversation for over an hour! We talked about websites we loved, books we read, places we traveled, you name it. Other than the obvious physical limitations, it was really no different than having lunch in person.

I challenge you to buy your best, non-local client lunch this week.  Let me know how it goes.

Actual, Actually.

I came across this article on Honda from an old issue of CIO Magazine and really liked the part about Honda's focus on an interesting Japanese concept:

The collaborative environment at Honda is a byproduct of the company’s emphasis on the Japanese concept of the three actuals—go to the actual place, work with the actual people or part and understand the actual situation. Although it might seem unnecessary or impractical, adherence to the concept helped facilitate the efficient design of the ’98 Accord. When the designers weren’t sure whether a part they were designing could actually be welded, for example, they’d drive over to the manufacturing plant to ask a welder directly . A visit to the site about a specific problem not only prevents engineers from becoming detached from the actual process, it often yields insight into a completely unrelated and unforeseen issue, says Shriver.

I'd highly recommend implementing the same concept when working with clients:  go to their actual place, work with the actual people, and understand the actual situation.

Relationship Economies for Professionals

I highly recommend this essay by Doc Searls on "Relationship Economies."  In it, he recounts a conversation he had with a Nigerian pastor about markets and transactions:

"Pretend this is a garment", Sayo said, picking up one of those blueairplane pillows. "Let's say you see it for sale in a public market inmy country, and you are interested in buying it. What is your firstquestion to the seller?"

"What does it cost?" I said.

"Yes", he answered. "You would ask that. Let's say he says, 'Fifty dollars'. What happens next?"

"If I want the garment, I bargain with him until we reach an agreeable price."

"Good.Now let's say you know something about textiles. And the two of you getinto a long conversation where both of you learn much from each other.You learn about the origin of the garment, the yarn used, the dyes, thename of the artist, and so on. He learns about how fabric is made inyour country, how distribution works, and so on. In the course of thisyou get to know each other. What happens to the price?"

"Maybe I want to pay him more and he wants to charge me less".

"Yes. And why is that?"

"I'm not sure."

"You now have a relationship".

Though price still matters in the developing world, the pastor suggested, relationships matter more:

It's a higher context with a higher set of values, many of which aretrivialized or made invisible when viewed through the prism of price.Relationship is not reducible to price, even though it may influenceprice. Families and friends don't put prices on their relationships.(At least not consciously, and only at the risk of cheapening or losinga relationship.) Love, the most giving force in any relationship, isnot about exchanging. It is not fungible. You don't expect a payback ora rate of return on the love you give your child, your wife or husband,your friends.

Read the entire essay the next time you are deciding whether to focus your energies on attracting new clients vs. building stronger relationships with existing ones.

Can Your Firm Offer a "Genius" Bar?

Thanks to 37 Signals for pointing out a great article in CNN/Money about Apple's retail stores.  The article talks about the inspiration for Apple's amazing "Genius" Bars:

When we launched retail, I got this group together, people from avariety of walks of life,” says Johnson. “As an icebreaker, we said,‘Tell us about the best service experience you’ve ever had.’” Of the 18people, 16 said it was in a hotel. This was unexpected. But of course:The concierge desk at a hotel isn’t selling anything; it’s there tohelp. “We said, ‘Well, how do we create a store that has thefriendliness of a Four Seasons Hotel?’” The answer: “Let’s put a bar inour stores. But instead of dispensing alcohol, we dispenseadvice.”...”See that? Look at their eyes. They’re learning. There’s anintense moment – like when you see a kid in school going ‘Aha!’

There are two things about this quote that really hit home:

First, how many law firms ask the same question the Apple store designers did (Tell us about the best service experience you've ever had?), and actually modeled their firm on that best-in-breed service experience? 

Second, how could a "genius bar" be implemented at your firm?  Could you open that "bar" at your firm for walk-in clients?  What if they paid an AppleCare-like fee to avail themselves of that service?

 I bet you could make it work.  Let me know if you need help.