The LAB was formed as a resource to provide pragmatic advice to assist new managing partners with their critical burning issues and help them succeed. The LAB is comprised of the following distinguished current and former law firm leaders: Angelo Arcadipane (Dickstein Shapiro LLP); John Bouma (Snell & Wilmer LLP); Brian K. Burke (Baker & Daniels LLP); Ben F. Johnson, III (Alston & Bird LLP); John R. Sapp (Michael Best & Friedrich LLP); Keith B. Simmons (Bass Berry & Sims PLC); William J. Strickland (McGuire Woods LLP); Harry P. Trueheart, III (Nixon Peabody LLP); together with Patrick J. McKenna (Edge International).Check it out, and keep on eye on Managing Partner Magazine for more.
Dallas, TX: April 23-25.Also on the "tentative" horizon:
Orlando,FL: May 16-19.
Washington DC: June 18-22.
Herndon, VA
Irving, CA
Atlanta, GA
I'd really recommend you read the entire article, but the initial takeaway for me is this: If you want clients to believe your rate (or set price for a given service) is close to your actual cost, price in odd numbers.There were three scenarios involving different retail prices: one group of buyers was given a price of $5,000, another was given a price of $4,988, and the third was told $5,012. When all the buyers were asked to estimate the wholesale price, those with the $5,000 price tag in their head guessed much lower than those contemplating the more precise retail prices. That is, they moved farther away from the mental anchor. What is more, those who started with the round number as their mental anchor were much more likely to guess a wholesale price that was also in round numbers. The scientists ran this experiment again and again with different scenarios and always got the same result.
Why would this happen? As Janiszewski and Uy explain in the February issue of Psychological Science, people appear to create mental measuring sticks that run in increments away from any opening bid, and the size of the increments depends on the opening bid. That is, if we see a $20 toaster, we might wonder whether it is worth $19 or $18 or $21; we are thinking in round numbers. But if the starting point is $19.95, the mental measuring stick would look different. We might still think it is wrongly priced, but in our minds we are thinking about nickels and dimes instead of dollars, so a fair comeback might be $19.75 or $19.50.
Saw this tip about buying antiques on the Rules of Thumb Blog, and thought it applied even more to potential clients:
Don't buy a piece of antique furniture if you can find three things wrong with it.
So, if you've just finished your first interview with a potential client, and there are three (or more) things about that person or their case that don't seem right, take a pass. You'll be glad you did.
The time after your purchase of a good or service and before 'buyer's remorse' happens. "The moneymoon is over, I realzie now that buying that boat was a waste of money."Made me think of the number one rule of small business cash flow: Bill your clients before the moneymoon is over.
Each week, no matter the condition of the weather, the color of Ethan's mood ring, or the extra hours it will take to meet our deadlines, we call each of our clients. We check in, ask how they're doing, and give them an update on the activities surrounding their project. We call every week throughout the project, and even two to three weeks past the time we've delivered our work—all to make sure the client doesn't have any last-minute needs, or has run into any problems.
That's how we roll. We care like that.
For another worthwhile read this morning, check out the Top 5 Reasons Why "The Customer is Always Right" is Wrong from the Chief Happiness Officer Blog. Reason Number 4, it results in worse customer service:
[W]hen you put the employees first, they put the customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because:
- They care more about other people, including customers
- They have more energy
- They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact with
- They are more motivated
On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side with customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message that:
- Employees are not valued
- That treating employees fairly is not important
- That employees have no right to respect from customers
- That employees have to put up with everything from customers
When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At that point, real good service is almost impossible - the best customers can hope for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean: courteous on the surface only.
Do you put your customers first, or your employees?
Go Dark Weekend: When I find myself feeling burned out, I do a go dark weekend. I turn off my computer and cell phone at 6pm on Friday night and don't turn it back on until 5am Monday morning. I cancel anything that is scheduled for the weekend and just do whatever I feel like doing. This is usually a once a quarter event; occasionally more frequently depending on how busy I am. I'm considering doing this around each of my marathon weekends also.Anyone reading this feeling burned out? How about "going dark" this weekend and reconnecting with your kids?
You'll get 3x better recall for visual information than for oral. And you'll get 6x better recall for information that's simultaneously oral and visual.Here's why:
The more you talk over or at anxious people, the more pressure you put on their middle brain and the more they will close their minds to what you are saying.
Also worth remembering when you are confronted with that big guy in the bar who accuses you of cheating at pool.Alternatively, the more you talk to an anxious person -- or even better yet, with them -- the more you alleviate that pressure and the easier it is to access their upper brain and open their minds to you. Here's a critical point, though: the approach you may think you are taking in a conversation with an anxious person may not be the approach the other person perceives.
He’s been an idea collector his whole life.
He used to be a lawyer, but now works with XPLANE, The Visual Thinking Company.
He grew up in Highland, a small town in Southern Illinois. He now lives in St. Louis.
He's a talented speaker, gifted facilitator and tireless innovator.
He's happiest thinking BIG Thoughts, and he’s really good at helping people and organizations develop breakthrough, business changing ideas.
He'd love to help you and can’t wait to hear from you.
