Starting a Law Firm | Book Review | Office Space

As the title of the post implies, I have two things I want to talk about today with regard to starting a law firm. The first is a review of a book I've been reading. The second is about office space. Here we go.

Starting a Law Firm: Selling the Invisible Review

One of the things I love about owning a law firm is that every day I am making several decisions. About half of them deal with clients and their cases, and the other half deal with creating and maintaining a successful business. I really like both aspects of law firm owner role.

Unless you are trying to sell a service or have thought about how to sell a service, though, you have no idea how hard that can be. What you are selling can't be seen like a car, it can't be heard like an Ipod, it can be smelled or tasted like food, it can't be touched like furniture, and when the service is complete, if it's done right, your client or customer will probably feel like what you did was a fairly easy task. Think about how hard it is to put a value on something like that.

The book I am reading right now helps to put all of that into perspective, and gives practical advice to make your business grow. It's called Selling the Invisible, by Harry Beckwith. It's a compilation of a bunch of short, to the point, anecdotes on what works and doesn't work when promoting and selling a service based business.

For example, one hurdle we all face is the case when we are hired and it is resolved very quickly. Sometimes it is because of sheer luck, but most of the time it is because a fatal flaw in the case was recognized, pointed out, and the case is dismissed. When this happens, clients feel two things: first, they feel great that their case was dismissed; and second, they feel like they got ripped off because they paid you a lot of money for what seems like little actual "work." Beckwith helps explain the situation with two quotes:

A man was suffering a persistent problem with his house. The floor squeaked. No matter what he tried, nothing worked. Finally, he called a carpenter who friends said was a true craftsman.

The craftsman walked into the room and heard the squeak. He set down his toolbox, pulled out a hammer and nail, and pounded the nail into the floor with three blows.

The squeak was gone forever. The carpenter pulled out an invoice slip, on which he wrote the total of $45. Above the total were two line items:

Hammering, $2.

Knowing where to hammer, $43.

And this one, which is also a great illustration.

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk cafe. Not so thrilled that she could not be slightly presumptuous, the woman asked Picaso if he might sketch her, and charge accordingly.

Picasso obliged. In just minutes, there she was: an original Picasso.

"And what do I owe you?" she asked.

"Five thousand francs," he answered.

"But it only took you three minutes," she politely reminded him.

"No," Picasso said. "It took me all my life."

These are the kinds of lessons strewn throughout this book. Great lessons on thinking about how to position yourself to be different from all the other law firms out there by simply explaining your strengths in ways that resonate with potential customers. Read this book. Buy this book. It will change the way you look at promoting your business.

Starting a Law Firm | Office Space

I've talked a lot about law firm office space. I've talked about it here, here, and here. But I'm back to looking for more office space and I'm thinking about what an office space should do for an attorney, specifically a DUI attorney or criminal attorney (since that's what I am).

These are my thoughts, kind of randomly thrown out there.

- I don't think clients really care where your office is.

- I think clients really care about what your office looks like when you get there (clean, easy on the eye, connotes success, confidence, and a certain demand for respect).

- I think the most important factor is convenience for you and your staff. And by convenience I mean: (1) it's easy to get to; (2) it's easy to get to where you need to go, i.e. courthouses; (3) it's a nice place to work; (4) it's functional; and (5) it's affordable.

What do you think?

Finally, these are my options for office space:

1. Traditional office in a big city high-rise (this is what I have now). We all know what that looks like.

2. Literal traditional office in older part of downtown (in a way like you'd expect from a small town lawyer). Here's an example.

3. Modern, open style loft office (conference rooms available for uber-confidential conversations/meetings). Examples here, here, and here.

I know there are people reading this blog, so help me out!