Friday, December 21, 2018

Law Firms Publishing on Amazon: An Underutilized Business Development and Content Marketing Opportunity©


All law firms know that a having strong, viable and ongoing online presence is now critical to maintaining and growing a law firm brand and reputation. Almost all major law firms actively use social media and have staff dedicated to regularly posting firm content to increase readers, followers, reputation and search engine optimization (SEO). Yet few major law firms are publishing their books on Amazon, even though Amazon is one of the world’s most visited websites and sells the most product.

Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers have hundreds of books published on Amazon, while the most any single, major law firm has is dozens.  Notably, Baker McKenzie, Latham & Watkins and Morrison & Foerster have published various books produced by their firms on Amazon, including Year in Reviews/Yearbooks and other books on such subjects as International Arbitration, Global Privacy, Capital Markets & Securities FAQs and U.S. Corporate Jargon, among other titles. For the past eight years, Orrick has published their annual Employment Law Handbook on Amazon. But few major law firms have books published and available on Amazon. For many of the few law firms who do have books published on Amazon, the information about the books and authors is not current or complete. In addition, related third-parties in the legal sector, such as law firm networks (Lex Mundi, TerraLex, etc.) regularly ask their members to write books, including titles such as “Doing Business in ‘X’ (a specific country or state)”, yet they are not available on Amazon.

Given Amazon’s leading global market position and penetration, is publishing books on Amazon a business development opportunity missed by most law firms? The answer is clearly yes. Doing so can increase SEO, online reputation, generate quality leads, enhance client service and can create a new source of revenue for the firm.

Just like many law firms, over the past 30 years, I have written and amassed a treasure trove of non-client-specific information, including articles, checklists, an app and a wealth of other content I wrote and own. I realized that I can re-purpose it into a book for Amazon. So we recently compiled and wrote, and then published my first book on Amazon. Below are five practical lessons learned, beyond simply writing an informative and useful book.

  1. Do research – When undertaking a new, never-done-before project (like publishing a book on Amazon for the first time), many of us start by Googling. We spent a lot of time doing that and conducting other research (including buying and reading several “How To” books from Amazon). But as of December 2018, Amazon’s online publishing platform Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon KDP) is still in the process of merging with CreateSpace (a print and distribution service). As a result, much of the information, tips and how-tos found by Googling and in recently published books on the subject are no longer valid, work like they used to, or no longer apply. Much of the information available on the internet is still valid, but not all information is correct. Once we realized this, we made our own process chart and detailed to-do lists for our book launch and updated them as the project progressed.
  2. Assemble a top-notch team – As with many worthwhile projects, writing and publishing a book on Amazon takes considerable time and effort. And it takes a village. Team members critical to the successful launch of our first book published on Amazon KDP include an experienced book editor (we used more than one), a skilled graphic designer, an experienced and detail-oriented book formatter (one who knows how to format eBooks, paperbacks, and hard covers), a dedicated and exceptional assistant, and a skilled videographer. Depending on the author’s skill set, availability and bandwidth, there may be other professionals needed to get the project completed.
  3. Create a schedule, to-do list, budget and marketing plan in writing – Looking back, one of the best things we did from the start was draft a detailed schedule, to-do list, marketing plan and budget, then we updated them as the project progressed. Notice I wrote the word “draft.” This is because we had never done this before, and there were many moving parts, so there was a lot we did not know or expect, which leads me to my next (and probably the most important) lesson learned.
  4. Plan for extra time – In our initial timeline, we added approximately 10 days to two weeks into each major stage of this project, including getting the draft finalized, formatting the paperback and eBook versions, launching on Amazon KDP, and marketing tactics. In fact, due to the changes and updates being made to Amazon KDP because of their absorbing CreateSpace, getting books launched for the first time takes a bit longer than anticipated, and the unexpected happens. 
  5. Be ready to adapt – Doing something worthwhile for the first time incurs risk, which means we needed to remain flexible, adaptable, open to the unknown and learning new things. Even with all the research and preparation we did (which was a lot), things happened that we did not expect, anticipate, know about or have control over. For example, initially, to find a book formatter, we used one of the freelance “work for hire” websites and thought we did a good job vetting our candidates. Yet the one we initially hired oversold their experience and capability and was unable to finish the project. So we had to find and hire a new one. Another example is the unexpected, unplanned human error factor. Registering ISBNs is required for paperback books, yet we inadvertently used an “and” instead of an ampersand in our title when registering our ISBN, which caused issues and delays.

Most major law firms have a plethora of non-client-specific content - including books already written - that can be re-purposed and published on Amazon. Doing so takes considerable time, effort and investment, so if your law firm plans to publish books on Amazon, I hope the lessons learned in this article are of assistance.

To check out Julie Savarino’s new book on Amazon, click here.



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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Coming Soon, A raved-about, new book, “Master-Level Business and Client Development Activity Checklists for Lawyers, Law Firms and Other Professional Services Providers”



If you want to save time, make more money, get new clients and/or advance your career, consider buying this book. It consists of immediately usable and actionable checklists containing proven, step-by-step tips that will increase your results and return on investment from the most common business, client development and selling activities used by lawyers, law firm marketers/business developers and other high-end professional services providers.

Because this book is written in checklist format, it eliminates the need to spend lots of nonbillable time reading various books about business development, client development and/or selling professional services, and then spend even more time getting that information into a usable format. You will find all the best tips and to-dos in one place – in this book!

Checklists Included in this Book:

  1. Received an RFP/RFI? How to Make the Best “Go/No Go” Decision: 12 Tips to Maximize the Results From Your Time, Effort and Investment 
  2. Have a New Business “Pitch” Meeting Coming Up? 21 Proven Tips on Ways to Win
  3. Meeting With a Prospective Client? 8 Tips to Maximize the Results From Any One-on-One or Small-Group Sales Meeting
  4. 5 Keys to Effective Cross-Servicing and Cross-Selling
  5. Attending a Conference or Seminar? 12 Tips to Maximize Your Results >From Attending
  6. Making the Best First Impression: 16 Tips for an Effective Introductory Speech (commonly known as an “Elevator Pitch)
  7. Speaking at a Seminar or Conference? 8 Tips to Maximize the Results From Your Speaking Engagement
  8. Doing a Webinar Presentation? 11 Ways to Get the Best Results From Your Time and Effort

Click here for more information or to enter to win a free book and $100 Amazon gift card!

Author: Julie Savarino, email Julie@BusDevInc.com.

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Friday, October 5, 2018

Which major law firms employ a Chief Client Service Officer, Director or equivalent?

Which major law firms employ a Chief Client Service Officer, Director or equivalent? Some law firms that employ a CCSO or equivalent: Baker McKenzie, Ballard Spahr, Blank Rome, BLG, Dentons, DLA Piper, Goldsberg Segalla, Hogan Lovells, Husch Blackwell, Linklaters, MinterEllison, Morgan Lewis, Norton Rose Fulbright, Ogletree Deakins, Oslers, Peckar & Abramson, Pepper Hamilton, Pillsbury, Proskauer, Smith Anderson, Steptoe & Johnson, Stoel Rives, Wilmer Hale, Winston & Strawn, and Womble. 

Thursday, September 6, 2018

12 More Tips for Lawyers on How to Network Successfully


  1. Before the reception, request and obtain an attendance list and think about who will be attending. Whom do you want to meet? Who can you introduce to whom?
  2. Prepare and practice a self-introduction (also known as an elevator speech). Think about what you will say when asked, “What do you do?”
  3. Bring a stack of business cards.
  4. Have some topics to talk about: check the news.
  5. Arrive early, smile, and stand up straight.
  6. Wear your name tag on your upper right shoulder.
  7. Look for and approach someone you know.
  8. Look at and encourage the speaker; resist interrupting.
  9. Spend 95 percent of your time asking questions about the other person.
  10. Ask for business cards (rather than offering yours) and spend some time examining the card.
  11. Be ready to move on and to say something like, “Excuse me, I see someone I need to say hello to.”
  12. Send thank-you emails, notes, and tailored “Let’s connect” requests on LinkedIn.

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Thursday, August 30, 2018

10 Tips to Network Successfully for Lawyers and Other Professionals

Networking is the art of conversing with people reciprocally, where a conversation is an exchange of ideas, leads, and/or suggestions that support the professional and personal lives of both parties.

  1. The best networkers do not attend networking events with a “What’s in it for me (WIFM)?” mentality. Rather, they approach networking with a “What’s in it for them (WIFT)?” mentality, i.e., focusing on how they can be helpful and/or useful to other people.
  2. They focus on treating other attendees as people, not as contacts who can do something for them.
  3. They focus on being sincerely interested in other people.
  4. Before attending, they have a plan and approach for capture any new business contacts and important conversations by inputting that information into their automated contact systems and/or connecting to those contacts on LinkedIn and other relevant social media.
  5. When attending events and conferences, they plan ahead to mingle and circulate.
  6. They are friendly and open, focusing on listening to people, one on one, and with sincere interest.
  7. They pay attention by listening to understand another’s perspective. They listen with their eyes and ears, and remember and/or take note of what they discussed, heard about, and learned. They listen for commonalities and mutual interests, and expand upon them.
  8. They are open to serendipity, things that happen coincidentally, or what they hear/learn about unexpectedly.
  9. They are disciplined with initiating follow-up and following through.
  10. They thank and/or acknowledge everyone who has given them their time, ideas, leads, resources, referrals, word of mouth, etc., and stay in touch.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Two Best Ways for Lawyers and Law Firms to Generate New Business


 1. Generate “leads” from marketing activities such as seminars, newsletters, and websites. What is a “lead”? It is a client or prospective client who demonstrates interest in a legal subject. Often, leads come in the form of questions, such as: “Does your firm have a written employment policy for family leave?” There is a reason the clients/prospects asked this question – they usually have a need.

This “lead” is the beginning of a ball of string; what is yet to be determined is how big that ball of string is. The only way to determine how big the need is (or how big the whole ball of string is) is to make appropriate inquiries. Show concern and interest in why the question was asked. Adopt an “I want to be helpful” attitude. Skilled rainmakers – ones who have a natural gift of building relationships quickly, establishing trust and confidence – often consistently convert leads into new revenues. Conversion is the process of taking a “lead” and changing it into a retainer and/or opening of a new matter memo.


2.  Follow up using direct communications with existing clients or prospects. These are communications that come in only four main forms – in person, by telephone, in writing, and by computer/email. A prospective client may attend a law firm’s seminar on “Protecting Intellectual Property Assets.” But someone from the firm must subsequently take the time to talk with the prospective client, establish a relationship, and develop a level of trust and confidence. Then, as appropriate, learn about the business method patents the prospect’s company may have; there is very little chance the prospective client will hire the law firm after simply attending the seminar alone. It is critical to initiate staying in touch over time using a variety of communication methods.

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Thursday, July 26, 2018

10 Best Kept Secrets of Law Firm Clients



1.         Clients always find a way to hire the outside lawyers they want when they want to.
2.         Clients pride themselves on hiring smart lawyers, not cheap lawyers.
3.         Clients always have expectations about when they will hear from you, and about other service features, but they rarely tell you ahead of time, unless specifically asked.
4.         Clients always have a budget at least in their mind.
5.         Clients will always give you hints or suggestions on how to be successful with their case/work but will rarely announce when they’re offering this advice.
6.        Clients never want to hear, “You cannot do X.” Instead, they want to hear how they can do it legally and what options they have to get X done/accomplished.
7.          Clients never fire their lawyers or law firms; they just stop giving them work.
8.         Your rates are too high” is code for I want to give the work to another lawyer/firm.
9.         Nothing is more powerful than saying “I’m sorry” when oversights and/or mistakes are made.
10.       Invoices are a terrible way to communicate progress and strategy.

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Thursday, July 12, 2018

Top Habits of the World’s Best Lawyer Rainmakers


MIND-SET & THINKING 


1.  Embrace the discipline needed to be successful and the power of habits.

2.  Have an authentic willingness to invest in yourself and others.

3. Be very aware of your personal style and preferences and how they can add to or detract from relationships and communications and adjust accordingly. 

4.  Behave in a professional respectful and kind manner to all people you encounter - both internally and externally.

ORGANIZATION & ROUTINE 


1.  Have and use a strategic list.

2.  Include and/or dovetail your client outreaches and communications into your weekly planning time and to-do list.

3.  Use never-ending, weekly, recurring Outlook auto-reminders to remind you to follow-up and stay in touch.

4.  Plan outreaches and communications from the client/contact’s perspective – internally and externally.

5.  When travelling or going out-of-office, double and triple down.

6.  Use and train your assistant to implement a one-hour or less response time for all calls, emails and other inquires. 

LEVERAGE – SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE


1.  Have a system and method in place for every person you meet, everyone on each case/matter, and every business card obtained. I.e. create an Outlook contact, connect on LinkedIn, add to relevant firm mailing lists/CRM system, etc.

2.  Create an internal support team and use for marketing support, communications, research, briefing, getting updates, follow-up, etc.

3.  Use technology to stay abreast of clients, industries, new developments, etc.

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Monday, July 9, 2018

What Doesn’t Work to Develop Business for Lawyers


1.        Using a scattered, “when I have time” approach to business development; engaging in random acts of lunch; and mistaking activity for productivity.
2.        Waiting for the phone to ring in the hope that new work will simply come to you.
3.        Speaking, blogging, and attending conferences and assuming that this is enough to attract new work.
4.        Doing any of the following when communicating: not being present (i.e., being absorbed in your mobile device); assuming you already have full knowledge of the situation/case/matter; not showing any interest or concern; not asking questions; focusing/constantly refocusing on your mobile device; being distracted or uninterested; giving less than full attention; and appearing aloof, judgmental, dismissive, condescending, superior, arrogant, self-consumed, curt, short, or rude.
5.        Not having a meaningful, usable, trackable business development plan, list/pipeline, or accompanying habit/routine in place.

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Thursday, June 21, 2018

6 Common Rainmaking Mistakes Most Lawyers Make


1.        Highly educated lawyers tend to think they already know everything they need to know about developing business, which can cause incorrect assumptions and presumptions regarding current and prospective new clients.
2.        Many lawyers think “sales” and business development are easy and require little more than common sense.
3.        Most lawyers default to some combination of mile-wide, inch-deep, broadcast “marketing” efforts and reactive, opportunistic responses to questions and inquiries.
4.        Many lawyers mistake activity for productivity.
5.        Most lawyers know their own practice, but not the whole firm’s – i.e., they have a “hammer looking for a nail” mentality.
6.        Most lawyers do not have or use a regular outreach and client development action plan. Instead, they engage in client or business development only when they are not busy (which, for most successful lawyers, is not very often).

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Monday, June 18, 2018

Top 10 Secrets of the World’s Best Networkers


Networking is the art of conversing with people reciprocally, where a conversation is an exchange of ideas, leads, and/or suggestions that support the professional and personal lives of both parties.
  1. The best networkers do not attend networking events with a “What’s in it for me (WIFM)?” mentality. Rather, they approach networking with a “What’s in it for them (WIFT)?” mentality, i.e., focusing on how they can be helpful and/or useful to other people.
  2. They focus on treating other attendees as people, not as contacts who can do something for them.
  3. They focus on being sincerely interested in other people.
  4. Before attending, they have a plan and approach for capture any new business contacts and important conversations by inputting that information into their automated contact systems and/or connecting to those contacts on LinkedIn and other relevant social media.
  5. When attending events and conferences, they plan ahead to mingle and circulate.
  6. They are friendly and open, focusing on listening to people, one on one, and with sincere interest.
  7. They pay attention by listening to understand another’s perspective. They listen with their eyes and ears, and remember and/or take note of what they discussed, heard about, and learned. They listen for commonalities and mutual interests, and expand upon them.
  8. They are open to serendipity, things that happen coincidentally, or what they hear/learn about unexpectedly.
  9. They are disciplined with initiating follow-up and following through.
  10. They thank and/or acknowledge everyone who has given them their time, ideas, leads, resources, referrals, word of mouth, etc., and stay in touch.

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Monday, June 11, 2018

How to Insure Client Service Excellence: 10 Tips


1. Excellent service providers do not do only what is asked of them. They go above and beyond and offer to help in many ways.  They think ahead, think proactively, set calendar reminders-to-self to make time to stop and think about their clients and contacts, then suggest and initiate ideas/options.

2. Never forget that all of us who work in law firms are in the service business. You are never going to be done paying dues, so own the fact that nothing is beneath you.  It may sometimes seem the work is beneath you.  You may not enjoy it.  Others will likely take credit for it.  But this is a lawyer’s job…to make clients look good and be more successful.

3. Always be just a little bit early for an appointment.  If you must be late, call ahead to warn them.  It shows that you think they are important.  Everyone likes to feel important.

4. When your client or colleague is coming to visit or is in your office, you are the host.  Act like one. Make it easy for them to find you, park, get their parking validated as needed, etc. When they arrive, ask to take their coat, ask if they would like water, coffee and/or food as appropriate.

5. Remember that lawyers/clients don’t always want nor need something actually done.  Sometimes they just need someone to listen to them.  

6. Before beginning the work, ask your client and/or supervisor what success will look like.  I.e. ask: what are your objectives/desired result(s)? Don’t just guess or assume.  You’ll probably be wrong.

7. Value other people as highly as yourself. Other people are busy too.  Be considerate and guard their time as well as your own. Establish and maintain trust. Do not engage in and/or repeat gossip.

8. Your answer should never be “No, you can’t!”, instead say “Yes, let’s figure out how you can.”

9. Return phone calls and email promptly, or have your assistant do so for you, i.e. “John will be in court until late tonight” or “I will get to this on Thursday”.  Use auto out-of-office messages and be sure to include a back-up contact name, email and telephone number.

10. Say please and thank you to everyone, every time.

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Thursday, June 7, 2018

How to Ensure Top-Quality Client Service for Lawyers and Law Firms


For every lawyer and law firm, existing clients provide the best opportunity to develop additional business. It costs one-fifth as much to gain additional work from an existing client as to gain a new client. An important element associated with gaining new business from existing clients is the level of service clients have received. To ensure clients are predisposed to using additional firm services, constant attention must be paid to the quality of service provided. Make no mistake — service delivery is a process, one that consists of predictable, often repeated steps.

Using the Japanese premise of “constant improvement” as the foundation, conduct an objective assessment and create a list or map of all possible service improvements that could be made throughout the firm to then formalize service steps and/or create a firm-wide service program as appropriate.

To begin, draft a list of all the positions in the firm that have contact with clients, from the receptionist to delivery personnel to the attorneys. Then define every contact made with clients. For example, the receptionist greets clients, escorts them to conference rooms, offers refreshments, takes coats, contacts lawyer to let them know guest has arrived, asks visitors to wait, determines how long the clients will have to wait before he or she calls the attorney, and so forth. It helps to meet with someone in each staff position and ask him or her to help you list everything the client may require from that position. Remember, clients often have as much or more contact with staff members as they do with attorneys, so involving staff in service improvement initiatives is essential. Similarly, a list of attorney contacts such as incoming phone calls, outgoing phone calls, meetings, lunches, dinners, letters, case correspondence, case status, bills, and overdue bill notices that define the steps in the full scope of attorney-client interaction.

A commonly overlooked service step is that of asking clients for their opinion about the quality of the firm’s service. Remember, it is not the attorney’s opinion about the firm and its service that matters; it is clients’ opinions that are worth their weight in gold. Client feedback can be obtained through a written survey, focus groups, informal inquiry, or independent board members. The idea is to gather the clients’ perceptions regarding service quality in a statistically measurable way to improve and further develop the relationship. Market studies show that when dissatisfied, only 4 to 5 percent of clients will complain directly. The other 95 percent will either tolerate poor service without complaint and will be receptive to competitors, or simply stop sending the firm work. In this competitive market, regularly asking clients for feedback regarding service quality is key to maintaining existing relationships.

Once client feedback has been obtained and client contacts have been defined, gather attorneys and staff for a brainstorming session on ways to improve or enhance each client contact. For example, with meetings, attorneys can prepare clients ahead of time by sending them the documentation and a detailed agenda for each meeting. Also, attorneys can ask their secretaries or paralegals to call or greet clients if the attorneys will be delayed for meetings or unable to return communication within 24 hours. There are a myriad of other proactive service steps that can be taken to improve both the level of service a firm provides and the client’s perception of the value received. The goal with each service step is to treat each client as if he or she is the most important.

Communication throughout the firm regarding the various steps each employee can take to improve service delivery will help educate and empower all employees about the importance of those steps. For example, you can email “service improvement of the day” messages to all attorneys and legal assistants. Or if you produce an internal newsletter, discuss service steps in detail in a column in each issue. Also, create a generic “service checklist” to send to attorneys when new files are opened. The attorneys can periodically review the checklist as a reminder of service steps they could be providing.

Training designed to enhance service delivery skills can be provided by position. For example, receptionists require different client interaction skills than do billing clerks or associates. Receptionists must be able to make an excellent first impression and manage the full scope of their client contacts. Associates must understand the difference between client service and development. However, all staff members require skills to effectively handle complaints and telephone inquiries, manage difficult clients, anticipate needs, and project a professional image.

A critical and often overlooked step in making improved service or a service program work is to establish incentives. Support staff should be rewarded for following up with attorneys and clients to ensure quality service is delivered. Attorneys should be rewarded for securing additional work from existing clients. Service is difficult to measure because determining who has been acting courteously and professionally, who has been going the extra mile, and who actually brought the additional business in the door is not always easy. The key is to measure and reward effort and results. One way is to track compliments instead of complaints. Special monthly bonuses can be instituted for staff members and lawyers who are recognized for their service efforts either internally or from clients. Once everyone is clear on what steps they can take to improve service and how to go about it, providing an incentive will make it happen.

Service improvement is an effective use of marketing dollars and will take firms a long way toward securing and enhancing one of the most valuable firm assets – existing client relationships.

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