Growing Your Solo Practice in a Down Market

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Brett Trout agreed to provide me with a guest post a couple of weeks ago and what a post it is. If you don’t know Brett you should. He publishes an outstanding blog called BlawgIT. Plus he has written a great book called Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business. Brett is also on the faculty at Solo Practice University. If you are not subscribed to Brett’s blog, you should be.

Do not let accounts receivable get out of hand

Regardless of market conditions, nothing affects your bottom line more than keeping your accounts receivable in check. As market conditions deteriorate however, even rock solid clients may be forced to choose who gets paid this month. If it is not you this month, and you keep providing service as usual, who is it not going to be next month?  Review your engagement letter. If it does not clearly state that you will stop providing services on invoices left unpaid for thirty (30) days, revise it and make sure it does.   Remember, once accounts go over 90 days, the chance of ever collecting is about the same as the Dallas Cowboys finally calling me up to start at quarterback.

Fire Bad Clients

Solo practitioners, especially new solo practitioners, have a tendency to want to take every client who walks in the door. Over time, solo practitioners earn some savvy as to which clients are good and which will be nothing but headaches. Regardless of how good an attorney might be at sizing up new clients, bad eggs inevitably slip through. Even though these bad clients may make up only 10% of your clientele, they tend to create 90% of your headaches.  As difficult as it may be to fire any client, getting rid of this bottom 10% will open up more time to cater to other the 90% of your clients, and significantly increase your satisfaction with your practice.

Develop a personal relationship with your existing clients

Large law firms may tens of thousands of dollars every year attracting large clients, only to pull the old bait and switch once they are in the door.  With larger firms laying off lawyers right and left, clients tired of being shuffled around like office furniture are reviewing their options. These clients are looking for the personal service they received when they first signed on, an attorney who treats them as an individual, rather than as a commodity. As a solo practitioner, you are uniquely positioned to maintain that personal relationship with every client. Use this to your advantage; never take any client for granted. You can never go wrong treating your existing clients like you treat potential clients.

Invest in your personal brand

As a solo practitioner, your name is your brand.  Old-school clients located your brand using the Yellow pages; new-school clients locate your brand online. Search Google for your state and your expertise. If you are a patent attorney in Iowa and do not show up on the first page of Google search results for “Iowa Patent Attorney,” you might as well be invisible. Using blogs, social networking and website search engine optimization (SEO) does not cost a lot of money, but it does take some time. Leverage these tools to increase your transparency and your
findability. While referrals are still the best type of clients, clients who find you over the web are far preferable to those who found you letting their fingers do the walking.

Develop a full-service virtual law firm

Many solo practitioners tout their practice as a full-service firm.  If this is you, you risk being a Jack (or Jill) of all trades and master of none. Specialize, specialize, specialize. Specialization may initially mean fewer clients, but sticking to a specialty eventually translates into a higher hourly rate and happier clients. What about the work outside your specialty? Unlike large law firms which require attorneys to refer clients to the in-house “specialist,” you have the luxury of referring clients to a true specialist.  Adroit use of social networks , podcasts, blogs and other online tools can help you develop a list of the best attorneys in each specialty. Unlike large law firms, your virtual firm has the benefit of including every specialty your client could ever need.  Another benefit is that you can add and subtract “partners” based upon their performance and client satisfaction, rather than upon the degrees of consanguinity they may have with the managing partner.

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