Legal News

How to Be Productive During the Holiday Season ? Part II

By Brian Harris

Following last week?s article on ideas to make this holiday season more productive, here are a few strategies to try with your team in the firm and for business development also. Happy Holidays!

Hold a team development activity. If you manage a team of people in the firm, allocate some time to meet for lunch at cozy restaurant with a warm fireplace and delicious food or bring food to share for lunch and conduct a meeting in your conference room. Spend time listening to your team, their challenges and achievements. Plan your next six months and how you will achieve the targets for the whole team.

Cancel unnecessary meetings.  If you have regular weekly or monthly project or staff meetings that don?t need to occur during the holidays, cancel them. Most people appreciate being given more time to work and spending less time in meetings.

Create a list of new business development targets. Once you have made your list, sort it into three groups: spheres of influence, those that are able to make decisions about your products or services; centers of influence, those that are already your advocates; and strategic alliances, those that you can refer business to and that can also refer business to you. Once you have your list completed, book appointments with these people to include lunch, breakfast or even a ?tele-coffee.? Create a plan within your schedule to contact them regularly. Contact could include a phone call, e-mail, sending them an interesting article you?ve found or your firm?s newsletter, inviting them to a networking event with you or a face-to-face meeting.

Book a ?tele-coffee? with your clients. What is a tele-coffee? It is where you both make a coffee and meet by teleconference. It is a more productive way of meeting (and avoids time wasted in travel), especially if you are trying to avoid the snow. Just like a normal meeting, you set an agenda, take minutes if required and agree on the outcomes.

Shop online. Avoid the stress and hassle you may feel during this busy time of year. Allocate two hours to complete your gift buying online. First make a list of those you want to buy for and some suggested gift ideas. Secondly, log on to popular Web sites that allow you to purchase multiple products from one location (and you can save on shipping) and lastly order as much as you can from that store and request the gift-wrapping service. For a small extra charge you will receive your gifts wrapped and ready to give to someone. This is far more productive than you spending time buying the gift-wrap accessories and trying to wrap it last minute.

Select holiday gifts for clients. Make a list of clients you would like to acknowledge this year. First, set a gift budget. Second, group your clients into three categories (maybe gold, silver and bronze) and then determine how you will classify them. Once you have three lists, determine a gift for each category and ask someone to order these, have them gift wrapped, a card written and delivered to your client. There are services that specialize in this at this busy time of year, so take advantage of this. I use Tiffany & Co for holiday gifts for many reasons including quality, gift-wrapping and reliable delivery. My clients look forward to receiving their gift and I love to send them. Find something that represents you and your firm and will stand out on their desk when it is delivered to them.

Conduct a client appreciation event. This does not have to be an expensive or lengthy firm party, a simple elegant event is all you need to do to recognize your clients and thank them for their business. Be creative. Use your conference room and bring in an external caterer. If you are single attorney firm without a big office space, use a popular café or restaurant and provide light refreshments.  Just take the time to say thank you and invite the team and other suppliers so they can also thank your clients, too.

Visit a new networking group. Many networking groups meet during the holiday season because they are serious about building their books of business and still making valuable connections. Find out which groups are meeting and plan to attend at least two new groups this holiday season. This is the perfect time to develop new relationships and valuable connections.

Let?s make your 2010 your most productive ever!

Neen James
www.neenjames.com

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).