It is a simple fact of life that humans like to reciprocate. When someone gives you something for free, the natural instinct is to return the favor. This morning, I went to my local tailor/dry cleaner to get a pair of shorts repaired. The hem needed to be resewn and it wasn’t a big job (in fact in only took 2 minutes). When I first walked into the shop, the owner must have been downstairs because no one was behind the counter. I waited a minute or two and then walked out to do a few more chores. I briefly considered going into another shop around the corner, but I have always liked this dry cleaner and I prefer to do business with them.
When I returned, the shopkeeper took the shorts, fixed the hem, and quickly announced “no charge”. I asked 3 times “are you sure?” But the shopkeeper insisted that it was okay. While I am not a big user of dry cleaners or tailoring services (like most of us, I haven’t worn business attire in a very long time), I will surely be returning to this shop the next time I have sewing or dry cleaning. Through a small, simple act of generosity, the shopkeeper
If you want to grow your law practice, having a good strategy is important. Figuring out who are your ideal clients and what are the ideal matters you want to work on is an important first step in building a marketing plan. Creating a niche practice area is an important way to ensure that you have differentiated yourself from the competition. Mapping out who are your key referral sources and how you can build relationships with these referral sources is essential. The process of coming up with a marketing plan is anything but mindless. A scattershot approach that lacks focus is far less likely to be effective.
I was recently a guest on Alay Yanjnik’s Lawyer Business Advantage Podcast. Like me, Alay is an experienced attorney coach and an active member of the ProVisors business network. We spoke about business development for lawyers, the importance of developing a niche, some of the career related coaching that I do and a number of other related
Since the start of the year, we’ve learned a lot from COVID-19 about how disease spreads. While it is hard to see beyond the toll that the pandemic is taking on our health and on our economy, I’ve been looking for the silver linings and the lessons we can learn. In the future, I’ll look back nostalgically on this time and remember the months I was able to have dinners with my three adult children who are all living with us.
I recently presented a Webinar at The Boston Bar Association: Building Business Relationships in a Time of Social Distancing. I now have a transcript of my remarks