Integrity Marketing

Position Your Practice as the Authority: Be an Author

Writing articles regularly that are published in legal journals is one of the things that every lawyer knows they should do but few actually do. That’s too bad. Writing articles that are read by colleagues (and potential referral sources) gives an estate planning attorney an advantage in a crowded field. By positioning yourself as the authoritative source, you elevate your practice and your own abilities above the rest.

Let’s say you’ve committed to writing two articles a year. That will be a great start. Here are some suggestions:

Don’t go it alone. If you have an excellent associate in the office, they will welcome the opportunity to have a byline. This will also make it more likely that the article will be written and submitted to a publication.

Write it first or pitch it first? Two schools of thought. One is to write an article, then send it to the outlet  you think will be interested. Only send to ONE publication at a time. A managing editor of a major legal publication once told us, “just write it, and send it.” They hear pitches all day long, but often the pitch isn’t followed by an article. Other people prefer to send a three page proposal to an editor, and then write the article only when the proposal has been accepted.

Make it worthwhile for your audience. If you write an in-depth review of an estate planning tool that is so rarely used, even if you know more about it than anyone in the world, who will find that compelling reading? Make sure that the topic you select will be worth reading.

Don’t give away the entire store. It’s a fine line, but don’t give everything away in the article. Leave your reader wanting to know more, or needing to call you if they run into a situation that is discussed in your article. After all, the purpose of the article is to generate new work, not to be a “how to” guide for your competition.

Leverage, leverage, leverage. In a digital world where content is king, make sure that you have the publisher’s permission to use it once it has appeared, whether it is in print or online. Post a blog about the article’s publication, link to it from your social media sites, and share the news of its publication with your clients. Write it once, promote it often.

Is Technology Running Your Office?

Law firm technology is your business infrastructure. With up-to-date, well integrated systems, workflow is seamless, your team can find what they want quickly and easily and deadlines are rarely an issue because reminders and alerts are in place. Law firm technology is a necessary investment. An article about The American Bar Association 2015 Legal Technology Survey Report offers interesting perspectives on law firm technology. One conclusion, that large firms are more likely than solos or small firm members to say they actively budget for technology expenditures, was not a big surprise. But a word of caution: small firms have less room for the inevitable problems that arise as a result of outdated technology.

The closing paragraph in the Tech Report is not a flattering observation about lawyers and technology. Authors Laura Calloway and Dave Bilinsky say that lawyers are “busy practicing law and often refuse or neglect to plan and budget for technology purchases, and many other things, until circumstances force them to.”

We have a slightly different perspective. Many IMS clients are pro-active about their technology and understand the importance it plays in the success of their law practice. This is probably because clients who work with us understand the importance of investing in their practices, including technology as well as marketing.

However, we also know that some of our clients still have not updated their websites to responsive design and are losing ground to competing estate planning law firms whose websites are mobile-friendly.

If you are one of those law firms that waits until something breaks to fix it, we suggest revising your policy. This may help change your approach. Do a review, or have your CPA do a review, of the last five years of your practice’s annual spend on technology. Make a separate category for the cost of emergency repairs, and especially include the difference if you paid more for an emergency repair (service fees that were higher than for a regular tech call) or to ship parts from a vendor on a rush basis. Determine how much you spend every year overall and the cost of emergencies that are the direct result of old technology. If you can, note if time was lost, i.e., if the phones were out for a day and clients could not reach you.

Granted, some of the repairs or services will be for technology that is not old. But if you find that you are spending a fair amount of money and losing productive time because of broken down systems, you may want to take a more proactive approach to your infrastructure.

Advance Planning for Estate Planning’s Busy Season

By Anneliese Krull

Summer tends to be a time when road work is rampant. In fact, it seems like every summer that I attended school, there were construction crews tearing up and replacing sections of the road throughout the summer months.

When school starts, you can judge the effectiveness of each project. Is the road completed? Are the traffic patterns better? If not, it is painfully obvious.

The same principle holds true for estate planning or elder law attorneys.

Summer tends to be a slower time for these areas of law; however, with the beginning of fall, people tend to be more prepared to think about finances, taxes and end-of-life issues.

If you are unprepared for the upsurge in interest and business, your prospects will be able to tell. How can you prepare?

Organize your space. As the saying goes, there should be a place for everything and everything should be in its place. Go through your file cabinets and your computer files to ensure that you and your team can find what you need quickly and easily. If you have miscellaneous documents on your desk or your computer desktop, put them away.

Review your intake processes. If you have had staff turnover, be sure everyone understands your firm’s mission, the work you do and how you serve your clients. Your process should be client-centered, making it simple for them while also effective for you. Throw out any unnecessary steps.

Update your website and social media. Has it been a while since you have reviewed your bios, welcome message or workshops? Maybe you moved, have new staff or adjusted your office hours. These details need to be kept up-to-date to provide the best experience for the client. Submit a support ticket so we can help you. Do you have a responsive website? If no, then you really need consider making this a priority. Why? Because mobile devices are becoming far more prominent for web searches … and you may be losing prospective clients to other firms that have responsive websites. Call James at 877-352-2021 ext. 80 to talk about getting this necessary upgrade.

By taking care of these tasks, you will make a good first impression, giving you an advantage over those who have failed to do so.

Should You Hire An Answering Service?

By Kelly Myers

Deciding whether or not you need a telephone answering service isn’t an easy choice. While there may be major benefits to an answering service for your firm, negative aspects apply as well. Here are pros and cons to consider before hiring an answering service.

Pros

Availability Answering services are typically available 24/7, 365 days a year. This can be of value when your office may only be open during normal business hours or if staff members are away from their desk and unable to pick up the phone. An answering service guarantees that all calls will be answered, allowing you and your staff to focus on other tasks at hand.

Personal touch The personal touch of having a real person answer a phone call, as opposed to an answering machine, is priceless. A caller will automatically feel more confident when reaching out and speaking with a person, rather than a series of voicemail prompts. Additionally, in an emergency situation, a live person is able to put the caller at ease and direct them to the appropriate staff member as quickly as possible.

Reduce costs An answering service can save you a significant amount of money while ensuring that your clients and prospects speak with a live operator. In comparison to hiring a receptionist, an answering service can be a less expensive option for handling phone calls. Hiring a company to handle phone calls can take the place of a staff member needing salary, sick days, benefits and vacation time.

Cons

Not your staff No matter how well prepared an answering service may be for the type of calls they’ll receive, it doesn’t compare to one of your knowledgeable staff members answering the phone. This can be especially helpful if the caller isn’t following the “script” you have provided on how to answer certain questions and direct calls. Your staff members have the ability to speak with a caller about their needs without having to transfer to another person.

Confidentiality When working in the Elder Law and Estate Planning industry, confidentiality is important. A caller may not feel as comfortable sharing personal information to someone who is not a part of your staff. If a caller knows or thinks an answering service is taking their call, they are more likely to not leave a message or even hang up.

Follow-up difficulties Since answering services are typically large companies with many employees, following up can be difficult due to inconsistencies or issues that come from a particular representative. What happens when a client or prospect tells you they spoke with Peter last night? Who is Peter? Did he give the right information? If not, contacting Peter or the answering service to ensure calls are answered effectively might be difficult.

Holiday Season is Around the Corner

Another smart use of your time during the dog days of August: preparing for the holiday season. We have already spotted Halloween candy in the national drug store chains, so you can be sure that Santa is not far behind. Since you are going to be doing all of this well in advance, up your holiday game with holiday events and gifts that ramp up marketing efforts.

Annual office party reservations. If you are not already aligned with a not-for-profit that serves seniors or animals or a cause that matters to you and your clients, start by reaching out to an organization to develop a relationship and create a holiday event that will benefit the less fortunate in your community. Your team might serve meals to needy seniors or host an event that raises funds to help an organization provide shelter to homeless veterans.

Holiday greeting cards. We are big advocates of zigging when others zag. In other words, if all of your colleagues are sending out electronic greeting cards, how about a classic holiday card, rich with color and sparkle, that is sent by old-fashioned snail mail. And make it one better: include a note about the firm’s involvement with local charities.

Gourmet food baskets to colleagues and referral sources. When the food is gone and basket is empty, there’s nothing left to remember your estate planning firm. Instead, make sure your basket includes promotional items like sturdy, good quality coffee mugs with your logo and phone number, imprinted pens or letter openers—something that will last long after the cheese twists are gone.

How to Become the James Bond of Estate Planning Lawyers

Competitive Intelligence, or CI, is not new to the legal profession, but its use as a strategic tool for small to mid-sized law firms is on the rise. Defined as the collection and analysis of actionable information about competitors to support strategic decisions, CI can be applied to estate planning law firms. You won’t need the services of James Bond, nor will you need a massive allocation of new resources. That’s because much of what your colleagues/competitors are doing is in plain sight.

Follow your competitor’s social media posts, including their blogs. Are they noticing trends that you are also seeing, but they are being more pro-active about promoting their knowledge? Do not copy their content; instead, consider how they are identifying trends or news items.

Every three months or so, visit the websites of the top estate planning attorneys in your area. Also, bookmark websites from estate planning attorneys who you know to be marketing leaders. Chances are their websites are being updated or are adding new features, like professional attorney videos. You don’t want your website to fall too far behind. If you see things that you like, talk with IMS (click here for a support ticket) to see if what they are doing has some application to your practice.

If your colleagues/competitors are appearing in local or national news media, consider why they are appearing in print/online and you are not. Are they writing articles for legal journals, feeding information to personal finance reporters or posting more frequently than you on estate planning topics? What are they doing that is raising their visibility that you are not doing?

Remember that CI includes more than just marketing. Other CI factors for an estate planning law firm include: identifying partnership opportunities with relevant not-for-profits, talent acquisition, legal technology, and development strategy.

For a lengthy discussion about CI for law firms, click on the title of this article from the Law Practice Magazine from the American Bar Association, How to Create and Use Competitive Intelligence: 45 Tips for Law Firms.

 

Why Lawyers Need to Engage on Social Media

The importance of social media in all marketing endeavors is now an established part of any professional services marketing strategy, including law firms in all practice areas. For the estate planning attorney, social media is a critical means of connecting with the next generation of clients as well as seniors.

You’d be surprised how fluent many seniors are in social media. It’s how they keep up with their grandchildren.

What about Tumblr, Instagram, Periscope and Pinterest? In addition to the fact that most of these sites skew younger than your average client, they are visual platforms. Unless your practice has a very strong visual component—you attend or host events on a weekly basis and your guests are comfortable being photographed, or if you have developed a visual theme for your practice—then we suggest focusing on Twitter, Linked In and Facebook.

Social media for estate planning attorneys has a dual purpose. You can use it to reach prospects, clients and referral sources, notably other attorneys. We know many attorneys who also use social media to gather competitive intelligence on other lawyers and law firms. What marketing activities are the estate planning attorneys in your area doing? Are they attending events that you aren’t aware of, or connected to people that you don’t know, but should?

We can’t think of a better way to keep up with the competition than through social media!

What should you post?

For Twitter, whenever something grabs your attention. See an article online? Share it. Something happening in your state’s legislative arena? Another reason to share. While it’s not likely you’ll post daily, a few times a week is a good goal.

On Facebook, remember to create a business page that is different than your personal page. Send invitations to colleagues’ business pages to connect on Facebook. Remember that “proof of life” concept: if someone visits your page and you haven’t posted in months, it’s a zombie page that isn’t doing you any good.

Linked In is where most professionals feel most comfortable. It’s a good place to post insights about problems that you solve for clients, issues in estate planning and information that demonstrates your knowledge.

Superior Client Service – Are You Sure?

Most of us like to think that we provide the best client service possible. The problem is, unless you are measuring objectively, there’s really no way to know for certain. How can you measure client satisfaction accurately?

Here are some suggestions:

Conduct a survey: Ask clients to rate your performance on a scale of 1 – 10. Questions could include:

• Overall, how satisfied were you with how our office handled your estate planning matter?
• Did we communicate in a clear and easily understood manner the issues to be addressed?
• Did you feel comfortable asking questions of the attorney, the paralegal or any team members?
• Did your calls get answered in a reasonable period of time?
• Were you at any time frustrated or annoyed with any part of your interaction with our office?
• Would you recommend our practice to a family member, friend or colleague?
• If you have any questions or would like to share any comments, please call ____ to discuss.

Keep the number of questions limited so they don’t feel like you are taking up too much of their time.

While you should review each survey as it comes in, remember not to base any changes on a knee-jerk reaction to one or two surveys. When you have three months’ worth of surveys, you’ll have a better sense of what is working–and what is not.

If there are any glaring issues, or problems that you were aware of (and now you know that your clients are aware of them also), address them. In addition, call the clients who pointed out the problem and tell them that the problem has been resolved.

Talk with your clients when they are in the office. Sounds obvious, but how often are you or other people in the office so busy getting documents prepared or gathering information that you forget to take a moment and have a real conversation with clients? Ask them if they are comfortable with how their situation is being handled, is there anything they don’t understand, and do they have any questions? Don’t let them leave the office without confirming that the appointment has been a good one.

Keep your ears and eyes open. Let’s say your client tells you they agree with your approach to a problem but their facial expression and body language does not match, i.e., their arms are folded and they look like they are about to roll their eyes (or they already have). You have an unhappy client. No matter how pressed for time you may be, you need to dig deeper and find out what the problem is and resolve it before they leave the office.

Make sure that you and your team are all on the same page when it comes to client satisfaction.

Marketing Alert: Senior Citizens Day

By Anneliese Krull

As an estate planning or elder law attorney, you understand the value of each stage of life. Whether your clients are having their first babies or first grandbabies, you know these men and women have unique needs and make special contributions to the lives of their friends and families.

With this in mind, why not celebrate your clients in their current place in life?

Start with Senior Citizens Day on August 21.

Need some ideas?

Social Media. Write a special post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ to honor your clients who are senior citizens.

Blog. Write a blog highlighting a special senior in your life and what he or she means to you or the firm.

Email. Hold a raffle for your senior citizen clients and give a gift card to the winner.

Personal. Next year, host an open house celebration at your office and invite your senior clients. Parties make for great social media pictures.

Whatever you choose, remind the seniors in your life how truly incredible and loved they are.

Note: Because of client confidentiality, make sure you have the written permission of each client to disclose their identity as a “client” and get their advance approval of any information you disclose about them, including the use of photos.

Are You Succeeding with Public Speaking?

Here’s a calculation you can relate to: an attorney speaks before a group of seniors ten times. Every speaking presentation takes about an hour to prepare – the topics are geared for the lay person, so they were not overly complex. There’s ten hours prep plus ten hours speaking, 20 hours in total. Add the thirty minutes to and from travel time, now we’re at 30 hours.

Question: How many clients does this attorney need to get to make the time invested worthwhile?

Answer: That depends.

If one person with significant assets and a complex estate becomes a client, then those 30 hours may be well worth the effort. On the other hand, if only one person out of all ten speaking engagements became a client, you have to wonder if this is the right group for you.

You have to ask a few more questions, some of which may not be flattering.

• Why aren’t these people retaining you?
• Do they need your services?
• Do they think they cannot afford your services?
• Is there something about your presentation or personality that is putting them off?

At the conclusion of most CLEs, an evaluation sheet is passed around to measure the speaker’s performance. If you can, ask the organizer if they can distribute a similar sheet to get feedback on your presentation. You might not like the response but it will give you information that you need.

Ask a trusted colleague or friend to sit in the back and take notes. Are people talking while you are talking or are they fully engaged? Can they hear you? Are they shifting around in their seats, or are they listening closely?

It’s not always easy to hear less than flattering comments, whether from an evaluation sheet or a colleague, but if you are speaking on a regular basis and not generating leads, then you need to dig into the process and find out where the flaws are.

Another suggestion: professional attorney videos can serve several purposes. By providing an opportunity for you to be on screen, in action, they may reveal presentation issues that you are not aware of. They may not be glaring problems, but subtle things that your audience sees and that you do not.

If you are an amazing speaker and always come away with a number of appointments every time you speak, congratulations.

But if you suspect you need a little help in this area, consider this an invitation to look into our lawyer video marketing enhancement and submit your information at the bottom of the page.