Integrity Marketing

Southern California Tax & Esate Planning Forum

Another brief break from blogging while Kyle and I travel to San Diego today to speak on Friday at the Southern California Tax & Estate Planning Forum.

We will be presenting the results of our 2005 Estate Planning Practice Strategies Survey, conducted online during the month of August. Watch this blog next week for a download link to view our presentation online.

Building Profitable Referrals

As many of you now know, we have launched the first in our series of Plan on Prosperity online workshops, bringing professional marketing training directly to you.

The first course, Building Profitable Referral Relationships,  is delivered in ten sessions and designed to help you identify, establish and nurture relationships with key referral sources that will result in a lifetime stream of qualified referrals -- no matter what happens to the federal estate tax.

While I normally would start a marketing education program by focusing on the fundamentals of developing a strategic marketing plan, we chose to begin with this topic because we felt a sense of urgency among estate planners in terms of re-invigorating their referral base.

Respondents to our 2005 Practice Strategy Survey listed "loss of referrals" among their top concerns for the survival of their estate planning practice in a post-tax environment.

Other threats cited by respondents also relate to the need to build alliance relationships with well-informed, well-educated allied professionals, such as a "loss of client motivation" and "pressure to lower fees." Developing strong referral relationships with allied professionals who "get it" is a first-line-of-defense against these types of threats.

Here is a listing, with explanation, of each of the ten topics covered in Building Profitable Referrals:

Ten online tutorials,  plus worksheets and checklists on the following topics:

1. Why Referral-Based Marketing?
   Learn why it's worth the effort to build referral relationships with a wide variety of allied professionals -- and take a look at a mature practice built WITHOUT  this fundamental foundation ... see what happens in the long-run.
2. Expanding Your Prospective Referral Base
   How have you built your referral base? Did you follow a systematic plan? If your efforts to build a referral base have been less than stellar in the past, it's probably because you have focused exclusively on only half of the picture. In this session we give you the tools to systematically expand your vision and include the ENTIRE universe of potential referrals. These are tools you can go back to again and again as your practice grows and develops.
3. Trend to Succeed
   Learn how to perform a trend analysis on your client database, and why you should even bother. Take the results and turn them into new referral opportunities.
4. Resources to Build Your Database
   This lesson builds on the three before it, with an abundance of resources to help you identify rich opportunities for profitable referral relationships in frequently-overlooked places.
5. Too MANY Prospects!
   How do you decide WHICH relationships to pursue, WHERE to invest your time -- and your marketing dollars? Do you just follow your instincts, grease the "squeaky wheel," or do you have a system? In this lesson you'll learn how to make these kinds of strategic choices -- again, following a systematic approach with tools you can go back to again and again. Some people say marketing is a "numbers game" and you just throw a lot of things on the wall and hope something sticks. Well, I completely disagree. Following this approach, you will have a clear guide to the PROPER allocation of your marketing resources!
6. Graduate-Level Marketing: Segmentation
   Market Segmentation -- now we are getting into some pretty high-level marketing strategy, but I know you are up to it. You probably are familiar with the concept of market segmentation --  "grouping" segments of your target market into like-kinds ... according to a segmentation strategy. Well, that is the foundation, but there is more to it. First, you must decide which "like-kinds" you are going to use to form your groups. Females? Males? College Graduates? Race or Ethnicity? Age? Net Worth? There are lots of ways to divide a group. And, once you've divided them -- what use is it? None if you do not also segment your communication strategy. In other words, once you've divided them, now you must decide HOW and WHY and toward WHAT GOAL you are now communicating ... and those decisions will impact your marketing message, and perhaps the medium. Learn how, and put your marketing into high-gear!
7. Detective Work: The Pre-Approach
   Now that you've decided WHOM to contact, HOW to contact them, and WHAT your GOALS are -- it's time for that first meeting, right?
   WRONG. There's still more homework to do if you want to raise your success rate, and maximize the returns on your marketing investments.
8. Making Initial Contact: Getting in the Door
   How to get that important first meeting that launches these key relationships.
9. What to Say, What NOT to Say
   Ever wonder what to say once you've got your foot in the door? Do you just hope things go well, or do you have a plan? As with most other aspects of life and business, the plan-idea usually works better than the "hope for the best" idea. In this session we give you a plan to guide you in what TO say ... and we tell you very clearly what NOT to say (lest you shoot yourself in the proverbial foot!) We also show you how to deal with the "elephant in the room."
10. From Relationship to ALLIANCE
    Finally, nurturing these baby relationships (or re-invigorating stagnant ones) into profitable alliance partnerships takes ongoing effort. We show you how to reap the benefit of your hard work and develop these relationships into a lifetime of qualified referrals that will fail-safe your practice against radical change -- including permanent repeal of the federal estate tax.

The total cost is only $149.

Remember, with this program you are bringing professional training into your organization - to review at your own convenience and to share with your support staff - everyone in your office can "attend" this workshop AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. You get ten full sessions of training, worksheets and checklists, delivered to your office. These are all of the basic strategies you need to quickly and affordably build a steady-stream of qualified referrals  - one of the essential steps to making your practice literally "fail-safe" and able to withstand radical change of all types - including permanent repeal of the federal estate tax.

Considering the revenue generated by just ONE quality referral source, and we are giving you strategies to develop literally HUNDREDS of top-quality referrals, this package is worth thousands of dollars in new revenue!

Isn't that worth the investment of $149?

Less than one billable hour of your time!

Of course it is. Better yet, bringing affordable training in-house, on-site, for yourself and your entire staff is your first step toward becoming a Low-Cost Provider!

Ordering is fast & easy! Click here to order now.

For more information, call us toll-free at 1-877-852-2021

Plan on Prosperity

After more than ten years of building prosperity for lawyers and law firms in more than 40 states, we are excited now to bring professional training to YOUR OFFICE with strategies to Fail-Safe your practice  - no matter what happens to the federal estate tax!

PLAN ON PROSPERITY
Estate Planning Beyond Federal Estate Taxes ... or Taxes to Ashes and Trusts to Dust?

PLAN ON PROSPERTIY is a series of timely, self-paced seminars on building a Practice Prosperity Plan - whatever the state of the estate tax.

These are challenging times. When it comes to legislation, even "permanent" does not mean "permanent." Navigating change is difficult enough - communicating it to your staff, clients and referral sources can be even harder. Our PLAN ON PROSPERITY workshop series gives you the strategies and insights you need to survive - and thrive - in this new estate-planning environment.   

We are going to share the first strategy with you now. Consider it a freebie:

• Become a Low-Cost Provider. Don't be confused. I do NOT mean Low-Price Provider. This strategy is not about pricing. It's about containing costs. The reality is that estate planning is now a mature market, and the game has changed. One key survival strategy is to slash costs while increasing value.

Challenging? Yes. Impossible? Not at all.

We are going to show you how - and the lesson starts now. Technology is your best ally in the cost-cutting battle. Sure, you could pay a few hundred dollars tuition for a marketing seminar taught by non-marketing professionals. Then, you could dip a little deeper into your pocket to travel across the country (or across the state), pay a cabbie, tip the bell hop, buy three-dollar-bottles of water from the mini-bar, rack up a hotel bill for two nights, and buy a five-dollar bowl of oatmeal accompanied by a three-dollar cup of coffee topped off with a fifteen-percent tip. Plus, you could shut down your office for two days and pay your staff to reschedule appointments - or rearrange their pencil holders - while you are gone. Then, you could go home and try to remember everything from your notes and an outline.

Or - you could hire professional marketers to bring training-on-demand into your office. View the workshop sessions at your convenience - before or after work, or even over a lunch hour.  Print out the worksheets and make copies. Share the entire seminar with your staff. Review it at your leisure - as many times as you want or need.

Spend the money on tuition only. And - here's a tip on the house - keep the change!

Session One: Building Profitable Referrals

The first module in this workshop series is delivered to you in ten online tutorials that you can view at your leisure and share with your support staff (at no extra charge!) Also included are downloadable worksheets and checklists to guide you through the implementation process. Print as many copies as you need. Even make format changes if you want to customize them for your own practice.

Building Profitable Referrals, includes ten modules of audio and video,  plus worksheets and checklists on the following topics:

1. Why Referral-Based Marketing?
2. Expanding Your Prospective Referral Base
3. Trend to Succeed
4. Resources to Build Your Database
5. Too MANY Prospects!
6. Graduate-Level Marketing: Segmentation
7. Detective Work: The Pre-Approach
8. Making Initial Contact: Getting in the Door
9. What to Say, What NOT to Say
10. From Relationship to ALLIANCE

The total cost is only $149.

Remember, with this program you are bringing professional training into your organization - to review as often as you want or need, at your own convenience, and to share with your support staff - everyone in your office can "attend" this workshop AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. You get ten full sessions of training, worksheets and checklists, delivered to your office. These are all of the basic strategies you need to quickly and affordably build a steady-stream of qualified referrals  - one of the essential steps to making your practice literally "fail-safe" and able to withstand radical change of all types - including permanent repeal of the federal estate tax.

Considering the revenue generated by just ONE quality referral source, and we are giving you strategies to develop literally HUNDREDS of top-quality referrals, this package is worth thousands of dollars in new revenue!

Isn't that worth the investment of $149?

Less than one billable hour of your time!

Of course it is. Better yet, bringing affordable training in-house, on-site, for yourself and your entire staff is your first step toward becoming a Low-Cost Provider!

Ordering is fast & easy! Click here to order now.

For more information, call us toll-free at 1-877-852-2021.

Musings After Italy

Well, I am finally back in the office and chained to my desk again (seemingly) after two weeks biking through Italy. Thank you for the many kind condolences sent our way on the loss of our dear friend Kim Miller. We all attended the visitation and funeral, said our goodbyes, cried our tears, supported each other and both mourned and celebrated a life too briefly lived.

I learned a lot from my trip. First, I cannot say it enough -- if you are "dreaming" of going somewhere or doing something, give your dreams feet and make it happen. I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to about this trip who say things like, "Oh, I wish I could go," or "I would never be able to do something like that." I remember about ten years ago when Kyle and I attended a leadership workshop and I had written down that I wanted to go to Europe, but quietly told him I did not believe I ever would. Well, as long as I believed that -- it was true. I made these plans well over a year ago, paid a modest deposit and added to it every chance I got until the whole trip, including airfare, meals, transfers and tips, was paid in advance. I traveled with a modest amount of cash, and came back with most of it.

Second -- I learned a lot about Italy, which was what I was hoping for. Bicycling through a small area (Puglia) is the BEST way to get to know people, the landscape, and experience the culture. My favorite meals were not the luscious gourmet affairs arranged by the tour company, but those that were on our own. I always chose to eat with the locals, and to eat what they ate. Consequently, the food was cheap and delicious. And the company exquisite. I have never experienced such friendly people anywhere in the States. Ridiculously friendly, really. I spoke no Italian (none that anyone could understand, anyway!), and did not have to. Between body language, French, English, and lots of good humor, we got along fine. Many Italians spoke some amount of English and we all tried hard to get our message across, and laughed uproariously together at the funny mistakes we made. Like when I asked for stationery and got a dictionary instead. Good humor -- we both laughed ourselves silly.

Perhaps most valuable, however, was that I learned how much I love coming home, love what I do, and the people with whom I work. Please indulge me for one little story --

The group I traveled with included some very very wealthy people (you all would have LOVED to get them as clients! talk about a target-rich environment!). One consequence, however, was that I frequently felt a bit "out of place" with these idle rich for whom biking through Italy is no more exciting than a Sunday matinee movie. When they discussed shopping, I seldom had any idea WHAT they were shopping for -- throwing around designer names as if everyone knew what a Whozit was. Only I did not know if it was a car, a coat or a pair of shoes -- and you could not tell from the prices!!!!

So, I found myself exceedingly grateful to learn one evening that my dinner companion was -- A LAWYER!!! Hooray! I thought to myself, I know how to talk to lawyers!!!! Frankly, he was a delightful lawyer, retired after building a practice from solo practitioner (starting out by hanging out a shingle) to a firm with more than 220 attorneys, when he sold and retired. I asked him to tell me a bit about his practice and how he built it. He told me that when he first started, he took anything that came in the door -- criminal appointments, family law, whatever. Then he said he did some adoptions -- and he kind of went down a bit of a rabbit trail telling me about the adoptions and how much fun they were. Then he finished up with a bit about commercial real estate and mergers and acquisitions and .. the end.

Of course, he asked me what I did, and I said (as I always do) -- I do marketing for lawyers and law firms. Nervous laughter. (Lawyers seem always ready to get socked in the nose by people who know anything about them.)

I smiled and said, I really love what I do, and you know what I love most? I love the lawyers.

I said, "Getting to know a lawyer is like peeling an onion. You start from the outside, and you peel away the ego, the arrogance, the confrontation, the defensiveness, the disillusion and the disappointment. Eventually you get to the heart, and it is almost always the heart of an idealist. Someone who believed in the law, in the concept of justice, and was willing to devote their lives working for it."

My friend laughed and said, "That was never me. For me, it was always about the money."

I laughed, too, and asked, "So how much did you make on those adoptions?"

His wife piped up, smiling, "He did not make one dime on those adoptions!"

He said, "No, but I did not make a career of doing adoptions."

"No," I said. "But of all the things you could have told me, from all the years you practiced law, you chose to tell me about those adoptions."

My friend smiled and looked away as tears filled his eyes. "Yes," he said. "The adoptions were fun."

Idealists. You gotta love 'em.

It's great to be home.