How NexFirm Leverages Bill4Time To Create Profitable and Successful Law Firms

June 11, 2018 By Andrew McDermott Leave a Comment

NexFirm, a law firm service provider, specializes in launching, managing and improving law firms across the country. Their clients typically double in size within the first year. Even more impressive is that, out of the dozens of law firms they’ve helped launch, none have gone out of business.

But with success comes growing pains.

NexFirm needed a solution that could scale, grow and evolve with their business. They needed a tool that integrated seamlessly with the back office solutions they offered their clients. A solution they could customize on a client-by-client basis.

This created a new set of challenges.

The Challenge

“More than 90% of our clients that come to us are attorney’s that wish to launch a firm, but don’t yet have a firm. So the bread and butter of our business is helping attorney’s to strategically transform their practices from AM Law 250 firms”

David DePietto, Founder and CEO of Nexfirm.

NexFirm needed timekeeping and billing software to support their clients.

Attorneys are understandably nervous about striking out on their own. NexFirm works with them to create a launch plan; a free, detailed and comprehensive study that outlines the details of launching a new law firm, and plots a path with the greatest chance of success.

NexFirm’s problem?

“We see the timekeeping and billing market as bifurcated: In one corner you have robust, long lived applications that were born as client-server applications that are very powerful and feature rich, but are not user friendly and require a great deal of training and user effort. It is difficult to get the timekeeping compliance that we believe is critical to success.

In the other are relatively new systems that were developed in the cloud, and are slick and easy for users, but which often do not have the features and robustness to support growing firms with complicated billing and reporting needs”

The Solution

NexFirm decided to transition all of their clients to Bill4Time.

“We find Bill4time to be the best of both worlds: a true web based application that is easy to use and a powerful, feature rich application with the muscle to support advanced needs of their clients.”

The NexFirm F&A team supports many different types of practices across the country, and on any given day touches every function and feature that Bill4time has to offer.

“That our clients find routine tasks like time tracking and payment recording so easy is critical to us, as are the advanced features such as LEDES file submission features and the client funds account management tools.”

Bill4Time has become a primary interface for communication institutional knowledge between NexFirm and its clients.

“Many of our clients are under pressure to offer Alternative Financial Arrangements (AFAs) for their clients: which might include flat rate features, caps and floors, or other contingent payments. Bill4time’s time tracking and reporting features allow us to carefully analyze work efforts in order to formulate AFAs that keep our client competitive.”

The Results

Bill4Time is the enabler that allows the accurate and timely recording for critical practice information, and allows NexFirm to provide its clients with the accurate and timely financial information needed to make informed decisions that bring success.

Recommendations backed by hard data.

“During our monthly financial review call with our clients where we review their financial results from the previous month, and discuss the forecast for the upcoming month. This allows us to make suggestion, such as whether it is time to be hiring, firing, changing rates, taking different kinds of matters, expanding the office, engage in additional marketing or less of this or that.’ The availability of this information to make informed decisions is the key to the success record of our client base.

For each of our clients, we create a financial model, and say, ‘We think you should be spending X amount of dollars or X% of your dollars on compensation, on benefits, on rent, etc.’

Using the robust reporting, we train our clients to use Bill4Time for real time flash reports in between monthly reports so that they can understand how are we doing versus their budget and forecast. Any day you can go and say what did I bill today? What did I bill month to date? How much cash have we brought in? And that gives them the tools to see how they’re doing between checkpoints.

It’s a very important part of being able to manage a successful law firm”

Maximum results with minimal training.

“Each year we assess the time keeping systems available in the market; one of the things that we measure training time for a new user. Because we train each of our clients, ease of use and training intensity is very important” David explains.

Does this translate to a significant amount of value for NexFirm and their clients?

Absolutely.

“We set 15 minute training meetings for new users on Bill4Time. We set a 30 minute training meeting for owners/partners who have to do learn than just time keeping, such as report creation.

Bill4time is the most efficient, because it is the easiest to use. We estimate that other systems we test could take 45 minutes to an hour to train a new user, and an hour and a half to three hours to train a partner. This says a lot about the usability for the system.”

NexFirm builds successful law firms

They rely on Bill4Time to make that happen. A pain-free way to scale, grow and manage each of their client’s firms.

Pain isn’t a requirement for growth.

NexFirm understands the growth challenges facing law firms today. Your firm is expected to deliver more value with less resources. You’re pressured to offer AFAs, to customize the client experience.

With these challenges comes opportunity, and with the right mix of tools, systems and procedures, you’ll have what you need to build and manage a successful law practice. To outperform your peers, one client at a time.

How to Launch a Virtual Law Firm

June 4, 2018 By Andrew McDermott 1 Comment

You’re ready to start your own firm.

Here’s the problem. You don’t have the resources you need to build a large brick and mortar law firm from scratch. The good news? You don’t need a large nest egg to strike out on your own.

A virtual law firm could be just the thing you need.

With a virtual law firm, you’d be able to quickly figure out what works. With the right systems and procedures, you’d be able to identify the building blocks you need to establish a successful practice.

Are law firms still needed today?

Pessimistic pundits would argue that the law firm, as we know it, is fading away. Big law is in a death spiral they say. They argue that the market has changed, that lawyers are quickly becoming obsolete.

Is this true?

Others argue that the job market is shrinking. Law firms around the world are closing at an alarming rate. It seems as if things are getting worse for the legal industry.

These naysayers are wrong.

Attorneys are needed today, more than ever. How do I know? The market tells us. Using market data, we can instantly verify these doom and gloom complaints. How do we do that? Simple, we head to Google Trends.

I used five common keywords.

(1.) Real estate attorney (2.) bankruptcy attorney (3.) business attorney (4.) divorce attorney and (5.) estate attorney.

Fairly straightforward, right?

If you’re unfamiliar with Google Trends, it’s a free tool that gives us instant access to searcher data. Using a list keywords, we get data driven answers about a keywords popularity (demand), what people want (wants/needs) and more.

So what does the data say? See for yourself.

What do these numbers mean? Here’s Google’s explanation.

“Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.”

Seeing a pattern here?

There are general fluctuations in demand, same as any industry. But overall, the demand for attorneys has remained consistent.

This isn’t a fluke.

Change the time range from 2004 to today and you’ll see the same thing. Client demand for attorneys remains high. Notice these aren’t product or service specific requests (e.g. how to create a will) for example.

So what’s going on here?

The demand for attorneys hasn’t changed all that much. On the other hand, how clients solve their legal problems, that’s changed considerably.

The virtual law firm solves a very serious problem

Here’s the part pundits get right.

Your clients have lots of options. They’re able to work with hated (and inadequate) solutions like LegalZoom. They have an abundance of options.

What does this mean?

The old client model – bill hourly, ring the bell, profit – is falling out of favor with clients. They’re flooded with an incredible able amount of options and alternatives. They don’t have to do things our way anymore.

Why the virtual law firm is an ideal answer

It’s an incredible opportunity to build an effective law firm rapidly. Simply because it gives you things other business models can’t.

With a virtual law firm you can…

Create an alternative brand. Let’s say you have deep pockets. You’re able to create the traditional brick and mortar firm. Will it be successful? A virtual firm allows you to create an alternate brand.

Significantly less risk if it fails.

Use this alternate brand to – test your services, messaging, pricing – anything you want – without hurting your brick and mortar firm.

Find what works, quickly. Using DBAs and websites, you can create multiple versions of your virtual law firm. You can test ideas against each other. Which clients spend more money? Which service areas produce the greatest amount of profit?

Testing with multiples gives you the answer.

With this strategy you can create businesses or micro sites that are focused on a particular specialty or service area. You can mix and match, adjusting your price and services to meet client demand.

Wait a minute.

Won’t this raise a few eyebrows? It seems like this sort of strategy enters a grey area. It doesn’t have to be a questionable area if you’re upfront about (a.) who you are (b.) what you’re doing and possibly (c.) why you’re doing it.

Increase hiring effectiveness. Dr. Bradford Smart, author of Topgrading, found that a mis-hire costs businesses 27 times an employee’s salary. A comprehensive hiring process is a great idea. Hiring attorneys on a freelance basis to test their abilities, even better.

You’re able to attract the talent you want when you need it.

Hiring, maintenance and management costs are reduced. Severance, opportunity and disruption can be eliminated. Additionally, a virtual law firm gives organizations the opportunity to test alternatives to the “eat what you kill” model.

The “eat what you kill” culture is damaging when there’s a consistent amount of external and internal competition. More often than not, these firms are constantly at war with themselves. It promotes a kind of cutthroat cultural Darwinism where everyone looks out for number one.

Dramatically reduce operating expenses. This is an obvious point, right? Your office space and associate salaries take up as much as 2/3rds of your revenue. With a virtual law firm, you’re able to dictate when and why you take on major expenses.

Performance data tells you whether it’s worth it (or not).

You’re able to grow slowly (or rapidly) scaling up as demand and performance dictates. This dramatically reduces the upfront capital needed to launch your firm.

There is a caveat though.

Certain clients are all about image or aesthetics. When they shop for an attorney, they have a specific idea in mind. These clients aren’t always favorable to working with virtual attorneys, especially if you’re an unknown.

The good news?

Younger companies, experienced organizations and utilitarian entrepreneurs care less about image and more about results. Produce the results they want and you have their attention.

Okay then.

The demand for attorneys – it’s still high. Clients are bombarded with options. This has changed how they select their firm of choice. Here’s the obvious question.

How do you launch a virtual law firm?

A virtual law firm is first and foremost…

A business.

Here’s the part where attorneys tend to stumble. Running a law firm is unique. Are you a name partner that brings in a significant amount of business to your firm?

It’s still different.

A virtual law firm is a legitimate business and needs to be treated that way. Looking to establish your law firm quickly? You’ll need to follow the same tried-and-true steps successful entrepreneurs use to grow their business.

What steps?

Step #1: Give your business an incomplete foundation

You’re going to make mistakes.

It’s inevitable.

It’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll set every single part of your virtual law firm up properly. And you know what? That’s okay, as long as you have the essentials.

What essentials?

Identify your practice areas
Assess your team’s technological prowess
Create the right systems and procedures
How to work with staff/clients in a virtual environment
How you’ll expand your business (e.g. hire more associates, paralegals, administrative staff, etc.)

Next, you’ll want to identify your must-have technology requirements. Technology is far more important for a virtual law practice; it’s how you’ll compensate for the reduced amount of in-person contact. This means you’ll need solutions for…

Practice management. How you’ll manage contacts, time tracking, billing and reporting. If you’re running a virtual law firm, it’s more important that your practice management solution is centralized. Data shouldn’t be stored on a shared laptop or mobile device that everyone uses.
Document management. Documents are the lifeblood of your practice. You’ll need to have a solution that allows you to send/receive documents, store documents safely and securely and is readily accessible regardless of your device (e.g. mobile, desktop, iPad, etc.).
Online delivery. You’ll need to be able to communicate with clients privately. Many new attorneys rely on email as their online delivery mechanism of choice. It’s free and it’s easy to use. The problem with email is the fact that it’s not centralized and it’s not secure. At any given time, your team needs varying degrees of access and email prevents that.
Communication management. You’ll need a communication system that allows you to chat with your team in real-time. Meeting and communication tools like Slack or Legaler give you the real-time or face-to-face communication you need to stay current with your team.

These details are important for every law firm, but they’re more important for virtual firms. You simply won’t have the day-to-day, in-person connection with your team. If you’re looking to launch your firm successfully, you’ll need to have a solution to each of these problems.

Step #2: Avoid clients who only have money

Your ideal client should meet two simple criteria.

A willingness to pay for your services. This communicates several important details at a subtle level. (a.) These clients understand and value your services (b.) they have a limited understanding of their problem and (c.) most importantly, they know they need your help.
The ability to pay for your services. Quid pro quo is an important part of every relationship. Clients who are willing to pay what you ask for show that they have the means and the commitment to pay for your expertise and knowledge.

There’s a lot to unpack here.

If a big-ticket client shows up with lots of money (and not much else), they may have the ability to pay for your services. That doesn’t always mean they’re willing to do so.

Do your due diligence.

Are they the kind of client you want to work with? You’ll need to profile your clients to identify the ethos, demographics and psychographics of the people you want.

Why though?

Is this really all that important? Absolutely. Focusing your time and attention means you’re far more likely to win stable and consistent clients. You may even enjoy the work you do with engaged clients.

That’s because they’re more receptive.

There’s less haggling, complaining or negativity. You’re far more likely to have the financial stability you need to build a successful virtual law firm.

Bad clients are the opposite.

They take up large amounts of your time. The work is often unpleasant, which makes it more difficult. You’re almost guaranteed to deal with people who don’t value your hard work.

Stability, security?

All but impossible in that environment.

Step #3: Stun clients to get their attention

There are a lot of restrictions on you.

You’re limited in what you can say, as well as when and how you say it. The law requires that you avoid even the appearance of duplicity.

This is an advantage.

Here’s why.

Many attorneys see this as a disadvantage, that they’re simply unable to promote their law firm the way they’d like to. Some choose to skirt the law anyway, doing what they want regardless of the consequences.

You have clear boundaries you can work with.

You have explicit instructions outlining what you can and can’t say. What’s acceptable or unacceptable. Use specific strategies and tactics to attract a consistent amount of customer attention.

Use emotion to spread ideas. Research shows psychological triggers (trust, mystique, alarm, etc.) and emotions, are contagious. Used properly, emotion is a straightforward way to attract customer attention. Combine this with…
Guest posts on large publications. It’s a good idea to go where your customers are. If you’re working with entrepreneurs, write for major publications like Business Insider, Entrepreneur.com, Fast Company and others. Publish on industry platforms like Law.com, the American Bar Association or Above the Law. Create links and hooks that lead readers back to your site. Then combine this with…
Partnerships with medium-to-large platforms. Once you’ve developed a working relationship with medium-to-large platforms, provide them with more of the exceptional content they value. The sky’s the limit. Give them more content in a variety of formats (e.g. quizzes, videos, posts, etc.). Make an exclusive offer, negotiate a profitable exchange, anything they’re agreeable to. Lead their readers back to your site.

These details aren’t comprehensive.

But they’re a great way to build up a lot of buzz and attention for your virtual law firm. There are thousands of platforms, groups and brands who need your wisdom.

Share your knowledge.

Then, provide readers with more valuable content. Use it to earn a like, follow, share or subscriber. Then, once you have a relationship with readers…

Step #4: Pre-sell clients on your product or service

Selling is a dirty word.

At least it seems that way. Selling seems to have an unsavory reputation, doesn’t it? There’s a good reason why. As it turns out, there are two kinds of “selling.”

Coercive selling. This is where selling gets its bad reputation from. These sellers try to force or coerce prospective clients into a deal or situation that’s harmful. They’re not really looking out for their client, they’re looking out for themselves. These salespeople can be needy, pushy, manipulative and dishonest.
Consultative selling. These sellers don’t care if you work with them or not. At any given time they’re negotiating with 15 to 20 clients. They know how to make it rain.

They act as an advisor and they often begin the relationship by treating you as if you’re already a client. Don’t misunderstand, this doesn’t mean they assume or provide all of the benefits of an established attorney/client relationship. It means they’re looking out for you, in a limited capacity, from day one.

Consultative selling is needs based and client led. It’s based on a simple but neglected sales paradigm.

If this, then that.

If I send you an email, I wait for you to respond. I don’t bombard you with seven to eight emails begging for your business. If I make an offer I give you the chance to respond to it.

This alone sets you apart.

This also puts you in the perfect position to pre-sell your virtual law firm. How?

By teaching.

Teaching clients, at their level, gives you the trust, authority and influence you need to pre-sell your clients. Teach them something new, help them solve a minor problem, show them they’re at risk.

Then, present your firm as the solution.

It’s really that simple. This is something you can accomplish with a few well-written guest posts (or speeches and workshops), a simple one-page website that collects emails, and an email provider like MailChimp. Then continue to provide value to your audience.

This is huge.

You can build an audience and sizeable client list before you strike out on your own. This means you can launch your virtual law firm with a consistent stream of cash on day one.

That’s the power of pre-selling.

Step #5: Show clients their problems will only get worse

This sounds really negative, doesn’t it?

But it’s actually the opposite. It’s something you absolutely need to do to protect your clients. Let’s use an unrelated example to convey the point.

Imagine you’re a cyclist.

You ride everywhere. Not because you have to but because you can. Then, at some point, you realize you can’t get to where you need to go as quickly as you’d like. You come to the decision that you need a car.

That car is a solution to your problem.

But it also makes your problems worse. Previously, you only had to worry about taking care of your bicycle. Now you have to worry about the warranty, insurance, vehicle registration and licensing requirements that come with owning a car. Your solution created a whole new set of problems.

Every product or service has this problem.

Let’s say clients hire you to incorporate their business. They now need help with employee contracts, intellectual property, taxes, terms of use agreements and more.

See what I mean?

You can be gentle in your approach but you’ll need to make your clients aware of the dangers they face. It’s prudent and appropriate for you to remind them of the consequences that come with negligence.

This is what your clients want.

Then, when they’re ready to move forward, solve their problems. Then repeat steps three through five. This is the secret to consistent cash flow and a stable virtual law firm.

The legal industry is evolving rapidly

Clients have options.

They’re no longer restricted by the rules of past. The rules have changed. The firms that adapt to these new rules will win. The firms that resist won’t.

The virtual law firm is your secret weapon.

It’s a tool brick and mortar firms can use to build a successful practice. A tool new firms can use to quickly establish a successful digital practice.

You don’t need a large nest egg.

You just need the right ideas. With a virtual law firm, you’re able to quickly figure out what works. With the right systems and procedures, you’ll be able to identify the building blocks you need to establish a successful practice.

The naysayers are wrong.

The market tells us they’re wrong. Client demand for attorneys remains high. With a virtual law firm, you have an incredible opportunity to build a top-tier law firm rapidly. With the right training and bit of preparation, you’ll find the tools and resources are right in front of you.

Everything you need to start your own successful law firm.

Finding a Mentor in the Legal Industry

May 25, 2018 By Andrew McDermott Leave a Comment

Is finding a mentor easy?

Believe it or not, the answer is Yes. Some would have you believe that finding a good mentor is difficult. And it is – if you don’t have a cohesive strategy to follow.

What if you have the right strategy?

Finding an amazing mentor becomes inevitable. A simple and straightforward process you can follow. With the right approach, you can build a successful practice rapidly, navigating industry twists and turns, successfully.

Finding a good mentor isn’t the problem

It’s avoiding a bad one.

That seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But it’s true. There’s an abundance of seemingly qualified mentors, they’re everywhere. Under the right circumstances, there are quite a few people who are both qualified and able to mentor you.

Most aren’t right for you.

Finding a mentor in the legal industry depends primarily on you – where you are, what you want and what you’d like to accomplish.

It’s about you.

That’s the problem. Most mentees make two fatal mistakes.

They make everything about their mentor. These mentees give too much, too fast. They approach potential mentors with a dysfunctional attitude, placing themselves in a one-down relationship (e.g. I’m unworthy. I’ll do absolutely anything and everything you want).
They make everything about themselves. They begin each relationship with a self-serving attitude (e.g. You’re beneath me. What are they going to give me? I deserve this opportunity). These mentees choose to take far more than they give.

Bad mentors make these dysfunctional behaviors worse.

It’s subtle.

They actually encourage these dysfunctional behaviors. Bad mentors feed off their mentees sense of unworthiness, using them to improve their own self-worth or simply to do their dirty work.

Or they latch onto arrogant mentees.

They use their confidence and self-assurance to attract new, more favorable opportunities. Then, they toss them aside once they have what they need.

Finding a great mentor starts with your needs

Are there specific goals you’d like to accomplish in your law firm? Balancing paid and pro bono case loads? Networking with courthouse and industry professionals? Keep up with the changes in your practice areas?

Figure out what you want.

Take the time to map out your desires, goals, expectations and problems. You’ll want clear and distinct answers to some seemingly general questions.

Be specific and precise.

Set clear expectations and measurable goals. Outline your problems in detail, stating why they’re problems for you. List the consequences of these problems if they’re ignored.

Don’t skip this!

When you document your desires, goals, expectations and problems, you’re creating a checklist of sorts. The kind of checklist you can use to qualify or disqualify any potential mentors you come across. It’s a simple way to weed bad mentors out.

But it also communicates value.

Most of the time, mentees aren’t sure about what they want for their career or practice. This typically means they don’t know what they’re looking for in a particular mentor.

Okay then…

What should you be looking for in a mentor?

The unexpected qualities you need in a great mentor

The answer to this question is usually a generic one.

“Find a mentor who’s willing to communicate. Make sure they listen, are prepared and have good character” – all pretty obvious stuff right? It’s generic because a mentor, if they’re any good, already has these qualities.

It’s common sense.

So what kind of quality should you be looking for in a mentor then? Are there specific details you should keep an eye out for?

Absolutely.

Here’s a short list of qualities to look for in a mentor.

Your mentor views you as an equal. If you’re treated like a groupie or viewed as the help, you’re in a one-down relationship. Eventually, that may become abusive or predatory. Great mentors approach mentees as equals.
They’re open to a quid pro quo relationship. A great mentor expects a certain amount of give and take in the relationship. It doesn’t have to be focused on a particular outcome or scenario, but it should be balanced. A great mentor expects their investment in a mentee to pay off.
Their ethos and values align with your own. If you disagree with your mentor on a fundamental level the relationship is probably not going to work. As people, we’re drawn to those who are most like us. It’s important that your mentor’s thinking is aligned with yours.
The relationships they have are stable and healthy. Does your mentor have good relationships (personally and professionally) with those around them? What do their direct reports say about them? How does your mentor treat those at the bottom?
They’ve accomplished similar goals, solved comparable problems and they have the experience you need. This isn’t simply about finding a mentor that’s successful in general. This is about finding a mentor that’s successful in the specific areas you’re looking for. Want to attract more environmental law cases? Find a mentor with that specialty.

These details seem simple enough, don’t they?

But they aren’t.

It takes a fair amount of digging to figure out whether the mentor(s) you have in mind is actually a good fit for you and your organization. Which brings us to our next question.

Why should a mentor (any mentor) work with you?

Most mentees are the same. Are you?

Most mentees do the same thing. They pick a target, work themselves up into a lather, then they go for the ask. “Will you be my mentor?”

It usually doesn’t work.

Because it’s common advice. We’re told to ask for what we want. So we do what most inexperienced mentees do. We ask and then we’re rejected.

But why?

We’re not looking at it from our mentor’s perspective. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the mentor we have in mind is moderately successful.

They’re in demand.

If you’re busy, they’re drowning. They’re bombarded with demands from the time they wake up, to the time they lay down. They spend their days sifting through the demands and requests placed on them. In fact, 9 out of 10 times, someone wants something from them.

It’s exhausting.

Imagine you’re trying to carve out some precious family time and you see this request.

“Will you be my mentor?“

What’s the first thought that goes through your head? Yet another person who wants more of my valuable time (most likely for free).

Ugh.

Their answer will probably be No. Which makes sense right? Here’s how you dramatically increase your odds.

Step #1: Create transformative results

Results come in two flavors.

Conventional. You hit your billable hours, do amazing work, communicate well, etc. You’re doing an outstanding job, performing at a level that most your peers aren’t.
Transformative. These results create significant change. They can attract positive attention to your firm, make things better for the legal industry, or provide a significant amount of value that goes above and beyond.

If you’re an associate looking to attract a mentor you’ll need to achieve conventional results first. Conventional results creates trust (in partners, clients and mentors). It’s an entry-level foundation that tells mentors it’s safe to take a risk on you. If you own your own firm, conventional results are typically assumed.

Which leaves transformative results.

Transformative results are frightening. They shake up industries, go viral, attract national attention and bring in a significant amount of revenue.

These results can be positive or negative.

Step #2: Give your mentors the things they want

Solve their problems, help them reach their goals, propel them towards the things they desire. Let’s say your mentor wants to be featured in ABA Journal so you…

Pitch a compelling story to ABA with your mentor as the hook
Reach out to your mentor. Mention that you’d like to interview them for the ABA
Do the interview, then promote the interview online
Rinse and repeat

Can you see what’s happening?

With a little bit of ingenuity and persistence, you’ve accomplished what most mentees won’t. You used value to initiate a relationship with your mentor of choice.

Here’s the thing.

These strategies and tactics don’t require a massive investment. It certainly helps, but it isn’t a requirement at all. So what are the requirements? Your ideas, time and a willingness to try. What other ideas can you use to attract mentors?

Run a webinar discussing the biggest problems in your industry or practice areas
Sponsor your mentor’s charities or local events
Ask mentors to weigh-in on a noteworthy debate, then share their feedback
Infiltrate local groups (e.g. ABA, Chamber of Commerce, SuperLawyers, rotary clubs, etc.)
Connect your mentors with influencers and power brokers they want but don’t have
Locate hard to find information/resources then share it with your mentor

See the hidden strategy?

It’s giving.

Give your mentors the things they want (or need). Find a way to add transformative value to their personal or professional lives. Do it well and you have their immediate attention.

Step #3: Make your first ask, the right ask

If you’ve delivered a significant amount of value to your target mentor they should be asking questions. “Who are you, what’s your focus area, what do you want?“

It’s time for the ask.

Your first ask needs to strike the right balance. It needs to be easy enough for your mentor to say Yes to, but challenging enough that it’s not considered condescending.

It’s a tough spot.

But whatever you do, don’t ask them to be your mentor. Now’s not the time for that. In fact, it might never be the time for that.

Why not?

Because mentor / mentee relationships tend to be organic. They develop slowly, naturally, over an indeterminate period of time. You don’t ask for a mentor, you’re adopted by a mentor.

See the difference?

The mentor / mentee relationship has to be predicated on value. Giving identifies you as unique, a diamond in the rough.

Finding a mentor is easy with the right strategy

Some would have you believe that finding a good mentor is difficult. But it doesn’t have to be. With the right strategies and tactics, finding a mentor is both easy and inevitable.

The legal industry is full of twists and turns. The kind of traps a good mentor knows how to avoid.

With a clear process and the right amount of persistence, you’ll have everything your organization needs to easily attract and convert the right mentors.

EU General Data Protection Regulation

May 25, 2018 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

At Bill4Time, trust is the foundation of our relationship with thousands of people and businesses around the world, and we’re dedicated to being worthy of this trust. That’s why we’ve updated our Terms of Service Agreement.

These updates come in preparation for important regulation changes going into effect on May 25, 2018 and will help us continue protecting your privacy and data to the highest possible standard.

Here’s a summary of the key changes:

Terms of Service. As part of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a new legal framework for handling and protecting the personal data of European Union residents coming into effect on May 25, 2018, some countries in Europe have recently implemented regulations increasing their age of digital consent. To bring our Services in line with these regulations, we’ve revised the minimum age requirement to use Bill4Time to 16 in those countries and all others that have increased the age of digital consent. Please check your local law to see if you meet the age requirement.

Data Collection and Processing. We’ve updated our Terms of Service to give you more information about the information we collect, how we use it and the rights you have in relation to this information. This includes additional details about the legal bases in place for processing your personal data, how usage information helps us improve our services and develop new features, and how long we keep your data. We’ve also provided details on how you can control your personal information.

Privacy and Security. We respect your privacy rights and promise to provide you with reasonable access to the Personal Data that you may have provided through your use of Bill4Time. Part of keeping our service secure is making sure that people who work at Bill4Time understand how to be security conscious and recognize suspicious activity. This includes vendors we use to help us provide our services. We are committed to providing customers with information they may need for their own GDPR planning, and also commit to promptly notify business customers of a security incident related to the data they’ve trusted Bill4Time to protect.

The updated Terms of Service takes effect on May 25, 2018.

GDPR: The basics

GDPR is an EU law that strengthens existing data protection laws. It comes into force on May 25, 2018.

The aim of GDPR is to ensure we treat people’s data with respect. You need to have a legal right to collect and process data. It needs to be stored in a secure, appropriate way. People need to be able to easily find out what data you hold on them. If they ask you to correct or delete it, you must do so promptly.

How will Bill4Time comply with the GDPR?

Trust is the foundation of our relationship with thousands of people and businesses around the world. We greatly value the confidence you’ve put in us and take the responsibility of protecting your data seriously.
??Bill4Time places the utmost importance on data protection and has a track record of staying ahead of the compliance curve – for example, we work with trusted third-party leaders in data security who’ve achieves ISO 27018 certification — the internationally recognized standard for leading practices in cloud privacy and data protection. ??
Bill4Time’s Product, Support, and Privacy teams have carefully analyzed the GDPR and are undertaking the necessary steps to ensure that we comply.

What are your obligations under the GDPR? ??

It is important to remember that you, as the business customer and the data controller, have specific legal obligations under the GDPR.
??You should be confident that any providers (data processors) which you work with have a highly robust approach to data protection, understand the obligations of the GDPR and are well prepared to meet them.
??Remember however that no provider can offer to “solve” GDPR compliance for you. ??
This post sets out our approach to working together to keep your data secure and helps make clear Bill4Time’s responsibilities and our customers’ responsibilities.

GDPR: Key changes

The GDPR brings with it a shift in mindset. It expressly introduces several principles that previously underpinned data protection law, such as the “accountability principle” and “privacy by design,” and encourages organizations to take more responsibility for protecting the personal data they handle.

Privacy by design: This means that organizations handling personal data need to think about data protection when designing systems, not just review privacy implications after a product or process is developed. If you process a lot of data or deal with sensitive information, in many cases you’ll also need to conduct data protection impact assessments to meet the privacy by design principle.

User rights: The GDPR expands the existing set of user rights and creates several entirely new rights. Companies should review and ensure they have effective systems in place to give effect to these rights.

Tougher breach notification rules: Under the GDPR, organizations are required to have a strong breach notification system in place and understand their specific reporting obligations.

Accountability: Not only must your company adhere to the principles set out in the GDPR, but you must also demonstrate that compliance in line with the principle of accountability. This requires a comprehensive and clear internal privacy governance structure.

Data protection officer: The GDPR requires companies that engage in processing of EU user data to determine if they should appoint a Data Protection Officer. Companies that routinely process large volumes of information or particularly sensitive information should consider appointing a DPO.

Click here to view the Full Text of GDPR

Email us your question

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What Should You Include On Your Law Firm’s Website?

May 22, 2018 By Andrew McDermott Leave a Comment

Is your law firm website exceptional?

A-player firms treat their website like the rainmaker it is. A powerful marketing tool that sets them apart from the rest of their industry.

What about yours?

The experience for most law firms is pretty standard. They contact an agency or designer to develop their website. They pay a whole lot of money for a standard brochure site that consistently fails to deliver clients.

It isn’t fair to you, but it’s the reason…

Why law firm websites continue to fail

Clients are looking for specific information from your website.

Here’s the catch.

Some of the information is consciously available – clients know what they’re looking for specifically. Then there’s information that’s unconsciously available. Information clients are unconsciously searching for and evaluating.

Consciously available data typically refers to information that’s tangible, obvious or explicit.

A professionally designed website
Clear, high-quality content
Attractive photography and imagery
A compelling story/about page
Clear contact details
Upfront FAQ details

Unconsciously available data refers to information that’s intangible, obscure and implicit.

Website friction elements
Corporate ethos, values and beliefs
Social class requirements
The right communication model
Presentation mismatches
Authority, credibility and power dynamics

This conscious/unconscious information creates a few problems. When a law firm’s websites struggles to perform, these core issues are usually at play.

Lopsided focus. Law firm websites that are focused exclusively on one side (conscious or unconscious). A lopsided focus creates resistance and doubt, making it harder to win new clients.
Conflicting communication. Conscious conflicts with the unconscious e.g. high quality photography disagrees with your ethos, values and beliefs.
Mismatched messages. Such as, photos that convey power but a voice and tone that communicates insecurity and neediness.
Missing data. When prospective clients arrive at your website they need a compelling answer to three questions. (a.) Where am I (b.) what can I do here and (c.) why should I do it?
Unnecessary friction. Friction is defined as “any psychological resistance to an element in the conversion process.” This basically means you’re making the conversion process harder for clients than it needs to be.

When prospective clients visit your law firm’s website, they don’t want to see these mistakes.

They’re looking for a solution.

Can you solve their problems?

Your future clients are looking for indicators showing that you’re capable, credible and worthy of their time and attention.

These indicators have a specific set of characteristics. They’re…

Typically dependent on 3rd party sources (e.g. reviews, guest posts, cases won, awards, etc.)
Verifiable, quantifiable or measurable in some way (e.g. 96% win rate, more than 1200 cases tried, etc.)
Difficult to fake (e.g. cases are public record, reviews are on third-party sites, etc.)
Available and open to scrutiny
Focused on the client (and the value you provide), rather than your firm

This isn’t where it starts though.

Okay…

Where does it start? It begins with attraction.

Remember that saying “looks don’t matter, it’s what’s inside that counts?“

It’s not true.

Just ask Dr. Gitte Lindgaard at Carleton university. Historically, research shows we sort each other based on appearance. Well dressed people with nice homes and fancy cars are typically viewed as rich or successful.

Dr. Lindgaard wanted an answer to a different question.

Do we make the same snap judgments about websites? So, like any good scientist, she ran a test. She flashed web pages on a screen in front of participants for 1/20 of a second.

That’s 50 milliseconds.

That’s so fast that it’s physically impossible for a human being to think about what they’ve just seen. It’s visual and the response is based almost entirely on emotion.

Next, participants rated the sites they saw.

The results were surprising. Participants consistently formed first impressions about a website in as little as 50 milliseconds.

A negative first impression is a deal breaker?

A negative first impression hurts.

The popular websites we use in other industries inform us on the standards we should expect. As a result, most people have a 6th sense about the websites they visit.

Here’s the problem.

Research shows a negative first impression triggers the halo effect as website visitors begin searching for evidence to confirm their negative first impression (while ignoring counterevidence).

Yikes.

Your website is a perception sculpting tool. This means it has a direct impact on the amount of clients your firm is able to attract.

Want more clients?

You’ll have to make sure your law firm’s website includes the right things.

What things exactly?

Your website needs to provoke a reaction

Your website has two main functions.

Attract new prospects
Convert prospects into clients

Let’s start with attraction.

What attracts a prospective client’s attention?

A visually appealing website. Researchers at King’s College London discovered that aesthetics and usability have a significant impact on website performance. Noted usability expert Jakob Nielsen found users are more forgiving if your website is pretty. Makes sense though, doesn’t it? We use beauty to infer things about people so it makes sense that we’d do it with websites.
Educational content. Education attracts our attention. A consistent stream of helpful, valuable and educational content establishes authority, credibility and desire. You’re not just another attorney. You’re the attorney featured on MSNBC, Avvo or Lawyers.com. You’re a super lawyer. Launch a podcast, post videos to YouTube and Facebook, make SlideShare decks on your website. Just make sure your content is compelling, consistent, and helpful.
Negativity. Dr. John Cacioppo discovered that our brains are built with a greater sensitivity to negativity. We’re all on an obsessive hunt for the negative. Our negative bias keeps us safe from disaster, danger and loss. So, why aren’t more law firms using this bias? They feel it’s bad to be negative. Research says otherwise. Use it in your firm by focusing on your client’s problems and offering a compelling solution.

See the problems HodgsonRuss lays out? The use of negativity and triggers attracts immediate attention.

Psychological triggers act as mental shortcuts instantly bypassing the mental and emotional filters we use to screen information out. They immediately grab our attention. These triggers create fascination, they hold our attention. Integrate triggers like anger, alarm, mystique, prestige, power or trust in your content. Why does this work? Emotions are contagious. Harnessed properly, these emotions are the key to instant attraction.

See how Arnold & Itkin LLP uses the prestige trigger to attract a significant amount of attention?

A strong value proposition. A value proposition explains why clients should choose your law firm. A strong value proposition is unique and it consists of four ingredients: (a.) desire “I want it” (b.) exclusivity “I can’t get this anywhere else” (c.) clarity “I understand you” and (d.) credibility “I believe you.” Law firms with a strong value proposition win more clients than firms without one which is exactly why you should include yours on your website.
Follows usability best practices. A website that’s simple and easy to use, mobile-friendly and error free wins. The problem? Most law firm websites are notoriously unclear, difficult to use and unhelpful overall. When it comes to usability there’s a simple rule your website should follow. Make it easy for visitors to do what you’d like them to do. Don’t ask for more information than you have to. Give visitors clear info/instructions to follow.

What about conversion?

How do we get website visitors to reach out, making the leap from prospect to client?

Tell the whole story. What will get prospects to contact you? Is it your practice areas? Your most recent cases? Your background? There’s no way to tell. That’s why you’ll need to tell the whole story. Give prospective clients all the information they need to make a decision for or against your firm.
Share the right tangibles. Prospective clients want to see what your firm is like. Share attorney photos, pictures of your office and details on your background. Share badges (e.g. Avvo, Super Lawyers, U.S. News Best Law Firms, etc.) and trust seals with clients.
Share logistical/non-logistical info. Share practice areas, answer objections, offer an FAQ, hours of operation, email addresses, fax numbers, payment methods you accept and more. Outline your process and how you work. Make sure logistical/non-logistical info you share is accurate and up-to-date.
Offer social proof. Share testimonials and reviews on various websites. Link to guest posts on high profile blogs. Share radio, podcast and TV interviews. Awards, recommendations and commendations. Share performance metrics e.g. national rankings, win rates and records. Give prospective clients the 3rd party validation they need to verify you can achieve results.

Attorney Kirk Obear offers a significant amount of social proof on his site.

Minimize friction. Don’t make it harder for prospects to sign up. Make it easy on them – only ask for what’s necessary. Don’t load your prospects down with a long form that requires lots of unnecessary information. Don’t try to bully, coerce or trick prospects in to do things. Create a website that’s clear, easy and simple to work with

See how uncluttered Small Law is? It’s incredibly simple and easy to use.

Use the four ears. Communication is multi-layered with four sides to every message. Take the message: “I’d be happy to work with you, please contact me right away.” That message could communicate openness, neediness, desperation and availability all at once. As an attorney, you how important it is to choose your words carefully. It’s the same thing with your website and marketing content.
Share lead magnets. Give prospects specialized content that’s focused on their specific problems. Present them with helpful strategies and tactics they can use to solve their problems. Offer your resources in exchange for a like, follow or email address.

This is what prospective clients need from your law firm’s website.

It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?

At first glance, this seems intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to make each of these changes all at once.

Start slow.

Focus on a single element or detail, then work on incorporating them into your website and marketing over time. Add these items in incrementally.

Your website doesn’t have to fail

It won’t if you treat your website like the rainmaker it is.

Your website can be exceptional.

Most law firms don’t have the tools and resources they need to create a high-performing website. They spend a whole lot of money on brochureware that consistently fails to perform.

Your website can be different.

Your website can attract and convert the ideal clients you want. It’s all about the right strategy and tactics. Remember that saying: “looks don’t matter, it’s what’s inside that counts?“

Don’t fall for the lie.

Your website is a perception sculpting tool. It has a direct impact on the amount of clients your firm is able to attract and convert. Your website should exceed your expectations.

Want more clients?

Make sure your law firm’s website includes the right details. With the right approach you’ll find success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

7 Ways Potential Clients Will Evaluate Your Practice

May 16, 2018 By Andrew McDermott 1 Comment

Potential clients assume you’re knowledgeable.

The majority of clients believe you’re a highly competent legal professional. And they’re right. You made it through law school and passed the bar. You’re running your practice as a successful attorney. You’re winning.

So why isn’t this enough?

Potential clients use a very different set of metrics to evaluate your practice.

Are attorneys focused on the wrong metrics?

These metrics tend to be one-sided.

Clients want meaningful relationships that deliver long-term value. What they often receive instead are temporary relationships that produce short-term gains.

Not a fair trade, is it?

The phrase “long-term value” seems pretty subjective. It’s not entirely clear what that means specifically for each client – which is exactly the point.

Law firms often focus on internal metrics like profit per partner (PPP) and revenue per lawyer (RPL). These metrics are helpful, but they’re internally focused. If you’re looking to verify associate/partner performance, this works.

But it doesn’t really tell you much about client evaluation.

When it comes to practice evaluation, clients use a completely different set of metrics. These metrics seem to be simplistic and they are. Which makes sense when you realize most clients lack the expertise they need to properly evaluate your firm.

Clients rely on:

Referrals from friends and family
Online reviews
Your response times to their initial request
Observation, watching your approach to their initial requests
Initial consultations
Customer service details
Familiarity

Notice anything strange about these performance indicators?

These metrics show potential clients who you are on the inside. They provide clients with an answer to a difficult-to-ask question.

How do you treat your clients?

1. Referrals from friends, family and acquaintances

This is fairly straightforward. Clients want someone they trust to vouch for someone they don’t know.

Referrals are a form of reputed credibility. A third-party validator that gives potential clients the information they need to take a risk.

Win more clients by:

Giving satisfied clients a referral kit. Referral kits are printed, offline educational booklets. These educational pieces (a.) outline a client’s specific problem in one area (e.g. divorce, bankruptcy, intellectual property, etc.) (b.) direct potential clients to a specific and very helpful solution (online or offline) to a single problem.

The solution can be a resource in the form of a…

Tool: Divorce, alimony or child support calculator.
Lead magnet: Pre-bankruptcy, divorce, or incorporation checklist
Blog post: Why the USPTO will reject your trademark and copyright application
Quiz: Will your small business be sued in the next 12 months? (How to find out)

2. Online reviews

Reviews give potential clients the insider information they need to make a good decision. Take this review for example.

These attorneys stole money from their clients repeatedly. They made a convincing sales pitch and got them to pay a hefty retainer. Then they vanished when it was time to make good on their promises. These are the insider details clients look for.

Potential clients glean a significant amount of insider information from online reviews. The lack of reviews is often times, just as damaging as an abundance of negative reviews.

Win more clients by:

Working to consistently attract more favorable reviews. Ask clients for feedback. Share reviews from key influencers. Promote awards (e.g. customer service awards) that harmonize with customer evaluation metrics. Use review management tools to systematize and increase your reputed credibility.

3. Your response times to their initial request

This gives potential clients an indication of the results they can expect from you in the future. Are you attentive and doting or cold and aloof? Response times are important. They give clients a rough idea of the kind of customer service they can expect to receive.

Win more clients by:

It’s important to strike the right balance here. Respond instantly and you appear to be needy. Take too long and you come off as aloof and disinterested. A good rule of thumb is one hour to one business day. The shorter your response time the higher your close ratio.

The more personal and intimate your response, the better your results. A phone call from your office is more effective than an automated email reply.

But which response method should you use?

Follow your potential client’s lead. If they respond via email, they’ll probably be more comfortable with an email reply. Use the same channel your potential clients used to reach out to you unless it’s stated otherwise.

Focus more on your client’s problems and less on discussions about your retainer.

4. Observation, watching your approach…

To their initial requests. How do you handle potential clients? Do you take them seriously? Do you focus on your client’s case initially or do you jump right to your fee schedule and rate sheets?

Win more clients by:

Creating clear customer service systems and procedures. Outline your firm’s policies on a variety of sales and customer service details.

When do you respond to new potential clients (e.g. one hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, etc.)?
Which methods are approved for responding to potential clients (e.g. text, email, phone)?
Who is your firm’s designated first responder?
What is the goal of your designated first responder (e.g. provide helpful first steps, set a meeting date and time)?

The more responsive your firm is, the better your conversion rate will be.

5. Initial consultations

Unsophisticated clients treat initial consultations as a way to extract free work. Sophisticated clients see an initial consultation for what it is. A firm assessment tool.

An initial consultation gives everyone the opportunity to assess the relationship. Clients get the chance to evaluate your business. They get a feel for your strategy and tactics. Your attentiveness and customer service skills. And the overall approach your firm will take.

Win more clients by:

Giving potential clients something tangible to take home. The vast majority of initial consultations are missed opportunities. Most attorneys provide helpful information and education to potential clients. The results usually stop there.

This doesn’t have to be the case.

Send clients away with a relevant (and free) tool, resource or education piece that provides them with more value. Use initial consultations as a value transfer mechanism.

The more value you transfer to your potential clients, the better your conversion rate / win ratios will be.

6. Customer service details

At its core, customer service is about psychological safety. Safety includes care, guidance and protection. Can your clients come to you with bad news? Can they tell you that you’ve screwed up and trust that you’ll make things right?

Are you the kind of firm that will thank them for holding you accountable or punish them for speaking the truth? Will you continue to give them the care, guidance and protection they need when times are tough?

These are the questions potential clients want you to answer.

Win more clients by:

Sharing top-of-funnel evidence demonstrating the kind of care, guidance and protection I’ve just mentioned. You can do this with reviews, testimonials and case studies.

Sharing middle-of-funnel evidence. Promises tied to specific consequences. Risk reversals, and customer service-centric awards.

Sharing bottom-of-funnel evidence via behavioral and outcome markers (e.g. all calls returned within X hour/day, kind and appropriate behavior from your point of contact).

Provide potential clients with a consistent stream of evidence as they move through your sales and marketing funnel.

7. Familiarity

It’s a form of presumed credibility – It means potential clients have heard of you before. They’ve seen your ads, read your blog posts and watched your videos

Familiarity is a paradox.

It’s the easiest and most difficult component to improve. If you want to be seen more the solution is simple. Place your firm in front of more potential clients. More visibility, more leads and sales.

It works and that’s why it becomes difficult.

Small firms may find it difficult to balance their workload. It difficult to serve current clients while simultaneously working to attract new ones.

Win more clients by:

Creating a simplified content and marketing plan. Create content that ties directly to the issues your potential clients face. Focus your time and attention on solving their biggest problems.

Act as if they’re already your clients.

Begin the relationship by asking potential clients to accept the value you provide. Outline the problem, offer an introductory solution, then ask for the micro yes. Continue to ask for the micro yes.

Then, when the time is right, ask for the macro yes.

Ask your potential client to become a permanent client. When it’s handled well, the macro yes is viewed as yet another value exchange. A meaningful relationship that delivers consistent, long-term value. Your potential clients can’t help but say Yes.

Potential clients aren’t like you

You’re the expert.

The credentialed, highly educated professional. Potential clients assume you’re knowledgeable, that your highly competent as a legal professional.

But they can’t rely on expertise as a metric.

It’s not because they’re unhelpful, it’s because these metrics are inaccessible to them. They assume authority and competence on your part, choosing instead to focus their attention on character and credibility.

Most attorneys focus on the wrong metrics.

That doesn’t have to be the case with you. You’re good at your job, your potential clients know it. Want to convert more of the potential clients evaluating your practice? Make character and credibility a key component in your marketing strategy.

The strategy is simple.

Prioritize the right metrics and you’ll find potential clients will consistently identify you as the winner.