Selling Common Sense

I speak about this a lot, so please forgive me if you've heard all this before. In my defence, if more businesses would do what they say is obvious, then I'd stop going on about it so much.

I'm talking about common sense.

Most of what I do is just common sense. Working with people in a corporate environment is common sense; developing a strategy is mostly common sense; running a business - common sense.

I sat in a meeting last week with a partner in a law firm. I won't give any more details except to say that it was a fair sized business. This partner had been given my contact details by a friend at another firm where I had helped to mediate peace in a partner fight a few years ago. My new potential client was having problems with some of his fee-earning team leaders and with the marketing department. I sat with him for an hour and asked a number of questions in order to understand the problem a bit more. After about 50 minutes he was clearly bored and finally snapped saying "There's no point in going on an on about what the problem is! What should we do about it?"

I sighed rather deeply and started to outline a project to get into the firm and to start talking to everyone concerned - to understand what the problem with the fee-earners is (no-one in a law firm does anything to get in the way of increasing revenues without a good reason) and to see if we couldn't get the marketing guys either working more effectively or demonstrating that they were working well (and probably both).

My client sat back after a few minutes and said "Is that it? Is that all you do for the money? Anyone could do that!"

I explained - politely and patiently I hope - that, yes almost anyone could do it, but for whatever reason, no-one in this firm was doing any of it. I was, as usual, trying to sell a doubtful client common sense.

General management is mostly common sense. Treat staff and colleagues well; look after the important numbers; report quickly and in plain English; treat everyone well. It's not rocket science.

Yes of course - when developing a strategy (whether for the whole business or a marketing strategy) or when starting a new enterprise - a flash of genius is a great thing. But actually getting the business involves common sense and hard work - and not much more.

I didn't manage to persuade my client that he needed external support to solve his firm's problems ("If it's that easy we'll do it ourselves") - but I'll give him a ring in a few months and see how he's getting on.



----
I'm sometimes asked (by the few people who read this blog regularly) whether I'm exaggerating the characters I write about. Honestly - I think I usually dial them down a bit when I write about then to make them at least a little believable!

A Silver Bullet

It's odd how things work. My clients seem to come in batches. Recently I've had a run of non-lawyers  mostly out of the UK. Suddenly - in the last two weeks or so - I've had a good few calls from barristers in London. So it looks as if I might not be travelling so much.

Speaking again with London barristers, I'm reminded that many of them - and the criminal bar in particular - seem to be looking for silver bullets. That one thing they can do (ideally without much effort and no investment) that will drive more business their way.

Sadly there isn't one.

Driving work into chambers is the work of many months and a lot of people. Importantly the barristers themselves must be part of that effort and for many chambers that is where the trouble starts. What I think of as traditional chambers tend to have two types of people - those who think they get all their own work while the clerks either skive off and have long lunches (something that in my experience almost never happens any more - I certainly find it very difficult to tempt them out!), or those that think the clerks should be able to fill their diaries so that the barristers don't have to dirty their hands too much with client work.

I'm exaggerating of course - but the principle is there.

My point is that more turnover is the result of a lot of work from clerks and barristers working together. Having a strategic plan; having an operational plan; marketing; PR; raising awareness; and sales. Most important is client care - after all, we should all go to quite a lot of effort to keep those clients we have worked so hard to get!

So - if the silver bullet exists at all, it is client care. Sorry - I know that we all wish it was different but, as I keep saying to my clients, "It's terribly simple. Difficult to do - but simple in concept".

I wish it was more difficult - I'm sure I could dress it up and sell it for twice the price!

Pride

I own and use a Tilley hat. I've had one for many years and the current model has been around the world with me and has suffered through long hikes along the Great Wall of China as well as sea kayaking in the Channel.

Ten years of hard work have taken their toll, however, and with a tear in the fabric I have had to admit that it was time to retire my hat and buy a new one. In celebration, I posted a picture of my hat on Twitter.

Within minutes I had a reply from Tilley themselves. They offer a lifetime guarantee on the hats that they make and pointed me to their website with details. I pointed out that I had used the hat rather hard for a decade or more - and they cheerfully stood by their lifetime guarantee.

Now there is a company that is proud of what they produce and is happy to put their money where their mouth is. I'm sure that the cost of the replacements they offer is vastly outweighed by the good will and good PR that they generate - and I'm equally sure that this is not the reason they do it. Quite simply they are proud of what they make and are happy to say so.

How many lawyers have that sort of faith in what they do? Some - I'm sure. But what guarantee do you offer?

I'm often asked to discount my rates (this is connected to the section above, honestly. Stick with it). I hate discounting (unless you are a charity) - it makes me feel undervalued and it's often a very bad way to start a business relationship. Nowadays I make a counter offer. I will do the work at the quoted rate - if you're not happy with the quality of what I do, don't pay it*.

I am proud of what I do and am happy to stand by the quality of my work.

What offer will you make..?



* So far, I'm glad to say, I've not had a penny taken off an invoice

Being Nice

The law is a cut-throat business - well that's the impression that we all get. One that many lawyers are keen to promote. My time running a large law firm confirmed the rather macho culture - late nights and rushes to deadlines.

It doesn't have to be this way. Many late nights as a project rushes towards completion could be saved by rather longer days spent at the beginning. Of course, that's not quite so exciting. Where's the tension in saying to your team, "Well everything is in hand for tomorrow and it's almost 7pm - so let's call it a night so that we can be fresh for tomorrow"?

If you want to run your life like that then I have no problem. Barristers in particular are (usually) masters of being self employed and so are quite happy to go out for a drink at 4:30pm - or to the theatre - before returning to chambers to finish off their work.

There are, however, two problems with the last-minute approach. The first comes if you have a team. Your preference will have a huge impact on the lives of your team - so please try to think about that if a deadline is looming.

The other problem is much more serious. Last-minute-ism can drive a macho culture in which bullying comes to the fore. I have heard - far too often - phrases similar to "We're behind schedule so just get the @*%king work done!" and "Oh I'm far too busy to worry about upsetting the clerks".

That's an appalling way to work. There is always time to think about other people and to ask rather than demand - and to thank people for the work. The "work" involved in treating people well is repaid many times over. Your juniors and staff will happily work for you in a much more effective way and the office, or chambers, will be a more pleasant place to be - which in turn tends to lead to more efficiency.

So - never mind that it's the right thing to do. Be nicer to people - it's better for you in the long term.