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When you think of a brand, two things may come to mind: the symbol used to mark livestock and the symbolic embodiment of a product or service. While the first can put a mark on your cattle and other livestock, the second can mark your business, distinguishing it from all others. You cannot drive down the street, listen to the radio or turn on the television without being bombarded by brands. But what does that mean to most small business owners? If you can’t launch a multi-million dollar branding campaign and become nationally recognized, how can you even play that game?
Like any business, small or large, your firm already has a brand. It may not have been intentional and your brand may not even be what you want… but your law firm is already recognized by its “look” and its “reputation.”
So, what is “branding” anyway? A lot of times it is confused with marketing or even public relations, but it is bigger than that. Branding is the entire process used to define the image (or brand) of your business, which includes both marketing and public relations, and is integrated through your business at every point of contact. The purpose is to create a unique market presence that both attracts new clients but also encourages loyalty.
Branding for a small business can take many shapes but three key points to remember are to have a clear message, differentiate and be consistent.
1. Creating a clear message is the first step to utilizing your brand. This can also be thought of as your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Competitive Advantage. Create a message that is objective, unique and long-term. The best messages compel prospects to pick you over your competition, so choose your message wisely. A great example of a clear message is Dominos: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less – or it’s free.” If you are having trouble creating your message, try asking your current clients why they hired you. Why YOU think they hired you and why THEY actually hired you can be two completely different reasons, so asking can help you understand your place in the market.
2. Differentiation is a vital part of establishing a successful brand. If a prospect has to choose between you and one of your competitors, what do they draw upon to help them decide? Your brand! It is important to stand out, be different, and claim your competitive advantage. Creating your clear message is a step on the way to differentiating yourself. It is also helpful to know your competition, who are your top competitors? Do you know their competitive advantages or USP’s? If your competition does not have a USP then you are one step ahead. If they do have one, it is important to acknowledge it. Differentiate yourself by making a proposition your competition either cannot or does not offer.
3. Consistency may be the most important element of branding. Every part of your business must reflect your intended message or brand. This includes all employees, advertisements, social media, your website, relations with the media, and many others, but most importantly, interactions with your current and prospective clients. Your differentiated message must be integrated at every point of contact with the public. That means including it on your letterhead, email signature, business cards, your office signage, etc. By doing this you are creating an expectation, and giving your clients something they can rely on. If your actions are not consistently supporting your message clients will become dissatisfied, which will undermine any branding you have done so far.
Small businesses may not have the budget for branding that large corporations have, but that does not mean it should be disregarded. Establish a unique message that differentiates you from your competition then make sure you include it on everything. Do not slack, it is your identity in the market place. Without an identity how will anyone know you exist or where to find you? So remember, branding – it’s not just for livestock – every business should be doing it!
Chelsea Wilson, Member Services and Marketing Administrator
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
Clients and even attorneys are often confused by “rollovers” and for good reason. So, just exactly what does a “rollover” mean?
A rollover is essentially moving the funds from one investment vehicle to another, from your 401(k) or ERISA plan to an IRA for example. There are a number of reasons you might choose to rollover your funds, but the most common is to take advantage of greater investment options.
Upon your death, your surviving spouse can do a “spousal rollover” to his or her own IRA. A non-spouse beneficiary would have to use his or her own single-life expectancy to determine the minimum required distributions. For example, someone age 50 would have a life expectancy of 34.2 years. Thus, they would need to draw 1/34.2th of the trust the first year of distributions. However, if the surviving spouse does a spousal rollover, the funds are treated as the spouse’s own contributions. There are no minimum required distributions until after achieving age 70 ½. Also, once they start taking distributions, the spouse can use the uniform table, which allows for lower required distributions than the single-life tables. For example, the divisor used to determine minimum required distributions for a 70-year old is 27.4 under the uniform table while only 17.0 under the single-life table.
For a surviving spouse under age 59 ½, particular care should be given to whether or not to do a spousal rollover. While a spousal rollover will allow for greater deferral, withdrawals prior to age 59 ½ are subject to early withdrawal penalties. On the other hand, there are no early withdrawal penalties for an inherited IRA, even if inherited by the spouse.
Another “rollover” often discussed is the “non-spousal” rollover. The Pension Protection Act said that plans must allow a non-spouse beneficiary to do a non-spousal rollover to an IRA. However, in a Notice, the IRS said that plans were not required to do so and that they were interpreting the new statute as merely allowing such non-spousal rollovers. Section 108(f)(2)(A) of the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act (WRERA) of 2008 amended code section 402(f)(2)(A) to make such provisions mandatory for plan years beginning Jan. 1, 2009. This can be important since qualified plan may have faster distribution requirements than required by law.
One “rollover” is not necessarily just like another “rollover.” Thus, when someone discusses a rollover, ask which kind of “rollover” they mean.
Steve Hartnett, J.D., LL.M.
Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
In a previous post (http://www.aaepa.com/blog/2010/03/11-essential-systems-6-continuity-revenue-stream), we mentioned the importance of knowing where your existing revenue comes from and using that to build a continuity revenue stream. Now, we’re going to expand on that idea and look at how to make that stream of revenue even bigger.
While the majority of your revenue likely comes from estate planning services, there is another facet of your business – called ancillary services – that requires regular attention as well.
Ancillary services include things like tax preparation, financial services and life care planning. These services can compliment the estate planning services you currently offer and if you’re following a solid Communication System (link to post #5), then you’re building strong relationships with your clients and their families.
These relationships are what make ancillary services work so well.
Because the truth is, people like to consolidate. It’s much easier to manage your legal documents and important papers if they’re all in the same place.
It’s comforting to know that the attorney preparing your estate plan is also very knowledgeable about your mother’s nursing home contract and the future expenses it projects.
Now, some of these ancillary services require additional accountability so you’ll need to be diligent as you begin to broaden your spectrum of services, but it can be done.
Many states now allow estate planning attorneys to also offer life care planning for parents or spouses who are incapacitated and unable to handle their day-to-day affairs. You can develop a tax preparation service that does more than just file the standard 1041 but also covers 1040s and other forms – a complete tax return option for clients who need it.
Review their nursing home contracts… help them plan for retirement. Give them a full-service experience that they just can’t get anywhere else.
Look at your state laws and ethical rules to determine which areas you are permitted to expand into and how to do it appropriately.
When you’re ready, use your strategic Communication System to remind your clients and prospects of these great ancillary services throughout the year.
And then watch your business really begin to grow.
Sanford M. Fisch
CEO & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
When you hear the word “airline” what comes to mind first? Great experience, service oriented, pleasure, no hassle? Probably not. Well let me tell you, I just had a WOW experience with US AIRWAYS. That’s right, awesome customer service, exceptional, timely and all outside of what their normal policy is- an exception to the RULES!
Interesting, but when you make an exception to the rules it shows that someone understands and that even a big company is made up of real people just like you and me!
So here is the short version. We had plans for a trip to Mexico in May of 2009. You might recall this was in the early stages of the dreaded swine flu hysteria. Everyone was advised to not travel to Mexico and not at all if possible, especially with infants. So, the decision was made-no trip. The airlines understood and promoted that change fees would be waived. We cancelled and re-booked for November.
Well as luck would have it, and those with young children know, anything can happen and usually does at the wrong time! The morning of departure our little one called for Mommy at 4am. That happens from time to time but I knew it was bad when mommy returned to the bedroom and turned the lights on. Serious but not too serious and the trip was off.
Ok, still plenty of time to use the tickets. In case you do not know, most tickets need to be used and travel completed within a year of the date issue. Another trip was planned but this winter was a tough flu season and the February trip also went down.
Now the fun part. Our schedule did not permit a trip before the deadline so I made the call to the airline. A number of things impressed me and all were unexpected. First, my record in the airline computer showed all the details, trip changes, additional amounts paid each time because ticket prices changed (nothing you can do about that) and the deadline date for booking and travel completion. Second, the person on the other end of the line was very pleasant, understood the situation, understood their rules and procedure and made me feel they were on my side! Remember this point. Finally, the representative told me exactly what I needed to do and which department to send my email to.
When I ended that call I had hope, no promises but most importantly I felt good about the experience. You guessed it—my email was responded to and they gave us a full credit and another year to use the credit. They could have stayed within their policy and kept the $2,500. Instead they responded to the individual circumstance and created a raving fan. Wish us luck!
The point is… make sure you’re always creating the WOW (not OW) experience!
Sanford M. Fisch
CEO & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
In an interesting decision, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided Marshall v. Stern. The case is a good review of the complex interplay between federal and state law in matters concerning probate and bankruptcy. Of course, the case is also interesting because of the notoriety of the individuals involved.
Anna Nicole Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. When Marshall died, litigation ensued between Marshall’s son, Pierce Marshall, and Smith. There were simultaneous actions in probate court in Texas and bankruptcy court in California. The Texas court determined that Marshall intended to leave his assets to his son and not Smith. The bankruptcy court ruled that Smith was entitled to $474 million from Pierce Marshall for tortuous interference related to the estate. The federal district court reduced that to $88 million. The Ninth Circuit reversed, finding that a bankruptcy court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to resolve probate issues. The U.S. Supreme Court granted cert and reversed and remanded for a resolution of the issue.
Now the Ninth Circuit decides that the Texas probate court was binding on the federal courts because it was the first final decision on the matters at issue. So, Smith’s claims to Marshall’s fortune may be put to rest after years of litigation. Unless, of course, there is an appeal of the Ninth Circuit’s decision.
What do you think? Did the Ninth Circuit make the right decision? Did the U.S. Supreme Court?
Steve Hartnett, J.D., LL.M.
Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
If you’ve been reading our posts on the 11 Essential Systems, then you know that they all revolve around the idea of “working on the business” instead of in it, a philosophy we live by at the Academy.
But for this particular system in our Essentials list, you’ll need to wear that technician hat that you love so well, so go ahead and put it on.
Having created systems to manage your marketing, your documents, your workflow and your staffing, you should now find that you have much better control of how you spend your time.
And that’s a good thing.
Because that means you have more time to devote to doing what you really love – being a lawyer.
But to do that effectively, you need a system.
Yes, a system.
In order to produce stellar legal documents for example, you need access to the latest legal developments and strategies in estate planning. You should have access to top experts in tax, trust, elder law and entity planning – experts that you can call at any time to discuss estate planning issues.
You need a regular CLE program, one that includes training with the same experts who drafted the documents contained in your assembly software.
You need access to the best legal language so that your documents are always cutting edge.
And when you have systems in place for these things, your work product improves. Trust companies point to your documents as the finest in the community and your firm becomes the firm for others to model.
Then, and only then, will you wear that technician’s hat effectively. And it’s then that you’ll be reminded of why you love to practice law.
Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
Are you keeping in touch with your profitability?
For many attorneys, the answer is surprisingly No. Not only are they unsure of the profit their firm generates but they have no real idea of how the money in their firm is spent.
These attorneys tend to manage the firm out of their checkbook rather than through financial reports. It’s not unusual to find that they don’t have a CPA nor do they have monthly Profit & Loss Statements or Balance Sheets.
And this is a big mistake.
Building a successful law practice requires that you manage that firm by the numbers – that is, that you stay in touch with the financial side of your firm.
And to do that, you need a financial management system.
Now, a good financial management system isn’t just about the software – it’s about what you do with the information it generates.
For starters, you should have a chart of accounts and know not just where the money comes from, but where it goes as well.
The Academy provides its Members with a uniform chart of accounts that groups all the various expenses and revenue sources into the appropriate categories. This allows our Members to measure their numbers accurately and compare their performance against other Member firms.
Your system should generate those nifty little reports we mentioned earlier – Profit & Loss Statements, Balance Sheets and the like – and then all this information should be compared against your target numbers.
What target numbers, you ask?
Well, your daily number for one. Your daily number is the amount of money you need to make each day to reach your annual revenue goal. This number is calculated by dividing that revenue goal by the number of days you actually plan to work during the year.
Is your firm meeting or exceeding your daily number? You won’t know if you’re not managing your firm by the numbers.
The second number you need to calculate is your hourly number. This number represents what your time is actually worth and once you’ve calculated it, you’ll begin to see where some additional delegating might be needed.
After all, if you’re doing tasks that could be done by someone else at a lower hourly rate, you’re using your time unwisely. But the only way to know for sure, is to know exactly what your time is truly worth.
Now, while you’re calculating all these numbers and creating your financial management system, here’s another quick tip for taking control of your cash flow: build a relationship with a banker and obtain a line of credit.
Do it now, while you have money in the bank. Apply for a line of credit while you don’t need it.
The reason?
At some point during the lifetime of your firm, you may actually need that line of credit. You may need to rely on that established relationship to help your firm get through a difficult financial period. But building that relationship takes time and it’s much more difficult to acquire a line of credit when you’re low on funds.
So instead, take the proactive approach and form those ties with your banker before you really need them.
Sanford M. Fisch
CEO & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
Is your firm system dependent or people dependent? More importantly, do you know why it matters?
A people-dependent firm relies solely on the skills and talents of the people performing the jobs in question. They may or may not have the tools and technology they need to do the job efficiently but that doesn’t really matter – what matters is that they’re dedicated to getting the job done.
Now, on the surface, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it? After all, you want a dedicated staff… you want to fill your office with talented personnel who take pride in what they do. Succeed in that task and it makes sense to place the success of your business in their hands.
Doesn’t it?
Well, let’s consider the alternative.
A system-dependent firm establishes guidelines and procedures for every task in your office. That means that there’s a system for reviewing performance and a system for answering the phone. There’s systems in place that ensure proper cross-training and other systems for delegating all non-lawyer work.
Now, these systems still require you hire the best people possible – in fact, in a system-dependent firm, you have a process to ensure that the every employee is matched with the right job… not because it’s the one they applied for but because it’s the best fit with their skills and talents.
The difference in a system-dependent firm is that when your receptionist quits or takes a leave of absence, you know exactly how the telephone system works. When your paralegal decides to move out of state, you’re not left trying to figure out his filing system. And when your secretary calls in sick, you’re still able to produce quality documents in her absence.
Your time is spent managing the firm and doing lawerly kinds of work rather than ordering stationery and making copies. And because your staff has been strategically matched with an appropriate position, they’re busy enjoying a challenging and rewarding career.
The reason you can do all this is because there’s a system in place that tells you how. That system ensures that your staff are cross-trained and can step into other positions when needed to take up the slack. It ensures that you’re not spending your valuable time making coffee and ordering supplies because all of that non-lawyer work has been effectively delegated.
So, let me ask you again: does your firm depend on your people or the systems they work with? And which do you suppose has the best chance of success?
Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
Since the birth of MySpace, Corporate America has viewed social networking sites as an interruption to normal productivity… a distractive nuisance that must be contended with if you wanted to keep the workflow moving along.
The solution of course, was to forbid employees from visiting these websites on company time, a policy that was enforced by removing all access to anything that looked remotely like an online social haven.
But maybe that strategy wasn’t such a good idea after all.
The truth is, social networking sites foster a collaborative creativity that you just can’t find anywhere else and at the Academy, we’ve made a conscious effort to incorporate social media into our workplace for this very reason.
Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are actually a great place to get inspiration and the beauty of these resources is that you can access data from a diverse range of people with an equally diverse range of opinions, be it someone that resembles your target market or employees that work for a competitor’s firm.
The result is that you not only get to see how others are doing things, but you also get to hear how their choices are working out.
This kind of invaluable information allows you to tweak your marketing campaigns accordingly, create new services in response to a growing need and modify your systems to accommodate new venues of communication.
In short, social networking is truly a must-have if you want to grow your firm.
This philosophy is apparently becoming more popular as researchers and experts have begun to realize the unique benefits that social media can offer.
In a recent article at Advertising Age (http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=142701), author B.L. Ochman notes that resistance to social network access isn’t just a bad idea… it’s futile.
This statement is based on the growing number of mobile internet users across the globe. “Do your employees carry cellphones?”, she asks. “Well then most of them already have access to YouTube… right in their pockets.”
Obviously, you don’t want to sacrifice the work getting done in the hopes of a random idea popping across your screen, but as Ochman states, “if you can’t trust your employees, you have one of two problems: you’re hiring the wrong people or you’re not properly training the people you hire.”
Hmm… now, where have I heard that logic before?
Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
There was a time when the preferred way to create documents was to use carbon paper. The sheets of carbon allowed you to create multiple copies of the same document at one time and it was considered the most advanced method of document production.
Of course, anytime a mistake happened, the papers had to be pulled apart so the mistake could be erased on all the copies.
Today, those sheets of carbon paper have been replaced with some of the most amazing technology, yet there’s still so many attorneys not taking advantage of these great advancements.
And honestly, firms without state of the art technology systems are just wasting time and money.
In fact, every firm should have four principal technology systems in place:
Networked Relational Database
This is a key component to running your law firm efficiently. A networked relational database offers several benefits:
- Tracks all client and family information
- Provides instant digital access to all estate planning documents
- Stores notes from conversations with clients, vendors and referral sources
- Generates every letter and piece of correspondence from the firm
- Executes mass direct mail campaigns
A relational database can also provide reports on every part of your business, including marketing reports such as client acquisition cost, seminar attendance, attorney closing percentages, cancellation rates, client source comparisons and marketing campaign success.
This is part of that “business person” mindset that says as a business owner, you want to know every facet of your business. You have benchmarks that help measure performance and you use these benchmarks to determine which areas (or personnel) need more attention and coaching.
It will also track client workflow management, keeping tabs on every estate plan as it travels through your firm’s workflow pipeline and showing you how much time is spent in each stage of development. This tells you if you have a breakdown in your workflow process by identifying bottlenecks before they become a serious problem.
You can also see your clients broken down by various demographics, such as estate size and zip codes and you can see which clients have which types of estate plans. Imagine being able to fire off an e-alert to certain clients when a new law passes that affects their specific type of plan… with the right database system, you can do this with just a few clicks of your mouse.
Now, there are several good relational databases out there to choose from. The Academy has built its own proprietary software, CounselPro, that is totally focused on the needs of the estate planning law firm.
Automated Document Assembly Program
Since producing documents is the core of your service, it makes sense that you would have a cutting-edge system to handle that function.
An automated document assembly program makes sure that every single estate planning document you produce is formatted and produced correctly. Some of the better ones come with all state-specific ancillary documents pre-loaded and give you the ability to modify and customize the language to suit your needs.
Many programs can be integrated with your networked relational database so that every thing you do for your clients is documented and stored in a logical manner.
Now again, the Academy’s CounselPro software meets all these specifications and then some. We don’t believe there’s any other program on the market that has this level of features and benefits.
Interactive, Content-Rich Website
Now, it’s not unusual to find attorneys with websites – quite the contrary, we see them all the time. But what we’ve found is that most law firm websites are static and uninspiring – nothing more than glorified billboards that provide little to no benefit to its readers.
What you should have instead is an attractive, professional site loaded with information that can be used by your clients.
The web sites we create for our Members for example, come with in-depth articles, surveys and free reports and offer site visitors the ability to register for upcoming seminars and events. We also enable the site to capture information from everyone who visits so that the Member owning the site can launch their own drip marketing campaigns.
Updated regularly, this type of site can go a long way in fostering that client relationship we keep mentioning and it also give the reader a reason for coming back.
Automated System for Contacting Clients and Prospects
You’ll remember we mentioned the importance of staying in touch with your clients and prospects in a previous post…
Well, now we’re going to point out the importance of having a system in place to manage this task for you.
At the Academy, we use a proprietary system called Contineo but it’s not the system itself that matters as much as what it can do for you.
An automated contact system should allow you to create multiple marketing campaigns based on a variety of criteria. Then, when someone has contact with your firm, they’re entered into your system and begin receiving the appropriate marketing sequence.
Now, in order for you to really see the benefits of such a system, your marketing campaigns should provide real value to your clients and prospects. That means you don’t bombard your mailing list with boilerplate advertisements – instead, you create strategic pieces – whitepapers, letters, postcards and the like – that help to establish your practice as THE FIRM of choice.
Of course, there’s nothing that says you can’t enjoy a certain amount of success without these systems… you certainly can.
But you’ll need a lot of carbon paper to do it.
Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
(858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
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