Posts tagged - negotiation

Treat your clients’ money as if it were your own

Posted on: November 05, 2015, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So my firm has a unique culture, as do all businesses. But the difference at my firm is that we have captured the essence of our firm in 21 fundamentals we call The JW Way (http://www.jaburgwilk.com/mission-statement). These are the foundation of our business and inform how we operate from how we deal with clients to who we hire, whether attorneys or staff.

Today I am focusing on one fundamental: Treat clients’ money as if it were your own. Yes, I know this makes sense, but doing it is not always the obvious choice. The easiest example of this in my world involves litigation. A partner of mine is known to say: We can ride to court in a Honda or a Cadillac. In some situations a client may only be able to afford the Honda. Of course this means having difficult conversation at the front end to determine what your client or customer can afford and how that relates to what they want to do.

If that is the case, you then have to figure out whether it is possible to provide outstanding legal advice and service that will meet your client’s expectations going to court in the Honda. If not, or if a potential client is looking for a luxury ride they cannot afford, the best thing I can do is decline the representation because odds are I cannot realistically meet their expectations.

For me, when a client is on a litigation budget, that means thinking about overall costs for a representation and what can be done to try and work within a given client’s budget or financial limitations. For example, it could mean taking a close look at larger litigation expenses such as depositions and only taking some, but not all possible, depositions. Or, on smaller expenses it may mean sending a demand by snail mail and email, but not having it hand delivered or served.

I am sure there are ways in your business to shave both smaller and larger amounts from what you are doing for your clients or customers on a specific deal or project. Or maybe it is looking at administrative expense and overhead in your business. Maybe there is a bigger picture change you can make that will result in savings you can pass on.

The fact is that by treating our clients’ money as if it were our own, as well as following the other fundamentals of The JW Way for a number of years, it has lead my firm to great overall business decisions and great hiring decisions regarding people who fit into our culture, as well great and continuing success. This in turn has resulted in my firm being able to meet and exceed the goals of our clients and avoid sending invoices that provide sticker shock; Your client doesn’t want the invoice for the Cadillac if you discussed the Honda.

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You must have substance because reputation matters in the long run

Posted on: September 28, 2015, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You might be able to baffle people with you know what initially, but it won’t last if you are all flash and no substance.  If you make a sale by saying the right things, but don’t have the employees or equipment to correctly and timely get the job done, it will be the last time you work for that customer, or anyone that customer tells of your failure. You likely will lose business you will never know you lost. That is how reputation works.

Substance comes a number of ways. It can be through experience, or learning, or building on past successes. But every step you take forward will be lost if you are all smoke and mirrors. The point is not to mislead people about what you can do or your experience.  You may get away with it once in a while, but it will hurt you in the long run.

And therefore you will hurt your reputation. Once your reputation is tarnished, it will follow you for a long time.

So respect yourself. Respect the hard work it takes to become a person of substance. If you do, you are heading in the right direction, and have or are building substance.

 

 

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Life is a Negotiation so be Prepared

Posted on: October 15, 2013, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As an attorney my life involves negotiation on a daily basis, professionally. But so does yours. You may negotiate with clients, customers, suppliers, co-workers, spouses or children. Is it for that big sale or to get your kid to do something? It doesn’t matter, prepare.

The preparation may just be thinking about the conversation. Or it may be strategizing with others or conducting role playing scenarios. There are many commentators out there who do a great job on writing about negotiation strategies and issues (For example, see Marty Latz’s (@MartyLatz) columns: http://www.negotiationinstitute.com/columns). Maybe your preparation can be researching his or other columns on the Internet. The point is do something; Think. It will help.

For me, professionally, negotiation can involve mediation, which is a more formal form of negotiation and usually is my client’s last opportunity to settle a dispute on terms agreeable to them before a judge or jury makes a decision that will impact their life or business in potentially unpredictable ways. That is a big deal. But so is the potential sale or going to the football game with your friends next Sunday.

One thing I always tell clients (and do when negotiating in my personal life) is to think about the person(s) you are negotiating with and the potential outcomes: your best case,  your worst case and what is an acceptable result (or range of results) to you. Know your audience because how you wrap the message is important.

I challenge you to try preparing for your next negotiation, whatever it is. And please let me know if you think your preparation helped or not (and if not, why).

If you want to talk about preparation for an important conversation or negotiation you plan to have, please feel free to call me (which is preparation too) because I may have a few ideas based on my experiences negotiating personally, professionally and as a mediator.

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Good Communication Must be Lucid, Cogent, Succinct, Interesting, Informative, and Convincing

Posted on: September 13, 2013, in: , , , , , , , , ,

Those are a lot of five star words I read in an interview answer United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy gave when asked what qualities he admires in the briefs presented to his court. I think what he said has broader application in our daily lives, both professional and personal. Whether you are writing, on the phone, meeting with someone or a group, giving presentation, etc. you need to think about your audience and the result you are seeking.

It takes work to be clear, logical, and short (my three star understandable translation of Justice Kennedy’s words), let alone interesting, informative and convincing. This does not mean practice and plan every communication because thinking on your feet is another important skill to have and some communications need to and are meant to be spontaneous. It means know your audience and the context of your communication.

For example, if you are negotiating anything (we all negotiate in all aspects of our lives daily! You do….think about it), and here I am specifically thinking in our business or professional roles, do you have a strategy going in? If you don’t, you likely will not get to the result you seek or accept a result that would have been unacceptable to you going in. How you prepare is up to you and should be based on the context and type of communication. Negotiating a lower price for a curio on vacation is different than negotiating a business contract is different than negotiating settlement of a lawsuit.

In my world this mostly means dealing with clients, other attorneys and courts. What it means to you is relative to where you sit. And, again, the context of the communication. And it includes tweets and Facebook posts for business related accounts, and most certainly texts and email.

It goes back to something many of us have heard our entire lives: think before you speak (or in this case, before you write/type/tweet…or maybe blog).

If you have any thoughts or want to add to this conversation, please feel free to email me, text me, tweet me, message me on LinkedIn, comment here, call me or stop me in the hall!

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