Integrity Marketing

Pre-Order Special Edition

We're offering a one-time opportunity to pre-order extra copies of our January special edition of the Pocket Watch newsletter -- The Top Ten Fatal Estate Planning Mistakes. This newsletter will make a GREAT mailing to your clients, prospects and referral sources -- focusing attention on the REAL issues of estate planning (beyond federal estate taxes). It is also the perfect companion to our Power Point workshop on the same topic.

About the special edition:

Top Ten Fatal Estate Planning Mistakes – the Newsletter

Life is a road each of us travels but once. Most of the time we find that road to be a smooth one. Sometimes, however, we find (and hit) a few potholes along the way. Estate planning mistakes are like those potholes. People rarely intend to hit them, most just never knew they were there…until it was too late. This month we use this pothole metaphor to highlight 10 fatal mistakes you should know about when making or reviewing your own estate plan.

If you are a current Pocket Watch subscriber and would like to order EXTRA copies of this special edition (Tip: have them shipped FLAT directly to your office for use at workshops, to display in your office, and to use with prospective clients and referral sources) ordering is simple. Just send an email to April at april@estateplanningpartners.com letting her know how many extra copies you would like to have. Or give her a call at 1-877-352-2021.

If you are not a current Pocket Watch subscriber, you can still place a one-time order. For more information about pricing, personalization, and shipping options, contact April at april@estateplanningpartners.com or call her at 1-877-352-2021. Be sure to tell her you are a NEW customer.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: ALL NEWSLETTER ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BY DECEMBER 10TH.  We cannot accept ANY newsletter orders after that deadline.

Click Here for more information on the Top Ten Fatal Estate Planning Mistakes workshop.

Benefits of Becoming a Low-Cost Provider

I will write more on this topic next week, but I am anxious to share with you a gratifying success story from one of my clients. I just got off the phone with her from our monthly coaching call, and with her permission, I share this with you. About this time last year, we were focusing on 2005 goals. She wanted to get away from day-to-day drafting. Spend more time meeting with clients, delegate more to staff, have more time with her family, and pursue some other interesting aspects of her thriving estate practice -- specifically, she wanted to get involved in appellate work.

We discussed several aspects of this plan, including protecting her revenue stream and profitability while pursuing new interests. One thing we talked about a lot was making a plan to free up time in her schedule to pursue the appellate work. She was already working too many hours, it was clear she could not add something to her schedule without first clearing some empty space.

Long story short ...
She just finished arguing a case in appellate court about whether a copy of a signed will is sufficient to establish the content of a missing well ... I was treated to a most enthusiastic re-telling of the courtroom banter and the ins-and-outs of the case ... Sufficient for me to note that she is very happy with this new aspect of her practice which provides her such an intellectual challenge.

She is pleased to see her firm is now tasting from the whole estate law pie -- contested litigation, estate administration, probate, appellate work, as well as estate planning. She has a new associate and a legal assistant to handle most of the drafting -- which she then reviews ... Precisely as she had wanted.

"Now I mostly just meet with clients," she said. "I have handed off most of the drafting."

She continues to pursue more creative outlets for 2006.

But, you may ask, what happened to her profitability? She has a new associate and an assistant? What happened on the expense side of the ledger?

Well, my buttons are about to bust on my sweater as I tell this story. She met with her CPA last week and, to her chagrin, they will owe a substantial tax bill this year. She whined to her CPA, who responded --  "What are you complaining about? You more than doubled your net income this year!"

Yes, that was NET. She was able to pursue her dreams, serve her clients, and still TAKE HOME TWICE AS MUCH MONEY. Her CPA congratulated her, "You have really gotten your expenses under control!"

”So,” she asked, "how do we avoid paying these taxes?"

Her CPA replied, "Don't make so much money!"

Of course, neither of us plans to incorporate THAT into the 2006 marketing plan.

So, certainly one of the benefits of becoming a low-cost provider is the freedom to pursue your dreams, to pursue intellectual challenges -- while still meeting your financial commitments. Do it well enough, and you may find that you can have your cake and eat it, too. For this savvy client, she is enjoying her work, pursuing new challenges, and taking home TWICE AS MUCH money as she did before!

Some of her strategies?

Ahhhhh -- now that's material for yet another posting! Stay tuned next week and we'll look at some of the VERY SMART things she has done to get where she is ... And the new challenges that accompany such success!

In the meantime, HAPPY THANKSGIVING. And thank you. I am reminded daily of the many many blessings in my life, not the least of which is the privilege to work with such interesting,  challenging, and giving people. I am thankful for each of you.

What is the Market Telling You?

"Modern civilization, nearly all civilization, is based on the principle of making things pleasant for those who please the market and unpleasant for those who fail to do so, and whatever defects this principle may have, it is better than none."

-- English economist Edwin Cannan in An Economist's Protest, 1927

Most of us have accepted the wisdom of goal-setting. Actually, it was a fairly easy concept to incorporate. Just a few intellectual steps above our infantile cries for milk,  goals are somewhat more sophisticated expressions of our needs, wants and desires.

I am by no means denigrating the importance of setting goals. But I want to focus our attention today on another essential, less comfortable, marketing planning process:  Evaluation ... particularly the evaluation of market feedback.

No, you do not need to hire a market research firm to conduct focus groups or detailed client interviews. You have most of the market feedback you need ... right there on your Profit & Loss Statement.

Start by reviewing your revenue goals for 2005.

Now, turn to your P&L statement. How do your goals match up to your actual revenue?

The premise of your Marketing Audit is that each of us must accept the fact that our success or failure is dependent upon whether or not we have succeeded in producing and offering for sale something that others value sufficiently for us to earn a return in excess of our costs. If we have misjudged what  consumers want and the price they are willing to pay, we  suffer a loss.  That may be a "hard loss," meaning we literally did not cover expenses. It may be a "relative loss," suggesting that while we covered expenses, we did not achieve the desired level of profitability. Alternatively, it could be an "opportunity loss." Opportunity losses occur when we misjudge the market such that we UNDER-price our services, failing to capitalize on the VALUE others perceive in them (and are thus willing to pay for them).

Honest evaluation is the hard part. Our losses are in fact MARKET FEEDBACK, telling us that we have devoted our efforts in the wrong direction. By analyzing these results, we learn that consumers either prefer some other product or service more than the one we are offering, or that others have devised ways of marketing their products and services that are more appealing.

Whatever the reason, the market is telling us to adjust our behavior. We could shift into offering something consumers prefer more; creatively think of ways to match (or outdo) our competition by utilizing a more appealing marketing message, or offering a better or cheaper version of the product; or we could slash expenses while adding perceived value in order to boost profitability. If we are suffering Opportunity Losses, it maybe time to raise fees and adjust our marketing messages to support the increase.

Any or all of these strategies may be appropriate. Making the correct adjustments requires both more information and more analysis. But the first step is to simply sit back and ask, "What is the market telling me?"

Then, open your mind to the possibility that the market MAY be telling you to adjust your behavior!

Are You Ready to Write a Marketing Plan?

Our 2005 Estate Planning Practice Strategies revealed that fully 86 percent of estate attorneys do not have a written marketing plan.  Business experts agree that a written marketing plan is fundamental to financial success. In fact, most business owners find it impossible to secure financing without one ... and for good reason. A written marketing plan organizes and focuses your business strategy. The planning process requires you to examine internal and external factors that could both ensure and impede your success as well as define a ready market for your goods and services, a service delivery system, and a strategy to generate demand. It also includes reasonable revenue projections, and the data to support that reasoning.

We have two types of clients at Integrity Marketing. The ones who work with us to draft and revise annual marketing plans ... and the ones who say they will (but never seem to get around it).  Whether you have a written marketing plan or not, your estate planning practice is constantly facing new and ever increasing challenges. Some of those are unique to your practice and market area; others are universal to the practice area, as highlighted in our survey, including

• decreasing referrals from allied professionals,
• a lack of client motivation,
• pressure to lower fees, and
• a confusing and complex legislative environment.

While a well-conceived marketing plan is your single best strategy to ensure success in meeting these challenges ... there is a fundamental first step that many overlook in the planning process.

BEFORE you start working on your 2006 marketing plan, take time to perform a Year-End Review, or a marketing audit, for 2005. This exercise will give you a better understanding of your practice, your market, and your future. It will help you "get your bearings," so to speak, in the marketing environment. And it will pay off in real dollars. First, completing this exercise will save you hours of frustrating work when it comes time to craft the marketing plan. It will help you organize your thoughts as well as crucial financial and market data. But more importantly, it will guide your future marketing efforts toward greater profits!

Watch this blog to learn more about the Marketing Audit process.

Portraits of Low-Cost Providers

Click here to learn more about the benefits of becoming a Low-Cost Provider.

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Protect Your Profitability

I was disturbed this weekend when I (probably by mistake) received a solicitation (I think that word is more appropriate than "invitation") to attend what is promoted as a one-day workshop to help me build a thriving estate planning practice. The solicitors say that in just one-day with them, I could discover the techniques and strategies for doing just that.

Hmmm ... I said to myself. Just one day?

Sound too good to be true?

Hold on to your pocketbooks, folks! The agenda includes a brief session on working with professional referrals, and another brief session on working with prospective clients -- both completed BEFORE lunch! Guess what happens after lunch? That's when the sales presentation begins! For the rest of the afternoon they are going to put more tools in your toolbox -- a concept which they say will make you more powerful!

I may have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night!!!! I know a fellow who crafts custom cabinets and does finish carpentry work. He has quite a toolbox. But, believe me, it is NOT the tools that make him powerful! It's his skill, his reputation in the community and the steady stream of people clamoring for his services that make him powerful. You or I could have all of those tools -- and after I used the hammer and the pliers, the rest of them would be only so much extra weight to lug around ... not to mention HUGE debt to pay (those tools are not cheap!!!!) Yes, friends, our sincere solicitors say we will leave their seminar with powerful tools -- which I suspect they want us to PURCHASE from them ... hence the half-day sales presentation. How much will I pay for this half-day infomercial? Well ... let's add it up:

Tuition: $195 (the actual cost is $295, but somehow, if I register, I get a $100 discount ... go figure?)

Travel: ??? I estimate plane fare, taxis, and parking at $200, plus two nights in a hotel for another $200, and if you're like me, you're going to want to eat sometime, too, so add another $100 for two days of restaurant meals. Call it $500.

Opportunity: Now, here's the real clincher -- the OPPORTUNITY cost. You could be working. Let's say you could billing clients (that IS the idea, right?) for a minimal $150 an hour. Now how much is it costing you to shut down your office and travel to this infomercial extravaganza? Two days of billable time: $2,400!!!!!!!
(Assuming you were ONLY billing by the hour. Your costs may be quite a bit more!!!)

Gullibility: What if, on top of all of this, you are convinced to load up your toolbox with expensive new tools you may never need, may already have, or can't use? The cost of this little excursion could easily top $10,000!!!

Excluding the gullibility factor, I think this workshop is going to cost you at least $3,150. And what are you getting? In terms of true education, you are getting anecdotal stories from your colleagues about how to work with clients and referral sources -- certainly worthwhile information, but you are only going to get about two to three hours of this instruction before the sales presentation begins!!!!

Okay, they must be pretty proud of that time, because they are asking you to pay about $1,000 an hour for it!

On the other hand, you COULD sign up for our online course -- Building Profitable Referral Relationships -- and get TEN SESSIONS of concentrated instruction -- including checklists, worksheets, and thought-provoking exercises to complete on your own ... time-tested strategies that have worked for literally hundreds of our clients ... delivered to you online, without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home or office.

By leveraging technology, we help you become a low-cost provider! Download the lessons, review them at your leisure -- before or after work, even during your lunch hour. Oh, and by the way, unlike the solicitors in our example above, we don't limit your "free" tuition to ONE GUEST. You can share this course with everyone in your office -- including your associates, partners and staff members. In fact, we encourage you to share with everyone in your office. No extra charge!

The cost for this ten-session workshop is only $149.

No, that was not one thousand forty-nine dollars! Just one HUNDRED forty-nine dollars. That's it. No travel. No downtime. No "opportunity" cost. And no gullibility factor, either. Just solid education. Proven strategies to help you build a thriving estate planning practice.

No, we're not getting rich at this. But we sure hope you will!

I encourage you to take a look, weigh the costs, and choose to invest wisely. This course will help you build a lifetime stream of qualified referrals -- regardless the state of the estate tax. And, when you're done, you will have money left over to actually implement the strategies -- hey, what if you spent the other $3,000 actually marketing yourself and your practice? Like taking people to lunch, presenting workshops, giving clients the red-carpet treatment, setting up (or revitalizing) a website ... hmmmm ...

Here's the link. It doesn't make sense to undermine your own profitability ... to enhance someone else's! Remember, profit is only what's left after expenses.

Start now. Build Profitable Referral Relationships (profitably!).

Motivating Clients & Referrals

The main reason we chose to conduct our 2005 Practice Strategies Survey was to give estate attorneys a chance to speak out about their practices -- their concerns, challenges, needs, where they see opportunities, and how they hope to grow into the future. We remain humbled and thankful for the outpouring of thoughtful responses and comments from so many who took the time to participate.

YOU HAVE BEEN HEARD!

We have reviewed, analyzed and dissected the responses -- including hundreds of thought-provoking comments that ranged from a few words to complex treatises.  In short, we listened to you. And are crafting marketing messages and programs to help you meet your challenges and seize your opportunities.

You told us you need new marketing messages to motivate clients and referral sources to initiate and complete the estate planning process. More than half of those responding expressed concerns about client and referral motivation to move forward with estate planning.

A few comments are representative of the sentiments of many:

• "Repeal of the estate tax removes the primary impetus or motivation for many clients to do estate planning.  Although many non-tax reasons for planning exist few are as compelling (at least in the client's mind) as the specter of federal estate taxes.  With the increase in the federal estate tax exemption over the past few years the majority of the new clients I see no longer have taxable estates."
  
• "People will have the belief that estate planning is not necessary when avoiding estate taxes is actually only a small part of the planning process."
• "Although clients will still need estate planning services one of the motivating factors in them initiating action will be gone."

Many respondents rightly observed that our marketing messages will have to change. Accordingly, we have created a new Power Point workshop to help you meet the challenge of motivating clients and referral sources.

Top Ten Fatal Estate Planning Mistakes
Downloadable Power Point® Workshop
Here is the powerful client and advisor workshop you have been asking for -- focusing on the "true issues" of estate planning, and some of the "most popular" mistakes made by people at all levels, including business owners and the mass affluent as well as the highly affluent.

• 28 full-color slides

• 2006-EGTRRA compliant

• Complete script included in speaker's notes

• Covers topics from inheritance protection and incapacity planning to business succession and qualified retirement benefits.

• Demonstrates ongoing, non-tax needs for comprehensive estate planning to prospective clients and referral sources

• Builds new referrals by teaching allied professionals to spot common mistakes in their clients' estate planning

Again, as we work at being -- and helping you become -- a low-cost provider, we are offering the complete program, including a full script, as a digital download for only $175 (less than one billable hour of your time, and less than the cost of licensing even one of the dozen or so professional photographs and graphics).

The workshop is delivered to you as a fully-functional Power Point file (you must have the Power Point software in order to use this file!). This is truly a plug-n-play program, simply double-click the file from your desktop and you are ready to begin presenting. However, if you find that you prefer to "tweak" some of the slides, hide, replace or change their order -- you are free to do that as well. Present from a projector, or print full-color transparencies from the file. Print your speaker's notes and audience hand-outs directly from the file. Make an archive, back-up copy and store it on your hard drive, or burn a CD.

[Just please respect the copyright disclosures included and do not share (or pirate) the file with your colleagues, or post it on your website.]

Click here to purchase online, review a general outline, and view sample slides.

The program also can be purchased on CD for an additional $25.

Keep watching this weblog, and our website: www.estateplanningpartners.com, for more exciting new products and services to help you THRIVE in your estate planning practice -- regardless the state of the estate tax!

Southern California Tax & Esate Planning Forum

Kyle and I spoke on Friday morning at the Southern California Tax and Estate Planning Forum in San Diego.  We presented the results of our 2005 Practice Strategies Survey to kick-off Friday morning's general sessions. The Forum attracts approximately 500 attorneys from across the southwest United States. Following our presentation, Robert Fleming (author of the Elder Law Answer Book) conducted an electronic survey of the group, confirming that this group generally agreed with the results obtained from our online survey.

We were particularly pleased with the feedback we received from those in the audience after the presentation. Most agreed with us that the key to success in these changing times is to have a well-researched, comprehensive marketing strategy. Several told us that their practices are thriving, and attributed their success to marketing plans with laser-focus.

If your group or association would like to sponsor this presentation at an upcoming event, inquiries can be made by email to bsi@carolnet.com, or call us toll-free at 1-877-850-7472.