Have you ever been to the Oscars when the winner says “I couldn’t have gotten here without….”
I pay close attention to employees in any business who are enthused about where they work. You can tell it when you walk in the door or call on the phone. They have a natural high that comes from enjoying where they work. This tells me alot about the business and the type of people who own it. To create this type of employee you have to create the right environment.
First and foremost, you have to have some type of vision of the firm and where it is going and how the firm members can play a part. You should be having regular monthly or quarterly meetings bring your firm up to date on where you are seeing the firm go. Your employees can’t follow you if you don’t know where you are going.
Train them in the ethical considerations on how to talk to people about the firm. They need to know the difference between soliciting cases and soliciting good impressions of themselves and the firm. Do they know how to let people know where they work, what a good job the firm does, and what type of cases it handles? I am constantly amazed when the attorneys tell me they never talk about where they work or what they do! Non-lawyers can be a huge source of first impressions for your firm.
The environment in your firm has to be one of team play. It means there is mutual respect among everyone, not just the select few. Do you introduce your staff to visitors to the firm. I can tell you introducing your file clerk to a judge has a huge impact not only on your employee but on the judge who sees this as a respectful ethical attorney who values relationships.
Do you provide business cards for your employees? Do not do this unless you are willing to train them on how to properly hand out. Allow your employees to put their favorite saying on the back of the card (preapproved of course). You will be amazed how many more they hand out if you do this.
Create a marketing board in the break room. Anytime a case comes in from a specific firm member put a star up with their name. Create a prize list for those who have the most stars each quarter. Make sure to reward even those with one. It doesn’t have to be money, it can be gift cards, gas cards, movie tickets, etc.
Be fair with your employees. There are lots of ways to reward employees for helping grow the firm and it may well not have to be a raise if times are tight. An extra two hours once a month is huge on a Friday. Everyone does understand we are in a tight economy right now and will hang with you if you are fair.
And the huge one is to have a client relationship marketing program that establishes a basis for exceptional client interaction between your firm members and the clients. You will reap the rewards almost immediately. This turns your clients into mini marketers as well.
There are many ways to excite firm members to be pro-active. Anyone who has a vested interest in your success will help you grow. They just need to know how.
Interested in designing a client relationship marketing program. Contact cjleone@lawfirmcoach.com to set up a time to discuss your needs. And if we can’t help you we will give you some good advice.!
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