Let’s talk a minute about the roles of law firm leadership and management.
Managers are essential to the smooth operation of your law firm. Every firm needs a good Manager. The Manager is the one who keeps things from going haywire, prevents chaos, establishes (or restores) order, and makes sure the work gets done on time. We love managers!
But understand this – Managers are not Leaders. They are, in fact, the Anti-Leaders.
Leaders disrupt things. They throw schedules out the window, they juggle appointments, miss deadlines, create chaos, destroy order and can bring everything to a standstill. For these reasons, we sometimes hate leaders (especially if we are managers!).
Managers secure today. Leaders seize tomorrow.
Leadership is about having the courage to throw out the run-down, create chaos and destroy order – but not just to mess with their Managers. They do these things to move the organization forward.
Which are you? Manager or Leader?
Chances are, you’re a little of both. Sometimes you’re the Manager, sometimes the Leader. And that’s okay, as long as you tap into the right role at the right times.
Think of your law firm like a fertile field of grass. The Manager is all about eliminating weeds, testing the soil, balancing the pH, and mowing. Lots of mowing. Keeping that field a smooth, plush carpet of green.
Which is great, if you want a field of grass.
But if you want anything else – whether it’s to subdivide that field for a housing development, turn it into a major league baseball stadium, or just plant some row crops to generate cash – somebody has to have the courage to tear up the grass.
And the Manager is not going to like it!
If you’re leading your law firm, you’re going to get push-back, especially from some of your most-trusted Managers. That’s just how it works.
Great leaders have great vision, articulate it clearly, establish a sense of urgency, and build strong coalitions to support change.
It’s a misnomer to talk about change management. Management stops change.
We need to talk about change leadership. Leadership produces change.
Your Market Has Changed
Your law firm has to change … or suffer a slow demise.
Everything about your market is changing, it’s as if the ground is moving under your feet. We are talking about cultural changes, behavioral changes, and massive, disruptive technology changes.
How you respond to these changes determines your fate.
Are you ready for automated client intake? Are you ready for clients whose first interaction with your firm is through social media or a Google search? What about your sales process? Are you really thinking you can just keep pulling out the same old dog and pony show for your new, digital prospects?
Do Something Different
Attending The Summit is the single most important thing you can do right now to lead your law firm forward. This is not your typical boot-camp workshop, teaching you the tried-and-true systems and processes that worked back in the 1990s.
This is fresh. Innovative. Different. Challenging.
And I know you have to re-arrange your schedule to attend. You may have to cancel something else, you may have to postpone a meeting or a deadline.
And the Manager in you (or your law firm) won’t like it.
Now is the Time for a Leader
So – what are you going to do?
The same old thing? Maintain order and keep mowing your field?
CRM is more than a software package. It’s a mindset and a collaborative effort that spans the entire organization…Making CRM work requires a culture that supports it. – Lars Helgeson, Greenrope founder & CEO, in his recent book, CRM for Dummies
Estate and elder law firms thrive on marketing – few other practice areas rely so heavily on the steady influx of new clients. So if you’re flying blind in your marketing you’re at risk of lost opportunities, squandered budgets, and savvy competitors.
CRM – Contact Relationship Management – helps manage those risks. Your marketing CRM not only gives you fingertip access to your marketing’s vital statistics, it can deliver those reports automatically to your email inbox on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
You can learn a lot from understanding what people do on your website. With CRM-based web analytics, you can learn about key elements of your marketing strategies and how they’re performing:
Where your best leads come from
What your leads and clients care most about
What strategies and tactics work best to get leads to engage and convert (become new clients)
Two of the most common metrics to track are Unique Visitors and Page Views. The Unique Visitors metric tracks the number of specific individuals who are on your website in a 24-hour period. The Page Views metric shows the total number of individual pages visited by all of your website users. If you have integrated the E2 marketing CRM with your Essential Solution marketing, you’ll also be able to track these metrics by Known Contacts – which simply means you can see WHO is visiting your website, and what pages they visit.
How might you use these metrics?
Let’s take the simple example of a website form submission.
Sally Smith submits a form requesting a consultation. Sally’s information is automatically entered into your CRM and you are notified by email. If you’re using our automated client intake process (CLIP), Sally may have already completed your intake forms and schedule her initial appointment.
As you prepare to meet her, you log into your CRM to learn more about Sally. Clicking into her contact record you see that she was on the NAELA.org website right before she came to yours. That’s interesting because Sally is only 47 years old. Why was she looking into elder law? Is she concerned about an elderly parent? That would be good information to know, right?
Key Insight: You might think about when you last reviewed and updated your profile in the NAELA directory. How old is that photo, anyway? Could you expand a little more about what makes your practice unique … maybe something a bit more inviting than “I focus my practice on the field of elder law” (don’t laugh, this was taken from an actual NAELA member profile!).
What pages did Sally visit while on your website? Oh, she spent about five minutes on the Special Needs page? She watched your Special Needs Video and downloaded your “Planning for a Special Needs family member” ebook? So, maybe it’s not an elderly parent Sally is worried about, but her adult Special Needs child.
When I recently showed these insights to an Essentials client, he was astounded and said, “Well, that would have been good to know! If I’d known that beforehand, I could have been so much better prepared!”
This is just one small example of how a marketing CRM helps you build stronger relationships, give better service to your clients, and boost revenue.
The Summit Day Two: CRM Marketing Insights
Learn more on Day Two of The Summit during my session, CRM Marketing Insights. Your clients are the lifeblood of your firm; you need to reach them, engage them, and retain them—without wasting precious time or money. CRM brings sales, marketing, and operations together to work toward that common goal, and gives you the tools and techniques that make your efforts more effective. An integrated CRM solution helps optimize leads and conduct effective marketing, streamlines processes, introduces automation where possible, and employs analytics so you know what’s working … and what’s not.
During this session, we’ll blow through common limiting beliefs like:
I don’t need marketing insights.
I don’t have time to learn a CRM.
I already know everything about my clients, prospects and referral sources.
We are pleased to welcome Don Campbell, CEO and co-Founder of GetFiveStars As a Guest Speaker at The Summit
We recently partnered with GetFiveStars to give our clients one of the industry’s most powerful online review management systems. Working together, we have integrated the GetFiveStars system with our Essential Solution online marketing and E2 marketing CRM, providing a seamless, automated review management experience.
The Angst of Online Reviews
It seems nothing creates more angst among lawyers than the whole concept of online reviews (except possibly social media)!
I understand why you cringe at the idea: there’s a loss of control that is particularly disturbing to the legal personality. Who knows what crackpots will go online and say bad things about you? Yeah, that’s about it in a nutshell, right?
Many attorneys try a work-around: they ask clients to write reviews or testimonials, sift through the ones they like, and post those on their website without identifying attribution.
It looks something like this:
“We thought attorney Smith was outstanding. He listened to us, wrote up our plan just as we wanted, and then took the time to explain it to us. We both feel very comfortable with the work he did and would recommend him to anyone.” – A.B., Portsmouth
The problem is that review has no worth. None. Whatsoever. It carries no credibility with consumers or Google, it doesn't improve marketing performance, boost SEO, or help convert more website visitors into new clients. If anything, it makes people wonder whether you made it all up!
Ignoring the whole concept of online reviews (real reviews submitted by real people without any editing or control from you) is even worse.
The Importance of Online Lawyer Reviews
When searching for a lawyer, almost everybody seeks out your online reviews, often before they even visit your website.
According to a recent study by ReviewTrackers.com, 83 percent of people check online reviews as a first step to finding a lawyer.
Yeah, that’s like almost everybody!
And for those of you who are trying to reach beyond your hyper-local market to surrounding communities, this same study found that 70% of clients are willing to go to an attorney’s office in a less convenient location if that attorney has better reviews and higher ratings than legal professionals who are closer to home.
Seamless, Automatic and A Lot Less Scary
When integrated with your Essential Solution marketing and E2 CRM, GetFiveStars is a seamless, automated system for managing your online reviews. That’s right, we know you need online reviews, and we know you hate losing control. By partnering with GetFiveStars, we meet your need for feedback and online reviews, while reducing your risks and giving you back a level of control that will make the whole process much more comfortable.
Join us at The Summit for this special session. Meet and learn from the industry expert, ask your questions face-to-face and get a handle on this vital aspect of our digital marketing.
About GetFiveStars
GetFiveStars.com is designed to let a small business easily implement a customer feedback/review management process based on tried and true best practices. The system automatically solicits and tracks feedback, prevents bad reviews, pushes testimonials out to the business website and encourages happy customers to leave reviews across the Internet.
About Don Campbell
Don is President and Co-Founder of GetFiveStars. Ever since getting his first computer as a kid, Don has been fascinated with software. He loves to create great software and user experiences, which led him to create his own software company called Expand2Web, and then co-found GetFiveStars.
Prior to founding Expand2Web in January 2008, Don was a Technology Evangelist for Microsoft, where he helped partners adopt new Microsoft technologies and presented to C-Level executives at Fortune 500 companies.
Don was also a Group Program Manager at Interwoven, where he built a $5M product line and was a key early employee. Interwoven grew to 1,000 employees and went IPO in 2000.
Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 12 for a Sneak Peek Preview of The Summit 2017.
You've been reading about it online. You probably got an invitation in the mail and thought, "This looks interesting."
But you still want to know, "What's in it for me?"
Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 12 for a free live webinar, Sneak Peek Preview of The Summit 2017.
Your BONUS OFFER: Every registered attendee gets a free Marketing Self-Audit worksheet.
This is the same worksheet we use to perform marketing audits for our consulting clients (including some of the biggest names in the industry!). This simple audit will get you thinking about your marketing, give you a better handle on your performance against benchmark standards, and clearly show the high-impact opportunities you're probably missing.
For starters, ask yourself these simple questions:
What if you truly mastered marketing and sales?
What if everything really worked and you could build your dream practice?
This is what The Summit 2017 is all about: Challenging and empowering you to achieve your dreams.
The webinar is free. The Self-Audit Worksheet is free. Find out whether The Summit 2017 is your next step toward achieving more than you imagined!
Register Now for Sneak Peek Preview of The Summit 2017
Labor Day Monday at 9:42 p.m. Saturday, Labor Day Weekend, at 6:06 a.m. Friday, Labor Day Weekend at 10:57 p.m.
What do all of those dates and times have in common? Those are all dates and times when your law office was probably closed. No one answering the phone, no one greeting people at the door.
Avoid common mistakes that can offend and turn new clients away.
But they have a different common thread for our client, Frank. These are all dates and times when new prospects visited Frank’s website, requested a new client consultation, and submitted their confidential client questionnaire online.* This morning, when his staff arrived, they found each new client’s information already entered into the firm’s CRM, and a file copy ready to download and print. Frank also had email notifications letting him know that three new clients are ready for their initial consultations. Not only that, but he has the key information he needs for a meaningful consultation focused on meeting client needs, not data collection.
This is the power of the automated client intake process we developed and integrated with your E2 marketing CRM. Optional Zapier integration also can automate scheduling and even push information from your intake form into any one of more than 500 Zapier-supported apps (read more about Zapier automation at The Lawyerist.)
Don't Make Them Wait
It’s a fact of our new technology-driven world that your website visitors do not want to wait for a call-back after visiting your site. They are needs-driven to conduct an online search, and when they find the lawyer who meets their needs, they move quickly and on their own schedule. We find that nearly 85 percent of consultation requests and intake form submissions occur after regular office hours – when there is no one in your office to take or return a phone call.
What if this were your law firm?
What if you and your staff returned from a long weekend to find three new clients from your website? What if your staff were not burdened with assembling and mailing out intake forms that would take days to arrive? What if you could see those new clients this week and be fully prepared for a meaningful – even powerful – first meeting? What if you could see them quickly, while getting their planning done is still a high priority … instead of waiting two or three weeks and playing telephone-tag with someone whose busy life has already taken off in other directions?
What if more of your website visitors became new clients? Prospects who request a consultation and then go on to complete your intake process are highly likely to become new clients. They are already invested in the process and they chose to make that investment with you.
The Summit
Learn the do’s and don’ts of automating your client intake process and see how the process works to save time, boost web-lead conversions, and better serve clients. On Day Two of The Summit you’ll hear from real people who use the program in real life, including one staff member who was initially skeptical but is now a raving fan. Discover how to avoid common mistakes that can offend and even turn prospects away, as well as the best practices that will delight both your new clients and your staff!
Depending on your state, this session may qualify for CLE.
Hurry to Register Now. Early registration discounts expire Sept. 15th and discounted lodging at Cheyenne Mountain Resort is filling up fast.
The Summit 2017 October 18-20 | Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mountain Resort & Legacy Ranch
Unlike any other legal learning event, Day One of The Summit starts with Horse Work at the Ranch. We thought you might have some questions about the How and Why of Horse Work, so we’ve asked Ginny Telego, Master Trainer and past President of the Equine Experiential Education Association (E3A) to share some of her expert insight.
Ginny Telego is a Master Trainer and past President of the Equine Experiential Education Association.
IMS: Ginny, we have two E3A certified practitioners on our staff – both our CEO Jennifer Goddard and Account Manager Dana Alley will be facilitating the Horse Work for our clients. Could you explain a bit about the E3A learning model?
GINNY: Sure! The first thing to understand is that, while equine-assisted work is great for therapy, this is not a therapy-based model. In psychotherapy, people are encouraged to look at what has happened to them and learn ways to manage or live with their diagnosis. The horses are great partners in this work, and equine-assisted psychotherapy is a well-documented field.
But what we’re doing at E3A is different. Our approach is based on adult learning theory and experiential education. We are more about the here-and-now: What are you doing right now? Where do you want to go? What do you need to do differently to get there?
For example, in a therapy-based session, the facilitator might ask, “How did that make you feel?” In an educational session, the facilitator’s question will be more like, “Why do you think this is happening?”
E3A practitioners learn a facilitation model that progresses from experience, to reflection, and finally to integration. This is the strongest adult learning model, cementing learning and driving real change.
How does this work in a business setting for entrepreneurs, executives or professionals?
Well, it’s really powerful. First, it gets people out of the office and the conference room and into a setting that is more open, more conducive to free-flowing conversation and creative thinking. This immediately creates an opportunity for participants to be open to learning. They kind of let go of some the pretenses we all carry that often keep us from learning.
For some people, this can initially be off-putting. We are used to being able to protect ourselves in situations with other people, and we protect ourselves from really looking at ourselves. We are all pretty good at controlling the way other people see us. But with horses – they see through all of that immediately. Their feedback is so pure and so honest … with the horses, people have the chance to really learn about themselves, how they lead, how they show up to others.
Can you give us an example?
Sure, take just one simple activity – people and horses are in an arena and the goal is to get the horse to move from one spot to another. People will try everything they “know” to make this happen, with varying results. Sometimes the horse won’t move at all, or it may move away from them. When this happens, the horse is telling you that he doesn’t know what you want. In human terms, he’s saying, “You are not communicating with me in a clear manner. I just don’t get your Vision for this activity.”
Now, when we debrief this activity, we get feedback from the participants about why they think this happened. And, as the interaction and discussion develops, you can see a lot of what’s going on with the person or the team: how they lead, how they communicate, how they interact. People share way more when we are focused on what happened with the horses, they are very open. Then, someone will inevitably say, “Oh man, that happens to me at the office all the time. I have this vision, but I’m not communicating it to my clients, or my team, or whatever.” They make the connections very quickly and naturally – somehow the Horse Work just gets them to let down their defenses and become very open to learning.
As a facilitator, our next job is to take it one step further to integration and action. We’re going to ask and challenge participants to use this discovery. We’re going to say something like, “Now that you have this information, what are you going to do differently? How will you use this to achieve a different outcome?” We’re going to push them to make a specific action plan.
Depending on how much time we have, we may ask them to go try that activity again and see if they can get a different result. When we have that kind of time, the learning is profound.
So, Ginny, how does this compare to what might happen in a lecture-setting?
Well, first, if you just try to tell people what to think or do, they will put up their defenses and rationalize their thoughts. It’s very hard to effect change through a lecture setting. Research shows that people overwhelmingly go back to what they have always done – they either dismiss the new information, forget what they’ve “learned,” or they rationalize it away.
With Horse Work, they really see – they know on an almost visceral level – they will have to do something different to get a different result. They have such a powerful Aha! Moment that they truly understand. And they go back and do things differently in their business. It’s amazing and so satisfying to witness.
Some people may be concerned because they have never been around horses, or feel they don’t know anything about horses. What would you say to them?
When someone tells me they don’t know anything about horses, I say “AWESOME! You don’t have to know anything about horses to do this!” In fact, part of what they may learn is that they need to let go of their preconceived ideas about how horses (or people) think, feel or react. I’ll have clients who say, “Well, I thought the horse would do this, and so I needed to do that.” And when it didn’t work out that way, I’ll ask, “Where else does this happen?”
Sometimes it’s our preconceptions that are the real obstacles in business growth. Through the Horse Work, we allow ourselves to think differently.
Ginny, when you saw the agenda for The Summit, you told us you were really excited about the work we are doing at the Ranch. Can you share with us what it is about The Summit that is so exciting to you, as a Master Trainer and long-term practitioner in this area of adult learning?
Oh well, yes. I just really connected with your theme of trampling limiting beliefs. When I read some of the beliefs you list as examples – especially that one, “I just need to be more efficient,” I knew you were going to have a great event. I wonder how much energy people put into trying to be more efficient, thinking it’s a lack of efficiency that’s holding them back when that energy really needs to be directed somewhere else. My observation is that it’s seldom (if ever) inefficiency that stops business growth. That’s kind of like the married couple fighting over the salt shaker – it’s never about the salt!
I’m so excited for you guys and what you’ve got going there at Legacy Ranch. You’re giving people a great opportunity to learn and grow. Number one, it’s fun. Who wouldn’t want to go work with horses in Colorado? I mean, that’s great. And it will really help people open up their minds to the possibilities ahead of them.
October 18-20 | Colorado Springs | Cheyenne Mountain Resort & Legacy Ranch Early registrations save $200 before Sept. 15th.
Ginny Telego is past president of the Board of Directors of the Equine Experiential Education Association (E3A), an international professional membership organization offering training, certification, business development and resources for the implementation of Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) programs by educators, coaches, professional development trainers and other facilitators. She is both a Certified Advanced Practitioner and Master Trainer for E3A and has traveled nationally and internationally to facilitate equine assisted leadership development as well as to train and certify new E3A practitioners. She has a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management and is President and founder of Wager’s Way, LLC, an equine experiential education business offering a variety of programs dedicated to helping people improve both their personal and professional lives by working with horses.
