Wednesday’s post Top Ten Tips to Overcome Overwhelm apparently hit a nerve with more than a few readers! In comments sent directly to me by email, procrastination was identified as the top challenge for many of you. In response, I’d like to offer you a video — which may be enabling procrastination, but it’s a chuckle and provokes awareness, so I’ll let that slide.
Overwhelm can tank a day faster than just about anything else. When you have more email than you can handle, an out-of-control task list, and phone calls that just won’t stop, it’s almost impossible to operate effectively. Even if you manage to limp along, you may find that you’re distracted and that things are falling through the cracks. Over the years, I’ve honed in on a variety of methods to beat overwhelm, and these are the top 10, based on my own experience and client feedback:
If you’re feeling overwhelmed in your practice and uncertain acout how to turn things around, perhaps we should talk. Whether you’re trapped in the day-to-day minutiae of a subprime practice management approach or looking to improve your practice as a whole, working one-on-one with my Practice Acceleration System™ will help you to make quick, measurable progress toward your objectives. Click here to arrange your complimentary 30-minute consultation.
Last week’s WRA focused on the language to use in introducing yourself to potential clients and others. This week, let’s look at the substance of the introduction.
Many lawyers seem to fall into the habit of the “just the facts, ma’am” introduction, which goes something like this: “Hi, I’m Bob Smith. I’m a litigator with Dew Goode.” While that introduction does give some valuable information, it’s also downright boring.
Choose a more interesting introduction, and you’re more likely to get conversation going that has a chance of developing into a relationship that may lead to billable work or other opportunities.
In The Reluctant Rainmaker, I share five approaches to introductions, but I’ll focus on two today.
Whatever style you choose, be sure your introduction is brief, conversational (please, do not memorize and recite a great introduction!), attention-grabbing, and cast in a form appropriate to your listener. Try new introductions regularly and see what gets the best response from listeners.
If you’d like to learn more about effective networking, check out The Reluctant Rainmaker, which is also available on Amazon.com — Kindle version coming soon.
The Essential Little Book of Great Lawyering
by James A. Durham
The Essential Little Book of Great Lawyering is aptly named: at just 52 pages (including the title page, copyright, and table of contents), you’ll need less than an hour to discover the essential skills of great lawyering. Some readers may be wondering why anyone would need a book to learn what great lawyering is, and some may be thinking that great lawyering “obviously” means possessing enormous technical expertise, good judgment, and years of experience in which to develop those attributes. That is what most lawyers mean by great lawyering. But what do clients mean?
According to Durham’s client interviews, a great lawyer is one who knows the law and has “become a lawyer that people trust above all others, and . . . to whom they turn when they (or people they know) have any kind of problem. In other words, a great lawyer is one who knows and responds to her client’s needs, desires, and preferences. Durham’s research revealed that 90% of clients say that they like lawyers who are responsive and who really know their client’s business, but they seek even more. Great lawyers also communicate clearly, build relationships with their clients, provid remarkable value, and are loyal to their clients.
The Essential Little Book manages to go beyond those generic words to offer specific examples of what lawyers must do to succeed fully in practice. My only quibble with the book is Durham’s suggestion that a lawyer must know what his client wants to happen throughout the engagement. I would recommend that, to the extent it’s feasible to do so, a great lawyer would ask what his client wants, including how much communication is helpful and in what form, how advice might be presented most usefully, etc. Nevertheless, Durham’s point is well-taken: great lawyers pay attention to what their clients want and need, perhaps even more than the clients do.
One of the key mistakes I make is believing that “being a great lawyer” (as measured by technical expertise) is all that’s necessary to build a successful practice. Durham addresses this same problem and offers that being a great lawyer (as defined by clients) is the foundation of a successful practice. I couldn’t agree more.
The Essential Little Book should be required reading for lawyers. Between now and the end of the year, set aside an hour to read the book and another half-hour to set some goals to help you become a great (or even greater) lawyer. You’ll build a much stronger practice for that effort.
What kind of language do you speak when you’re talking with potential clients and referral sources? I don’t mean English or Spanish, but whether you use “jargon” or “regular” language. As with most anything else, each has its place, but you must select the appropriate language intentionally.
If you’re talking with lawyers or legally sophisticated consumers, carefully sprinkled jargon may have its place. Those who are familiar with the area of law you’re discussing may expect to hear certain buzzwords. If they don’t hear them, they may not be confident that you’re fully up to speed and skilled in the revelant area. Dropping a word or two of jargon (a reference to a code section, perhaps) indicates that you are likely competent in the area of practice at issue.
If you’re talking with laypeople, however, sprinking in even a small amount of jargon may confuse the listener or — worse yet — may come across as if you’re talking down to him. With some care, you can address even complex issues with clear, simple, and jargon-free language. No one wants to feel stupid, and potential clients (or clients) may be reluctant to ask questions that reveal their lack of familiarity with the subject.
Lawyers often cross the jargon line in introducing themselves. Think back over your recent introductions. Do you use the appropriate amount of jargon? Do listeners immediately understand what issues you address in your practice? For the purpose of this week’s WRA, focus solely on the language you use. Next week, we’ll look at a few other aspects of introductions.
The American Lawyer recently reported the results of a study titled After the JD, conducted on behalf of the American Bar Foundation. The study, which tracked 5000 lawyers who began practicing in 2000, found that “new lawyers working for firms of more than 250 lawyers are less satisfied with their jobs than their counterparts in smaller firms,” and that “[g]raduates of the most selective schools are the least satisfied with their jobs at large firms, while graduates of less selective schools are relatively more satisfied.” The authors explain the disparate levels of satisfaction on the basis that graduates of elite schools are “groomed to expect success” whereas lower-tier graduates are more likely to view a job at a large firm as “a coveted reward for hard work . . . not to be squandered.”
Of course, large firms tend to recruit primarily from top law schools, and the authors address the implications of their findings on future hiring opportunities, suggesting that large firms hire more graduates of non-elite schools, improve working conditions, and cut associate pay. The authors’ conclusion:
[I]f large firms respond to the economic crisis by substantially reducing starting salaries, they will be able to more quickly right themselves financially, hire graduates willing to work for less pay, and perhaps even take a little pressure off partners who face the constant pressure of finding work for associates. If firms lower pay but keep the same misery and engineered attrition for associates, they will get a short-term profit boost. But if lower pay also means a better lifestyle, more instruction and responsibility, and better evaluation, firms can lay the groundwork for success well beyond the end of the current recession.
The full article is worth reading. Personally, I’m skeptical about seeing sweeping changes along the lines proposed… But I’ll be curious to see whether some aspects (such as further cuts in associate pay in exchange for an “improved” lifestyle for associates) may be implemented. While the authors have a point that “[t]he general restructuring that takes place in a changing economic landscape creates room for organizational innovation,” large firms’ response to the recent economic challenges (and the fracture lines that culminated in the business crash) suggests that organizational innovation is not necessarily the strong point for the bulk of firms in this category.
While in Teton National Park last week, I noticed a trend among serious hikers. I parked at several trailheads during my vacation, and I noticed that the parking lots for the more intense hiking trails featured a surprising number of Subaru cars, all with outdoorsy names like Outback. I’ve never seen so many Subarus in one place, and I’m not at all sure that I’ve seen more than a handful elsewhere. I was curious, so I did a quick Google search and turned up a Subaru Outback user forum that includes lots of photographs, many (if not most) of which show the Subaru in an outdoor sports setting (with a canoe strapped to the roof, camping in the woods, etc.), as does much of the advertising for the Subaru Outback.
Subaru Outback and outdoor enthusiasts apparently go hand-in-hand. I imagine that further research would turn up Subaru sponsorships of outdoor events, advertising in hiking and mountain climbing magazines, and so on. Subaru seems to have its finger on the pulse of this market, and the market appears to have responded.
What does this have to do with practicing law? Like Subaru, you must identify your ideal client to a level of great specificity and deep understanding of your ideal client’s interests, preferences, and activities.
When working with lawyers on business development, one of the first questions I ask is, who’s your ideal client? It’s a marketing truism that it’s much easier to direct your services to a well-defined group of potential clients, because doing so allows your ideal clients to recognize you as their ideal lawyer. By focusing specifically on a particular group and their legal needs, you also develop your expertise and your reputation for expertise more quickly.
How specifically should you define an ideal client? Some lawyers stop at a fairly high level – estate planners, for instance, may focus only on those who have estate planning needs, which is an adequate description but lacking the full body that can prove helpful. Others delve more deeply and might hone in on new parents who have never done any estate planning before, parents of special needs children who have particular estate planning needs, or those who want to arrange for pet trusts, for example. The more narrowly you can draw your niche, the more accurately you’ll be able to tailor your message – and, or course, nothing says you must restrict your practice to a narrow group.
When you begin to define your ideal client narrowly, you can consider psychographics in addition to demographics. Demographics include information such as age, gender, occupation, education, and so on. Psychographics describe the attitudes, values, and motivations that your ideal clients hold. What interests them? What magazines do they read? What groups do they join? Where do they vacation? What are their hobbies?
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that psychographics are irrelevant if you represent companies rather than individuals. Individuals make the hiring (and firing) decisions for companies, and individuals acting together determine company strategy, goals, and planned outcomes. While you may be less interested in the personal psychographics of corporate representatives, looking at the psychographics in their professional capacities will provide valuable information.
When you’ve analyzed your ideal client psychographics, you may find that you’ve created a roadmap of forums for publications and presentations, networking activity, and so on. You may notice connections that had not been apparent before, or you may define known connections more clearly. Whatever the level of revelation, you will certainly find information that you can use to better reach out to your ideal clients, which will in turn help you target your business development activity.
Uncertain about how to describe your ideal client? The Reluctant Rainmaker includes a step-by-step process to help you discover who your ideal clients are and how to reach them. Check out The Reluctant Rainmaker: A Guide For Lawyers Who Hate Selling.
A primary benefit of being active online (by having a website with a biographical sketch and having articles relevant to your practice published online, for example) is that potential clients have an opportunity to learn something about you before meeting you. Whether your name surfaces by referral or by an internet search, it’s a safe bet that almost every potential client will search on your name before contacting you.
Do you know what these potential clients will find? I recently read an advice column in which the writer was struggling with how to tell her doctor that his son, who shared the doctor’s name (plus a “junior”), had posted “obscene” photographs on Facebook and that patients were finding those images and associating them with the doctor. I imagine that the doctor and his son had a rather frank conversation after that revelation, but the questions go a step further: how long had the doctor’s reputation been damaged by his son’s online antics? And more importantly, how could he recover his professional reputation online?
Your task today: perform an internet search on yourself. Start with Google, as it’s the most popular search engine, but be sure to check Yahoo!, Ask.com, Excite.com, MSN, and so on. What do you find?
You may disover that your profile on a social media platform is high on the result list. If so, one of the quickest ways to ramp up your online presence is to be sure that your profile is complete, accurate, and up-to-date. If it’s difficult to find yourself online, getting a LinkedIn profile is a quick and easy way to make sure that those who search for you will be able to find something useful. And if you find results that conflict with your professional persona, consider how you might address them.
In this economy, many lawyers are facing an unanticipated fork in the road. Layoffs leave some lawyers contemplating an exit from the profession, others considering whether to launch a solo practice, and others still looking to shift practice areas in hopes of finding a new position.
I recently watched a video of a presentation for the Georgia Bar Association by my friend and colleague Monica Parker of LeavingTheLaw.com, in which she offers a 3-step process for leaving practice. It seems to me that the process is equally applicable (with some modification) to other professional changes. The video is about an hour long… Pour a cup of coffee, grab a pen and paper, and prepare to think through your next steps. View the video here.
This week’s rainmaking activity focuses on publications. A “slow yield” activity that’s critical for growing substantive legal skill and reputation for expertise, every lawyer should have a few publications to his or her name.
Your task this week: select an issue on which you’d like to write a practical article and a publication in which you’d like your article to appear. Remember to choose a topic that’s pertinent to your primary area of practice, and pick a publication that your ideal clients (or referral sources) are likely to read. Send an inquiry to the publication’s editor-in-chief, describing the article you plan to write and offering it for publication.
After your inquiry has been accepted, write the article, ensuring that it will speak to your ideal client’s needs. If you’re not sure how to craft your article to maximize its benefit to readers and to increase the chance that those who needs your services will contact you, you might consider purchasing The Reluctant Rainmaker: A Guide for Lawyers Who Hate Selling to get additional direction.