By Chris Mullins
This month I wanted to talk with you about the hemorrhaging that’s happening in your firm from the top down from the front to the back of the office. Your team is crying for help. Your team is crying for healthy attention. Here’s some TRUTHFUL FACTS and advice to help the managing partners and all team members at your law firm.
You’re The Expert: Remember the clients and prospects you speak to assume you’re the expert because you’re at the law firm. They also view YOU as THE LAW FIRM! You’re on the phone, in the consultation meeting room, in your office, on zoom, etc. Just by being in this position the assumption is made by the client and prospect that you know what you’re doing, and they will listen to you. The only thing you must work on is building up your confidence. You must believe you know what you’re doing and you’re the expert. Always remember to ask for HELP from other team members and leaders! No matter how long you’ve been an attorney, intake sales specialist, paralegal, negotiator, etc. when you’re stuck don’t make it up, try not to get nervous, feel confident that the right thing to do is just to ask for help there’s nothing wrong with that it means you’re a professional and strong person it doesn’t make you weak. Whatever you do “stay in your own lane”. Don’t over promise to any clients, prospects and even team members.
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Roleplay is the best training tool ever. All the experts in the world and top athletes do a form of roleplay! Sure, it can be uncomfortable, but it works and it’s the best fastest way to learn. The more you roleplay the better you become at the area you’re working on perfecting. Its better to record your role-play while doing it because you want to watch/listen to it back for review and note taking. By recording you’ll be able to identify what you love that you did and what you want to eliminate.
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Leaders Audit everyone – please monitor all phone calls (inbound/outbound) for everyone in your firm those that speak to prospects and clients. As always check the laws for recording calls in your state. Listen to the calls but be ready because if you haven’t been doing this and providing feedback to team members, I guarantee that you’re not going to like what you hear. Please make sure that you share your findings with the team members and teach them what to do differently. Give them the opportunity to make the necessary changes. Be sure they have the tools necessary to deliver an exceptional experience to everyone they speak to. Always end communication moments on a positive note by being sure that you’re providing HOPE no matter what. Sometimes you can’t do exactly what the prospect and client want, but you can provide HOPE!
Firm First – Are you a firm first team player? Are you giving your full attention? Are you paying very close attention to all the communication moments you have at work? The moments you have with other team members, leaders, clients, prospects. Are you REALLY focused on those moments and listening? If so, then, you’re a Firm First Team Player. Those that are Firm First do what’s right not just for the firm but also for the client and prospect which is good for the firm. Team members that are not firm first are focused on how much time left before they go home, they get irritated at the clients and prospects quickly and they think that they have POWER over the clients and prospects. They have a misconception of the POWER that they feel they have over the clients, prospects, and team members. They abuse it. Abuse of power effects performance. Once a person gets the authority, he/she automatically gets the power and can use that to positively help the prospects and clients or to be more controlling in a way of… “you do what I say because if you don’t, we won’t help you at all”, for example. This really does happen. Just listen to your phone calls. One of the reasons this happens is because team members currently have an unreasonable number of caseloads and high volume of prospect calls. Also, there’s no proven system in place for “attracting, hiring and retaining team members” therefore most law firms aren’t properly staffed. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before some team members just walk out because they can’t handle the pressure anymore. I will tell you that I believe very strongly with my 25 years of experience that it’s not as much that the team is getting burned out because of the volume of cases and phone calls they handle its more because they FEEL underappreciated. They feel that the leaders don’t respect them. That they don’t support them. That they don’t care about them or their families. If your team members felt that at the very least, you cared deeply for them each and showed them each day with strong communication and really understanding them as individuals they would follow you into any battle! Guaranteed!!
I recently heard a paralegal demonstrate how he/she feels about the client at least in one example given. The way in which this paralegal was speaking to the client that was upset for not hearing from anyone for months was that basically, “I called you 2 weeks ago” didn’t you get my message? No. “You owed me discovery responses I gave you the time to get me the information do you, have it?” No. “I gave you time to send it I can’t help you further until you answer the discovery.”
This paralegal is more focused on “getting tasks done in his/her mind quickly” and moving on to the next call. One of the reasons I know this is because the paralegal shared that his/her goal is to get a call done in 10 ½ minutes and if he/she doesn’t they said they’re doing something is wrong. I think having a personal goal for everyone that communicates with prospects and clients on how long you’re on the phone is a great idea, but it should be approved by the manager to be sure we have the best interests of the prospect/client in mind. I don’t know if 10 ½ minutes is realistic, but with this paralegal it also told me that he/she is again more interested in getting the calls done while compromising the quality of the experience. I understand that in many law firms team members are handling hundreds of cases, however, each case that you’re in the middle of handling must be done with kid gloves, empathy and relationship building skills to help the client trust you and therefore do what you want them to do. Yes, sometimes you have to be more direct during your conversation with the client when you’re trying to get them to do what you want them to do, but still if as the paralegal in this example you’re real focus is just moving on sticking to your “time goal” of how long you’ll stay on the phone with a particular client you’re going to lose focus of the concept of the law firms goal which is a 5 Star Customer Service Google review. Then, when this client said I can talk now about the discovery stuff the paralegal said, “you caught me at a bad time I have a meeting.” Then, when the client got upset that the paralegal couldn’t take the time the paralegal said, “is there something else I can help you with Mr. X?” In addition, when I talked to the paralegal about this client phone call, he/she said, “this is the kind of call (client) that I would flag for disengagement after a phone call like that.” The client was very upset during the call with the paralegal, frustrated with the law firm and lack of, from the client’s point of view communication. Everyone’s communication should be top shelf regardless of the message that has to be given. I have two questions for all law firm owners and managing partners. Why did you decide to become a lawyer? Why did you decide to start your own firm? Please email: phonesuccessdoctor@gmail.com your answer. I’d love to hear from you. Even if you decide to not email your answer, I challenge you to answer these questions for yourself. Dig down deep to recall the reasons and ask yourself how you feel today? Chris Mullins, The Phone Sales Doctor. 603-249-5878.
