Golden Practices Blog

Ready to Join Firms Who Are Breaking Old Business Models?

Changing workforce mentality, evolving customer/client needs, and transparency of service are shining big, scary spotlights on many of the flaws in the professional-firm business model of old. 

Some problems inherent in the traditional business model are:

• Running firms as democracies instead of visionary businesses precludes innovation and differentiation because decisions result in the common-denominator option that so often comes from "concensus"
• Micromanagement so typical in today's firms doesn't inspire people to do their best work and perpetually decreases morale
• Butts-in-seats or 9-5 culture that doesn't work very well in today's business climate
• Billing customers for work after the fact instead of offering them certainty in price

If you'd like to learn how to break free of these and many more symptoms of a business model that somehow survives (definitely not thrives!) despite its detriments, join VeraSage Institute's educators at one or more of these upcoming events! 

Firm of the Future Forums in Australia - March 2012

Details and tickets available at this special event website for dates as follows:

• Hobart - 2 March
• Melbourne - 5-6 March
• Brisbane - 12-13 March
• Sydney - 15-16 March

The events are organized by VeraSage Senior Fellow John Chisholm (John Chisholm Consulting) along with five enlighted friends of VeraSage: Matthew Tol (Mta OptimaChartered Accountants), Michael Bradley (Marque Lawyers), Michael Stewart (Integrity Wealth), Matthew Burgess (McCullough Robertson Lawyers) and Steve Major (Trusted Authority Partners). 

VeraSage Las Vegas - June 2012

Immediately following the AICPA's PS/Tech & AAM conference (10-13 Jun) VeraSage will host 2 separate but related programs in Las Vegas at the Aria! (The AICPA hotel room rates will apply) 

• Wed, 13 June, 2-6pm
  FREE event open to anyone and will feature Ron Baker, CPAs of various firm sizes who've led their firms through these business-model changes, and will culminate with a live THRIVEcast! Join us for this special edition of the popular podcast series during which Jason Blumer and VeraSage Fellow (& stand-up comedian) Greg Kyte will grill interview Mark Koziel of the AICPA and Tom Hood of Maryland Association of CPAs. For a hint of what they might cover, see Greg's February Accounting Update (video below) tackling the recently released AICPA's CPA Horizons 2025 report.

• Thu, 14 June, 8am-6pm
  Program (not free, pricing TBA soon) features back-to-back plenary sessions led by VeraSage Founders Ron Baker and Dan Morris and Senior Fellows Michelle Golden, Ed Kless and Jay Shepherd in the morning. Dynamic workshops follow in the afternoon covering the subjects of Setting Price & Scope, Conducting the Value Conversation, Project Management, and Managing People in a Timeless Firm. Registration will be open to anyone and details will be available soon. 

• If you'd like to be notified when registration opens, email me with "VS-LasVegas" in your subject line!

 

 

The Original Accounting and Law Marketing Professional, Bruce Marcus, Releases 16th Book

A few months ago, I had one of those career shock-and-honor moments. 

Bruce Marcus (of The Marcus Report and Marcus Letter fame) called to ask me if I would write the introduction for his sixteenth book Professional Services Marketing 3.0.

I've long been a reader of Bruce's musings and admirer of his no-holds-barred views about firms and their operations. I particularly appreciate that he never tried to separate marketing from ops; he agrees they are integral. 

Allow me to tell you a little about Bruce. He joined Peat Marwick Mitchell in 1951 (after serving the our country during a fairly major event) and his career includes law as well as public accounting.

With his keen eyes open—his majors were econ and philosophy—he experienced, first hand, the dramatic evolution of professional service firms from "we don't market" to post-Bates decision assertions of "we'll advertise over my dead body" to fairly sophisticated modern marketing including the social web (which Bruce, an octogenarian, uses daily).

He was, quite literally, the very first communications director at a then Big-Eight CPA firm. He's done much in his prestigious career: http://www.marcusletter.com/Background.htm

Because Bruce has an incredibly open mind and reflects in order to advance, there really is no one better to help us envision where the professions need to be. He's watched from the birth of professional firm marketing, through its toddlerhood, and into its rocky teens. Professional firm marketing is now entering adulthood and we need perspective. This book provides it.

Here are a few excerpts from the introduction that can be read in full here.

Bruce Marcus’ newest book documents an important evolution in professional firms and the way law and accounting firms interact with current and prospective buyers. These interactions include serving the client, but also—quite importantly—reflecting how people working in firms present themselves in terms of their ability to bring true value to those who hire them.

The future of marketing is enhanced by understanding the past and present. It’s extremely rare to meet and learn from someone with the vast experiences of Mr. Marcus. It’s rarer yet to come upon a person who also maintains an extraordinarily open mind to new perspectives on the art and science of which he is already a master many times over.

To study the lessons within this book is an investment well worth making; may your mind be as open as the author’s as you explore the pages that follow.

Professional Services Marketing 3.0 is the story no one but Bruce could be in a position to tell. Enjoy...

Fly On The Wall #6: The Apprentice Who Can't Take Over the Practice

This is my first Fly On The Wall (FOTW) post in a while. 

My initial FOTW post describes what inspired the series. And maybe you'll enjoy some of the others:

FOTW #1: Respect, Referrals & Cross-selling
FOTW #2: If Internal Communication is Poor, Can You Still Have a "Great Culture"?
FOTW #3: "We Don't Have the Right People."
FOTW #4: What Happens When People Are in Your Lobby?
FOTW #5: "It's Not Us." (All About Sam)

Today, I want to talk about a recent revelation I've had that a problem I thought I just observed "here and there" is actually so common that I now estimate it occurs in about a third of the 100+ firms I've been exposed to during the past 12 years that I've spent consulting.

Here's the scenario.

Introducing the Partner and the Apprentice

There's a dynamic, successful partner with some of these traits:

• A natural at marketing.
  By that, I mean that she makes friends readily and plants seeds with just about everyone she meets. She exudes confidence and is pleasant to interact with. She burns through a box of business cards ten times faster than anyone else. She'll go in for surgery and leave the hospital with a new client or two.
• An expert or niche-practice specialist.
  He is considered one of the leaders among peers. Unquestionable that he's good at what he does—solid credentials back up any claims of quality, and happy clients abound.
• Recurring referrals from the same sources.
  Referrals keep coming from the same people because the work is that good and the quality is that consistent. Her referrals feed the firm well and the practice area grows. Team members are added to support the practice and do the work that she brings in. 
• Meticulous about work and service quality.
  He may believe that few people can perform to his level, and trust is limited to a few key people that work particularly closely with him. It makes sense! Quality is how he built the practice and keeping that reputation intact is essential to the continuity of the happy clients and referral sources.
• Tight control of relationships.
  She's worked hard to earn the business. The most trusted team members have some client contact, but aren't perceived to be truly "in charge" of the work—she's the primary contact for the key decision makers. Her referral sources either haven't met any of the other team members, or aren't encouraged to communicate directly with them.

Then there's someone junior to that partner. This person has some of these traits:

• Highly valued right arm to the partner. 
  She's reliable, conscientious, and very competent. Her strong technical skills, consistent delivery, and unquestionable dedication are why the partner relies on her so heavily.
• No book of business.
  He was handpicked to work for the partner and support the growing practice. The partner brings in plenty of work and, as the first person the partner turns to for leading the project, there's been no need for him to develop business of his own. In fact, the partner hasn't encouraged him to get involved with the firm's marketing and might even discourage it saying, "we have so much going on, don't worry about that right now."
• Full plate.
  Work's lined up for the foreseeable future. There's no need to "shop" internally for other projects to work on, thus no chance to participate in other practice areas. Others in the firm don't consider her as a resource because she never has time to do anything but the partner's work. They may even be a little jealous of how important she is to the partner and how she seems exempted from activites the others are expected to participate in (like marketing).
• Non-equity partner or forever manager or associate.
  Maybe he's never been worried about becoming partner or was made partner without meeting some otherwise key criteria (like having a book of business or demonstrating the abililty to bring in clients). The senior partner might have lobbied for the promotion explaining he'd be able to bring in business once "partner" was on the business card. An underlying reason for this hope promotion might have been to keep this important worker from defecting. 
• Subdued personality.
  She has a reserved nature, rather the opposite of the natural-marketer tendencies of the senior partner. She's happy to have such a great role and the respect of the dynamic partner. And she's glad she doesn't have to do that marketing stuff because it would be uncomfortable and maybe even a little beneath her to do it. Quite frankly, though people in the firm know she's a pro, she doesn't exactly exude "confidence" to strangers. This might be a reason she's not introduced to referral sources.

 

What's Actually Happening

An apprentice is someone who invests in learning a craft from the skilled employer. And if you learn well, you can earn the privilege of being groomed to eventually take over the practice. There is nothing wrong with this model. 

The problem I keep seeing in the accounting and legal professions is that there are too many partner-apprentice situations similar to the one I described.

The "grooming" part is more or less missing.

For years the team approach works well for both people, but what's frighteningly absent is self-sufficiency of the junior person. It's a co-dependency. And everyone ends up hurt in the long run: the junior person, the clients, the firm, and possibly even the senior partner if she really did hope to build a legacy practice (sometimes she doesn't actually hope to).

When the partner retires or leaves, continuity of client relationships in this well-established practice area is impaired or in jeopardy. And new work slows to a trickle because the most logical "next in line" hasn't learned the skills and developed the contacts to keep the pipeline full. 

How can this unfortunate situation be avoided?

If You're the Junior

Understand that, even though you probably didn't choose law or accounting in order to get involved in "sales," business development is an absolutely requisite skill set (unless you elect to work in industry rather than practice in a firm). 

Without the skill set, you will forever rely on others to create your work. You'll have less control of your workload, less opportunity to explore other areas of practice, and much less marketability to move as a lateral. Your odds of earning an equity owner position are slim without at least a modest book of business and the ability to grow one.

Maybe that's okay with you—you don't aspire to be an equity owner. That's fine.

But it doesn't change the fact that, essentially, your career future is beyond your control and perhaps threatened when your other half retires or moves on.

If you stay but can't lead the practice group, the firm has to either bring in a new senior partner (pray you get along with him and that he respects and values you like the other one did) or the practice group dries up. Maybe you can start working in another practice area, but you then have to start all over learning a new trade. It's too bad you didn't have much exposure to other practice areas in the past. 

If you look for a position elsewhere, you're now competing with other professionals who do what you do and have a book, or the skills to develop one. Your only remaining option may be an industry position.

Bottom line: don't permit yourself to become dependent on another practitioner to fill your work plate; become proficient at building contacts and discussing your capabilities with confidence as early in your career as possible. These are skills that can be learned with practice.

You may never by the dynamic marketing type that the partner is, but successful marketing doesn't always look like her. Lots of quiet types are very successful at developing business! 

Remember this as you progress in your career: it's far better to get to the point where you bring in work that you don't do than it is to always be doing work that you don't bring in. 

If You're the Partner

If you're the partner, you are doing your colleague a disservice by not urging him or her to obtain the skills and confidence to be self-sufficient in a practice without you.

Even if you don't consider this person to be the ideal future successor, he or she is your right-hand person and if the proverbial bus came along, your cherished clients would all be left in a lurch. Your firm would face the threat of a completely disrupted, significant practice area. And your valued colleague would be stuck in the situation I just described. 

To avoid this, begin introducing your protégé to clients and referral sources. If she really doesn't have what it takes to impress, help her acquire greater confidence by creating opportunities to present to people she's comfortable with on topics she's a master of. Practice is critically important. Few people rock at this without repeat performances. 

If needed, consider some outside skill development. Toastmasters and the like. He probably won't ever be the dynamo you are and that's okay. He doesn't need to be. Enough confidence to instill trust and to be personable and helpful is the minimum you're looking for.

She should have some exposure to clients, new prospect meetings, and get to know your referral sources and their successors. Your demonstration of confidence in your protégé to include her in these meetings will also go a long way toward instilling a sense of (internal) confidence in her. 

In general, if you do expect the person to eventually replace you, be cognizant of the inherent problems when you hire someone "opposite of you" in personality. You're probably setting yourself up for disappointment. The opposite of you is a great worker bee but is not usually successor material unless you are committed to helping him obtain the skills to keep the practice growing long after you are gone.

Seek out a strong worker who is also a people person. He might be harder to tame, but an entrepreneurial spirit will ensure the continuity of your practice.

Social Media: The Unavoidable Intersection of Your Business & Personal Life

For those among you who have managed thus far to maintain good, solid compartmentalization between your business and your personal lives, I offer a hearty “Congratulations!”

Seriously. Not an easy thing to do these days. In fact, for some of us, we couldn’t cleanly sort the people in our lives into the two buckets of "business" and "friends" if our lives depended on it.

But this “blur” of personal and professional isn’t really a new thing, at all, is it?

For years, we've become friends with clients and friends become clients. Co-workers become like family. Sometimes they literally become family. It's not uncommon that lawyers/doctors wed other lawyers/doctors, etc. (With the hours some people put in, where the heck else would they meet anyone?? )

But now it’s in your face and soon to be, if not yet, in your employment policies: dealing with social media applications and the work day.

Collecting all your contacts in one place is complicated, too. There is the clear challenge of deciding how much of your personal side to bare to whom.

You might whip out pictures of your kids to show a colleague at a conference, but do you really want them seeing photos of you in your swimsuit chasing your kid (not pretty is my point)?

For those who want to dip their toe in the pool of the life/work blend (or who are already waist deep) and wishing for a way to be more selective about who sees what, you will probably appreciate this excellent “how to” on Facebook privacy through using “groups” for sorting your friends and business contacts. Read 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.

I’ll briefly touch on policies, too. Frankly, as much as companies have tried over the last decade to stifle employee access of third party email sites, interactive websites, etc, it’s simply impossible to restrict the entire internet. Why bother to lock out hotmail/yahoo when people have email and text on their smart phones??

That era is over.

And it’s dumb to block most websites, too. Disallowing Linked In, Facebook, Blogs and Twitter (yes, some firms lock down all of those) is cutting off your firm’s nose to spite its face. These are valuable marketing tools for those who wish to use them that way.

But more discouragingly for the leery employer, if you ban them, smart people who like a challenge (there tend to be quite a few of those in the professional knowledge firm arena) will spend their time finding a way to circumvent the ban.

C’mon, you were teenagers...you remember the thrill of stretching or breaking a rule just to see if you could pull it off!

So, don’t spend a lot of energy worrying about who is using what forum and instead, if issues arise at the individual level with regard to performance, then address problems one-on-one with that individual. Worry about people not getting their work done is the real issue behind the bans, anyway, right?

Today's reality is that there is little choice now but to trust the way people spend their “time” is appropriate, overall, and simply hold people accountable for the end result: either they are cutting the mustard with performance, or they aren’t.

Good luck and happy entry to this new era of life/work management.

*Hat tip to the incomparable Debra Helwig (excellent new blog: Service Minded) for pointing me to the the Facebook Privacy article and its 239 useful comments

Marketer to Attorney Ratio is 1:27

Some new legal marketing stats are in. Larry Bodine posted recent survey results reflecting that on average, AMLAW 100 law firms have one marketer for every 27 attorneys.

Don't worry too much about the reported average tenure stats. These are consistent with highly paid marketing exec tenures across all sectors (see my prior post here). Law is no different. Marketers are an itchy bunch to begin with, but together with stakes being high and participation/cooperation (and budgets!) of the firms being a bit lower than other sectors, well, maybe it's surprising marketers stay as long as they do.

I'm not sure of a ratio of marketers to accountants in either the Top 100 accounting firms or all firms in general but I'll dig around to see what I can turn up.

A New Value Based Law Firm (alt: What Pat Lamb is Up To)

Legal blogger and friend Patrick Lamb has been noticably absent from his blog lately (he promises to return when he remembers how to login write).

His absence isn't surprising when you learn what he's been up. Effective today, Patrick launches Valorem Law Group (valorem being latin for value) in downtown Chicago. The firm's placeholder website (at www.valoremlaw.com) will go up later this week.

Pat has been leading Butler Rubin which has stood out among similarly sized firms for its ability to compete with the big guys as a powerhouse litigation boutique. Pat is a believer in value pricing -- something Pat has demonstrated his curiosity and passion about on his blog, In Search of Perfect Client Service, but his collegues wouldn't go where Pat wanted to go with regard to VP.

In his own words, he describes the situation and his motivation to start Valorem, "...while many changes were instituted, the firm remained committed to working by the hour, and like other firms, its hourly rates continued to escalate with no end in sight. [He believes] that fees should be fixed, margins managed, and that performance should be a key factor in pay,"

I'm very happy for Pat who, along with two equally passionate members (and one more coming in April) starts this innovative new firm. They also begin with one full-time contract lawyer, two paralegals and an administrative assistant.

On a call with him yesterday (while he pretended to be sad about getting out of was distracted from moving into his new space) he told me about the 1920's era building they are moving into on Wacker with like-sized offices for all, lots of open collaborating space, a mock courtroom, and an edgy, high-tech set-up. Can't wait to see it!

You can read about his changes on Pat's Linked In profile.

Let's keep our eye on this firm; it will be one to watch as these lawyers set some precendent on the course toward the Firm of the Future. Happy 2008 Pat!!

BlawgWorld 2007 E-Book Just Released!

And Golden Practices is pretty darn excited to be part of it! Download BlawgWorld 2007 (PDF) free.

Technolawyer invited bloggers whom they defined as authors of the "77 most influential blawgs" to hand-select an essay each for this year's issue. The purpose is to help busy practitioners quickly skim to find which blogs are likely to be of greatest interest to them.

This picture from BlawgWorld 2007's launch party features two great blogger-friends I've had the pleasure of meeting personally (unrelated to this event): Adriana Linares of I Heart Tech and Allison Shields of Legal Ease Blog.

Most of the blogs are featured within are those I read religiously although there are a handful that are brand new to me and that I'm happy to discover. I hope you'll take time to discover them, too!

As an aside, the ebook is super easy to navigate as its creators boast readers are never more than 3-clicks from what they seek. It's a well-designed approach to e-books and if you are thinking of developing one, this is a model you'll want to check out.

Male/Female Partner Ratios

Interesting results in the new Accountancy Age Top 50 firm listing (UK):

On average women make up only 9.7% of partners within a firm and the number of female qualifieds has dropped year on year by two percentage points.

Interesting facts and perhaps the latter is a conseqence of the former? Or, perhaps not, suggests the only female managing partner in the Top 50, Linda Richardson of Morley and Scott:

I think it’s a matter of choice, when it comes down to it. It isn’t necessarily a matter of discrimination against a woman, it’s more of a choice that a woman makes in her life.

While UK average women ownership is roughly 9.7%, Mercer & Hole shows the highest woman-owned ratio at 24%. Kudos, then, to Mercer & Hole for being the sort of place where women WANT to stay on and become partners!

In the US, according to a 2006 study that included some 2600 participants, "Women now account for 19% of all firm partners, up from 12% a decade ago." The study credited quality of life initiatives as being responsible for this increase.

The study is known as 'A Decade of Changes in the Accounting Profession: Workforce Trends and Human Capital Practices' and was conducted under the aegis of the AICPA's Work/Life and Women's Initiatives Executive Committee.

This accounting/women study was referenced in comparison to the legal profession when an article hit the front page of the NY Times in March 2006 that caused a huge stir: "Up The Down Staircase: Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms?" 

Phyllis Weiss Haserot, of Practice Development Counsel, wrote "Up the Up Staircase: Follow the Lead of CPA Firms." She notes that the AICPA study shows: "A gender gap in the desire for partnership exists; 65% of male and 41% of female senior managers expressed a desired for partnership." This certainly corroborates the comments of Linda Richardson--but there's still a big gap between 9.7-19% who are partners and the 40% that aspire to be...

Phyllis also cites the study in that "Women are choosing smaller firms where their advancement is more pronounced" which makes sense.

Similarly, the Accountancy Age study comments stated that the smaller firms had significantly bolstered ethic minority partners ratios which the Big 4 dragged down. That the 10 largest firms only show only an 11.8% female partner ratio is definitely disappointing.

Getting to the heart of the matter, back in 2004, my friend Wendy Werner wrote an article "Where Have the Women Attorneys Gone." Wendy, like Phyllis in her article, is much more interested in fixing the disparity than in pointing it out. Both articles are very constructive.

I have to say that the really depressing news was in Wendy's article where she referenced:

The ABA Commission on Women also found that men earn twenty percent higher salaries than women, and are twice as likely to obtain a partnership than women with similar qualifications.

Hmmmm. Well, money isn't everything. Nowadays, time (as in non-working time) is a currency.

I say this is where smaller firms will win out. Smaller firms are simply more flexible. And this is a huge advantage for them that will play out in the next decade or so as we see talent flocking to the most flexible organizations. It's not just a generational thing, or a gender thing. It's what all of us want.

And it's what many people need as we tend to aging parents and raise children in a more dangerous society than the one in which we were raised. And we can do it so easily now with technology.

3 Positive Ways to Impact Your Firm

In a heavy conversation the other day with a friend who is also in the consulting profession, we reflected on how lawyers and accountants, through their associations, continuing education, and even with their consultants, have belabored much of the same 'stuff' for more than 20 years.

They (you...we...) worry about, ponder, and hear recommendations about, the same 'ol issues and concerns--yet they still go unresolved. These are things like recruiting, retention, cross-selling, profitability, succession, new business development, etc.

Look at the topics of most conferences, seminars, and roundtables and you'll see the same subjects over and over and over. Year after year.

So, we wondered...

• are firms going to session after session on the same topic in hopes of hearing a recommendation that is "easier" or less painful?
• is it that most firm leaders don't want resolution enough to actually take action? (ah, maybe retirement isn't that far away...and it will be the next generation's problem to solve...)
• how much is just plain overwhelm?
• or, maybe, could it be that the problems discussed are symptoms and not the real illness?

We also agreed there are some big problems that don't get talked about much. They are pooh-poohed or  swept under the rug and avoided all together.

My friend asked, "What do you think could most positively impact firms in the next 10-20 years?"

Not an easy question (and my crystal ball is in the shop) but after thinking awhile, I offered these three things:

1. Morale
2. Forethought and Reflection
3. Differentiation

Though they look small, they are not.

MORALE has dramatic impact on customer service and longevity not to mention its benefit for personnel.

Job enjoyment, magnetizing the firm to attract more and better talent, and energy toward learning and excelling--the desire for people to go out of their way to impress each other--are all tremendous results of great morale.

Much of the delegation problem is trust and training based. Great morale creates the behaviors that increase trust. Don't underestimate this as a core goal for your firm and better!

Lawyer Ad Rules and Blogs

Absolutely ridiculous! NY courts, through state ethics restrictions, are trying to impose a huge "Advertisement" label on legal blogs and ALL electronic communications by or about lawyers.

"This blog is false and misleading (in New York)" Read the post and note, at the bottom, that NY is accepting comments on their proposed changes in rules until Nov 15.

Another case of lawyers who don't "do" marketing and communications trying to stop those who do.

I know the late night ads, radio ads with sports figures, and the "we'll get 'em" yellow-pages ads all embarrass more traditional attorneys. But the way to fight it is not through Court restrictions, it's through demonstrating how you're different.

Those fighting blogs and the very essence of communication should recognize how effective these activities ARE at demonstrating that very difference.

Those who "don't" always jump in when they see marketing techniques that work. The good news is that it appears the verdict is in: lawyer blogs are effective and are posing some level of threat to lawyers who just won't market at all.

Ads With Punch

Dan Hull over at What About Clients? posted about an ad his firm ran in 1998 in three East Coast newspapers for eight weeks.

For professional service firm ads, there seem to be only a few options:

1) all about us (who we are/what we do) serving to establish brand;

2) the tombstone (more "about us"; usually self-congratulatory; less relevant to the reader than type 1);

3) problem/solution (call to action, hopefully) addressing an issue common to a buyer paired with a solution; and

4) testimonial (happy customer; usually high-profile) sharing results gleaned.

In professional services, most ads are types 1 & 2. It is a becoming a little more common to see type 3 ads as firms realize that readers respond to demonstrated understanding and appreciation of their problems. Type 4 ads are fairly common by firms who aren't fearful of flaunting their client list. Type 4 can be very effective if done well.

I cannot specifically recall another instance (before Dan's--especially in 1998) where I've seen a firm advertise, in a print publication, a better "experience" to be had when using them--an approach constituting a 5th ad type: the experience.

Dan's firm, Hull McGuire's ad copy was

IS THIS A GREAT TIME TO CHANGE LAW FIRMS, OR WHAT?

Doing business has changed. But many law firms haven't.

They still charge for "services" and overhead no corporate client should have to absorb. Like associate lawyer training. Duplicative conferences. And senior lawyers who will never understand or care about your business.

The product is disappointing. Service and follow-up are only words. And the bill makes you nuts.

Stop being the equipment in games lawyers play. At Hull McGuire, we focus on clients, and solving their problems. We build lifetime relationships with businesses of all sizes.

IT'S TIME, ISN'T IT?

HULL MCGUIRE PC

I'm not surprised Dan would be involved in taking this approach given his blog's client-centric focus. What were the results of his ad? Dan wrote:

Maybe it was dumb luck, but this very basic and somewhat crude ad produced:

1. some wildly enthusiastic phone calls from people we did not know (in the first week, one GC, apparently sober, congratulated us from an airport payphone during a layover)
2. some catty but entertaining and telling comments from lawyers in Pennsylvania and D.C. we did know
3. firming up for us at least one still continuing relationship with a like-minded company fed up with the lethargy and indifference of its traditional large law firm

Dan's blog should be regular reading for his spunky approaches to being successful doing something different from the "safe" approaches most everyone else takes. I love that he's not only not afraid to be different, but he's proud of it and promotes it well.

Dan also hosted a global-flavored edition (#65) of Blawg Review. Be sure to check out the fantastic work Dan has done compliling global legal blogs. There are some real gems in his list.

Advice for Professionals Considering a Blog

A lot of CPAs and lawyers ask me if they should blog. Why do their competitors blog? Is blogging a silly trend they can ignore until it goes away?

Not so oddly (for people familiar with strategic marketers), my advice is seldom the same from one firm, or one person, to the next. But here are some basic considerations...

For professionals who want "off the hook" where blogging is concerned, here's a list of who should NOT blog:

1. Blogging is not for the professional wanting to be "uninvolved" with his or her marketplace.
2. It is not for the person who doesn't stay informed on at least one particular area of practice (be it a specialty or industry)
3. It's not for someone who's uncomfortable stating a distinct opinion or offering analytical perspective
4. It's not for a professional who only writes in "technical-eze"
5. Blogging is not for someone who won't spend an hour or two a week (at minimum) working on posts.

Blogs do accomplish some things that no other current method of marketing or communications can.

1. A blog gives readers insight into the author's personality and demeanor
2. They can demonstrate actual expertise whereas websites usually claim it but fail to substantiate it
3. They help people and show others what is good about your profession and why you add value
4. Good blogs show young professionals that your firm is "with it" (bad ones, just like bad websites, show potential hires that you're NOT with it)
5. Blogs can lead to publicity, interviews and writing/speaking opportunities for you and your firm
6. They open the door for conversations and relationships with other bloggers, colleagues, and prospects who already know you somewhat through your blog and decide they WANT to know more!

If you are still thinking about blogging, there is some great advice on Seth Godin's blog where he shares over 50 tips on building blog traffic. Some of his tips are contradictory demonstrating that different strategies work for different bloggers for different reasons. My favorite tips are:

• Learn enough to become the expert in your field.
• Be among the first with a great blog on your topic, then encourage others to blog on the same topic.
• Share your expertise generously so people recognize it and depend on you.
• Announce news.
• Do email interviews with the well-known.
• Point to useful but little-known resources.
• Don't promote yourself and your business or your books or your projects at the expense of the reader's attention.
• Don't be boring.
• Write stuff that people want to read and share.

My addition to Seth's list: Remember, it's always about what matters to the AUDIENCE!

Best Law Firm Website Ever

Hysterically funny...a lawyer we work with just pointed us to this wonderful firm site. This "firm" spent a TON of time putting this together. It is in jest, but in many ways, it really is better than a lot of real firm websites.

I think this excerpt from their "Meaning of Life" page conveys more truth than comedy. The whole site does, really.

Our study has revealed, among other findings, that the meaning of life is hard work, performed without rest and without complaint, for purposes often vague and unclear, in concert with people you neither trust nor respect. And that those who seek meaning elsewhere are simply misguided, and in line for a life of failure and disappointment.

And an associate bio (Chicago location) reads:

Notable Experience: Ms. Grimes ("Grimey") provides support to partners who counsel chief executives and corporations on employment arrangements, incentive compensation agreements, and non-compete agreements, with a specialty in determining how corporations can avoid providing benefits to their employees. Thanks for Ms. Grimes' work, at least three dozen children have been orphaned, and seventeen others now live in the park. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Hobbies/Interests: Spider solitaire; freecell; minesweeper; Snood.

Family: Divorced twice. Non-custodial parent of two children. Elderly mother living in her basement.

Best Experience at the Firm: "I got a paper cut once. It was exciting to feel something."

Worst Experience at the Firm: "Getting suspended for a week without pay because I got a paper cut."

Advice to Law Students: "Don't get paper cuts."

This is the great work of Jeremy Blachman, author of Anonymous Lawyer. He says his site just went live on Tuesday! Check it out.

Under-delegation Hurts Retention, Profitability and Marketing

Professionals understand delegation is beneficial, yet few are compelled to do enough of it. Let's see if some of the thoughts below help create more movement toward delegation behaviors.

In my previous post entitled "The Profitability Problem" I touched on several factors that deserve much deeper discussion. Leverage aka "delegation" is one.

In a comment to that post, David Maister suggested that I skated over the topic of delegation (or leverage)--that I "gave up" and suggested firms just won't get better at this. And he is right, it deserves deeper discussion. I promptly sketched out some thoughts right then and there, but I didn't finish constructing the post until I saw David's post today (which I cite below).

My thoughts fall into 3 major categories:

1. delegation & profitability
2. delegation & marketing, and
3. delegation & personnel retention

What's Behind Exemplar's Approach?

For anybody wondering "what is the deal?" with the rebel firm, Exemplar Law Partners, the Adam Smith Esq. blog features an OUTSTANDING post getting to the heart of it all.

ELP is the law firm that has completely re-engineered the traditional law firm operating and pricing models. Bruce MacEwen interviewed ELP CEO Chris Marston and he tells the story beautifully.

I think MacEwen summarizes it well:

Is Exemplar the most unorthodox law firm I've ever encountered?  Are a passel of the ills besieging our profession to be laid directly at the doorstep of the billable hour?  Do a large cohort of clients prefer fixed fees?  Can, in fact, high-end legal services be priced that way?  Has Chris Marston drawn a line in the sand?   Yes, in spades, to all.

Adventure of Strategy

I bring to your attention a truly outstanding blog: Adventure of Strategy by Rob Millard. He has a fascinating background and is a principal with Edge International.

I've been thoroughly enjoying his writing since I came upon it a couple months ago. I am delighted to add Rob to my Great Blogs list as a high-quality, thought-provoking resource for professional service firms.

Thank you for your excellent insights, Rob.

How Many Non-Professionals in Your Firm?

An interesting post on the Professional Marketing Blog talks about how, in law firms, there are the lawyers and then there is "everybody else."

I disagree with Larry Bodine, though, who says:

No other profession makes this derogatory distinction. Accounting firms don't have "non-accountants" -- they call them "team members." Same goes for consulting, architectural and engineering firms.

I find that in CPA firms, there is what may be an even more derogatory distinction. Some firms do actually use the term "team members" which was significantly popularized by the good folks of Results Accountants' Systems in their famous Bootcamps.

But many CPA firms refer to their accountants as "professionals" and openly refer to everyone else as "non-professionals."

Pretty unfortunate to that the CPAs are, apparently, the only professionals in those offices...

If your firm is still one of those that uses the "non-professionals" label, please replace it with something (like "non-accountant"?) that appropriately credits everyone in your professional service firm as a "professional" of one sort or another.

Golden Practices One of 12 "Strongest Links" by ABA Law Practice Today

We're pretty excited to be listed among the twelve featured by Tom Mighell this year in his Strongest Links column on Law Practice Today, an excellent web publication by ABA's Law Practice Management Section. Mighell addresses the evolution of web-based marketing resources for attorneys and identifies "a new crop of marketing and client service blogs" aimed at lawyers that he identifies as "some of the most useful."

It's really an honor to be in the company of eleven great bloggers including Gerry Riskin and David Maister. Thanks for the attention, Tom. I'll try hard to live up to the mention!

Marketing Salaries Reflecting ROI

An eyebrow raising post today on Larry Bodine's blog posits that the salaries of law firm marketers are dwarfing firm administrators' salaries.

Bodine cites two surveys that indicate median administrator salaries are in the $70-80K range and he references numerous legal marketing job ads offering $100K+ (and some in the over $400K range). The median salaries aren't quite that high, but if you visit his other site's job openings you will, indeed, find many jobs for senior marketers and even writers, editors, and knowledge managers in the over $80K range.

Bodine says:

This is GREAT news for the marketers, because it means they've worked their way out of the "overhead" category in law firms.  The marketers are able to say, "If you invest $5 with my plan, you'll get $20 back.  I can prove return on investment." 

About different roles earning different pay, I'm reminded of a wonderful bit of advice shared awhile back by Julie Lindy, editor of INSIDE Public Accounting, on the Assoc. of Accounting Marketing discussion list. She said:

Nobody is paid what they are worth. They are paid what their *jobs* are worth. As human beings, an NFL player is not worth more than a 5th grade teacher, but in our culture, the NFL player's job is valued more, so therefore, he is paid more....You can't take salary personally: It's all about what the job is worth to the person writing the checks.

I agree entirely with Ms. Lindy.

Beside the law firm administrators discussed in Bodine's post, there's another group paying close attention to the legal marketers' escalating salaries...CPA firm marketers.

I cannot help but wonder what most accounting marketers must be thinking when they see the salaries their legal counterparts are earning. The median salaries remain significantly lower (at least $20K behind) in the accounting industry. Actually, I have a pretty good idea of what accounting marketers are thinking.

Something to the effect of: "Can it be that much harder to work with lawyers?"

Uh, well, yes and no. Totally depends on the firm, the culture, and the support marketing, in general, has within the firm. Overall, lawyers aren't that much different from CPAs. In some ways they are more open about what they think and, ultimately, more open-minded about trying new things. In other ways, they are far more trying because they challenge everything (and for fun, I think!).

So...are the disparities in salary reasonable?

Inside the Firm of the Future

Exemplar Law Partners is causing quite a stir. This is the Boston firm, launched and led by CEO Christopher Marston, that touts "No Hourly Bill, No Hourly Bull."

Many are keeping a watchful eye on this firm.

Some hope beyond hope that Exemplar succeeds because it will mean they lead, in the limelight, the movement away from timesheet-based billing in the legal profession. If Exemplar pulls it off, maybe their firm can, too.

Others speculate (and I suspect even hope) that the firm won't be able to make it work. Surprised I'd say that?

I believe that some people hope the firm will fail as proof that their comfortable-as-an-old-pair-of-jeans hourly model isn't broken after all. And if it fails, they don't ever have to think about addressing such a massive change in their firms.

There's no doubt...changing IS hard to do. It requires forethought and planning. I admit that, having done it myself for a long time, hourly is most certainly the laziest way to price.

There are many skeptics to the concept of value billing. This isn't a casual topic easily dismissed with a subject change. This topic evokes more passion, on both sides of the discussion, than I've ever witnessed in the professions.

Most of those who can nod their head a bit at the idea of value pricing cannot understand or accept that timesheets shouldn't be used in a firm that doesn't bill hourly.

Actually, practitioners who've made the switch from hourly to value are the strongest proponents of ditching timekeeping. They know it keeps them mired in the thinking that time (perceived as cost) should impact price. Read a true tale of the evolving mindset of accountants that made the switch quite successfully.

The purpose of my post is to tell you that Chris Marston of Exemplar has started a blog called Inside the Firm of the Future in order to share his firm's growth in this process.

Exemplar, I admire all of you for what you are doing--especially for your "Believing is Seeing." May you succeed beyond everyone's wildest dreams.