Hiring & Empowering Solutions

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How Your Lack of Accountability & Tracking is Sabotaging Your Revenue

lack of accountability and tracking sabotaging revenuePeople call your law firm because they are ready to hire you. But time after time, when I speak with law firm leaders about their struggles, I hear the same old bologna: “They were unqualified leads.” “They were just shopping around; they weren’t ready to write a check.” “They weren’t a good fit for our firm.” “I don’t know what happened, I just never heard from them again…”

Bologna.

In many ways, the small law firm has the advantage over those big, corporate firms with hundreds of associates and dozens of partners. I don’t know about you, but I will always choose a more intimate “mom and pop” experience over being a faceless name in a sea of thousands of other faceless names on the client list of a massive corporation. But I’ve noticed something: for all the times I pick up the phone to call a small business, I rarely receive a follow-up phone call or email if I don’t make an immediate purchase. I—a qualified lead who is ready to make a purchase—am rarely nurtured through the sales funnel. And if we’re being honest, the only reason I failed to follow through and make a purchase in the first place is because I’m busy being an entrepreneur and a wife and a mom and probably got sidetracked somewhere in between client meetings and getting my kid to karate practice. Failure on the business’s behalf to follow-up with me sabotaged their sale…

…and it’s how your firm is sabotaging its own revenue.

The likely story is that the small business probably isn’t staffed enough to execute a regimented follow-up plan, and that’s the likely story for your firm, too. Who would be responsible for checking-in on leads consistently and strategically. Certainly not you. You’re busy doing what you have to do to keep your firm competitive, sustainable, and profitable.

But those lost leads are valuable, and they’re slipping further away with every day you fail to follow up with them. So, here’s how to follow-up for dollars and reclaim the revenue you’ve lost on account of your lack of accountability.

How to Follow-Up for Dollars

This is a simple “how to” system, designed to fill your calendar with appointments and your business account with money. It’s a tried, tested, and proven system for bringing old and prospective clients back to your firm…for $500/week or more.

Step 1: Hire
This is a receptionist caliber position; you could start out with a 20-hour/week or 3-day/week position, but we encourage you to hire someone full-time, since this system is ineffective if, when someone contacts your office, no one is there to answer their call and schedule an appointment. Take the leap of faith and hire someone full-time.

Choosing the right person for this position is crucial. Rely on “Kolbe” recommendations and follow best practices for hiring based on personality

Step 2: Create the Campaign
Identify a list of lost clients or prospects, organized by year, starting with the most recent year and working back to your firm’s inception. Include:

• Contacts who never took the next step
• Contacts who attended a workshop or joined a webinar, but didn’t move forward
• Cancelled appointments
• Maintenance clients who never renewed

Once you’ve compiled your contact lists, call them, send them an email, or mail them a letter of re-engagement. You may include a special offer in this letter, or you may just re-introduce your firm and the various services you offer.

Step 3: Call
This process takes, on average, 12 minutes. You make the phone call, send a follow-up email (step 4, below) and update your database. Your new hire should be able to make about 40 calls/day and, trust us, you WILL see a return on this position after one month.

The script for the phone call is below:

“Hello ___ ,

This is ___ calling from ___ Law Firm. Real quick, I am calling today to follow up with you regarding your ___ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke. We know how important it was to take the first step and contact our office and we want to make certain we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals. We’d like to extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney___ , as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you?

Step 4: Email
Send an email immediately following each unanswered phone call. Time-saving tip: save the email into a Word document or other text file and copy and paste it into the body of each email). The contents of the email should read:

“Hello ___,

I hope this message finds you better than well today. Real quick, I wanted to send you a quick email to let you know that I just left a message on your answering machine, as I was reaching out today to follow up with you regarding your _____ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke. We appreciate how significant it was to take the first step and contact our office and we want to ensure we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals. We like to extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney ___, as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you? Let me know what works best for you and I will be certain to get this reserved for you.

Step 5: Letter or Flier
The last step in this process, after the phone calls and emails have been made, is to send a letter via mail. These letters should be sent out every week (we suggest you send them every Friday). The letter should read:

“Hello ___,

I hope this finds you better than well today. I am reaching out to follow up with you regarding your ___ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke and I appreciate how significant it was to take the first step and contact our office. We want to ensure we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals and extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney___ as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you?
Let me know what works best for you and I will be certain to get this reserved for you.

Also including a flier for a new “Value Add” workshop, for example, a Social Media for Law Firms workshop, will drive even more engagement in your response.

There is no reason your law firm should be struggling to generate revenue—not with so many untapped resources just waiting for you to get back in touch! Everything you need to grow your law firm is already in place—you just need better tracking, better follow-up, and more accountability.

Ready to Hire that Rock Star Receptionist?

If you’re ready to get the RIGHT person in the door—and you’re ready to turn a rock star receptionist into revenue—contact us! Our Smart Hire Solution has been helping law firms find, recruit, hire, onboard and train amazing team members for over 20 years! We’ll save you time and money by hiring the right person, right out of the gates. Email [email protected] to learn more today!

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Getting Out of the Decision-Making Vacuum and 3 Ways to Make it Happen

employee engagementTrust us…we get it. It’s easy to pull the trigger and make decisions from the comfort of your own leadership vacuum. After all, you know your firm better than anyone, which means you know better than anyone what your firm needs to grow progressively and sustainably…right?

Maybe so. But there is another group of people who are huge stakeholders in the success of your firm—your team. And they also have a pretty good idea about what your firm might need. And they’ve got ideas—great ideas, in fact—that you won’t be able to hear from the confines of your vacuum.

A recent study of over 100,000 U.S. businesses confirms that there is a direct correlation between how involved employees are in corporate decision-making processes and their level of overall morale, motivation and job satisfaction.

Simply stated, keeping employees engaged and empowered results in more satisfied, “go-getter” type employees who can really step up and make a difference at your firm. The benefits of involving your team in decision-making processes include:

• Improved levels of effort and commitment. Being involved in making decisions for your firm makes employees feel valuable, and when they feel valuable, they’ll take more ownership of your firm’s performance.

• Better day-to-day decision-making. Understanding how decisions are being made at an executive level will help them make better decisions at a departmental or individual level. They’ll be better equipped to align their decisions with the direct of your firm.

• Stronger bonds of responsibility. When an employee has his or her say in making a decision, the outcome of that decision—in one way or another—reflects back on them. Employees do NOT want a negative outcome landing on their shoulders. The responsibility that comes with decision-making will keep team members at the top of their games.

• It takes the heat off of YOU! When you make a bad decision, it’s easy for employees to place 100% of the blame on you. However, when team members take an active role in the decision-making process, bad decisions will compel them to analyze what went wrong and make better decisions in the future.

• Employee morale and motivation will skyrocket. If employees have the authority to make decisions, or at least be an active part of the decision-making process, they’ll feel like they make a difference, which is directly related to their levels of motivation and overall job satisfaction.

• It frees up YOUR time to focus on future-oriented initiatives. Empowering your employees to make business decisions eliminates the need to micromanage. If you trust that your employees are capable of making good decisions about various aspects of your firm’s operations and systems, then you can take on those higher-level initiatives you just haven’t been able to find the time for…

Convincing law firm leaders to get their firm’s employees more involved in decision-making processes shouldn’t be that hard of a sell—the benefits are powerful, as you can clearly see. However, the actual process of stepping out of your leadership vacuum and into a more collaborative role isn’t always easy. Ease into the transition by implementing these three tactics:

1. Assemble committees of action teams to brainstorm solutions for specific problems.

2. Send out a survey and allow employees to vote on decisions that could impact the firm as a whole.

3. Make sure there are clear channels through which employees can provide feedback to managers and leaders. Informal face-to-face interactions (i.e. water cooler chats), or even a suggestion box will do the trick.

Law firm leadership development programs, like our Team Empowerment Academy, can add another dimension to your efforts to get your team members more involved in making decisions for your firm. Our Team Empowerment Academy equips law firm leaders and their teams with the tools and techniques they need to take tasks off their attorney’s plates and make decisions that benefit their firms. After just 8-weeks, your firm can expect real, measurable results. Your people are your greatest asset, and our program helps them become more resourceful, more efficient and more profitable.

Ready to Start Engaging Your Employees?

Send an email to [email protected] about the challenges you’re facing at your firm, and we’ll contact you to schedule a free discovery session to brainstorm solutions. Not quite ready to chat? Take advantage of the offer to download our best-selling book, Intrapreneurs in an Entrepreneur’s World: How to Empower Your Employees to Step Up and Lead…completely free!

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“That’s Not How We Really Do It At This Law Firm” and Other Responses That Are Holding Your Team Members Back

don't hold team members backWe get called in to help law firms when what they’re doing isn’t working. And even though we are hired as consultants because we have an impressive track record of success helping firms advance their leaders and develop their teams, we still hear this response more often than you might think: well, that’s not really how we do it at this law firm.

Just last week, after our Team Empowerment Academy Masterclass, I received a phone call from a Client Relations Coordinator who is enrolled in the program.

“Molly, when you were talking about how other firms have their CRC coming in at the end of the client meeting and playing the role of Julie McCoy (yes, I’ve dated myself)—getting the signed engagement agreement, and scheduling the next appointments through delivery—my attorney says that’s not how we do it here. I don’t know how change his mind. Can you please help me? We barely made payroll last week, and I heard him tell a prospective client to go home and think about it…to get back to us when they’re ready to get started on their planning!”

“I know its not my job to worry about money, but I am!”

The first thing that went through my head when I heard this was: if what you were doing there was working, your attorney certainly wouldn’t have called us in the first place. And your attorney definitely wouldn’t be writing a check for you to be in this program!

But my response was this: “Yes. It is your job to be aware of—but not to worry about—money, clients and processes…especially if you want part of the incentive-based compensation model we set up for your firm this year. Time, place, and delivery are everything. I know you were excited about the idea, but sharing it with him between back-to-back meetings—when he is already running 30-minutes behind for the day and has to be out the door at 5PM sharp to get the kids because his wife is out of town—probably wasn’t the best time to present the idea of revamping a process he has followed for the past 9 years. His response was most likely out of habit, as he wasn’t clear that you were presenting an idea that has proven successful for 1,400+ other law firms across the country. Don’t take it as a hard “no.” Lets talk about how to present your attorney with these suggested process refinements.”

And here is my message to attorneys: when your team comes to you with suggestions for refinements or improvements to your systems, you may want to say, “I am impressed by your enthusiasm and vested interest in improving our practice. Can you please put that topic on the agenda for our weekly stakeholders meeting on X-date, and type up your proposed solutions and bring a copy to the meeting? I am more of a visual learner.”

When an employee hears, “that’s not how we do it at this law firm,” they actually hear, “I’m the boss, leave the idea generating to me.” This sends a subconscious message to your employee to show up and do what is asked of them…and nothing more. But you NEED your team members to WANT to go above and beyond, and you need to trust that, given the freedom to make business decisions, they will make GREAT decisions that advance your firm. But if they feel like their ideas are shut down before they’re even heard or considered, they will lose the drive to take initiative. And, trust us, you don’t want that!

If you’re stumped and not sure how to empower your team to step up and bring their valuable ideas and system refinements to you, please take advantage of the opportunity to schedule a complimentary Law Firm Discovery Session. Over a 30-minute call, we’ll discuss your challenges and brainstorm solutions to help your law firm overcome these obstacles and get on the path towards growth and sustainable success. Click the button below to schedule your Law Firm Discovery Session today.

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If Bosses & Employees Both Know That the Boss Doesn’t Have ALL the Answers, Then Why Do We Keep Continuing On As If They Do?

bosses don't have all the answersIt probably won’t come as a surprise that bosses don’t have all the answers. If you’re a boss, you’re probably nodding your head, thinking, No kidding, that’s why I keep asking for help! And if you’re an employee, you’re also nodding your head, thinking, No kidding, that’s why I keep offering to help.

But if leaders and employees both know that the boss doesn’t have all the answers, then why do we keep continuing on as if they do?

I can remember, like yesterday, when our business was starting to grow, and I recognized that some of workflow processes just weren’t working. Not only were they not working, but their inefficiencies seemed to be coming to a head. I knew we could no longer tolerate these weaknesses, but somehow we kept limping along. And nothing changes if nothing changes.

A key employee emailed me about two of the most glaring issues. Without thinking too much about it, I responded with a series of suggestions about how we could resolve the issues. I didn’t suggest any follow-up actions, or concrete plans about how to implement my suggestions, so it’s no surprise that, two days later, I got frustrated with the lack of resolution and started to type up the usual “boss email.” You know the one: overflowing with frustration and rambling on about all of the things “we” need to fix. No clear directions or solutions, just verbal vomit.

It struck me sometime around midnight, as I was typing up bullet point #23, that the email, well, it was completely pointless. I paused for a minute and tried to sit in her seat. I realized I was trying to have a strategy meeting via email, addressing issues that she had been trying to bring to my attention for months. Sending this email would only add to her already growing list of “still no answers,” and the truth of the matter was that I didn’t have all the answers. I needed input from her and the rest of my team about how to actually fix these issues. I need KPI’s, cost analyses, and input from our outsourced vendors. Sending a hastily-written email in the middle of the night would only exacerbate the issues we were struggling with. It would leave my key employee feeling as though she needed to respond to all 23 of my bullet points, while leaving my entire team concerned that their leader was burning out, preparing to shut the business down, wanting to fire people, etc. That’s the dark place employees go to when the leader is not leading.

In that moment I realized that bosses do this…a lot. We feel the need to respond immediately to every problem: client complaints, process issues, cash flow issues and employee frustrations. The problem is that, when we jump the gun and respond without stopping to think, we forget to include important information, such as a plan for follow-up, a road map for implementation, or how to gauge the effectiveness of our suggestions in the long-term. And forgetting this information just makes us look flaky and inconsistent to our team. And honestly, email communication ping pong is not an effective platform from which to master your next moves.

How many times have you had to send a follow-up email to that big, long, hasty, frustrated “boss email?” It usually starts something like, “You know, I thought more about this and…”

I know I’ve sent quite a few of those emails.

What if instead of shooting off shotgun suggestions to solve complex operational problems we learned to step back and respond with, “I need to think about this. Let me get back to you tomorrow with some thoughts, add it to our daily huddle list.” Let’s learn to acknowledge a problem, and let our team members know that finding a solution is a priority…without making shoot-from-the-hip suggestions that don’t actually solve anything in the long run. Let’s start having well-prepared, thought-out discussions about how to fix our problems, get feedback from relevant team members, and make an informed decision that comes complete with an action plan with deadlines and accountability.

If you aren’t sure how to lead a conversation like this, about improving inefficient processes—or creating new processes—at your firm, download our e-book, “Intrapreneurs in an Entrepreneur’s World: How to Empower Your Employees to Step Up and Lead!” You’ll learn how to effectively connect and communicate with your team members in a way that not only leads to effective problem-solving for your firm or business, but that also drives employee retention and loyalty!

 

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What Kind of Leader Are You? And What Does That Mean for Your Firm and Team Members?

what's your leadership styleNo two leaders are the same. Two leaders can be equally amazing, even though they have completely different sets of personality traits and professional talents. In fact, being an amazing leader isn’t derived from personality traits or professional talents (though those things, of course, are important). Being an amazing leader is all about understanding your personality traits and professional talents, and how they compliment and support those of your team members.

So, what’s your leadership style? The success of your firm or business depends on your ability to lead your team…so…what it is? Are you bossy and autocratic? Are you a visionary? Ask yourself these questions to find out:

What are your core values?
What are the values that you live and die by? That drive your every decision? Respect, integrity, authenticity, courage, service, humbly, wisdom. Those with deep-seated core values make better leaders. Determining what your core values are will help you weigh your options and make better decisions…especially when it comes to human resources and hiring.

What is your personality type?
There is no right or wrong personality type for leadership. Introvert or extrovert, disciplined or action-oriented, your personality is a huge part of your leadership style, and understanding your personality will help you build a team that will either support or compliment the types of leadership efforts you put in.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Assessing your strengths and weaknesses will help you recognize (and ultimately achieve) your full potential as a leader. Consider the wins and losses of your past. Now, consider your present-day wins and losses. What has changed? Where can you deduce patterns? What kind of person do you need on your team to fill in the gaps where you are weak?

What do your team members say about you?
Ask your team members how you’re doing as a leader—what your strengths are, and how they would characterize your style. Ask them what you can do to improve. Sometimes we are so blind to our own areas of strength and weakness that we need other people to point it out for us…constructively, of course.

Once you’ve answered these questions for yourself, you’ll have a better sense of what category of leader you fall into. There are so many different leadership styles, but these three tend to cover most of the bases:

1. Autocratic. You’re maybe a bit bossy, and like having total control of your team. Your employees aren’t expected to have ideas or opinions—they’re just supposed to execute on demand.

2. Visionary. You’ve got a vision, and know how to pull your team together to achieve it. Visionary leaders are great at fostering employee loyalty, and encouraging employees to achieve a goal via their own path.

3. Democratic. Democratic leaders are sometimes uncertain, which leads them to rely on the input of their team members for fresh ideas and initiatives. The democratic leader is in the trenches with his team, though he or she makes any final decisions.

Each leadership style has its pros and cons, but there are famous leaders in each category. Steve Jobs was known for being bossy, while Larry Page has honed a more democratic leadership style, and Nelson Mandela is the prime example of an effective visionary leader.

Once you understand your leadership style…then what? Apply what you now understand about yourself to your firm’s hiring, training and development practices. At Hiring & Empowering, we’re huge advocates for using the Kolbe Personality Test to help leaders and team members understand each other, communicate more effectively, and leverage each others strengths for the benefit of the firm as a whole. At the end of the day, the big takeaway here is that leadership style matters…and the success of your firm or business depends on your ability to leverage it.

Schedule a Free 30-Minute Discovery Session

If you’re unsure about your leadership style and think that some of the problems at your firm could be addressed if only you had a better understand of your own personality or your team members’ personalities, then click the button below to schedule a free 30-minute discovery session with our co-founder, Molly Hall. You’ll have the chance to explain the pains your firm is feeling, and she’ll have the chance to suggest some solutions.

schedule a discovery session