Category: PLANNING

MORE GATEKEEPERS: THERE’S NEVER ENOUGH

Last week we discussed the role of Gatekeepers in a business.  Not the people that keep you out but the people who know the people who have problems that you can help with and will refer to you.  So, getting more specific, how do you locate the gatekeepers who will most benefit your business.

Again, let me remind you, to first look at your target market and your business mission statement.  Who would be your best client if they walked in your door today?  Describe this person in detail.  See if you can picture this person.  If you had to write a three sentence story about them, what would that look like.

Then take your mission statement and see if that description of your perfect client needs to be changed.  Does their problem reflect a need that you can fulfill while being true to your statement.  Let me see if I can show you what this means.  For instance, you describe your best client as” a person who is having a family law problem”. You even mention that they must have enough funds to hire you.

Your mission statement is “A small, highly efficient form offering services to family  law clients through personalized, individual attention while maintaining the highest ethics”.  So now what happens if you get a client who  wants to hide money from their spouse and wants your help to do that? Where’s the ethics?

So you have to then tailor your target person to have realistic values about the ethics involved in family law or it won’t parallel your mission statement.  See how this works?

Now we come to the part where you start identifying Gatekeepers who might help you find your target market.  You also need to ask yourself once identified, how can you educate your gatekeeper to screen your potential client for an appropriate match.

How do you do this?  Ok, let’s use an example.  You have found a Marriage Family and Child Counselor who is very open to referring to you because he or she needs someone trustworthy when they get a request for a family law attorney.  But they are very new at counseling and ask you if you can give them some money back for the referral.  UGH!

Think again about your mission statement.  Where is the ethics here? If this counselor would do this, then you might not want his or her clients as your clients. Of course, it might just be that this person is just so new that they think it is OK to be given money for referrals.  If so, you can gently tell them” NO, this is against the Law”. Then you know you have a lot of educating to do with this gatekeeper.  However, in the end, you might get a great gatekeeper because you will have trained them to be exactly what you want!

This is another reason why you always handle your gatekeeper very carefully.  Be careful how you thank them.  They shouldn’t expect expensive gifts, etc.  The best thank you is business for them.  So once you have vetted your gatekeeper have your referrals ready the next time a client asks you for help.

PURPOSE: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Purpose is the final trait that brings Autonomy and Mastery together for greater success!  So, exactly what is Purpose? You would think we would all know. And how does it fit into our Success Trio?

Being the glue that binds Autonomy and Mastery, Purpose is a goal that is defined.  It takes determination and is the object for which somethings exists or is done.  The word, Intentionally, is very important.  Meaning that it is a goal that is intended and not something that is thrust upon us out of necessity.

People are often asked, What is the Purpose of Life?  Such a basic question can be answered all kinds of ways.  Did you ever hear the one about the man who spent all his life trying to find the meaning of life until one day he met a peasant who said that the swami who lived up this gigantic mountain knew the meaning of life.  The man climbed the mountain at great peril to himself for 10 days until he reached the top where the swami had a hut. In front of the hut sat the swami.  The man approached him and said “I understand you know the meaning of life,I have searched the world to find out, please tell me”.  The swami eyed him for a awhile and then said in a voice filled with knowledge: “Life is a Fountain”.  Shocked the man replied: “Life is a Fountain?”.  The swami got up from his cross legged position and walked up to the man and said: “Life is not a Fountain?”.

We might say that the man wasted his life looking for someone to define his purpose.  How many other people are doing that in real life? Are you?

To purposefully do a task, it must be planned.  First, however, there has to be a need.  Once that need is  uncovered, then the purpose becomes clear about what the outcome should be.  For instance, if your refrigerator is smelling, then you know something has to be done.  Your purpose is to have a refrigerator which doesn’t smell.  It is not for you to clean out the refrigerator. That only one way of handling it. It’s important to recognize the difference.  One is jumping to one possible solution while the real purpose is overlooked.  Also this kind of thinking can stifle creative thought.

How many other ways can you see to getting the refrigerator not to smell anymore? An obvious, but absurd one, is to buy a new refrigerator….however, absurd thoughts for other situations might prove fruitful… Don’t limit yourself!

Next week we will put all three Success Traits together and see what we get.  DON’T MISS IT!

HOW MANY OF YOU HAD A FREE LUNCH LAST WEEK?

So this week we’re talking about really wanting to set a goal and why we don’t do them.  Isn’t that right? Because my bet is that anyone reading last week’s blog said to themselves “Hey, that’s a great idea.  I should do that”  but then didn’t follow through.  Maybe some people even wrote it down in their goal list.  But still didn’t follow through. My congratulations to those who did something about that great suggestion for increasing revenue!  Let’s hear from you.

As a coach, this is what I face time and time again.  The attorney and I will plan out the next two or three weeks with real important, well thought out goals that will advance the attorney in the direction he or she wants to go.  Three weeks later, the attorney comes back to me and many times, few or none of the goals have been worked on.

Then we go back to the old trick, that goals have to not only be written down, they need to be put into the attorney’s calendar so they get worked on.  If that is done and the goal is still not moved forward, then it’s time to find out why?  Is it fear of failure? Is it coming out of the attorney’s comfort space?  Is it just because so many more “important” tasks need to be done? Is the goal too big?

I believe that one of the landmines here is that many attorneys have never done consistent goal planning in their careers.  Yes, they passed the Bar and get work done in their practices but there is very little growth or change because of poor strategic planning.  So with  little or no forward growth, lawyers get discouraged and depressed. Of course they find little validity in the idea that good planning can produce the success they want because they have simply never experienced it before. They simply don’t believe in it.

So if you are one of those attorneys who have trouble with planning, goal setting and follow through, what do you do?  You need to prove to yourself that it works! That means you will make a tiny little goal that you can accomplish.  Then you will next make a more difficult goal and keep on until you prove to yourself that this works.  A coach can help in all of this and also with the follow up.  You can commit to email your coach every day, what goal you worked on and how much got done.   Or you can figure out a way that you can do this with your own knowledge of your habits.

So, next week I want to see one small goal that you wrote down and actually did.  Email me the result to my blog! 

HOW TO GET A FREE LUNCH

So, you ask me, how do you get a free lunch?

Want to know how get a free lunch and do some remarkable networking at the same time?   It starts with you looking at your list of contacts (Yes, remember you have A,B and C contacts sorted with A being the ones who are most active and you know they will refer to you).

Look at the business they have.  Pick one who has been able to refer to you.  If you are a personal injury attorney, that may have been a  chiropractor.  Now look at the rest of the names on your list and see if you can find another person who might be able to do cross referrals with the chiropractor.  This might be an acupuncturist or a massage therapist or an open minded medical doctor.

You are the center of these two other people as far as referring ability.  You have a personal injury case and you can send that client to the chiropractor if it is soft tissue injury and he/she might send that same client to the massage therapist,doctor or acupuncturist if it is appropriate.

More importantly, these other two can also cross refer patients without having you in the middle.  You have created a lunch with value for all concerned.

So, you ask me, how do you get a free lunch?  Well, you don’t have to take each person to a separate lunch and so you only pay for one lunch instead of two!!! Voila, a free lunch for you and a great introduction for your two guests.

Instead of just sitting back, go look at that list of contacts and pick up your phone or open your email.  Think how much time and money and how much more value planning gives you.  Get creative.  If you still can’t figure how this is a free lunch……call me….I’ll eplain

What happened with your bucket list?

Last week we talked about your Bucket List.  All those things you want to do before you “Kick the Bucket”.  What did you put down on your list?  Is there anything that you did immediately?  Anything that you set a date to do?

We were talking about the fact that no one really know the exact date that they will “Kick the Bucket” but that it is a good idea to plan for it while you still have the strength to get everything done that you want to.

So, this is preaching to the choir.  Everyone knows that time should be spent in getting the fun or full filling tasks done.  So here we are back with the fact that change or just doing something that is not immediate work or family related is difficult for most people.  So the one thing you can do is take 30 minutes to compose your list.  Send me your list or send it to a friend.  That is taking the next step in getting to it.

I thought that at least a second Blog would be worthwhile to encourage this.  What do you think?  If you could just do one thing this week which would make you happier, what would that be?  That’s number 1 on your list.  Now go for number 2,3 and 4.

WHY ARE YOU A LAWYER?

Attorneys should ask themselves on a regular basis why they want to be a lawyer.

You know I ask questions! And this one is really important for all attorneys to ask themselves once in a while.  It can prevent burnout as well as redirect lawyers who have “lost their way”.

So why are you a lawyer?  Did Mom and Dad offer to pay for law school and it seemed easier than making up your own mind?  Did you decide you wanted to be a professional but not a CPA or a Doctor or a PHd?  These are called DEFAULT CHOICES.  They don’t involve much thinking or analyzing what you really want or what will make you happy.

How about the ability to earn a lot of money?  This is a carrot that leads many young people into the profession.  Unfortunately unless you are willing to sacrifice big time, today’s market isn’t one that automatically provides wealth.  In fact, a recent study showed that if a single attorney (without family) can make 70K a year, he or she is as happy as one making three figures.  The idea of less pressure and more down time is very appealing to many lawyers coming out of law school.

I hear many attorneys say they went into law to “help people”.  Many are now very disillusioned  because they find themselves needing to make business decisions which don’t really involve helping anyone. Answering a mountain of interrogatories can defeat anyone’s inclination to continue in this career.

So what’s the answer? Today law students need to identify much more carefully than ever before what it is they want to achieve by being a lawyer.  The LAW is a cruel master and can devour many an attorney who doesn’t recognize it’s seduction.  How many attorneys are killing themselves with billable hours, forgetting their health and families or drinking themselves to death?

Now let’s get personal.  Why did you decide to be an attorney?  Is it time to rethink the fact that maybe you did it for a flawed reason?  If so, not all is lost.  With careful planning you can break loose of the restraints of being a lawyer and make decisions which will align themselves better with your nature and wishes.

Much of what I’ve written and teach will guide you to a path which will not only create success but also contentment.  Doesn’t that sound great?

CHANGE: EVERYONE CAN DO IT BUT FEW DO!

Every lawyer wants to change something.  It might be a very small change, like not having to look for their keys every morning.  Or something big, like the area of law that they practice.

When you look at it, the small change seems simple.  Simply put a dish by the door and drop your keys in it when you come in and pick them up when you go out.  If you need to, do the same at your office.  Or always put them in a designated pocket.  It is a wonder that people will continue to spend valuable time looking for keys when 10 minutes of planning would eliminate that time waster.

Also some people like to organize and stop wasting time, other people could care less.  They might moan and whine but don’t have the energy or inclination to take the steps to change.  Some people feel so overwhelmed by the day to day activities that they don’t want to even look at the small annoyances in their lives, let along change them.

Are you one of those?  WHAT SMALL CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO TODAY?

Now take this opportunity to decide how you will go about making this change:

  • Begin by writing down the small change you want to make.
  • Can you think of any reasons you have never tackled this problem?
  • Ask yourself, what is the advantage of not tackling this problem? Yes you might find that if you make the change, then you have to look at the big changes in your life.  Or maybe you would have to give up whining and getting other people to give you suggestions….which you never follow.
  • What specific steps do you have to take to make the change? Write those down.
  • Write down the date that you will complete the change.
  • Write down how you will feel after you make the change.

That’s the small change.  We’ll talk about the big change next week.  So stay tuned.

MAKE YOUR BUSINESS CARD IMPORTANT

I was looking through a bunch of attorney business cards that I have collected at various events and I was shocked.  By and far the majority were plain white with only the name, sometimes the address, phone number and email on them.  What a waste!

So here are the Southers’ Business Card Rules:

  • Always have color on your card. It’s best to coordinate your color with your website or other marketing materials.
  • Always, Always put the area of law you practice on your card.  A person meeting you at an event will forget immediately what you do, but the card will remind them.
  • Use the back of the card to enlarge your description of services or focus on your target market.  Could be something like “Helping people with their wealth building through careful planning” for a Wills and Trust Attorney.
  • Put the important parts of your card in bold:   Name, phone number and email address are the most important.
  • Project the image you want.  Add your picture so people can really remember who you are.
  • Make your card standard sized.  Many people are annoyed with over sized card

What do you do with the business cards you get?

ASAP put them in your contacts list.  Categorized them as A, B or C contacts.  A are those who you know will refer.  B are those who you have meet and might someday refer and C are your hairdresser, cleaners, plumber, distant relatives.  Most cards you pick up at meetings, etc. will be Bs.

  • Pick out at least one to write an email to following up your conversation.
  • Maybe make a date to meet if that seems appropriate.

Additional hints about business cards:

  • Hand a small wrapped piece of chocolate with the card to the person.
  • Use cheap printing like Vista Prints to do your cards, etc.  Change them until you finally get someone to say “What a nice card!” when you hand it to them.
  • If you have several areas of law that you practice, think about having a different card for each area.  Marketing one area at a time is easier and makes a lot of sense.  This is especially true if you do research for attorneys as well as other areas of the law.  Having a card that just markets that area is essential when you are talking to attorneys.  You can always bring in the other areas that you do after you have establish the relationship of offering services to attorneys for appeals and research.  People get confused.  Even Attorneys!

I’M BACK…

Hi to all,

Yes, I made it back just to check in on you and see if you did the Action Tasks that I gave you before I left.

I’m still too jet lagged to write much but I did want to tell you that my book HOW TO BE A BETTER LAWYER: A Short Guide to a Long Career, is not out and ready for purchase.  I don’t have the correct link yet, but you can go to Shop ABA Store and click into books and then put in title.  If you are a member of the ABA or a Bar Association there is a reduction in price.

Let me know your comments.  Hopefully you will find it useful.  Take the tests and if you don’t understand how to form your goals (although I have fully explained how to do that!LOL ) give me a call and I will help you through that.

All for now.  Will be back next week with more for you to do…….

MORE PLANNING

Sorry, I didn’t have time for a blog last Monday.  Just too much planning going on in my life and then putting those plans to work. So here goes.  Last Blog we talked about long range planning.  What did you decide to try and plan for?  To buy a home? to return to school? To plan for retirement? to buy a new car?  To do more marketing to make more revenue?

Now I’m going to let you in on few hints.  Long term planning begins with making the goals as clear and time sensitive as possible.  “I might want to buy a new car sometimes in the future” doesn’t work.  Or “ohmygosh, I really need to make more money in my practice” doesn’t work either.

What does work is “I want to buy a new car within my budget no later than 6 months from now”. You have something to work off of now for the next step in planning.  What jumps out at you.  NEW CAR    BUDGET  6 MONTHS. are the important words.  Actually, BUDGET is the first consideration because you cannot identify what kind  of new car you can afford until you know what your budget is.  Ok, to start then you have to know what your present budget consists of.  If you are a Solo then you have a personal and a business budget.  You have income that comes in starts and stops as business flows. However, you do know what overhead you have and what are your fixed personal expenses.

When you look at the numbers, you should be able to come up with what discretionary income you have.  Do you have a savings account?  Do you buy  three Starbucks every day?  Are you planning a vacation?  Do you have a lot of debt? All of these considerations are paramount for consideration before you decide on just what kind of car you can afford.  Let’s say you are willing to forgo your vacation which you have budgeted $3,000 for this year.  Now it’s pretty hard to get a new car for $3,000 so you are going to have to do some kind of loan.  What is credit like?  How much can you borrow after the $3,000 down?  What will the loan payments be? Can those fit in your budget?

Now you have enough information to know if you can really buy a car in 6 months or if that is not enough time to save up an increased down payment so that your loan payments will be within your budget.  See it’s all a balancing act at this time. But as we go forward with our journey, it is obvious that, at this point, you have some idea of what you can afford and how long it will take you to get to that point.  You may have to extend or maybe decrease the time element but let’s get on with picking out our new car!

So you go to New Cars.com or something like that and compare prices.  Unfortunately that is not enough.  You also have to compare gas mileage and maintenance records, etc.  Sometimes at this point or a little earlier you find you really need a NEW USED CAR.  Then you  have to look at mileage and prior accident history.

I could go on and on but you are smart lawyers and get the idea.  Planning takes time and effort and Stephen Covey says  planning should take up a significant period of time each day in your life.  He should know. He had 10 children and still was able to start a company and have a successful life. He passed away only recently.

So start planning something exciting in your life right now!