Client Expectations

Yesterday’s Myths, Today’s Needs

/ Bruce Cameron / 3 Comments

We must not be hampered by yesterday’s myths in concentrating on today’s needs — Harold Geneen

There are a number of reasons not to embark on a rural law career – the daily Starbucks run is going to take a good hour (and then there is the wait in the store), your typical small town is not, generally, one of those places of rarefied refinement and culture attractive to the movers and shakers of the business world, so it’s not ideal for a lucrative mergers and acquisitions practice. However, there are a few common misconceptions that should be put to rest.

1. There is not enough work out there

It may not be raining soup, but there is work out there. The rural bar is small (only 20% of practicing lawyers practice in towns with populations of 50,000 or less), aging, and getting smaller as rural lawyers retire. Yet the need for legal services remains constant, so the result is that access to legal services is reduced and small town folks end up having to either travel to find legal representation or do with out. The secret is: people in small towns prefer to spend money locally – create a favorable environment (affordable services, a reputation for competence) and the work will come.

2. I can’t afford to work at a lower rate Continue reading →

Hey, I Knows Dis Guy See

/ Bruce Cameron

The other day I found myself visiting a business networking group and thinking about the meaning of referrals. For those of you who are not familiar with this particular marketing beast, networking groups are social gatherings in which business people meet, practice their elevator speeches on each other, and (hopefully) pass on a referral or two. These groups can range from (in my sister’s oh so appropriate words) “micro-managed, by-law abiding exercises in pedaling in place” to useful opportunities to build one’s referral network.

The $64,000 question that comes with every referral comes down to “can I vouch for this person?”A referral says that I trust this person, that I know this person is competent. Since my referrals are going to reflect on me – the rural grapevine will be quick to remind you of the time the plumber you referred Joe Bob to caused Joe Bob’s drains to all run backwards – I want to have a track record with my referrals; these are people who pass the “mom test” – someone so reliable, competent and trustworthy I’d have no trouble recommending them to my mother.

Sure there are non-referral referrals – you know the ones where a client asks “do you know someone who…” and you hand them 3 or 4 names of “guys who might be able to help” in an effort more to promote good will with your client than to actually foster a business relationship. The non-referral referral lacks the implied warranty of an actual referral, is much more polite than a curt “can’t help, go away”, and seems the reason d’être for these business networking groups – a 60 second elevator speech, even if given on a weekly schedule, is not a foundation for a true referral.

That Look

/ Bruce Cameron

We are given senses to receive our information within. With our own eyes we see, and with our own skin we feel. With our intelligence, it is intended that we understand. But each person must puzzle it out for himself or herself. – Sophy Burnham

It has taken me some time to understand what that look means. It is but fleeting a fleeting thing for the potential business client – they have been down this path before and come in with a sense that, once again, all is not quite right in their world. But for the potential private client, the one who through no fault of their own finds themselves sitting across the table from a lawyer, it comes in that moment when they start to realize that perhaps, just perhaps, this simple little issue is not quite so simple after all.

I have come to realize that look heralds the moment when I must switch roles, to move from attorney/advocate – gatekeeper to the arcane mysteries of the law to attorney/counselor – to provide plans, action item, expectations (mine and theirs) – to provide perspective, showing the forest and its paths rather than simply examining this solitary tree  – to move them from the mindset that solutions can be found outside of the  binary decision: litigation or nothing.

My results are a mixed bag – sometimes potential clients become clients, sometimes there are those occasions where I’ve fail to assuage the needs underlying that look and the client moves on slightly more confused and disheartened , or the rare occasion when the client actually listens, takes my advice and is able to come to a satisfactory resolution through a few small self-help steps – I get a “won’t need you, it worked just like you said it would, I’m going to tell everybody I know” call (which is great, but doesn’t pay the bills) that puts a few more credits in the bank of karma.

Cant

/ Bruce Cameron

Language is the source of misunderstandings. – Antoine De Saint-Exupery

My accountant was quite pleased – I know this because he was smiling. I was pleased because my year-end balances were significantly better that last years – I knew this because of the numbers at the bottom of the page were (a) different and, more importantly (b) this year’s was bigger than last year’s. There was only one problem, my accountant had just concluded 5 minutes of conversation with a question and I had no idea what on earth he had said. My accountant took a few more stabs at getting the answer from me, but unfortunately, my accountant-english to lawyer-english translator was simply not up to the task and I was forced to ask him to explain what he was asking about in simple terms – like he would explain things to his 5 year old.

I walked away from my brief encounter with a new appreciation for the Cants one encounters and the difficulties two people can have when communicating in what is supposed to be simple English.

As a lawyer I’ve invested a significant amount of resources into learning to think and speak like an attorney – I’ve learn the Cant of my profession and find a certain joy in the way the latin phrases and polysyllabic nonsense words come tripping to the tongue – and have spent many hours boring my parrot in the hopes of getting her to repeat res ipsa loquitur, aequitas sequitur legem, or perhaps Pro hac vice, but I digress. The thing is, Cant is a double edged sword – between lawyers it is a powerful tool allowing for a form of precise communication and a clarity of meaning – between lawyers and non-lawyers it can lead to blank stares.

So, I walked away from my meeting with my accountant with two things, good news about my practice and a reminder to leave Cant out of my conversations.