Hello from the world of the small business owner.  Summertime is traditionally a slow time for many businesses due to many factors, many legitimate.  There is no reason, however, to slow down prospecting activities during this period.  There are always potential avenues for new business out there, and now that summer is coming to an end there are also no more excuses for not getting out there and seeking out new clients, customers or accounts.

A positive mindset is critical for achieving new business growth.  If you believe you can do it and reinforce yourself each day with positive thoughts about building your business, then good things will come your way…it is when one slips into a negative, excuse-driven mindset that slowdowns, or at worst failure, will occur.  I am not saying that thinking happy thoughts will bring in oodles of new business, but it is a start.  Having a positive mindset will allow you to get up each morning and seek out new clients or brainstorm new ideas.  A ‘woe is me’ attitude is a blueprint for slacking and transmits itself subconsciously to new business prospects.

What should you do?  First of all, don’t sleep in – get to bed at a reasonable hour and get up at the same time each day.  If you need coffee to kick-start your mind, set the pot the night before to have fresh java waiting for you when you get to the kitchen or the office.  Shake off any negatives that may have occurred the previous day and re-affirm for yourself the reasons you started the business in the first place.  Have a plan for the day, be it cold-calling, letter-writing or delving into busywork…try to schedule these activities as you would a client or prospect meeting and commit yourself to that time block.  Don’t make exceptions – the first exception will snowball into another, and so forth.  I cannot stress enough that remaining in a negative mindset or setting aside scheduled activities for non-business larks will kill your business in the long run.

Another key thing to think about is exit strategy – sometimes despite your best efforts a business plan will not work.  You must know when to say when before you dig yourself and your family into a hole from which you cannot recover.  I don’t mean to counteract the first three paragraphs of this post, but financial survival is critical…if despite your positive attitude and daily attempts at business development things don’t seem to be working out it is time to sit down and re-evaluate the business plan that you developed at the start of your venture.  Analyze what your plan was, look for deviations from that plan and work to find why things aren’t going the way you believed they would.  Seek out trusted friends/advisors to discuss your business efforts – listen to their feedback carefully.  Look at your prospect ‘pipeline’ and determine if those individuals can be converted into paying clients within a reasonable period of time.  Do NOT resort to measures such as financing your business through credit cards or home equity loans – you are doing nothing but incurring debt to potentially maintain life support on a dying proposition for a short period longer.  Make a go/no go decision and stick with it.

The bottom line is that small business ownership is indeed the lifeblood of this country but that it is not for everyone.  Do not destroy your family and your financial life over a business…in the end it is not worth the grief that will be brought.  A lot of business gurus will tell you to never give up and never give in, but failure is indeed an event that every business should plan for and make efforts to avoid or alleviate.

Know When to Say When – it may be the best business decision you’ll ever make.

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

When I first started this blog I intended to simply write on legal issues.  Taking into consideration today’s environment, however, it has morphed more into a forum on building and maintaining your business.  Small business owners face huge challenges, not only from corporate competition, but also from lack of consumer liquidity, overdue accounts payable and rising costs all around.  I want to offer tips and open discussions on ideas to help small business owners move forward in this economy.  In addition, my firm is putting together a small business consulting practice to provide essentially a team of experts to act as a guide to business owners in all areas, including but not limited to business planning, marketing, taxes, cash management and, of course legal issues.  If you want a consultation, please contact me at (216) 577-0013.

Today’s topic is on adding Value.  This applies to both existing and prospective customers/clients.  It is uber-critical to keep our existing customers and the best way to do that is to go overboard with customer service and attention.  If you normally take a week to get a job done, do it in half the time if possible.  Return phone calls immediately.  Start an e-newsletter and e-mail campaign on topics not only related to your business but also to big current event issues of the day.  The goal is to keep the customers engaged and maintain ‘top-of-mind’ awareness of your company amongst those customers. This will not only maintain your current base, but hopefully will grow referral opportunities.

As to prospective customers, keep pushing and make every effort to bring them on board.  Always be moving, within reason, towards the sale.  Offer them a door into your business by including them on your customer mailings or set up a breakfast/lunch meeting if you feel that it might help close the business.  Always return their phone calls as soon as humanly possible.  Understand that you are not the only business looking to bring them on board and seek avenues to place yourself above the competition.

There are many, many ways to add value to your customer/client relationships, and the methods vary from industry to industry.  The bottom line is that you need paying customers in order to stay in business, so start thinking outside of the box to keep and obtain those customers.

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

In perusing today's headlines, all I see are stories about job cuts - Home Depot, Caterpillar, Sprint, Phillips, etc... The gist of the stories is that the economy is still slowing and that these companies need to swing the axe in order to accommodate the slowing demand.  Most folks who read these stories will adopt a 'woe is me' attitude towards their situations and wait for the axe to drop on them.

As I've mentioned in prior blogs, I often listen to the podcasts available through the Morning Coach.  The host is always preaching about ‘creating your own economy’ and not relying on the whims of our employers.  I am in absolute agreement with this philosophy and urge all of you who can get out there and either do it on your own or work on a side business to do so!  This won’t work for everyone, but it is essential that we adopt a strong sense of personal responsibility and get out there and work for ourselves.  It requires a strong work ethic, a willingness for short-term sacrifice and an ability to see the big picture.  I am not waiting around for the shoe to drop on my career – I am moving forward with my private practice and understand that, although it will be tight at first, I am opening up a whole new world for myself and my family by giving myself the ability to create my own schedule, collect my own fees, select my own clients and decide the scope of my practice without someone telling me that I need to sell X, push Y or run everything through an anal-retentive compliance system.  If I want to blog on a topic, by God I’m going to do it without having to worry about upsetting my corporate masters.  If I want to change the direction of my practice midstream and move into more estate planning versus felony defense I want the power to do it without having to sell the idea to a manger or partner.

The bottom line is that there is an entrepreneur in each of us screaming to come out.  If you are sitting at your desk refreshing marketwatch.com over and over again to see the next economic shoe to drop you need to stand up and scream “ENOUGH!”  Get out there and explore how you can use your education, training and business sense to build a consulting business, open a coffee stand or do whatever the heck you’ve been daydreaming about for the past ten years.

Obviously I’m not advocating just walking away from your day job this afternoon – map out your plan, get buy-in from your significant other, run your ideas past trusted peers and make sure that you are financially able to get the business off the ground with little to no outside financing.  If you believe that you can do it, keep that mindset and get out there and get started!

Some Quick Tips:

-          Do some market research before jumping in – make sure that there is a need for what you want to do.

-          Create a unique ‘value proposition’ that differentiates you from the competition.

-          Seek out constructive criticism – ignore the naysayers.

-          Speak to a financial advisor, CPA, insurance agent and/or a business attorney to make sure you are financially able to undertake the venture and that you are crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s.

-          Develop a detailed business plan and set reasonable/measurable goals for yourself.

-          Maintain a positive mental attitude – Don’t lose sight of the goals that you set for yourself!

Now get out there and do it!  Create your own economy and don’t look back!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

As I sit about an outbound train watching the Cleveland skyline fade off into the snowy distance, I wonder how this once fine city and region has fallen so hard and fast.  I believe part of the answer is consistency of its leaders.  We have an elected body, both on the city and county level, that does not seem to know how to run a hot dog stand let alone a major metropolitan area.  We keep hearing promises but there is never follow through or we let seemingly beneficial projects slip away due to inattention or outright incompetency.  We need leaders who offer us proposals, work those proposals to their completion and present a finished product to the citizens that will help us to move forward as a region. 

Consistency is the key to getting things done, attracting new customers/clients and moving forward as an individual or business owner.  If a client is told that the project will be done Tuesday, it better darn well be done.  If you tell clients that a weekly newsletter will be sent out to them, that newsletter should arrive as promised or confidence will begin to wane on the part of those with whom we do business.  On the personal side, if we promise our kids that we will set aside time each week to go out to eat or play in the park it is critically important that the schedule be maintained as promised.

In life and in business, consistency is the key to getting noticed and appreciated.  It is an absolute turn-off to deal with someone who cannot seem to have any consistency to their lives.  If we can show our business and life partners that we are capable of maintaining consistency in our dealings, we will see definite benefits.

How can we be more consistent?

·         Get organized – consistency is the direct result of an organized life.  Get a calendar…in fact get two calendars – one online or on a phone with pop-up reminders and access to critical information and one on paper that can be carried throughout the day.  Putting things in our calendars serves as a visible reminder of your duties and obligations.  Once you have the calendars, make it a habit to update them and check them several times throughout the day.  It is useless to have them if they are not referred to several times a day!

·         Do not over-extend yourself – don’t over-schedule your time or take on tasks for which you are unprepared or unable to handle.  Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ to something if you believe it will cause you to delay an existing project or might not get done in the required time frame due to those existing projects.

·         Let others know your schedule – make sure that others know your commitments and allow them to serve as a ‘bully’ on your time to get things done.  If you are slacking, a not-so-gentle reminder from your assistant or spouse about a deadline fast approaching may be the difference in getting the job done or failing.

·         Get up early – our mind’s most active time is early in the morning.  A quiet and empty office is a great place to get things done free of distractions.

·         Set aside dedicated ‘work’ time – make sure that those around you know that you are not to be disturbed unless an emergency arises during the time frame that you set aside.  Be anti-social and just get the work done that needs finishing!

These concepts may seem very Business 101 but far too often are simply ignored in real life due to the pressing concerns of our daily commitments.  Try to remember that consistency is the key to long-term success and respect!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Good Morning from snowy Cleveland!  Once again I have woken up to falling snow and crummy roads, but that is the price that I suppose one must pay to live in the paradise that is the North Coast of America.  Moving onto more substantive matters, I am a big fan of personal development and believe that one should set aside at least a half-hour each day to improve themselves mentally so as to gain a better understanding of not only themselves, but the world around them.  One of my favorite personal development outlets is a podcast/website entitled The Morning Coach (www.morningcoach.com).  The moderator brings a new podcast every day and delivers some excellent development tools on his website.  Over the weekend he discussed what he called the ‘Three C’s’ of personal development, specifically that we must ensure that we are competent, live a conflict-free lifestyle and have a solid character base.  I’ll touch on those topics in today’s and coming blogs, but I’m going to swap out ‘conflict free lifestyle’ for consistency.   I feel that these talking points are an excellent reflecting tool for ensuring that our moral compasses are pointed in the right direction.

COMPETENCE

We (hopefully in this economy) all have a means of securing income.  It is crucial that each of us understand our job responsibilities and work every day to ensure that we are at the top of our games as far as professional competence.  If we are not getting the job done, there is surely someone else out there clamoring to do the same job.  If you are an attorney are you keeping up-to-date on the latest changes in the law or administrative codes for your area of concentration?  If you are a nurse or doctor are you making sure that you are treating your patients in a manner consistent with the latest advances in medicine?  If you are a small business owner, are you keeping track of advances in your industry in order to keep up with the competition?

Being competent means more than knowing the ins and outs of your particular field.  It also means being able to convey your expertise to your clients or customers on a consistent basis.  Keeping in touch with clients and letting them know that you are working hard for them is as much a factor in retention as is knowing what you are doing.  You could be the smartest CPA in the world and know the IRS Code backwards and forwards, but if you are not conveying your knowledge on a proactive basis your clients will never know it.  You may end up losing clients and/or lose referral opportunities due to your inability to maintain regular and consistent contact.

Some ideas: 

·         Keep up with the latest developments/news in your field – make sure that you understand what is going on and take continuing education classes (if relevant) to hear from experts and thereby build your knowledge base.

·         Always have an opinion – nothing exclaims confidence like an immediate answer to the question “What do you think?”  It does not have to be in-depth, but at least formulate an opinion on different issues in your field.

·         If you are a small business owner, get a web site.  The site should serve as an adjunct to your business, not a primary business pipeline.  With the proliferation of the internet today, if you don’t have a website many potential customers may think that you are not market-savvy or are not successful.  Accurate? Perhaps not, but today perception is everything and you can be rest-assured that your competition either has one already or is in the process of getting one.

·         Offer to speak to groups on topics related to your industry.  Speakers seem to be granted instant competence, deserved or not.  If you are up speaking to groups you are not only promoting yourself and your business, but you are instilling confidence in potential clients/customers in the audience.

There are many other methods for building and exhibiting competence.  The bottom line remains,  however, that you need to take steps to ensure that you understand your job responsibilities and that you exude confidence to those around you.  If you are lacking, then you need to step up and fix the problem now – it may be the difference between new clients or promotions at work versus seeing your job given to the new guy sitting down the hall.

In coming posts I’ll touch on the other two topics – consistency and character.

This is the final entry in my series on why attorneys are disliked and/or mocked by the general public.  As a recap, I identified four issues that stand out to me as the big problems with attorney relations.  The three previously discussed are:

·         We are too expensive

·         We don’t return phone calls

·         We don’t show up on time

The fourth is sort of a catch-all that incorporates many of the issues covered in the first three: We take forever to get seemingly simple things done.

The problem for many of us in the legal profession is that for the most part we do NOT take forever to get seemingly simple things done, but the public’s perception is not in agreement.

I am once again going to revisit the area of modern life for the primary answer to this issue – we live in a fast-paced society and the American public does not have the patience of the past.  The internet, TV shows that feed on short attention spans, the ability to send text messages and the wide availability of cell phones are all among the factors that have devastated our ability to wait for things to get done.  In an era when we can get photos printed immediately from our computer, why can’t a lawyer get a motion drafted and filed with one day’s notice?

The answer for lawyers to this issue has many facets – the most important is client communication.  A client who is kept ‘in the loop’ is less likely to complain than a client who is sitting at home stewing and wondering what is going on with their case.  Frequent case updates via e-mail or over the phone are a great way to keep clients satisfied and will go a long way with building trust and stretching out patience.  At the onset of the relationship, it might be a good idea to walk the client through an ‘average’ day in your practice, ie hearings in the morning, document review/drafting in the afternoon and evening, along with client/prospective client appointments in the afternoon and/or evening.  They will gain an understanding that you are busy and that you value the time of each of your clients (hint: Don’t overdo it and scare clients away by making them think you are too busy to handle their matter).

Another idea for lawyers is to develop a daily checklist the night before of no more than six ‘action items’ for the next day that are of critical importance.  List them by order of priority and set aside a block of time to get them done – during that period, do not take phone calls, do not surf the internet and do not schedule appointments.  Just get the work done.

For example:

January 17^th:

1.       Johnson Motion for Summary Judgment (filing deadline 1/20/09)

2.       Henderson Interrogatory Responses (discovery due 1/20/09)

3.       Smith LLC Articles of Organization (promised client they’d be on the way to Columbus by 1/21/09)

4.       Jones Request for Bill of Particulars (for filing 1/21/09)

5.       Letter to Sam Coyne re Settlement Demand for Billingsley

6.       Letter to Johnson re Bill is two weeks past due

The key is to not overload the six items and to set aside enough time to get these things done.  If they are all time-critical and overdue or close to it, then you may need to set aside the evening to get it done so as not to neglect your clients during the day.  The goal is to eventually reach a point where you don’t have time-critical items because you are properly managing your time.  This is something that you should make your clients aware of – tell them that there are certain times of the day that you set aside to get client-critical work done and that it may take a couple hours longer to get a return phone call.  They will appreciate the heads-up and hopefully admire your work ethic.

Going back to client education, it is important that clients know that certain items may involve substantive research and may therefore take a little while to get done.  It is also critical that if the client needs to provide you with certain information necessary to get the work done that those items are clearly spelled out in writing to the client.  That way if there are delays caused by client inaction, the written notice may deflect an impatient client’s frustrations.

What is not acceptable is going to play golf or taking a two-hour lunch when there are important matters sitting on our desks.  We as lawyers cannot neglect matters entrusted to us by clients.  It is not only good business sense, it is also spelled out in our rules of responsibility.  Reputations are riding on our ability to get the job done and to get it done right.  If the lawyer wants continued business from his clients as well as referrals, it is critical that tasks be completed in reasonable time frames.

The old days of drafting by typewriter and using the US Mail as our filing clerk are done.  We must step up to the plate and accept that we need to get the job done faster and do a better job than our competition if we are to survive as businesspeople.  If you cannot accomplish that, there is surely another attorney out there who can. 

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

In my continuing series on lawyers and the public’s general distaste for our profession, I today will touch on the topic of We Never Show Up on Time. 

I’m using this blog series for both the general public as well as for the members of my profession to help bring out into the open some critical issues for 21^st Century attorneys.   As with communication issues referenced in my previous post, we must keep in mind that the pace of modern society has increased tremendously over previous generations.  The level of patience of the average American is not what it was 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago…we can thank the internet for that in part, as well as mass media.  Instead of driving to the music store to buy the latest hit album, we can download the same to our MP3 player in seconds.  Instead of going to the teller and waiting in line we can access our bank accounts and perform most of the same transactions online.  There are countless more examples that could be given, but the bottom line remains the same – the American public no longer has the patience that it used to and will not tolerate repeated lapses in timeliness and professionalism.

“My lawyer is always late.”  How many times do we hear that while in the courthouse elevator or while prospecting for new business?  Sometimes delays are unavoidable…the car broke down, the Judge did not show up until 9:30 for our 8:30 pre-trial, etc.  Repeated instances of tardiness, however, are inexcusable and reflect an inability to properly manage time.  This behavior will lead to client retention issues, a drop in referrals, lack of respect from the court and will build up a reputation for that attorney.

For attorneys – invest in a simple time management tool….get Outlook for your computer, use a calendar consistently.  Get to bed earlier and wake up earlier.  Invest in a good alarm clock!  More importantly, learn how to schedule with the tools that you have!  Don’t load up your mornings with multiple hearings in multiple locations…you know that one of those is going to get backed up and create a logjam that will screw up the rest of your day and aggravate the clients who are left in the waiting room.  Don’t schedule client meetings across town from one another with barely enough time to make it under perfect conditions. Understand your limitations and get some respect for your clients’ time.  If a court wants to schedule a pre-trial at the same time that you are scheduled for trial in another courtroom, let the scheduler know that you have that trial instead of blindly accepting the time.  If the scheduler won’t budge, make sure that you inform your client of the conflict and file a motion for continuance based on the conflict…in other words, protect yourself and keep your clients in the loop!

For clients – keep on your attorney.  You are paying the bill and deserve professionalism.  Let the attorney know that you will not tolerate further tardiness and that you will seek out another attorney if the trend continues.  Remind the attorney that the check he or she expects for services rendered may be delayed in the same manner that the attorney has delayed you!  Threaten to subtract the time that you spent waiting from the attorney’s bill at the same hourly rate that he or she is charging you.  If the attorney continues to show you disrespect, then fire him!  There are plenty of great attorneys out there who actually respect the time of their clients and make a concerted effort to show up on time for hearings or appointments.

As a profession, we must respect and understand the demands on our clients’ time and take the necessary steps to ensure that we are properly allocating our time.  If we wish to build our practices we must have excellent time management skills – remember, time is money and it is all that we have to sell to our clients.  If no one is willing to buy our time because we cannot manage it, then another line of work may be a distinct possibility!

In yesterday’s (1/12/09) blog I broached the subject that lawyers are perceived as being too expensive and attempted to offer tips for dispelling that myth and establishing value with clients.  Today I will address the next big complaint against our profession – We don’t return phone calls.

This is the 21^st Century folks!  We live in a fast-paced society that craves instant and fast communication.  From instant messages to texting to the wide availability of cell phone technology, people expect to be able to have near-instant contact with not only friends and family, but also with their professional advisors.  Gone are the days of un-checkable analog answering machines and written message slips.  As attorneys it is critical that we recognize this fact and adapt to the expectation of rapid response in the modern world.

If an attorney expects to be viewed as a trusted advisor, then he or she must take the steps necessary to build trust.  First and foremost is the ability to communicate.  When a client calls the office, the phone should be answered quickly and professionally.  If the attorney is not present, then there should be a receptionist or voice-mail system available to communicate the unavailability.  If a written message is taken, there should be an office system in place to send a text message, e-mail or voice message to the attorney to inform them of the message.  I believe that the text message is the best way to go – these can be received at any time (even in court, but be careful!) and provide near-instant access to the message.  If voice-mail is in use, then the attorney should check the system every half hour in order to avoid missing a time-critical message.  I would discourage e-mail due to the potential lag in receipt.

Regardless of the method of message receipt, the call should be returned immediately or on the same business day, depending on the urgency.  At no time should a message go unanswered for more than 24 hours.  As I stated in an earlier post, this sounds like Business 101, but there is a definite disconnect at some point in the process that needs to be addressed.

Why are we as attorneys in business?  The answer is simple – we are in business to keep our present clients and to obtain new clients.  Without clients we cannot practice law.  Failure to promptly return a phone call creates a few impressions that could lead to client retention issues:

·         The attorney is too busy to handle my case

·         I am not an important enough client to the attorney

·         If my attorney cannot return my phone calls in a timely manner, how do they handle other time management issues, such as filing deadlines and case preparation?

Each of these impressions could very well lead not only to losing that client to a more professional attorney but also to losing potential referrals from existing clients.  Who wants to refer business to someone who does not know how to communicate?

I could write for hours on subjects such as this, but I don’t want to tire your eyes.  The bottom line is that attorneys need to see themselves as advisors and advisors are always available to their clients.  If we want to have long-term clients then we need to treat them with respect.  Not returning a phone call promptly is not only unprofessional, but disrespectful as well.  If any attorneys out there would like to schedule a one-on-one consultation to help you improve in the areas of sales and marketing, please do not hesitate to contact me at (216) 577-0013.  If any non-lawyers want an attorney who understands that they are important, please contact me as well for a consultation of your legal issues!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

As we all well know, lawyer jokes are a dime a dozen and they aren’t going to go away anytime soon.   I often wonder how our profession has devolved to the point where we have been reduced to a punch-line on the Tonight Show and I’ve come up with a simple answer – Despite all of the training we receive in law school on rules and cases and statutes, the bottom line is that we simply aren’t good at relating to people or running businesses.

What are the primary complaints about lawyers? They seem to break down into a few basic areas:

·         We are too expensive

·         We don’t return phone calls

·         We don’t show up on time

·         We take forever to get seemingly simple things done

The sad thing is that each of these problems is very simple to solve through the application of basic people, business and marketing skills.  There just does not seem to be a pressing desire amongst the masses of attorneys to get it done. 

I’ll address each of these issues in four blogs, starting today with the big one: We are too expensive. 

Time is money and all we as attorneys have to sell is our time.  To each of us it is a valuable commodity, but to our clients it appears as a line-item on a bill.  When they see 2.0 hours for a Pre-Trial hearing they do not understand that the prosecutor was over-worked, the courtroom was under-staffed and there were 10 other attorneys with their own matters waiting for an audience.  We must educate our clients as to what we do, how we do it and that we must charge for the time in order to survive.  Those two hours could have been spent drafting a buy-sell agreement, negotiating a divorce settlement or prospecting for new business.  Instead they were spent in a cramped hearing room.  The bottom line is that they were spent and that the client was the reason we were there, so the client is responsible for paying the bill.  Clients should be told up front the specifics of how time will be spent on their case: They should know that pre-trials can take two hours and they will be financially responsible for your presence at the hearing.  They should know that motions can involve substantive research that takes time to get done.  They must be shown that their money is an investment that will hopefully pay off with the results that they are seeking.

On the other hand, we must also be ethical with our time – drafting a simple entry of appearance should not be billed out for a half hour nor should we charge for blocks of time in which we worked on a client’s matter but also surfed the internet and made personal phone calls during breaks in research & writing.   Detailed logs should be kept and when bills are presented to clients they should be detailed as well.  If a client sees all of the particulars of the work undertaken then they may be more willing to pay for services rendered in a faster manner.

We must also learn to work smarter – for example, during the two hour pre-trial mentioned above, you could bring along your laptop and spend a half hour working on another client’s matter, thus maximizing your time and creating perceived value for the client whose pre-trial you are attending – instead of billing him for two hours of in-court work, you can bill him for 1.5 hours and explain that you were able to assist other clients while waiting your turn for the pre-trial.  This will hopefully generate good will with the client and might make him more willing to not only pay his bill faster but also to refer you new business.

Clients can also be kept up-to-date on their cases through the use of interim billing statements sent electronically.  These will not only show that you are working on their matter but may also serve to lessen ‘sticker shock’ when the actual bill arrives.  An un-billed phone call to simply check in and say hello can also go a long way in creating value to clients – they might begin to see you more as a trusted advisor and problem-solver versus a transactional time-biller.

These are just some rambling thoughts on the subject.  Please feel free to comment and suggest some other ideas on defeating the ‘We are too expensive’ stereotype.  I am also available for one-on-one consultation in the area of law firm sales and marketing – just ask!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio.  He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net.  This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

In a move that is probably coming a year too late, the IRS has decided to allow certain taxpayers to suspend their Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for tax year 2009. This is a move that will allow IRA investments to hopefully recover some lost value if the markets show some improvement this year, instead of forcing withdrawals out of accounts in a declining investment environment, which is the worst possible time to be pulling out money. 

It is best to speak with your tax or financial advisor to see if you qualify and to see if you would benefit from this rule change.

Here are the basics of the change, per the IRS (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/rne_se0109.pdf)

On December 23, 2008, the President signed the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (the Act) into law. Section 201 of the Act waives any required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2009 from retirement plans that hold each participant’s benefit in an individual account, such as 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans, and certain 457(b) plans. The Act also waives any RMDs for 2009 from an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA). This means that most participants and beneficiaries otherwise required to take minimum distributions from these types of accounts are not required to withdraw any amount in 2009. If they do make a withdrawal in 2009 (that is not a RMD for 2008), they might be able to roll over the withdrawn amount into other eligible retirement plans. Of course, they must still include any previously untaxed portion of the withdrawal that they do not roll over in their gross income. See Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), Publication 590, and Pension and Annuity Income, Publication 575, for additional information on rollovers and on calculating the taxable portion of a withdrawal or distribution.

The Act does not waive any 2008 RMDs, even for individuals who were eligible and chose to delay taking their 2008 RMD until April 1, 2009 (e.g., retired employees and IRA owners who turned 70½ in 2008). These individuals must still take their full 2008 RMD by April 1, 2009, or they might face a 50% excise tax on the amount not withdrawn. The 2009 RMD waiver under the Act does apply to individuals who may be eligible to postpone taking their 2009 RMD until April 1, 2010 (generally, retired employees and IRA owners who attain age 70½ in 2009). However, the Act does not waive any RMDs for 2010.

If a beneficiary is receiving distributions over a 5-year period, he or she can now waive the distribution for 2009, effectively taking distributions over a 6-year rather than a 5-year period.

This blog is a service of Astrab Legal Services LLC and is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or tax advice.  As always, please consult your legal, tax or financial advisor for the specifics of your particular situation.