Where's the Personality in the Yellow Pages?

When the Yellow Pages first came out it was really great an innovative – and really the only place that was easy to go to find something you needed. And we usually made our purchases based off the size of the ad the business had placed. Why? We figured if they could dump a ton of money into something like an ad in the Yellow Pages they must be stable enough and reputable.

I even ran a Yellow Page ad myself, but I neglected to note that the Internet had come and the world had changed.    My ad was lost in a blizzard of hundreds of attorney ads, and nothing distinguished my ad from the others.  

Today, who needs the Yellow Pages? Who cares about the size of your ad? Who actually goes to it and looks anything up anymore? For most, it goes from doorstep to recycle bin. Why? Because it is faster and more informative to do a Google search and get a list of options for anything and everything we need.

Now, we have an even stronger way to accomplish this – social media. Social media takes the internet and websites to a whole new level – again – just like the move from Yellow Pages to the website. Now, we don’t just want information, we want to know what others are saying about the law firm or business and what “experiences” have others had with them. Then, based on what others have experienced, we can make a much more informed and accurate buying decision.

This is awesome for attorneys. Now, through the use of simple blog, I can share with you my thoughts, ideas, issues and stories to help you both “learn” and “experience” what we do for our clients and how we solve their problems. So no longer do you need to pick the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages and hope they meet your need. Now you get to “hear” what others “experienced” and can decide (with a ton more information) whether we are right for you and you are right for us. The world just got easier and better.

I hope that the information I offer to you will enhance and enrich your life.

Top Areas of Focus - based on Client Needs

One of the great things about belonging to an organization like WealthCounsel (http://www.wealthcounsel.com/) is that they regularly do industry surveys.
I mentioned in an earlier posting that WealthCounsel did their  Third Annual WealthCounsel Survey of Attorneys in Estate Planning.  I promised to share some of the more relevant nuggets with my readers. Here is another nugget...
Attorneys were asked what areas they were seeing as the highest growth areas for their clients over the next five years. Based on feedback from their clients and the increase in demand, here is a listing of the top areas most estate planning attorneys will most likely be focusing on in the next five years:

1. Business Entity Planning for Estate Planning Purposes
2. Beneficiary Inheritance Asset Protection Planning
3. Elder Law Planning
4. Post Mortem Administration
5. Business Succession Planning
6. Lifetime Planning
7. Tax Avoidance Strategies

Notice any patterns?  First, they are indicative of the aging population we will all be experiencing and facing.  Second, there is a lot of "planning" needing to take place.  Third, there are more "business" related issues than in the past.  Finally, and always on the list, how to I get to keep more of what I have and not pay as many taxes.

I'm seeing a very similar pattern in our geography as well and our clients are facing many of the same issues.  I guess the survey was pretty accurate.

Even though these are the trends, I still focus my practice on working with those families like mine that have younger children, which is the second item on the list.   I have found that these families are not being served as well as they could by the estate planning community.

When Grandma won't leave...

I met with Frank and Joy the other day and they described a problem that is not only very common but more and more of my clients are wrestling with the same issue.  So I thought I would share their story.

Grandma is a feisty, spirited personality who has been living in her same home for that past 40 years.  It is what she knows and it is where she raised her kids and where she spent her best years with her now deceased husband.  She wants to stay in her own home.

The problem isn't the house - it is being able to function in the house on her own now that all her kids have grown up and started their own lives.  She unfortunately doesn’t really have the ability to function safely on her own, day after day. She isn’t necessarily a danger to herself at this point but there are things that go on that make this a difficult situation.  There is the issue of physical security, getting around to the store for food and supplies, basic upkeep of the house and a host of other day to day issues.  Not overwhelming - yet - but she is headed in that direction.

She has several children including Frank and Joy, who are trying to grapple with grandma's situation. They came to me looking for an experienced voice to give them a heads up on how to deal with this very sensitive and personal issue - not to mention the accompanying financial issues. And as with many in this situation, it is a a first experience for both the adult children as well as the Grandma.  Sound familiar??

In this case, Frank and Joy were able to put together a plan over the next few years, include Grandma in the planning and allow her time to "get used to" the idea of not being in her home.  There were a lot of emotions and issues to deal with but eventually Grandma moved out, one of the children took over living in and caring for her house and it had a happy ending.  

The "Envelope" Please...

Some of you know that I belong to WealthCounsel,  but don't really know that what that means.

Well, WealthCounsel is one of  the largest and most respected attorney organizations  in the country, with about 2000 estate planning attorney members across the country.   They just released their Third Annual Survey of Industry Trends and there were some "Ah-ha's" and interesting results that I thought you might be interested in hearing about.  Since this group is exclusively used "by attorneys" and "for attorneys" it isn't very often the general public gets to see this information.  Let's take a peak...

While many businesses are down, 40% of the attorneys said their business had increased - at least in the estate planning area.  Why?  More people were focused on updating and getting some plans in place to hold onto more of what they had after many had lost a bundle due to the economic crisis.  This was not only good for the attorneys but was very good for their clients to get an update and better plans in place.

Here is an "Ah-ha" from the study.  They asked the number one reason why clients plan - any guesses?  The number one reason was to "avoid probate" and minimize estate taxes.  Not the first response most would have thought.  Along the same lines, another major factor that motivates clients to do their planning is to answer the question, "What would happen if they don't plan?"  Most attorney's expect to see an increase in activity as the population of baby-boomers starts aging - which is happening right now.

Very interesting results from this years survey...I will share more in another post later.

Special Forces or the whole Army?

I was in a meeting the other day with some clients and they asked me a very interesting question, “What should I tell my friend that is looking for an attorney and trying to decide between a smaller law firm and one of the larger, multi-state firms?” Good question and one that always makes you a bit nervous to answer. By the way, this is not the first time I have been asked this question. 

Not knowing any of the circumstances around their friend, I decided the best way to answer it was to refer them to a blog post from a fellow WealthCounsel attorney,Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Lofton LLC.  I thought Dennis had one of the best and simplest answers to this question I have seen in a long time. His post was titled, Special Forces or the whole Army. I would encourage you to click on the title and read his description.

What more can I say – this is perfect. We are the “Special Forces” group and whether we are Rangers or any other Special Forces team, we are all about “expediency”, and “efficiency” in getting done what our clients need. We aren’t encumbered by red tape and politics or a host of other barriers that exist in larger firms. We just simply get it done. Thanks Dennis, well said.

Would you choose an Attorney for their CROSSWORD PUZZLES?

One of my colleagues, Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Lofton LLC, wrote a very timely and “spot on” post in his blog the other day that I wanted to share with you. It was so perfect for exactly what we deal with all the time in deciding the best way to bring value to our clients. 

In Dennis’s posting, Would you choose an attorney for his RECIPES?, Dennis described a universal dilemma all attorney’s have in how to best communicate and provide information to their clients and prospective clients. We tend to focus on the “newsletter” and as such have spent countless time and dollars on producing these “works of art.” Dennis found the real truth behind the “attorney newsletter” and I wanted to share his story with all of you.

Suffice it to say we have the same experience – only we use Crossword Puzzles in ours – how appropriate. I am now on a quest to find out if what Dennis and his firm experienced is what our clients feel as well. If you are willing, we would love to hear from you and see if one of the main reasons you read or like our newsletter is because of the crossword puzzles instead of the content. Don’t worry, we won’t offended – in fact, we will be very appreciative. Thank you in advance for your comments and/or e-mails letting us know how you feel.

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