Is Your Practice a 24/7 Job or the Career You Imagined? When I graduated from law school, I imagined an almost utopic vision of what my law practice and life would look like. An endless supply of happy clients. Eager, helpful staff. Free time to enjoy my family and hobbies. Great money. When reading this, […]
Is Your Practice a 24/7 Job or the Career You Imagined? When I graduated from law school, I imagined an almost utopic vision of what my law practice and life would look like. An endless supply of happy clients. Eager, helpful staff. Free time to enjoy my family and hobbies. Great money. When reading this, […]
Avoid My Firm’s Costly Marketing Mistakes How to spend marketing dollars? None of us have unlimited resources, yet so many choices. Social media? Google ads? I’m now writing “Social Media Advertising – What I Wish I Knew Before Engaging a Specialist” for publication in an upcoming issue of Trusts & Estates Magazine, where I’m on […]
Avoid My Firm’s Costly Marketing Mistakes How to spend marketing dollars? None of us have unlimited resources, yet so many choices. Social media? Google ads? I’m now writing “Social Media Advertising – What I Wish I Knew Before Engaging a Specialist” for publication in an upcoming issue of Trusts & Estates Magazine, where I’m on […]
Answering The Big Q: How Much Do You Charge? How does your firm answer a common question posed at the first call to your firm, “how much do you charge?” Of course, the answer depends upon several factors, including the time, expertise, and complexity necessary to satisfy a client’s estate planning goals. But saying so doesn’t often satisfy the inquiry. Instinctively you, or your staff who first interacts with the prospect, might mention your lowest fee, “Our revocable trust plans start at thirty-five hundred dollars…” so […]
The Best “Salesman” in Your Law Firm Intuitively has a Process How do you replicate it to multiply your results? Do you have a client engagement process, or does it flow however the meeting transpires? You might be excellent at engaging a client, but are your law partners and associates as successful? Is there a script your […]
Estate Planning Attorneys Commonly Give Away Value for Free And expect to get paid handsomely for what clients don’t value! I once had a client worth $30 million wave his hand at my $15,000 engagement agreement for the first stage of investigating and illustrating which advanced planning strategies might be appropriate for him, proclaiming, “those strategies are all boilerplate anyway! My CPA told […]
Your Biggest Obstacle to Progress is You But do you realize the two distinct categories of challenges you face? I related the time in an earlier email when I almost quit the practice of law, and how my mentor enlightened me as to my main problem – my own mindset! I’ve now coached estate planning attorneys […]
What is it that They Value?
Several years ago I almost quit the practice of law. I was earning what I then considered great money, but I also worked 65+ hour weeks. My wife and three young daughters often got a grumpy husband/father when he came home from work.
Sometimes I missed soccer games and dance recitals.
On the advice of a colleague, I joined a coaching program. It wasn’t just for attorneys – as I wanted a broader view than that.
At my first meeting, introducing me to the group, the coach asked me, “Craig, what brings you here?”
“If my clients would only leave me alone,” I complained, “I’d be able to get the drafts of their documents done. I work late into the night, yet they’re never satisfied.”
Coach nodded his head, and then asked a probing question. “Why do you spend so much of your time on the commodity of your practice? ”
I was shocked. “The commodity?” I asked. “You mean the documents?”
Why Being a Control Freak Damages Your Practice Many successful attorneys in general, including estate planning attorneys, are control freaks. That’s what led to our success. Initially, perhaps, controlling everything was a necessity. I thought I couldn’t afford to hire attorneys and more staff, so I had to do it all myself. I believed that […]
