It's a good idea to freshen up your office look and the start of a new year is a good time to do it. Changing your office environment can improve office morale, increase efficiency in many cases, and send a subtle message to both old and new clients that says volumes about you and your practice without ever saying a word.
We all know that first impressions count and you only get one first impression so here's some tips to apply starting now.
1. Clean out the clutter. The best thing, and the easiest thing, you can do to improve your workplace is to clean up the clutter. Throw it away or put it away. Somewhere under all those papers and files there's a desk and you might want to clean it too while you're at it. The rule of thumb is that you should never touch a piece of paper more than once and if you follow that rule you can prevent the clutter from stacking up in the future but for now, go through everything on your desk top and clear it out. Do something with it. Process it, file it, or read it and throw it away. New clients will be impressed and old clients will be amazed.
2. Now that your desk is cleared of the clutter, look it over. The second rule of thumb is that if there is anything on your desk that you don't use every day, then put it somewhere else. Sometimes too much "stuff" is what makes the clutter. Okay, now move around your office and ask yourself the same question about the furniture and furnishings. Sometimes less is more. Less furniture and furnishings can mean more space and room and that clear space can actually enhance your peace of mind.
3. Move the furniture. It's probably been sitting in the same spot for years and that spot is probably up against the wall. Think about the President's Oval Office. Nothing is up against the wall. The desk is set out. There's a sitting area in the middle of the room. There's room to walk around every piece of furniture in the room and you know what? The room actually looks bigger because of it. You can do the same thing for your own office too. You don't need new furniture and probably not even more furniture. You just need to have it in the right spots. Old spots can be a sign of a stagnating mind and maybe a stagnating business too.
4. Use comfortable and relaxing furniture for visitors. To help put clients at ease, always have a small table and a comfortable armchair in the room, maybe two. And they don't have to be leather covered with all those brass tacks down the edges and seams. Those pieces loudly say "I cost money and you're going to pay for sitting on me." That may not be the best message to send in a time of a bad economy.
5. Check your lighting. One of the easiest things you can do yourself to freshen up an office is to make sure your rooms are well lit. The rule of thumb is a minimum of 100 watts for every 50 feet. Quite often offices have too few lights or too low wattage in them. And an all too often overlooked item is the dirty light switch plate. They get dirty over time and if they can't be quickly and easily cleaned, get a screwdriver and some new ones and just replace them. It's dirt cheap to do and it gets rid of the dirt.
6. Get new art on the walls. A lot of offices have "the usual" sort of office art hung at the same height all around the place. Doing that can actually make the art less noticeable. Get out of the rut. First select art that your clients might like to look at, not just art that you want because you happen to be the one that likes it. Next, hang the art so it "fits" the room and the furniture in it. If you're a guy, you probably have no idea what I mean so go ask your wife. Or, you could ask an interior decorator to stop by (you might even have one for a client if you're lucky) and help you out with some ideas. Some furniture stores will even give you their decorator's time for free or if you buy a chair and some art to hang. It's well worth it and you don't have to spend a fortune.
The start of the year is a good time to freshen up the appearance of your office. While you're at it, take a look at your hourly rate too. It's a good idea to consider your numbers once a year too. But that's another story.
Tuesday
Bankrolling Cases Can Bust You
In hard economic times, it serves a lawyer well to monitor your receivables. When clients don't pay their bills on time, you are essentially loaning them money. And that's no good for you.
Same for costs advanced that don't get paid back to you on time. Whether it's fees or costs advanced, it's still money out of your pocket at a time when the Law Firm can least afford it.
Problems with clients who don't pay their bills on time can be avoided.
Start with a clear attorney-fee agreement or engagement letter. Make sure the client understands what will happen when the fee bill is not paid, right from the start. Then don't let the billing pile up unpaid. Take prompt steps to collect what is owed for your fees. Don't just send the bill out and hope. Hope is nice, but it won't pay your salary.
One way to speed up the process is to e-bill your clients via email and offer credit card payment arrangements. Most firms give 15 to 30 days to pay a bill and adding a week for the mailman delivery only weakens your Law Firm's cash flow. Get the bill delivered faster and you'll get it paid faster.
But if the bill is not paid on time, follow up during the next 30 days when overdue with email or mailed reminders or perhaps even a phone call. If there is no payment within 60 days of sending it out, consider notifying the client that you will withdraw from representation if the bill is not paid within 7 or 10 days. And if it is not paid, withdraw.
If you don't insist on prompt bill payment, you become just another bill that's easy to ignore.
A close working relationship with the client is key to prompt bill payment too. Clients need to be told that the attorney-client relationship requires client assistance too and that includes prompt payment of the fee bill. Otherwise, the Law Firm is making a loan to the client (quite literally) by allowing the fee bill to go unpaid.
Yes, lawyering is a profession. But don't forget that a Law Firm is a business too and if you don't treat it like one, no one else will.
Same for costs advanced that don't get paid back to you on time. Whether it's fees or costs advanced, it's still money out of your pocket at a time when the Law Firm can least afford it.
Problems with clients who don't pay their bills on time can be avoided.
Start with a clear attorney-fee agreement or engagement letter. Make sure the client understands what will happen when the fee bill is not paid, right from the start. Then don't let the billing pile up unpaid. Take prompt steps to collect what is owed for your fees. Don't just send the bill out and hope. Hope is nice, but it won't pay your salary.
One way to speed up the process is to e-bill your clients via email and offer credit card payment arrangements. Most firms give 15 to 30 days to pay a bill and adding a week for the mailman delivery only weakens your Law Firm's cash flow. Get the bill delivered faster and you'll get it paid faster.
But if the bill is not paid on time, follow up during the next 30 days when overdue with email or mailed reminders or perhaps even a phone call. If there is no payment within 60 days of sending it out, consider notifying the client that you will withdraw from representation if the bill is not paid within 7 or 10 days. And if it is not paid, withdraw.
If you don't insist on prompt bill payment, you become just another bill that's easy to ignore.
A close working relationship with the client is key to prompt bill payment too. Clients need to be told that the attorney-client relationship requires client assistance too and that includes prompt payment of the fee bill. Otherwise, the Law Firm is making a loan to the client (quite literally) by allowing the fee bill to go unpaid.
Yes, lawyering is a profession. But don't forget that a Law Firm is a business too and if you don't treat it like one, no one else will.
Wednesday
Smart Business Updates
One of the best sources of smart business info seems to be the folks at The McKinsey Quarterly. If you don't subscribe, and you care about your law business, you should get it. It's free and invaluable.
The email update is written in plain English for business people that just want to get the story quickly and simply and accurately. And much of what they write about can help you figure out how to run your law practice better and more profitably.
Here's some recent article titles, for instance:
Just-in-time strategy for a turbulent world
Creative destruction and the financial crisis
The adaptable corporation
You can see from the titles alone (and there's a whole lot more of them) the possibilities for your firm's strategic marketing planning. This is a free resource that helps you think, and in this marketplace, that can be critical.
You can get the RSS feed link here: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/rss
The email update is written in plain English for business people that just want to get the story quickly and simply and accurately. And much of what they write about can help you figure out how to run your law practice better and more profitably.
Here's some recent article titles, for instance:
Just-in-time strategy for a turbulent world
Creative destruction and the financial crisis
The adaptable corporation
You can see from the titles alone (and there's a whole lot more of them) the possibilities for your firm's strategic marketing planning. This is a free resource that helps you think, and in this marketplace, that can be critical.
You can get the RSS feed link here: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/rss
Ron Burdge
Helping Attorneys Manage Their Business
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