Law Practice Tips Archive: 201 – 250

Gain Your Potential Clients’ Trust By Listening to Them

When interviewing a potential client, it’s important to fully listen without interrupting their answers to your questions. Don’t assume you know the answer and start to answer for the client. Be patient. Wait for their answers. Suspend your judgments or opinions until you’ve heard all the facts and information you need. Say things like "tell me more about that."

If you truly listen to your client or potential client, they will feel heard and understood and will think you are a good lawyer. And you’ll have more of the facts and information you need to make a better decision about how to handle their matter. A win/win.

What do you want to change about your client interviewing?

Use a client screening checklist to evaluate a potential client^*

In order to avoid working with a high risk or difficult client, one that might accuse you of malpractice, it’s important to first, know what to watch out for, and second, not agree to work with such a client. This is particularly important in a tough economy.

Your Pre-engagement screening list should include determination of the following:

• Is this potential client changing lawyers? If they are, why are they? How did they handle the termination of the engagement with the last lawyer? What is the status of their account? How do they describe the lawyer they are no longer working with?
• How many disputes has this potential client been involved in?
• Have they had disputes with previous lawyers?
• What are their expectations from your representation and can you satisfy them? Are they being unrealistic and or unreasonable? Is the potential client willing to listen and follow your advice? Are you able to reduce their expectations to reasonable bounds?
• Do they want to run the matter based on what they think the law is or should be, or what their friends or relatives think should happen?
• Find out how important this matter really is and whether they are really willing to spend the kind of money it will take for the representation they say they want. What is the client’s ability to pay?
• Requesting an advance fee deposit and the client’s willingness to pay it gives you good information about the client.
• What is your gut telling you?

What do you what to change about your screening process?

^*No matter how bad the economy is, you are better off going to the beach than working with a client who doesn’t pay, drives you crazy, or might sue you.

When asking your clients questions, take time to listen to their answers.

When communicating with your clients, you might think it best to efficiently go through your list of questions. The problem with this style is that it might lead the client to feel you aren't listening to them. If you're trying to instill trust in a potential or existing client, you may lose their trust if they don't feel listened to or understood.

Before my coaching training, I use to think my numerous "why" questions showed people that I was interested. Unfortunately, I didn't always get the result I was hoping for; people weren't feeling listened to because I wasn't giving them a chance to finish answering one question before I thought of another one.

In order to have someone feel understood, it's important to ask your question and then:

• Not interrupt. (Helping them bottom line their answer is not the same as interrupting.)
• Not be thinking about the next question while they're answering the question.
• Wait until they've finished answering before determining the next question.

What do you want to change about your communication style when asking questions?

Say Thank you with Significance

Send a handwritten thank-you note to your referral source or anyone that deserves your appreciation. A handwritten note has always had a positive impact, but it has even more impact today with the dominant use of email to communicate. It feels more significant – you took time to choose the card, write the note, get a stamp, and get it to the post office.

What would it take for you to make a policy of sending handwritten thank-you notes?

Solidify relationships by personally delivering a thoughtful gift

What if during this lull in your practice you were to go to your best clients’ places of business drop off a basket of fresh fruit from the local farmer’s market and chat, just to connect? Even if it doesn’t lead to immediate work it will help solidify your relationship and will likely lead to future work.

To whom do you want to make a personal delivery of a gift? It could be a cup of coffee, fruit, flowers, a book, homemade cookies . . .

If writing the perfect email is taking you too long (especially if you won't bill your client for it), make a phone call instead.

Email is faster and easier in many respects, but sometimes we spend too long crafting an email because the tone has to be just right. It's much easier to say things just right - meaning you spend less time. In addition, you connect with the other party on a more meaningful level by phone. If you spend less time and actually do a better job at conveying the message you are providing your client with greater value for your services.

Should you be using the phone more?

You’re client’s problem is not your problem.

Keep your stress down by remembering that your client's problem is not your problem. Separate acting in the best interests of the client from taking on the issue as if it were your own. In addition, don't take things personally: don't let the parties' anger or frustration influence your decision making.

What do you need to do to remind yourself to separate yourself from your clients' problems?

Make the quality of your professional services exceptional, unquestionable, and valuable.

Keep the quality of your services high during this tough economy by making sure you don't take on more than you can handle. Continue to update your legal skills and seek training for any new areas of law that you are venturing into. Manage your client's expectations about your services. Be upfront and reasonable about your fees.

What do you need to achieve the delivery of exceptional services to your clients?

Monitor your account receivable systems to keep informed

Have systems in place that keep you informed of who, when, why, and how much your clients owe you. Use your system to monitor when to stop working for clients who aren't keeping their accounts current or topping up their ever-green accounts, and when to have frank discussions regarding payment with your clients.

What do you need to change about monitoring your accounts receivables?

Take your vacation worry free.

Don't let these economic times worry you into not taking your vacation, or taking a vacation that's not really a vacation – meaning you stay connected to the office the whole time you're gone. If you're organized, have proper back up, and have educated your clients, it's truly possible to take worry free time off from your practice.

If things are slow in the office, that just makes it easier to take the time off. Anything new will wait until you get back. If it's an emergency, someone else can take the matter. If you don't have the confidence in your abilities to give yourself a needed break (and everyone needs breaks), then do something about improving your confidence in your abilities. That's where your efforts need to placed rather than being on call 24/7.

What do you need to do to take a completely worry free vacation or break from your practice?

Follow up personally and promptly on overdue accounts.

Deal with any problems early by talking with your client yourself. Don't let your receivables get over 45 days old without taking action. If you don't treat the non-payment of your bill as important, the clients may not treat paying you as important. Personal contact also is a good opportunity to find out why the account is overdue and what the client thinks of your work.

What will help you make calls on your overdue accounts?

For more pointers on achieving a 100% collection rate read my article published in the May 2009 Bar Bulletin.

If you would like coaching on this area of your law practice, please consider contacting me to see how I can assist you.

Maintain "ever-green" trust accounts.

Send an invoice or a reminder to have your clients replenish their trust accounts, to make sure they don't dip below your threshold amount while you are representing them. Have systems in place to help you identify when you might need to increase the amount. This ensures that there will always be funds available to pay for ongoing work.

What do you need to do to set up "ever-green" accounts?

If you would like coaching on this area of your law practice, please consider contacting me to see how I can assist you.

Take a General Counsel Perspective with your Clients

Since your clients don't always know what they need to protect themselves, you need to know what they need. To be of the greatest use to your clients you need to be able to answer questions like:

What does my client need that they don't know they need?
What keeps my clients up at night?
What's important to my client?

Knowing the answers to this kind of question will help you be a general counsel thinker for your clients. This means being proactive, strategic, and thinking big-picture about your client's difficulties and challenges.

The general counsel perspective will make you the most valuable to them and keep you busy in these tough times.

What do you need to do to take a greater general counsel perspective with your clients?

If you would like coaching on this area of your law practice, please consider contacting me to see how I can assist you.

Get testimonials from clients by asking questions

Rather than asking a client to write you a testimonial, first ask them if they are willing to give you a testimonial. When they say yes, use their answers to questions like those below to write the testimonial yourself using their words:

If a friend or business associate said they were looking for a __________(insert the kind of attorney you are) attorney, what would you tell them about me if you wanted to recommend me?

What do you value about my services?

What do you think about the results we achieved on ___________(insert something that you know the client was very happy about)?

How would you use testimonials in your practice?

If you would like coaching on this area of your law practice, please consider contacting me to see how I can assist you.