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RJon Robins

My “No Assholes” Policy Is There To Protect You AND Me…

NOTE FROM RJON:  I originally shared this lesson only on our private discussion forum.  Then some of our Members encouraged me to share it with a wider audience – our Members are a very generous group!  And then some of the things I received in emails and in responses told me I’d really struck an important and positive chord.  With several “You MUST Share This With The World!” type of admonitions.  So here it is.  Remember, there’s SO MUCH business out there that we can and should all be happy lawyers who make more money! I hope the below lesson gives you some important things to think about over the weekend.  Maybe even the courage to take action on something today! ~ RR —————————————— For Distribution To Members Only: OK, so the purpose of this email…You have all heard me talk about the importance of “client grading” and how critically important it is to the long-term success of your law firm to have and enforce a “No Assholes” policy. I never “enjoy” enforcing our No Assholes Policy. In fact I think if you read between the lines below, what you’ll see isn’t so much an “asshole” as much as a person operating from a place deep in fear. Still, we can help anyone.  But as soon as we try to help everyone it’s going to ruin us for our best clients/members like all of you.  And you deserve me and me and my team at our best! Since you’re a Member I wanted to demonstrate to you a “No Assholes” policy in-action below (NOTE: The only editing I’ve done to the email string below is change the order to read top to bottom instead of bottom to top, I’ve redacted the name of this (former) member of our group, and I’ve highlighted the time sequence so you can follow the conversation more easily 😉 ——————————— From: Lxxxxx Xxxxxxxx <lxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 07:55:59 -0400 To: Corey Whitaker <corey@.com>, Alejandra Leibovich <alex@howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com>, Alejandra Leibovich <rjon@howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com> Subject: Re: How to Manage a Small Law Firm Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirmation — EXCUSE ME??? Rjon, Alex, and Corey, I, in no way, shape, or form, authorized TWO transactions of $750 to be taken from my account within one week of each other. I did not receive 30 days worth of service to even judge your program before you took more money out of my account. I want my $1500 back. I am happy to overnight your materials back. I received them yesterday – they’re still in the box. Thank you, Lxxxxxx Xxxxxxx From: Alejandra Leibovich Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:44 AM To: Lxxxxxx Xxxxxxx; Corey Whitaker; RJon Robins Subject: Re: How to Manage a Small Law Firm Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirmation — EXCUSE ME??? Hi Lxxxxxx, I’m SOOO sorry. It was my mistake. I put the wrong charge date when I set up the automatic subscription. I apologize. It was in no way a personal attack to you. I just void the transaction so it will not be taken out of your account. I apologize again, it was a mistake. Ally — Alejandra (Ally) Leibovich www.HowToMANAGEaSmallLawFirm.com alex@howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com Office: 1-888-xxx-7460 ext 10 Note that I did not cc anyone on the private email below as my purpose was to educate and enforce boundaries not to embarrass On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 1:06 PM, RJon Robins <rjon@howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com> wrote: Hi Lxxxxxx, I realize you may not have learned yet about the importance of “client grading” since we are catching-you-up to the rest of the coaching group.  A big part of how we make sure we have happy lawyers and happy lives is by being sure we only work with great clients.  And to do that we create a grading scale to evaluate our clients, just as you will learn how to create a grading scale to evaluate your clients.  Because life is too short, and there’s too much opportunity out there, to spend your life working with the wrong clients. There are many benefits to being an “A” client in my business.  Lots of bonuses and extras and opportunities that we don’t advertise that my team members often find themselves in a position to go the extra mile for our “A” clients.  The flipside of course is that just as you are free to drop out of the group, we also reserve the right to invite certain people to drop out too.  I don’t want to have to extend that invitation to you.  What I want is for you to get the most out of this program so that you can achieve all of your goals which law school, unfortunately, did not equip you (or any of us) to achieve at the business of marketing & managing a successful law firm. So here’s what it means to be an “A” client/member in my business (in no particular order): *        We like working with the Member *        The Member likes working with us. *        The Member is highly-motivated to have a successful law firm and all the benefits that flow from it. *        The Member has tangible and objectively quantifiable goals that excite him/her. *        The Member respects my staff and appreciates them for the very challenging work that they do servicing and keeping hundreds of lawyers happy from all around the world. *        The Member responds to the mistakes that we make in our business w ith the same grace and maturity the Member would expect his/her own clients to demonstrate when the Member’s own law firm makes a mistake. *        The Member believes that the best investment s/he can make is an investment in him/herself. *        The Member cooperates and supports our policies *        The Member is collaborative and intellectually generous with the Group. *        Good sense of humor and not easily offended by liberal use of the “F” word especially when it’s so richly called for in an explanation! *        The Member thinks it’s cool that I work from home, with my dog and often from remote and sometimes exotic places, so there may be the occasional odd sound in the background. *        The Member does the work required to translate the lessons, tools, insights, ideas, templates and instructions we provide into tangible results. *        The Member is honest with us and him/herself *        The Member remains current on their financial obligations to us and otherwise follows the rules we have established and which are designed to help all of our Members get the best results possible. *        Positive, prosperity-based outlook on life – no whiners or crybabies allowed! Of course, everyone has a bad day.  But your email below is not acceptable.  I think if you re-read it now you’d agree that when you make a mistake you’d hope that your own clients would treat you better.  Accordingly, please acknowledge this email and let me know if we are going to be good, or if you are returning the course materials and receive a full refund. The second charge was obviously an oversight and has already been reversed.  I apologize for this inconvenience. Optimistically, RJON From: Lxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx <lxxxxxxxx@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:42:59 -0400 To: Corey Whitaker <corey@.com>, Alejandra Leibovich <alex@howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com>, Alejandra Leibovich <rjon@howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com> Subject: Re: How to Manage a Small Law Firm Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirmation — EXCUSE ME??? I don’t do business with companies that double-charge me. Your materials have been mailed to the address they were sent from. Refund my money. Lxxxxxx —————————- OK friends, so there you have it.  I sincerely hope this demonstration inspires you to document your own N.A.P. and emboldens you to enforce it.  Remember, happy lawyers make more money!   RJON   p.s. Especially if you haven’t been to one yet, I want you to give SERIOUS attention to the next (and last) Mastermind we’re hosting this year.  We have only 6 seats left as of this morning.  We will DEFINITELY sell out so I don’t wat you to miss-out! 

Overcoming Fear: Navigating ‘Scared Shitless’ Moments

It's true my friends!  Many lawyers are scared shitless…of success!

Why else would some otherwise very intelligent people make such illogical decisions about their lives, careers and their businesses?

I really should have kept count of the number of lawyers I've spoken with in the past 75 days.  It's been alot more than usual.

I don't have an easy way to tell you the exact number of lawyers I've spoken with.  But I can tell you I've run across at least a dozen lawyers whose logic seems to go like this:

a.) My law firm/career isn't where I want it to be as evidenced by the fact that I cannot afford to live the way I want to live.

b.) I recognize that a big part of the reason my law firm isn't performing the way it has to in order to afford me the lifestyle I want to enjoy, has alot to do with the fact that I've never actually studied anything practical about the business of marketing and/or managing a successful law firm.

c.) I believe that if I don't make some changes, my life is going to get worse, not better in the next 12-18 months. Afterall, sitting around for another year doing things the same way I've always done them isn't likely to produce materially better results than before.

d.) I believe you RJon, when you say this course, book, lesson, etc. can help me.  And I know it comes with the assurances of a 100% money-back guarantee.

THEREFORE, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to do nothing.

Now my friends, these are NOT stupid people.

These are intelligent and respected practitioners who are behaving this way.

So what other reasonable explanation could there be?  Except that they're actually more scared of being successful than they are of being unsuccessful.

Afterall, they “know” how to be unsuccessful.  By comparison, being successful, even though that's what they consciously want…well, it actually scares them!

So why am I sharing all of this with YOU?

Two reasons.  First, in case there are any lawyers in your life who you care about and you see them staying stuck, it may help for you to approach them with empathy not contempt.  And second, in case YOU are the one who is stuck.  I want to invite you to take adantage of a few openings I have in my schedule next week to discuss your situation.  Just go to www.HowToMANAGEaSmallLawFirm.com/Appointment

I'll look forward to speaking with you.

~ RJON

p.s. Being “stuck” is a relative term.  I know plenty of lawyers who are stuck at the million dollar mark and for absolutely no “real” reason, they can't seem to break past it.  If you “feel” stuck, you're stuck. Notwithstanding how many other lawyers around you  wish they could be in your shoes!

Notes from my wallet

Ok so you know how every few months you have to clean out your wallet and you find all sorts of things you’ve been carrying around with you for no currently-relevant reason?  Old business cards belonging to people you meant to follow-up with but have now forgotten why.  Old receipts for things long-since disposed of.  I even found an expired credit card on my most recent jaunt though mine! 

But every once in awhile you find a gem.  In my case, this week I found a note I wrote on the back of a restaurant receipt.  It captures one of those “moments of brilliance” that seem to happen at the least expected times.  Hence, why it gets jotted down on some scrap of paper and warehoused in your wallet waiting to be rediscovered.  Here’s exactly what I wrote (unedited):

I know you want to start and enjoy the benefits of owning a successful law firm, don’t you?

Well, your LIFE is not a spectator sport!

To win, you must get in the game!

We were ALL once where you are now – unsure about when, where & how to get in the game and “start your own business”.  BUT NOT WHETHER!!!

Listen for yourself to what some other lawyers experienced when THEY took action & got in the game too.  The all recieved an email or read a blog or saw an article just like this and then scheduled a call with me to learn more.  And that’s exatly what I’d encourage you to do now.  While I still have these 5 spots open in my schedule to speak with youabout what it’s going to take, to get your new law firm to perform for you: personally, financially and professionally.

Note: I don’t know if we still have 5 spots left in my schedule to discuss your law firm and your future plans with you.  Could be more, could be less.  I wrote that note more than a month ago.

I’m actually waiting for a car to take me to the airport for the mastermind we’re conducting in Ft Worth this weekend (exciting!) and I only came into my office to get my computer when I couldn’t resist lightening the load of extra stuff in my wallet so I typed this out so I can now dispose of the aforementioned restaurant receipt.

Go to www.HowToMANAGEaSmallLawFirm.com to determine which category you most closely fit into and then if you’re motivated enough to improve your life you’ll easily find the link to schedule a telephone appointment with me to discuss your options.

Gotta run…

Self-defeating marketing

I have to make this quick b/c it’s late & I have to be a the San Antonio Bar Assn for tomorrow’s workshop bright & early.  Funny story.

So one of the things I talk alot about is how marketing-when done right- should feel good.  It’s not supposed to be the sort of thing you have to dread or apologize for.  Law firm marketing is something we do FOR our clients, not something we do TO them. 🙂

Self-defeating law firm marketing in action…

Day before yesterday I conducted a workshop for The Dallas Bar Association.  There were about 150 lawyers in the room.  I mention that because you have to imagine that with so many people in the room it’s sometimes hard to see what everyone in the room is doing or even who is there.

Apparently one of the people in the audience was a person who was going around trying to drum-up some lawyer coaching business at MY workshop.  Funny becaues had she introduced herself to me I would have been happy to introduce her to the audience.  I mean, why wouldn’t I do that for someone who is trying to grow her business, right? 

But think about the message it sends to her prospective clients about the way she’s going to coach them to grow their law firms when her appoach is to sneak around like that obviously embarassed about what she was doing. Talking about some harmful marketing tactics right here. 

I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THIS PERSON IS.   I only know what I know becuase several lawyers related similar stories to me about her antics.  I didn’t ask them about her identity because I didn’t/don’t want to know.  That’s not the point of this post.

The point of this post is to remind you that the way you get engaged by a client is as important as whether you get engaged by a client.

OK goodnight.  BTW, we don’t have any seats left for the following masterminds weekends:

San Antonio

Ft Worth

Minneapolis

Dallas

We DO have seats open for Atlanta.  Go to www.HowToMANAGEaSmallLawFirm.com for details 

A lawyer’s guide to getting “un-stuck”

As lawyers we’re all pretty smart.  But as a group we tend to have a hard time making decisons.  Of course a big part of running any kind of a successful business (a law firm is a business) mastering the ability to make decisions.  The problem is, our education ham-strings us when it comes to making decisions.

In our natural state as human beings we are good at making decisions.  From the time we are babies until we get it taught out of us, we make decisions in a very natural way.  We identify a desire.  We decide to make it our goal.  And then nature reveals the path to us. “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”  We all KNOW that to be true from experience.  It’s equally true that when the decision is made, truly made, the way to make it happen suddenly appears. 

That’s why & how some people are able to accomplish seemingly miraculous feats when faced with a life or death situation.   They have no time and no distractions.  The decision is clear: do or die.  And then the way appears.

But law school teaches us to do exactly the opposite.  As lawyers we are taught not to make a decision until we have a plan.  And preferably a plan which accounts for every possible contingency. 

The problem is that nature does not reveal all the ways to get things done until AFTER a decision has been made.

So the lawyer sits around letting years slip past trying to make a plan in order to have the confidence to make a decision when in fact if only a decision could be made then the plan would be so much easier to figure out.

This, incidentally, is why entrepreneurs complain so much about “deal killing” lawyers.  Because the successful entrepreneur is practiced at making decisions with confidence enough in him or herself to know that once the decision is made the way to make it happen will become clear.

So, to get un-stuck from anything you’re dealing with today try this:  Make a decision about what you want to accomplish.  Make the decision clear, specific and for a definite and honest purpose.  I’m not saying to then just jump off the cliff.  You will STILL have to make a plan.  But just see how much easier the plan is to make and how somehow, almost by magic, everything starts to fall into place AFTER you’ve made a decision.

Then send me an email at RJON@HowToMANAGEaSmallLawFirm.com to let me know how well it works out for you!

RJON

p.s. We still have seats available for two very exciting mastermind events in San Antonio & Atlanta.  To learn more about these visit https://howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com/

But then be prepared to made a decision  like all those other lawyers did who you’ll see in the videos!    😉

Is your staff screwing up your business?

I met two amazingly helfpful sales people today.  But one almost blew the sale for his employer, while the other succesfully converted a customer into a client for life!

A big part of the reason I designed my business to run the way that it does is because I wanted to STOP travelling so much for business.  After 4 years of nearly constant travel for The Florida Bar’s Law Office Management Assistance Service (LOMAS) and then 3 more years of way-too-much travel as a private law firm marketing consultant I was determiend to stay home as much as possible!!!

So the irony isn’t lost on me that I’m the one who goes around saying our businesses have to work for us, not the other way around and here I am living out of a suitcase again!  But I LOVE getting out around the country to meet-in-person some of the lawyers I’ve been working with only by phone for these past several years.  And I love meeting hundreds of new prospects at all these CLE presentations with local bar associations I’ve been conducting the workshops for, as part of the Tour.  And besides, I’ve been around long enough to know that every wave eventually reaches the beach so you better “ride it” while you can which is  just what Ale & I decided I’d do with this Lexis-Nexis/Microsoft-sponsored National-CLE-Tour.

If you haven’t done alot of business travel before you may not realize the “little things” you miss being out on the road.  Like buying a new pair of running shoes.  Or passing by the local electronics shop to pick up a few new gadgets/toys.  Sure you can find stores that sell these things in any major US city but it’s not the same going shopping by yourself in a strange city where there are so many new & unique sights to see. 

So now that I’m back in town for a couple of weeks I decided to go and pick up a few things that have been on my shopping list for far too long.  Specifically, a new ipod nano, a new pair of running shoes and a set of Bose active noise-cancelling headphones to make the next 20 flights I’m scheduled to take between now and July 1st a bit more comfortable.

I’ll write again later to share a story about a phenomenal sales person who really demonstrated enormous value in my pursuit of a new pair of running shoes.  In fact, by the time he was done price was literally no object and now I’m a client of that store instead of just a customer.  I video’ed a few parts of the experience to share with you that I’ll assemble and share in the next day or two. 

But right now I have to report on an enormously knowledgeable and helpful salesperson I encountered at the Best Buy who, despite himself, nearly blew a $1,000 sale .  Here’s what happened.  I’m sure you’ll see the parallels to your law firm too. . .

I went to the Best Buy to buy an ipod nano, a set of running heaphones for it and the aforementioned Bose noise-cancelling headphones plus we had to pick-up two new external hard drives to store videos on.  All-in-all I walked in figuring I  was going to drop about $1,000.

The only problem was, the sales person.  You see, Best Buy is obviously running a promotion with their staff getting them to push the Best Buy credit card.  And that’s exactly what this very nice and quite knowledgable sales person was determined to do.   Talk about losing the plot!

Me: “OK, so you make a very compelling case for why a Nano is the best choice for me.  I’ll take one of those orange ones.”

Him: “OK, how are you going to pay for this? Because if you apply for a Best Buy card today you can get $10 off and no interest for blah, blah, blah.”

Me: “OK, thanks for letting me know but what I’d really prefer to know about is those noise-cancelling headsphones over there.  Can you tell me about the differences between the Dr Dre’s vs the Bose and the different Bose models?”

Him: “Sure [insert some very helpful technical knowledge and some very compelling reasons why I should buy the most expensive Bose headphones rather than compromise to save a buck].  So about that credit card, did I mention you can save $10 today if you apply for it?”

Me:  “Yes, you did.  Thank you.  But what I’d really like to know is if you can offer any guidance about the best headphones to use with the Nano if I’m going to be running with it?”

Him: “I sure can!  [Insert some more very helpful technical information and he even pulled out a pair of his own running headphones from his pocket to show me blah, blah, blah].  So about that credit card…”

Me:  “You know, I really appreciate that you’re trying to save me $10 but I’m much more concerned with gettting what I came here to get and making the best decision I can so I don’t have to think about these things again.  Can you help with external hard drives?”

Him: “Yes.  Are you going to be using it for blah, blah, blah, or yadda, yadda, yadda? Because if it’s for [insert even more great and helpful information here].”

Me: “Thanks.  You know, I really appreciate all of your help here today, I’m sure I wouldn’t have had the patience to figure all of this out without your help.  Are you going to get commission or credit for this?”

Him: “No, just go to any of the cashiers.  But you know, with that ipod you really should consider the Best Buy warranty on it because blah, blah, blah”

Me: ” Thanks!  That’s great advice, good bye.”

Now let’s examine what happened.  The store incentivised their most valuable people to focus on the wrong things.  (Sales people & rainmakers are the most valuable people in any business).  So There was this very knowledgable sales person who instead of focusing on the core products and helping me figure out how to use them to satisfy all of my needs, he kept disrupting the process with information about how to save $10 on a $1,000 shopping day. 

What incentives, rules and/or restrictions are you putting on YOUR staff that may motivate or even force them to work at cross-purposes to the business of your law firm?

Some common culprits you may want to think about include:

  • Overtime policies
  • Lack of access to your calendar
  • Mis-training your “inbound sales” team to be “gate keepers” instead
  • Failure to properly define the word “emergency” in your practice
  • Failure to properly delineate between the job of a receptionist vs. secreatary vs. legal assistant vs. paralegal, etc.
  • Hourly quotas (vs. value-based billing)
  • Over-emphasis on cost savings vs. revenue generation

“But I’m too busy” – This is a common cop-out amongst not-so-successful lawyers as to why they don’t run a better law firm.  Don’t let yourself catch yourself saying it!