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Betties Book Brief | How To Say Anything To Anyone

Back Office Betties Book Brief | How To Say Anything To AnyoneOur CEO & Founder, Emily, was the first to order How To Say Anything To Anyone by Shari Harley after a painful experience with a team member. This team member had been starting to feel pushed out of the organization due to being shuffled around. The truth of the matter was that she was difficult to work with. We were attempting to find the right position for her in order to keep her on board without continuing to ruffle the feathers of other team members. Unfortunately, the communication was not there and we lost her altogether. With this experience, it became apparent that our management team needed to learn how to say anything to anyone and avoid miscommunications and poor team leadership in the future. Alas, after Emily got partway through the book, multiple copies were ordered for the rest of the team!

If you’ve ever struggled to talk about hard things with a team member, you’re going to want to read this one.

How To Say Anything To Anyone Takeaways

  • In the absence of candor, people are left to make assumptions about what really happened. In the example of the team member above, we could have avoided many hard feelings by being upfront about the situation.
  • Staying quiet damages relationships. Speak up candidly and avoid writing someone off to avoid an issue; this usually leads to damaged relationships.
  • Being candid is not being negative. It is stating expectations, making the commitment to talk about things as they happen, and asking what others think of your performance. Candor in the workplace creates better relationships in which all parties can speak openly without concern.
  • People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. Asking for input & feedback from your team is one of the keys to having productive and satisfied employees.
  • There are two purposes for providing feedback: to change behavior or replicate it. Check your intentions before opening your mouth. Ask yourself if what you want to say is intended to replicate or change behavior. If neither, it is not valuable feedback and should not be said unless asked for your opinion.

Communication is Key

  • Establish expectations in anything new – a meeting, a relationship, a project. Having set expectations makes it easier to address frustrating behaviors when they happen. We recently asked our team to start turning their cameras on during meetings due to low engagement. It was clear that not everyone was at their desk, fully present during team meetings. When we implemented this new rule, there was a lot of grumbling because the expectation was not set from the get-go. If some ground rules had been set beforehand, we could have more easily addressed the issues as they came up.
  • Take time to ask people about their work style preferences. How do they like to communicate? Are they a morning or night person? Do they prefer setting appointments or dropping in for a chat? What are their pet peeves? How will you know when they are frustrated? All of these are important questions to ask and understand about the people you work with.
  • If you have a boss, take initiative to manage the relationship. Ask for feedback. Understand your boss’s communication preferences and expectations. Your job is to make your boss look good. If you do so, they are your conduit to more interesting work, pay raises, and advancement.
  • Check-in regularly on your relationships. What’s working or not working? What are their challenges? How can you make each other’s lives easier?

Questions to Ask Your Team

  1. What are three things that will keep you with the organization?
  2. What’s one thing that would make you leave?
  3. What do you enjoy doing the most?
  4. Are there any skills you would like to develop?
  5. What is something you want to do that you have never had a chance to?
  6. What do you enjoy doing the most?
  7. How do you like to receive recognition publicly or privately?
  8. What would you like to be doing in one year? 3 years?
  9. Why did you accept this job? What are you hoping it will provide?
  10. What are your concerns?
  11. How will I know when you’re frustrated and need support?
  12. What do you want to know about me?
  13. What do you want me to know about you?

The Formula For Providing Feedback

  1. Introduce the conversation by asking for a few minutes to talk.
  2. State your motive.
  3. Describe the observed behavior.
  4. Share the impact or result of the behavior.
  5. Have some dialogue, and ask the recipient for his perception of the situation.
  6. Make a suggestion a request for what you’d like the person to do next time.
  7. Build an agreement on next steps.
  8. Say thank you.

Telling Someone They Stink

“John this is a little awkward and it may be uncomfortable. Though I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, I’m doing it because I care about you and I want you to be successful. I have noticed that you have an odor. I know this is a very awkward subject. We work in a small space and I don’t want others to avoid working with you or say anything negative. And as awkward as this is, I would rather you hear from me than from someone else. What are your thoughts?”
Recap his suggestion for behavior change or make a suggestion.
“John, thank you for being willing to have this conversation with me.”
All in all, this book is a total lifesaver for those who tend to be more passive in communication. Our team has already benefitted from what we’ve learned, and we plan to keep utilizing these tips indefinitely. Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

The Right Way to Answer Your Law Firm’s Phone

The Right Way to Answer Your Law Firm's Phone | Back Office Betties

Are you still answering your law firm’s phone with, “Law Office”? If so, we are begging you to stop! Seriously, we’re on our hands and knees over here.

Aside from not answering at all, answering your law firm’s phone with “Law Office” is one of the most common mistakes we see in law firm call handling.

Why? You’re allowing yourself to be forgotten.

Don’t feel too bad—you aren’t alone. As your potential clients are calling through a list of firms, at least 25% of them will answer their law firm’s phones the exact same way.

Unfortunately, this can lead to confusion and your potential client forgetting who they just spoke with. You don’t want to be forgotten about in a sea of law firms, right?

Now that we’re clear about what not to do, let’s talk about why it matters, and how to answer your law firm’s phone in a better way.

Establish a relationship right away

Trust and mutual respect is an important part of the attorney/client relationship.

Whether you realize it or not, that relationship starts as soon as you pick up your law firm’s phone. First impressions matter—and that first phone call is your chance to give a killer first impression. Don’t blow it with poor customer service, answering your law firm’s phone with a generic greeting, or missing the call altogether.

Start your attorney/client relationship off on the right foot by answering your law firm’s phone with a friendly greeting and announcing the name of your firm. Your potential client immediately knows they reached who they intended to and the call starts off positively. It also helps to mention your own name so your potential clients know who they spoke with, should they need to reference it later.

Small talk is okay, but try to get straight to the point of what your caller’s needs are. Be friendly and upbeat while keeping them focused on their needs so you can understand exactly what they need help with. This avoids wasting your time and gets the potential client the help they need sooner rather than later.

Collect your law firm’s callers’ contact information

Nearly nine times out of ten, law firms fail to collect full contact information from their callers. This is alarming; those callers are your leads! Leads turn into clients—don’t let them walk away.

Every time you hang up your law firm’s phone without collecting contact information, you’re throwing money out the window. You are now at the will of your callers and can’t follow up with them to sell your legal services.

Not to mention, if they do call back, you have no record of what happened during that initial call. Did they explain their case? Ask a question about pricing? Neglecting to record that information can result in your law firm looking unprofessional and disorganized—it can even frustrate your caller because they are now repeating themselves. Making this mistake has great power to turn potential clients off of your firm.

Instead of leaving your business to chance, set up an intake process that you go through for every caller. The information you collect will differ depending on the type of call, but it’s important to set up a process for every call your law firm receives.

Documenting this process ensures that anyone who answers your law firm’s phone will understand their responsibility.

Ensure your law firm’s phone is always answered

74% of potential clients contact law firms by phone, but more than one-third of those calls go unanswered. Partner that with the statistic that 80% of callers who reach voicemail will not leave a message, as well as the fact that potential clients wait 3 business days on average for a response, and you’ve got lost business adding up!

The best way to capture all the business that comes your way is to always answer your law firm’s phone. We understand that this isn’t possible for a busy solo attorney managing their own phones (court, client appointments, and consultations add up!). However, those reasons exemplify the necessity of dedicating someone else to your answer your law firm’s phone.

Interruptions and cost/benefit aside, outsourcing your law firm’s phone management is pertinent to capturing every call and converting more of those callers into clients when you’re too busy to answer.

Hiring an in-house receptionist is expensive, and bouncing calls between attorneys eats up valuable time that could be spent on cases. Instead, consider hiring an answering service to provide your callers with a better experience and gather all of the information you need from each potential client.

BONUS: A few of our favorite law firm phone greetings

If you need some inspiration on ways to cheerfully introduce your law firm on the phone, we’ve got you covered! Check out some of the below examples of great greetings when answering the phone.

  • “Good (Morning/Afternoon), thank you for calling (Law Firm Name). How may I direct your call?”
  • “Hello, you’ve reached (Law Firm Name). How can we help you today?”
  • “Thank you for calling (Law Firm Name). My name is _____, how may I help you?”
  • “Happy (Day of the Week)! You’ve reached (Law Firm Name). Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”
  • “Thank you for calling (Law Firm Name). Are you calling with a new legal matter we can help you with?”

 

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Take Your Small Law Firm to the Next Level

Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level

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Our newsletter shares expert advice & practical articles to elevate your law firm’s success.