leanlaw how to start a lean law firm
TRANSCRIPT
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
How to Start a
Lean Law Practice
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Introductions
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Introductions
Gary Allen
Founder & CEO.
LeanLaw
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Introductions
Gary Allen
Founder & CEO.
LeanLaw
Tom Gay
CEO
Refer.com
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Introductions
Gary Allen
CEO
LeanLaw
Tom Gay
CEO
Refer.com
Jonathon Fishman
Chief ServicesOfficer
LeanLaw
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
CLE Instructions
• LeanLaw will submit a list of everyone who
attends to the Idaho Bar
• Please do not submit separately to the Bar
• Contact our services team for submittal to
other bars
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Law is Changing
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Law is Changing
- More Information
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Law is Changing
- More Information
- Self Service
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Law is Changing
- More Information
- Self Service
- Disruptive Business Models
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
What is The Swamp?
• Economics
• IT Security
• Quality of Life
• Professional Satisfaction
• Time
• Happiness
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
How can lawyers get out of The Swamp?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Inside v. Outside
• Overhead – LeanLaw
• Revenue – Refer.com
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Lean Legal Practice =Metrics
Behavior Change + Technology
Lean Practice: The Concept
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
FOCUS ON
PRACTICING LAW
· Time Efficiencies
· Cost Savings
· Data Security
· Peace of Mind
Lean Practice: Benefit to you.
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Accept Doing Some of the Work
Old Thinking Today’s Thinking
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
• Lean Practice is a derivative of
your firm’s culture.
• Lean Practice works when all
staff members buy into the
concept.
• Challenge your team. Lean
Practice is a two-way
conversation.
• Include all stakeholders in the
process. Don’t “hand down”
solutions.
Make it a Team Effort.
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
• Document Management
• Time Keeping / Billing
• Calendar / Contact Management
• Document Creation
Get Core Workflows Technology: Chose Industry Standards
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• Try to stay within your preferred technical
ecosystem (Microsoft, Apple, Google).
• Distinguish between "must haves” vs. “want to
haves”.
• Ensure core tools work well together. Open
environments are always more flexible than closed
or “portal” environments.
Considerations For Tool Selection
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Where to Start: Remember it’s a Marathon not a Sprint
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pick a workflow: e.g., timekeeping & billing.
Develop a baseline metric e.g., such as hours per week.
Set a goal: Reduce “hours per week” from A to B over X
number of weeks.
Using behavior change and technology: develop a new
process.
5. Seek trusted advisor: determine the best course of
change.
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Scheduling Automation
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Timekeeping / Billing Automation
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Timekeeping / Billing Automation
Daily Time Summary
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Timekeeping / Billing Automation
Billing Drafts
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Timekeeping / Billing Automation
Invoice Production / Send
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Is there really money to be made trying
to make my practice more efficient?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Technology always disappoints.
What can firms do that will get a
different result?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
How do you manage the change
required to become lean?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
What about the one partner who
won’t change?
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Is the cloud safe for my data?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
It’s easier to find more business than
to cut costs.
Why should I change now?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Limitations of Presentation
This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell or a or solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is
unlawful. This presentation contains certain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the actual results of the company to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Building a Successful
Lean Law Practice
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Limitations of Presentation
This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell or a or solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation is
unlawful. This presentation contains certain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the actual results of the company to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
The Problem: Attracting New Clients…
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We’ve reached a “Tipping Point”
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How do you get inside?
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
You Must Decide to Be Different…
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You Need a Referral system!
90% of People Trust Recommendations
More Likely To Choose You
More Profitable, Less Expensive
More Loyal, Higher Retention
More Likely To Refer Others
400% More Likely to Select You
It’s easy to implement and it’s LEAN!
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
New clients should come from referrals!
According to the New York Times
Print Ads
65%
35%
TV & Radio
Events
Direct Mail
Online Ads
SEO
Publicity
Referrals40
$ C
ost
ly
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
High EngagementLow Engagement
Really… How Engaged are You?
0 105
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Staying in touch
matters!
Advisor Impact - Economics of Loyalty 2011
•91% of Engaged Contacts
are Comfortable Referring
•100% of Highly Engaged Clients
Actually Have Referred
•High Engagement Creates Client
Satisfaction
8 9 10
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Understand Trust…
…Its at the Relationship’s Core
“In a world that is increasingly connected, but also increasingly
impersonal, the role of a trust is ever more critical.”
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Trust is built… it is earned!
• Character…Who you are…– Core Values/Ethics
– Reliability
–Earnestness
–How you relate
• Competence…Your knowledge...–Education/Training
– Skills
–Experience
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45
Know“All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to, those people they know,
Likelike…+
Trustand trust.” -Bob Burg+
Teach“If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.”Nora Roberts
+Gain
“For it is in giving that we receive.”St. Francis of Assisi
=Give
“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” -Churchill
Engagement and trust leads to referrals
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Start by building a team…
your own Trust Teams…
Your Team:
• Clients
• Business Owners
• Insurance Adv.
• CPAs
• Financial Advisors
• Estate Planners
• Community Leaders
• Other Attorneys
• Bankers
• Business Brokers
• Conservators
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Your Own Practice Building Engine
Needs only about 20-25 primary contacts
And a commitment of about 1 hour/week
25
Results begin within 45-60 days
Typically you’ll get 5-10 new referrals a month
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Build your influence via relationships
They already knowyour new clients!
Your primary contactsYou
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Proprietary & Confidential
Every 2-3 weeks
TOMA
Be intentional
Give, give
Phone Call
Personal Notes
Value Touches
Start Nurturing People,
Build New Habits
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Proprietary & Confidential
Ask Ask
Stay connected… give… build trust
then ask… and you’ll receive!
Build the “desire to reciprocate”
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Understand Reciprocity
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
The Art of the Ask…
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Coffee Time… everyday…
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Just Do it! Overcome limiting beliefs…
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
One Minute Recap…
It’s noisy out there…
Go “relational”
Get engaged & stay in touch
You need a system, 10 minutes a day
Give, give, give & drive reciprocity
Teach people how to introduce you
Build your “trusted team”
Show appreciation!
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Use a System… build your Lean Practice
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
Questions
+Efficient practice management and relationship marketing.
www.refer.com
Thomas Gay CEO
208 890 7599
www.leanlaw.co
Gary G. Allen, CEO
208 388 1257