Free Ride: What Are You Trying to Accomplish with Your Initial Consultations?

Law firms often offer initial consultations, because that’s what law firms do.  But, thinking a little more deeply about the purpose for your initial consultations makes some sense. 

 

There is still a lot of debate in legal over whether you should be offering free or paid consultations.  And, it’s a legitimate question.  But, it’s also a question that depends on your purpose for providing consultations in the first place. 



If you want your consultations to be a separate, additional revenue stream -- then, of course, you charge as much as you can, without much regard for conversion.  If you want to get access to as many potential clients as you can, and are just seeking a way to vet them more effectively – then, yes: you probably reduce your charges, and take more calls.  Or, set up free consultations.  Many startup law firms, for example, will not charge for consults, in part, because new attorneys want to talk to as many people as possible, to build their networks, and their email lists. 

 

So, if you’re not sure about what to do with initial consultations, and you’re afraid that you might be wasting your time, consider what you ultimately want out of those conversations. 

 

Then, create your system around your end goals. 

 

. . .

Through a unique partnership between the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar and Jared Correia’s Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, Maine attorneys have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discounted rate. 

To get started, visit Red Cave’s landing page for Maine attorneys, and start running your law practice like a business.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Nice and Naughty List: How to Pick New Software

Image
Selecting new law firm software can be a daunting prospect .  There are so many options, that attorneys are often waylaid by a paralysis of analysis, and then don’t end up making any positive changes at all .  This is why a lot of law firms end up relying on old and obsolete technologies, rather than updating to modern tools .  Once again, inertia becomes the single worst enemy of law firms.   But, when lawyers do end up selecting specific softwares , they often do so in a hasty manner, just to ensure the painful process end s quickly .  In that case, the selected software is often not a good fit for the law firm, so that attorneys and staff end up wasting time building inefficient workarounds, that dress up the problem, and make the software just a little more palatable for the law firm ’ s use case.     Neither option is particularly compelling.     And, the truth of the matter is that the process of selecti ng the right software for a law firm is not an easy one , and it takes
Read more

Buried Treasure: What Software Features Are You Missing?

Image
What’s been great lately, is that lawyers are increasing their reliance on technology .  That means that law firms are adding efficiency, and revenue.     This is fantastic , absolutely .  But, there’s still more work to do.     That’s because lawyers may be overpaying for technolog y; and, it’s largely because they’re buying new stuff without looking harder at what they already have.   In fact , there are lots of instances where attorneys will purchase a new product without assessing whether they have that tool already included as a feature in another technology platform .  This often happens with productivity software and law practice management software .  The former can include tools like video conferencing and internal chat as product features (meaning you don’t have to pay any more money to use them); and, the latter can include tools like e signature and epayment as product features .  In some cases, and depending on a user’s subscription level, there may limitatio
Read more

Arrested Development: What Do Modern Law Firm Associates Want, Anyway?

Image
There’s a lot in flux around the legal industry of late .  Work roles, places and preferences seem to be changing constantly .  Yet, law firms continue to require associates to move business forward.     Managing partners often think, in these instances, about what the law firm needs .  But, even if in an employer’s market, it pays to consider what your associates ( and potential associates ) actually do want – especially if you want those associates to stick around for a while, along with all the capital you’ve invested in them.   One of the major challenges of hiring is that those doing the hiring are often a generation (or more) removed from those they are hiring .  There’s lots of barriers there to begin with; and , most of those hiring partners are not going to take the time to learn more about candidate preferences.     So, let’s do a quick crash course on what millennial ( and younger ) employees want out of an associate position:     Flexibility. Especially with the m
Read more