SFO CLE – FEBRUARY, 2017
Congratulations for having the courage
to get to this page!
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ARE YOU READY TO TAKE YOUR LAW FIRM TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
Schedule your confidential and complimentary telephone information call with a member of our team
If you’re committed to spending more time working ON your Law Firm business instead of IN your Law Firm Business, please schedule a confidential and complimentary call with a member of our team.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. WHY?
RJon, why are you willing to give me a complimentary strategy call with a member of your team?
By following the steps that led you to this “private” page on our website, you’ve actually distinguished yourself as being serious about your own success. Believe it or not there are thousands of other lawyers who demonstrate that they’re not really very serious about their own success by their inaction.
- No-one is an island and I certainly didn’t build How To MANAGE a Small Law Firm into the nation’s leading provider of outside CEO, COO and CFO services for solo & small law firms without a lot of help from a lot of great people.
- So you can say this is my way of giving back.
- You can say it’s because WE LIKE speaking with lawyers who are serious about being successful.
You could also say it’s because we know from experience that the more lawyers we help who are serious about their own success, the fuller our pipeline stays and the more options we have in our life and business to accept engagements only from “A Clients”.
All three are equally true statements.
Q. WHAT?
What exactly is going to happen during this complimentary interview? Or is this really just going to be a sales pitch to join one of your programs?
This is a perfectly valid question. And fear of asking it is probably one of most common reasons why other lawyers stay-stuck, even though there are plenty of great resources available to help them.
What we’re going to do is invest about an hour on the phone with you and depending where you currently are in your business (just getting started; need some help to get unstuck; or already running a successful law firm and ready to take it to the next level) my team may ask you about some of your 7 main business processes.
Based on your answers we’ll be able to get a mental picture of how your business operates. Then we’re going to discuss where you want your business to be in terms of financial, personal and professional performance. A law firm that isn’t serving your needs on all 3 axes is doomed to either self-destruct or it must destroy you, eventually.
Of course none of us wants that to happen!
So based on what you share during your interview, we’ll identify a few areas where you can likely make some simple improvements – there are ALWAYS a few areas where we can make simple improvements in a small law firm to make you an even happier lawyer!
And obviously, if during your interview it appears you may be a good candidate for one of our coaching programs we’ll certainly let you know.
But that’s the beauty of having efficient and effective marketing systems in place. We get to enjoy being selective about whom we choose to work with. So we don’t ever have to feel uncomfortable about having to “pitch” our programs. In other words, if it’s a good fit we should both know it and the next steps will be obvious after an hour of working together.
Q. WHO?
RJon, you said you get to enjoy being selective about who your firm accepts an engagement from to serve as outside CEO. Who is the right type of lawyer that you look for?
Above all else, we look for lawyers who believe in themselves and their ability to affect their surroundings rather than being affected by those surroundings, like a house plant.
Starting, marketing & managing a highly successful solo/small law firm isn’t all about technical knowledge. Sure you must have certain technical knowledge they didn’t teach any of us back in law school either. But technical knowledge by itself doesn’t cause a successful law firm to happen.
Growing a solo law firm to $250,000, $500,000 or even $1million and more isn’t all about marketing skills, either. Marketing skills certainly make the task much easier and more enjoyable. But being a natural rainmaker in and of itself doesn’t portend a successful law firm without there being more in the mix.
What we look for is a lawyer who has a strong belief in him or herself. A lawyer who “gets it” that happy lawyers make more money; that technical management knowledge and marketing skills & systems when properly-harnessed tend to make us happy lawyers; and that being a happy lawyer is what ultimately attracts great clients and profits to the firm.
Most importantly, we look for lawyers who agree with us that being a happy lawyer is a worthwhile objective in & of itself.
Q. WHAT?
What makes you think my firm could benefit from having an “Outside CEO?”
- Every law firm is a business. And every business needs SOMEONE to function in the role of CEO. Just like every business needs to have electricity for the lights, phones for the team to communicate, etc.
NOT having a CEO simply isn’t an option if you want your law firm to function like a real business. So ask yourself these questions to decide if you want your law firm to function like a real business, or not:
- Do you want to enjoy predictable and reliable cash flow you can count on; or do you want to live case-to-case which forces you to accept the next lunatic who walks through your door with cash in hand just so you can pay the rent.
- Do you want to be able to make smart, informed and pro-active decisions about which business development, staffing, equipment, office, etc. opportunities to pursue; or do you want to watch other lawyers (lawyers who can’t even shine your shoes in court!) step ahead of you in line and in life owing to their ability to make smart, informed and pro-active decisions because they have a written plan for their business and you don’t?
- Do you want to be able to know what it’s like to take a “real” vacation with confidence that when you get back you will find your business has grown with more names in the conflict of interest database, more cash in the operating account and more services delivered out to current clients than when you left; or do you want your firm to slow-down, grind to a halt or even go off the rails completely the minute you step away?
Q. HOW?
How exactly is this complimentary strategy session call going to work?
A member of my team will call you at the agreed time on the agreed date. After you say your hellos, we will confirm that the time still works for you. We’ll assure you everything you’ll discuss will be kept confidential. To make the most productive use of your time, an agenda will be proposed. And once you agree on the agenda, you’ll get started.
There are no extraordinary steps you have to take to prepare for the call. Just be in a quiet place where you can have a productive conversation, take some notes and be prepared to make decisions based on what you discover together.
Once the appointment is set we’ll share some additional resources to help you to gain clarity even before the call begins!
Last year I grossed eight thousand five hundred a month. For the month of October, I had grossed twenty-three thousand dollars. Folks think I’ve had a face lift. They think I’ve had work done because I’m so relaxed. And my husband, my chief investor, has always loved me but he likes me now and that’s pretty cool!
-DONNA TERRELL
