Building the Service Centered Firm
Here's my new presentation, "Building the Service-Centered Firm" that I just gave as the keynote at the Minnesota Solo/Small Firm Conference in Duluth the first week of August.
Say it again?
A quick client interview tip from the always helpful Rules of Thumb website:
If someone you're interviewing makes the same point more than twice,it's the most important thing to him, and a crucial clue to his personality.
Worth keeping in mind!
Should you tell prospects why they shouldn't hire you?
Jessica Hische, a tremendous print designer and illustrator has a section on her website titled "Why you should not hire me to design your website." Some excerpts:
I might seem like a jack of all trades because I do print design, typedesign, lettering, and illustration, but really I’m a specialist. Ispecialize in drawing type and illustration. This is what I’m best atand is probably why you found my website in the first place. I find itstrange that I get so many requests for web design—I went to school forgraphic design, yes, but each subfield of graphic design has its ownset of problems, limitations, and guidelines.
Just as you wouldn’t expect any random person thatowns Adobe illustrator to be able to draw a decorative initial fromscratch, you can’t expect any print designer to be able to really andtruly design for web. Web design is not print design, it is so muchmore complex. With book design, a person that encounters your bookknows how to view it. They look at the cover, they open the cover, andpage by page they work their way to the end. With web design, it’s (forthe most part) not linear. You have to understand how people are goingto use the site (and how people use the web changes all the time).
Anyway, to conclude a fairly long rant: Hire people that are best atwhat they do. It’s not that I (or other print designers) CAN’T do webdesign, its that you should want to hire someone that will do itbest—someone that knows the ins and outs of the web and can then hirepeople like me to do what they do best: draw ornaments, logos,illustrations etc that will make the site sing.
I'm quite certain many lawyers and firms would benefit from a similar "disclaimer" telling potential clients why not to hire them. Communicating what you do -- and most importantly, what you don't (and won't) do -- goes a long way towards getting you the clients you want and dissuading the ones you don't from picking up the phone.
Profit by Giving Your Fees Away
I saw this little blurb on the Church Marketing Sucks blog:
WaterFront Community Church says, “We’re going to give away 100% of our offering to help build and beautify our community.”
What would the impact be if your firm did the same thing, and donated one day's fees a year (or month) to make your community better?
I think it is a great idea -- and could be even better if combined with a contest (like Pepsi's Refresh Project) that sought entries from school children or community groups. What do you think?
How Much Should Legal Fees Be?
Lawyers, do you think clients would use a service that describes itself as follows:
We are an independent, unbiased resource designed to deliver legal fee and price transparency and the expert information legal clients need. Our team of expert lawyers has helped us comb through a mountain of flat fee and billable time data to ensure you have the information you need when it's time to hire a lawyer.
Well, that service doesn't exist for legal clients just yet (as far as I know), but it does for people with car trouble. It is called RepairPal, and it gives people pricing advice (including printed estimates) for various auto service repairs. Here's how it works:
RepairPal takes the mystery out of car repairs with a simple tool thatwill tell you the average price you should be paying for a repair inyour zip code. You just pop in a few details about your repair andcar, and it will do the rest. It breaks down the estimated repair costin a few ways, showing you the range to expect depending on whether yougo through a dealer or independent repair shop, the cost of labor andparts, plus the parts usually needed and how much they cost. Theresult? You can feel better about making an informed repair decision,and you don’t have to scramble to get your friend the “car expert” onthe phone to ask a dozen questions.
Imagine a world where your clients' expectations of the cost of your services is driven less by the facts of their case and more by an "estimate" they got from the internet. A brave new world is coming. Are you ready for it?
Stretch Your Thinking About Biz Cards
One of my favorite business cards of all time:
Check out the entire post at Creative Bits for lots of other cool, inspirational cards.
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!
Measure Time the Way Your Clients Do
Just a quick thought: Are you measuring time the way your clients do?
Are you keeping track of the days (not minutes or hours) between when you first promised something and when it was finally delivered? Are you measuring the time between your last client update and the next one? Do you know how long -- in calendar time, not billable time -- that the average __________ takes?
You should, because even though your clients see every moment you spend working for them on their bill, I bet they wish you'd pay the same attention to their calendar as you do to your stopwatch.
A/B Test Your Alternative Fees
All too often, firms view alternative pricing as an "all or nothing" proposition. They fear a wholesale move away from the billable hour could drive their firm to financial ruin if they get the "pricing thing" wrong. However, instead of rolling the dice with a firm-wide implementation of an unproven and untested pricing methodology, firms should take a lesson from the web design industry and do A/B testing. What is A/B testing? In The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing, Smashing Magazine defines it this way: At its core, A/B testing is exactly what it sounds like: you have two versions of an element (A and B) and a metric that defines success. To determine which version is better, you subject both versions to experimentation simultaneously. In the end, you measure which version was more successful and select that version for real-world use. This is similar to the experiments you did in Science 101. Remember the experiment in which you tested various substances to see which supports plant growth and which suppresses it. At different intervals, you measured the growth of plants as they were subjected to different conditions, and in the end you tallied the increase in height of the different plants. A/B testing on the Web is similar. You have two designs of a website: A and B. Typically, A is the existing design (called the control), and B is the new design. You split your website traffic between these two versions and measure their performance using metrics that you care about (conversion rate, sales, bounce rate, etc.). In the end, you select the version that performs best. If you're thinking of moving from the billable hour to alternative fees, don't do it all at once. Instead, identify two similar matters or clients (we'll call them A and B). Keep serving (and charging) "A" the way you always have. However, with "B,'" change your pricing structure. Give "B" a flat fee for the work you're billing "A" for by the hour. Pay close attention to the metrics that matter to you and to your clients. Measure time to complete tasks (not in minutes, but in days). Keep track of the people and resources used. Watch what folks are doing (and how they do it) instead of just asking them at the end of week or month how much time they spent. Most importantly, measure both client and attorney satisfaction with the work and results. If you do enough A/B testing across your client portfolio, you might find that alternative fees aren't as scary or hard to implement that you thought they would be, but that they make your clients and attorneys happier and make your firm more money.
For the Low Monthly Cost of ...
File this one in the "If Doctors Can Do It..." file. Qliance is one of a number of medical startups that aim to deliver high-quality care directly to consumers for a monthly fee -- without involving insurance providers at all. From the website:
We're using a monthly membership approach to health care, cutting out insurance and going directly to our patients to provide the most comprehensive, high quality primary care out there. The Qliance membership approach means you can see your doctor whenever you need to - even after work and on weekends. By eliminating the hassles of insurance, we are able to put our patients first and return control of your health care to you and to your doctor.
What services could you offer to your prospective clients on a monthly-fee basis? Before you dismiss that question out of hand, check out the Qliance site. If doctors can deliver high-quality medical service to patients (whenever and wherever they need them) for a set monthly fee, surely lawyers can do it for their clients. Right?
What Are Your Clients Afraid Of?
I saw this great over-the-counter medicine packaging (from Help Remedies), and was taken with the simple way each remedy's package focused how the consumer feels before using it.
I wonder if this simple message would work with law firm marketing? Instead of telling the world what you do, what if you focused your marketing message on how clients felt before hiring you? Start by answering this question: what are your prospective clients worrying about at the time they need you most?
A Well Trained Lawyer ...
I really love this quote, as it goes to the heart of the value (vs. time) of what lawyers provide:
"A well-trained man knows how to answer questions; an educated man knows what questions are worth asking."
-- E. Digby Baltzell (1955)
Hat tip: Kevin Kelly
Beef Up Your Clipboards
Want the judge to consider your arguments as more substantive than opposing counsel's? Hand the judge your brief attached to a heavy-duty clipboard. Want your opponent to drive a softer bargain? Make certain they're sitting in the plush seat across from you. Sound crazy? These are some of the surprising results from new studies on touch:
In one study, subjects were asked to review resumés that had been placed on either heavy or light clipboards. Resumés that were read on hard clipboards were judged to be more substantive than those read on softer ones. Other test subjects engaged in mock negotiations over the price of a new car. Those who sat in firm chairs drove harder bargains than those ensconced in plusher seats. When another group of subjects were told an ambiguous story about an interaction between an employee and a supervisor, and subsequently asked to offer an opinion, those who had handled a wood block beforehand judged the employee's behavior more harshly than those who had touched a soft blanket.
(Image from Jason Aaberg)
Do Your Clients "Like" Your Bills?
What if your clients could "Like" something just as they do on Facebook? Would they "Like" the things you send to them? If not, what could you do to make them dislike those things less?
Stamp from Nation Design Studio.
The Creative Counsel
Here's the slide deck from my presentation to the Association of Corporate Counsel's meeting in St. Louis last month. The audience was (mostly) in-house counsel, and the presentation was geared at getting them to think a bit differently about their relationship with outside counsel. I hope you like it.
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!
KickStart Your New Practice
Want to start a new law firm, but lacking the cash to make it happen? Check out KickStarter, a really unique way to "fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors" by reaching out to others who want to help.
Would-be entrepreneurs post an idea, and set the amount of money it would take to make it happen. Site visitors agree to contribute a portion of the startup price -- though no money changes hands unless the project is fully funded.
If you want to see how it all works, check out how a few entrepreneurs are using Kickstarter to raise money to expand their Snow Cone Stand.
Tell Your Clients What's True
Seth Godin is fed up with the traditional business plan, suggesting they're "often misused to obfuscate, bore and show an ability to comply with expectations." Instead, he'd like to see the modern business plan divided into five sections:
- Truth
- Assertions
- Alternatives
- People
- Money
It seems to me that this breakdown would also be a great way to subdivide the traditional client status update (or case analysis) letter. Instead of burying tons of information in multiple paragraphs, break down the letter into the five sections Seth suggests. Your clients will better comprehend the information your giving them, and you'll have an easy-to-use template for all your client correspondence.
Happier Clients Make Fewer Choices
Have you ever tried shopping for toothpaste at Target or Wal-Mart? Once you decide on your brand of toothpaste (I've always been a Crest man), you're still faced with a dizzying array of choices. And, if you're like me, you spend far too much time deciding upon a product and often feel dissatisfied with your ultimate choice.
Turns out we are not alone. In her new book The Art of Choosing, business school professor Sheena Iyengar presents research that proves people's decision making skills worsen when presented with a plethora of choices. In other words, people decide better (and spend more) when given fewer choices.
In this Wall Street Journal article, Professors Iyengar's famous "jam experiment" is detailed:
In a Palo Alto, Calif., supermarket known for its exceptionally vast range of products, she set up two different booths offering shoppers the chance to sample various unusual preserves. One booth offered 24 different options; the other only six. You would think that, with more choices in the first booth, more shoppers who stopped there would find a flavor they liked and go on to buy a jar. But the opposite happened: People tried more samples and bought a lot more jam at the booth with six varieties.The people who stopped at the 24-jam booth didn't say: "Please take away most of these options so I can more easily make a decision." They simply felt overwhelmed and less willing to make any choice at all. The same feeling can arise in people who are offered an array of detailed investment options or in college students who must choose four or five classes from among the hundreds listed in the course catalog. In these situations, perhaps some strategy for choice, established in advance, could help discipline the decision-making process by focusing it on a manageable set of options.
So, next time you have a client conversation, remember that you may be better off discussing a few options instead of many. Instead of giving your clients lots of choices, curate the list down to a solid few. You'll end up with happier, less-confused clients who will thoughtfully consider their options, instead of being overwhelmed by them.