How’s Your Teamwork? Numbers? Client Care Program Can Make Both Better

November is when estate planning and elder law firm owners analyze a lot of numbers, including productivity and profitability of their team members. You know that every associate and paralegal needs to pay their own salary and then some, but do you know how to make that happen?

Scolding, by the way, or standing over them when they fill out their billable hours with a fake smile does not work. Empowering your team does.

Attorneys who come to the Foundations Workshop are required to arrive (with some exceptions, but not many) with at least one, and hopefully more than one, of your team members. We want your paralegals, office managers, associates, even your receptionist, to attend.

We’re not doing it to fill the room. We know that your client care program will flourish when everyone is on board. The irony is, your receptionist and paralegal will understand and embrace the entire client care program faster than you will, but that’s okay. Their enthusiasm will show in how they approach their work, talk with clients, and become more engaged with your firm.

Think about the processes that transform prospects into clients. They involve more touch points with your staff than with you. When prospects call, it’s the receptionist who makes them feel welcome and valued. When the paralegal calls to follow up on a missing document, they are talking with clients who may be uncomfortable about not getting everything to you on time. You are the star of the show, we get that, but all of your team members are the supporting players, and without them, you stand on an empty stage.

We value your paralegals and administrative team members. We know how important they are to the success of the firm. We also know that the job market is such that it’s not always easy to find and hold onto great talent, especially in markets where there are a lot of estate planning and elder law firms.

Consider the Foundations Workshop as a team building session.

You may be surprised that when I go around the room in the workshop, asking questions or giving directions on exercises, I’m not always directing my questions to the attorney. Your office manager, lead paralegal or any administrator will be asked questions about your firm, processes and details that you may not even know she or he is aware of.

At the Client Care Academy, we understand how an estate planning and elder law firm works. That’s because we are in that same practice area every day. And we know that for your firm to succeed, you need a great group of team players.

We can’t wait to meet your team in November.

You’ve got one more chance to attend a Client Care Academy Foundations Workshop in 2018, at the lowest price, November 29-30. The Foundations Workshop is currently priced at $3,995 (for two people), and a $500 materials charge for each additional person. In 2019, prices will increase to $7,995.

We hope you and your team will sign up for the final Foundations Workshop before the price increase.

If your schedule is too busy for you to join us this year, check back with us – new dates are now being planned for 2019.

If you have any questions, please let us know. You can reach Megan Davitt, Program Coordinator, at [email protected] or 888-341-6222.

One last thought: I wrote a book about the creation and development about our client care program, and you may want to start by reading it “How an Ordinary Lawyer Creates and Sustains an Extraordinary Client Care Program.”