Kudos to a Lawyer! Really It’s True!
A couple of months ago my parents were in need of a lawyer to get some estate planning done. To understand the implication of this you need to understand that my father has had a couple of bad experiences with being over charged by lawyers and being treated like a second class citizen in the process. He has issues with being charged 25 cents for paper clips when the advice was worth less than that.
With the stage set you can understand why my heart sank into my stomach when he phoned me for a referral to a lawyer. I was left little wiggle room and agreed to ask an accountant I knew for a referral to a lawyer who could do estate planning work. I passed on the name and contact information for the lawyer and left it at that.
Two weeks later I had a call from my Dad on a Saturday morning to inform me that they had met with the lawyer I had referred him to and that the initial meeting had gone as well as could be expected. In fact, he actually passed some comment that used the words refreshing, professionalism and integrity in the same sentence.
Here is where my curiosity about process got the better of me. I knew I could be opening a can of worms but I could not help myself. I asked what process the lawyer had followed to create such a favorable impression. I was amazed. This lawyer had taken a page right out of my play book. Her assistant had confirmed the initial appointment and had emailed directions to the office along with a list of what to bring two days before the appointment. During the appointment the lawyer had used an agenda and spent the first 5 minutes talking about her background, the small firm she worked with and why she worked with them instead of a bigger firm. She then spent the rest of the 45 minutes they had together discussing my parent’s needs. The meeting ended with the lawyer outlining the next course of action, summarizing everything that had been discussed and setting the next appointment. My father was impressed to the point of wondering if his good fortune in finding an honest, trustworthy lawyer was a stroke of good luck or if something was about to go wrong.
Not fully trusting the process he was going through, Dad requested a copy of all the documents that were being created so he could review them before the second meeting. He was respectfully told by the lawyer that she would not do that because that was not her process. She said instead her process was to personally review each document in the next appointment to ensure their complete understanding and that the solution she had created was exactly what they were looking for. Immediately the respect she had earned sky rocketed.
The second appointment was once again confirmed two days ahead of time and agenda was used to ensure everyone stayed on track. All the details were finalized and the presentation of the customized estate plan went off without a hitch. My parents, the clients, walked out of that lawyer’s office with a big smile on their face and a huge weight off their shoulders knowing their estate plan is in tip top shape.
What we have here is a classic case of a process achieving an extraordinary result. In the final assessment the process the lawyer followed was designed to have the clients as the focus. This was a point of difference. At no point did she give the impression that she was more important, self important or condescending. She in fact made the same amount of money and turned someone with a negative outlook on lawyers into a raving fan who has probably already told everyone he knows about her and how she is the best. In hearing all this goodwill, I did my part as well and followed up with my accountant friend to let him know that he had a winner lawyer to refer people to. So the lawyer wins four times. She gets paid and she gets three advocates signing her praises.
Kudos where they are due!
Posted by Tom Frisby, Business Coach, BC