Family Wealth Planning

Do You Follow?

I cannot tell you the number of leads I've lost over the past 4 years because I didn't have an adequate system for capturing information and following up.

I can tell you that when I think about it, I want to cry.

It's that many.

I'd speak at an event, get people all excited, even have them complete an information worksheet, then get back to the office and get so busy with other stuff, that I didn't follow up.

Sound familiar?

Of course it does because it's the reality that we all face.

The only way to make sure follow up happens is to have a system for it.

Are you different?

I've spent the past two days documenting processes in my office.

What fun!

Not really.  It's actually been pretty tedious.

But, it's a critical part of knowing that our clients are taken care of in just the way I want and that I can create the system to show you how we do it.

I was once again reminded of how far above and beyond we go to take care of our clients.

See, I'm only willing to charge higher fees if I can justify the extra expense.

The process mapping I spent the past couple of days doing, confirmed our fees are well justified.

Are yours?

My Secret for Collecting Payment at the IC

I've been reading a discussion on the Wealth Counsel listserve about someone who got burned after engaging a client, drafting their whole plan and then not getting paid and not having a fee agreement.

One guy responded by saying, "I rarely ask for a retainer. Occasionally I get burned.  But not that often. I think client's appreciate just getting one bill, and that we trust them to pay it."

What?!? That's no way to run a business! I'm all for trust, but I want to choose my pro bono work and not have it chosen for me because I can't get my bill paid.

I think the truth is that he doesn't know how to ask for the retainer.  And, the guy who didn't get a fee agreement, apparently he never gets fee agreements signed.

Why??

When I wasn't getting fee agreements signed, it was because I didn't know how to do it.  And, I got burned too.  For several thousand dollars.

Once was enough for me.

You must always get a fee agreement signed in the meeting and some sort of up front payment, even if it's just a few hundred dollars and you put the clients on a payment plan after that.

And never, never, never start work before getting the agreement signed!

The key is knowing how to get the agreement signed and payment collected in the meeting without feeling uncomfortable.

Here's the secret for how I do it:

Too busy to think? You're serving the wrong clients.

I'm part of a women's business group called Ladies Who Launch (www.ladieswholaunch.com) and an email came across the listserve from a mom who owns a business selling $100+ plus diaper bags to other wealthy moms.

The email basically said:  "my live-in nanny just moved out of the country and I need two or three people to replace her. I'm a busy mom running a business and I need help!"

This mom is too busy to think.

And, guess what?

A vastly underserved market ...

I can't think or talk about anything except selling my law practice.

Now that I've wrapped my mind around it, it's absolutely encompassing.

And, it's really happening!

I find it's bringing out a tremendous amount of creativity.  Knowing that I will have the time, space and energy to focus more on my existing clients means planning what that will look like and it's so exciting.

What to Do When It Stops Being Fun

It's summer and I'm burned out; all I want to do is spend time in the beautiful California sunshine with my kids.

I'm going to get to do that week after next when I take my family to camp for a week of meditation, yoga and veggie meals.

But, in the meantime, the show must go on, if ya know what I mean.

The overhead doesn't stop just because I want to!

So, what can you do when you're burned out to the max?

Can you make it through the dip?

First off, welcome, welcome, welcome to all the new members who have come on board after seeing me at Ben Glass' Great Legal Marketing Conference in Virginia last week.

You are going to look back on your decision to learn my Law Business Secrets as one of the best career decisions you ever made.

While I was in Virginia, I read a book by Seth Godin called "The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit and When to Stick."

It truly is little.  I read it in an hour or so.

And, here's what I got out of it.

Are you sure? [LBS]

Not enough prospects or clients?

It's probably because you aren't sure. 

You aren't sure of yourself.

If you don't have enough prospects calling your office, it's probably because  you aren't confident enough.

If you were more confident, you'd be more bold in your marketing.   

You'd come right out and tell people what to do and they'd do it!

If you have people walking out the door without engaging you, it's probably because you aren't confident enough.

If you were more confident, your meetings would not be about selling yourself to your prospects.   

You'd come right out and tell your prospects what to do and they'd do it! 

You can be the most highly trained lawyer with the best credentials, but if you don't portray confidence, you've got nothing.

You see, what your prospects will pay you for is to tell them what to do.

Where You Are Losing a Ton of Your Prospects?

You're spending loads of time and money on your marketing. And yet, your time is just not as full as it should be.

Wondering why?

Of course you are!

Well, here's one place to look.

Call your office (or have a friend do it while you are listening in) and talk to the person answering your phone.

Ask the questions a prospect would ask before making an appointment.

You are likely to be SHOCKED at what you hear.

If you get a sinking feeling in your stomach just reading this or hear that little voice in your head telling you "nah, you don't need to do that" it's a good sign that you are avoiding a serious problem because you don't want to deal with it.

So, here's what you should do right away.

It's All In Your Head

Are you where you want to be in your business?  Probably not.

Do you want to know the number one thing that's holding you back?

It's your mind.

Now, I'm not saying that all it takes to get where you want to go is to think about it.

I am saying that if you don't believe something is possible,it's not.

And, if you truly, truly, truly believe you can do something,the chances are fantastic that you can.

Remember the little engine that could? 

What she had going for her was a belief that she could.

And, that same belief can get you wherever it is you want to go.

I'm learning this myself.

I've always believed I could have it all.

People said there'd be trade-offs when I started my own business.That there's always a price to pay.  That I was nuts to thinkI could run a million dollar a year law firm working only 2 daysa week. That I'd have to accept that a powerful, successful man wouldn't love my kids and want to spend time with them.

It's all crap.