WHAT’S INCLUDED?

The Ultimate Practice-Building Library consists of two volumes of books, one on Infrastructure and one on Marketing.  Each book contains the following:

• 90 minutes (or more) of engaging and easy-to-follow lecture by nationally renowned estate planning attorney, Philip J. Kavesh, on each topic (available as an instant downloadable MP3 file)

• Anywhere from 25 to 40 pages of handout materials to follow along throughout the lecture, chock-full of the necessary steps to guide you through each topic

• A full transcript of each lecture

• Accompanying exhibits, including various checklists and forms

WHAT DOES EACH BOOK COVER?

VOLUME 1: INFRASTRUCTURE

• BOOK #1: Establish a Firm Customer Service Process and See Your Profits (and Quality of Life) Dramatically Improve!
  • Get work done more efficiently at all levels of your firm
  • Improve attention to details and overall work quality
  • Improve client satisfaction (and the number of new client referrals you get!)
  • Better manage your firm’s activities (and delegate most daily supervision)
  • Increase firm morale (because each person will understand his or her role in the big picture, as well as his or her individual duties and responsibilities)
  • Give your firm a marketing edge (by explaining your unique customer service process to prospective clients)
  • And, best of all, enjoy consistent and predictable cash flow and profits!

• BOOK #2: 10 Steps to Successfully Finding, Hiring, Training & Managing Excellent Support Staff
  • How hiring, training and management of staff can be done successfully with the least amount of your time and expense!
  • The way to properly grow a staff organization that will run itself!
  • Which positions you should hire staff for - - first, second and third - - and when!
  • How to fit the right person to the job, rather than the other way around!
  • The key tools you must use, including an organizational “blueprint”, individual duties list, training manuals and procedures manuals (including examples to get you started) - - and how to use them!
  • A simple and effective, step-by-step checklist system for finding and hiring the right person
  • How to set up and use management (accountability) reports, along with examples to get you started
  • How to clean up or clear out some of your existing staff “messes”
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #3: The 10 Steps You Need to Know to Find, Hire, Train, Manage & Keep Great Associates
  • When is the best time to hire an associate attorney and why
  • What to look for and not to look for when hiring an associate (including a sample advertisement to use to attract the right attorney and a checklist to use in the job interview)
  • Who should conduct the interview process and how (HINT: It’s probably not who you think it should be!)
  • How to train and mentor the new associate with the least amount of your time!  (including Phil’s “Attorney Success Guide”, a detailed Training Schedule and 3-Day Associate “Crash Course” Outline)
  • How to set up detailed monitoring systems that assure accountability and keep you informed and in control of your bottom line!  (Including Sample Daily and Weekly Status Reports and a Periodic Review “Report Card”)
  • And much more!

• BOOK #4: A Proven Time Management System for Estate Planning Attorneys (As Well As Other Professionals & Your Staff!)
  • How to handle the 7 biggest time wasters that, otherwise, will derail your time management system
    • Interruptions (both by your staff and by you!)
    • Your computer (e-mail, list servs, typing or revising documents, etc.!)
    • Phone calls (from outside the office and within it!)
    • Meetings (not only those consciously on your calendar, but those you subconsciously hold throughout the day!)
    • Billing (and collecting!)
    • Traveling in your car (and not just commuting, but going to lunch, off-site meetings, etc.)
    • A whole host of “feel good” activities (that you do every day but don’t reflect your priorities!
  • How you give up control of your time to everyone else and how to regain (or for the first time ever gain) control!
  • The 3 simple, yet completely misunderstood, requirements for setting up an effective time management system for you and your staff
  • How to manage your time by managing others in a way that’s not harsh, rigid, or discourteous
  • How to get your staff to willingly “buy-in” to your time management system and help you stay on track
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #5: The Proven System for Holding Efficient and Productive Meetings with Associates and Staff
  • Why internal office meetings, done properly, are actually a more important use of your time than meeting with clients, doing client work or virtually any other activity
  • Which meetings you should schedule regularly - - including the right and wrong days and times - - and which meetings you should avoid or eliminate
  • The 7 Key Rules for holding efficient and productive meetings
  • The specific agendas for different types of associate and staff meetings
  • How you can minimize your time in preparing and conducting internal meetings - - while maximizing the results!
  • How effective meetings will eliminate almost all your daily interruptions and make you more efficient!
  • And much more!

• BOOK #6: 10 Steps to Setting Firm Revenue Goals (and Using These Goals to Achieve Regular Monthly Profits)
  • Establish and monitor a precise operating budget (so you don’t have to guess whether you’ve made a profit at the end of each month!)
  • Turn that budget into minimum and “target” monthly firm revenue goals
  • Break down those firm revenue goals into smaller department and individual goals - - that can be accurately tracked (so you can hold everyone accountable!)
  • Receive and utilize meaningful daily, weekly and monthly reports
  • Incentivize your associate attorneys and staff to regularly hit their goals
  • Use firm meetings in the most time-efficient, profit-producing manner
  • And much more!

• BOOK #7: 9 Steps for Successfully Compensating & Incentivizing Associate Attorneys
  • When is the best time to hire an associate attorney and why
  • What to look for and not to look for when hiring an associate (including a sample advertisement to use to attract the right attorney and a checklist to use in the job interview)
  • Who should conduct the interview process and how (HINT: It’s probably not who you think it should be!)
  • How to train and mentor the new associate with the least amount of your time!  (including Phil’s “Attorney Success Guide”, a detailed Training Schedule and 3-Day Associate “Crash Course” Outline)
  • How to set up detailed monitoring systems that assure accountability and keep you informed and in control of your bottom line!  (Including Sample Daily and Weekly Status Reports and a Periodic Review “Report Card”).
  • And much more!

• BOOK #8: 8 Steps to Setting Up Bonuses for Support Staff That Are Legal, Ethical and Motivate Them
  • Set up and implement, step-by-step, a staff bonus structure that’s not only legal and ethical - - but one that is also tested and proven to work!
  • Avoid the biggest problems encountered by the “usual” types of bonus formulas
  • Establish both base and bonus compensation standards that assure your monthly revenue and profits will increase!
  • Track staff performance and keep them apprised so they become highly motivated to hit their bonus goals - - every single month!
  • Keep your staff productive, happy, and with you for the long term!
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #9: How to Legally & Ethically Discipline and Terminate Employees (or Hopefully Rehabilitate Them!)
  • How to overcome the avoidance behavior most business owners have when it comes to dealing with cancerous employees
  • What types of “red flags” you should be on the lookout for, particularly in the early stages of the hiring and training process
  • The 8 Steps to Properly Disciplining and Terminating Employees, including:
    • When it’s best to take disciplinary action
    • How to conduct different types of disciplinary actions with the employee (including what should and should not be said)
    • Who should be involved in the process
    • When to terminate and how to conduct the termination meeting
    • “Damage control” after the termination of an employee - - in order to minimize the amount of office disruption and to maintain (or even boost) overall employee morale
  • Tips for reducing employee misbehavior before it spins out of control and requires discipline (or termination)
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #10: How to Set Up & Successfully Utilize Satellite Offices
  • How to determine the best geographic location for a satellite office (even before you start searching for office space!)
  • An invaluable “inspection checklist” of critical items to look for when shopping for office space
  • Key terms to be sure you negotiate into your final lease contract
  • How to properly equip the office (and at the least cost!)
  • How to staff the office (without hiring new people or disrupting your existing operations)
  • How to market the office (including one very subtle detail that will make or break your marketing success!)
  • How to steer clear of violating often overlooked State Bar Rules (including some important internal memos and client forms you should have to protect you - - which Phil will include as exhibits!)
  • How to quality control what happens away from your main office (to prevent future malpractice liability!)
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #11: Managing a Successful Estate Planning Practice Through the Use of Metrics
  • How to see (probably for the first time ever) what’s really going on in your practice, under the surface!
  • Which specific items, processes, procedures, and results to regularly measure in your practice
  • How to set up your measurement systems and generate regular reports (Phil will even share his own internal forms!)
  • How to analyze the gathered numbers and apply them to predict your firm’s cash flow and profits, spot “red flags” and make course corrections as necessary, so you have few, if any, down months
  • How to use metrics to hold your associate attorneys and staff accountable, and motivate and reward them - - so you keep them with you long-term!
  • How to use metrics to make informed management decisions on everything from setting fees, marketing, evaluating, hiring and firing personnel, and improving product quality and customer service!
  • And much, much more!

VOLUME 2: MARKETING

• BOOK #1: Successful Initial Client Interviews & Appointment Closing Tips Package
  • Part 1 – Properly Orchestrating the Meeting
    • The 7 things you must communicate to a prospective client before the initial meeting so you begin with the ball already near the goal line! (and how to communicate these key things to them)
    • How to train your referral sources to properly prepare clients so almost all do business with you - - what they should say and, more importantly, what they should not say!
    • How to arrange your meeting calendar for maximum results (probably the exact opposite of what you’re doing right now!)
    • The 2 critical “missing link” steps between setting the appointment and seeing the client that most attorneys overlook (or their staff botches)!
    • How to put both your head and your heart in the right place as you enter an initial meeting, so you’re confident, less anxious, and more successful
    • How to “script” the first few minutes so you never suffer from opening jitters and you take control right away! (Plus, you’ll receive Phil’s actual, time-tested and “perfected” script, word-for-word!)
    • The successful meeting “Tool Kit” you should have at your fingertips during every initial meeting (you’ll even get 7 of those tools with the call!)
    • What are the 2 key reasons most attorneys fail to close clients at the initial meeting and how to overcome them
    • Step-by-step, exactly what agenda to stick to and what to say throughout the meeting as you work seamlessly towards the “close”!
    • What to do when problems arise, such as:
      • Little or no information brought in by the prospective client
      • One spouse isn’t present or there’s tension between spouses
      • Client shows up with another advisor or some other interfering third-party
    • How to use a simple, one-page “pre-fabbed” engagement letter to clinch more sales!  (You’ll get Phil’s, so you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel”!)
    • How to blow away the 2 most common objections most prospective clients have about moving forward!
    • And much, much more!
  • Part 2 – Advanced Initial Meeting Closing Tips
    • How and when to use the “technical” close versus the “emotional” close
    • How to flush out the time waster, do-it-yourselfer and engineer type - - and turn them into an obedient client!
    • How to throw in an irresistible incentive so the client will make the decision to do business right now!
    • How to use the “silent pause” to incredible effect!
    • Word-for-word “scripts” to overcome specific objections like:
      • “We just came to gather information.”
      • “We want to think about it.”
      • “I need to talk with my _______ first.”
      • “We’re shopping around and comparing.”
      • “I think I can get it done for less.” (which they may be thinking, even if they haven’t come right out and said it!)
    • If you still haven’t closed the client, how to properly and successfully use the ultimate weapons - - the “Columbo gambit”, the “Takeaway” and the “Nucular Bomb”!
    • The one thing to be sure to give every prospect who leaves your office saying “no” - - that will often lead to a “YES”!
    • The 2 simple contacts with “no-closes” after the meeting that will turn them into clients!
    • And much, much more!
  • PLUS, with this package, you will receive all of the modifiable forms that you will need to properly implement what you learn, including:
    • Client Engagement Letter
    • Acknowledgement of Information Given Form
    • Agreement to the Presence of Others Form
    • Friends & Family Disclosure Form
    • Checklist When Reviewing Another Trust
    • Divorce Checklist
    • Appointment Confirmation Kit, including Client Questionnaires
    • Confirmation Script
    • Prospect Follow-Up “Sale” Letter

• BOOK #2: Convert Prospects with Other Attorneys’ Trusts Into Clients!
  • Go into the meeting with the right, winning “mindset”
  • Properly “set the stage” at the beginning of the meeting - - so you delicately control the process and the results!
  • Apply tested and proven “scripts” so that you say the right things during the meeting, in exactly the right way - - and avoid saying the wrong thing!
  • Utilize a Review Questionnaire and a Review Checklist to dramatically reduce your meeting time and increase your closing rate at the first meeting!
  • Quickly spot the prospect’s “hot buttons” so that they virtually “close” themselves!
  • Artfully weave in the discussion of advanced-level estate tax or asset protection planning, so you get that work too!
  • Quote your fee quickly and decisively, to prevent price “negotiation”!
  • Overcome both stated and unstated objections to moving forward - - and be ready to drop the “Nucular Bomb” as your last resort!

• BOOK #3: The GREAT Debate: The Client Maintenance Plan (with Jeffrey M. Matsen, J.D.) vs. The Free Service Package
  • The reasons why every estate planning attorney should implement a Client Maintenance Plan into his or her own practice
  • What services and features should be included in a Client Maintenance Plan
  • All of the steps to starting and implementing a successful Client Maintenance Plan
  • What you should charge clients for this plan
  • How you will actually make more money from existing clients using a Free Service Package (with less work and overhead than a Client Maintenance Plan!)
  • Why, even if a Client Maintenance Plan may seem to work at first, the Free Service Package alternative is a far better option, in the long-run (for both your practice and for your clients!)
  • What services and features make up the Free Service Package
  • All of the steps necessary to properly implement the Free Service Package
  • How the Free Service Package is a big competitive advantage when marketing for and securing new clients
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #4: Generate More Clients From Your Existing Clients - - A Tested and Proven System That Actually Works!
  • How to create a foolproof system and process for consistently generating client referrals from your existing clients - - one that doesn’t involve a whole lot of your time and effort and can be done by just about anyone in your office!
  • The most common mistakes that attorneys and other professionals make when asking for referrals from clients (which might be the reasons why you don’t get nearly as many referrals as you’d like!)
  • The best place and time to generate more referrals from clients, as well as what to say (and what not to say!)
  • A unique and creative way to generate client referrals, while also improving your clients’ overall experience with your firm (which will, in turn, result in more referrals!)
  • How to put a very simple procedure in place (that is almost unheard of these days, let alone from an attorney!) that will prompt clients to refer their friends and family!
  • How to turn more referrals into clients by using an easy “funneling” system
  • How to get old clients to do more work with you and, at the same time, refer others
  • Little details that can turn your website, newsletter, and other marketing materials into referral “magnets”
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #5: The 10 Key Planning & Marketing Steps for Successful Seminars
  • How to start up your seminar marketing with little or no cash
  • What a reasonable seminar budget - - and expected return on investment - - should look like
  • Who you should market a seminar to and how to target them with your marketing
  • When are the best days and times for seminars
  • Where are the best venues and how to do a “site inspection”
  • Should you provide a meal and, if so, should it be breakfast, lunch or dinner? (And should you feed people before or after you present your seminar?)
  • What are the 7 key components every effective marketing piece must contain (or, if they’re missing, will doom it to failure!)
  • How to make sure, your marketing piece does not run afoul of State Bar ethics rules (or other regulatory authority compliance rules)
  • What are the best and most cost-effective ways to deliver your marketing, with a comparison of newsletters, website, newspaper, radio, television, and direct mail (and the critical details of each)
  • How to track response results so you can improve your marketing pieces
  • How reservations and confirmations should be properly handled
  • And much more, including various invaluable checklists and forms!

• BOOK #6: Proper Staff Support - - The Days Before the Seminar, During the Seminar & Immediately Afterwards
  • How to select and train the right staff members to manage your seminar marketing and set up and facilitate your seminars
  • What the seminar facilitators’ tasks are and how to determine how many should be at the seminar
  • Which staff tasks can be farmed out to third-parties and which shouldn’t be
  • The critical day before “packing list” that must always be used (so you don’t lack that one thing you’ll need when “Murphy” shows up at your seminar)
  • How to set up the seminar room for maximum results
  • What the facilitators should say and do at the seminar - - and not say and do - - so you make appointments with over 80% of attendees, right there at the seminar!
  • Key follow-up steps after the seminar, which will directly impact your profit (or loss!)
  • What reports must be generated the day after, a week after, and a month after - - so you can hold everyone accountable and continue to perfect your system and results!

• BOOK #7: Successful Seminar Speaker Presentation Techniques
  • How to most effectively lay out the contents of your seminar - - the right stuff and in the right order
  • The key part of a seminar that most speakers fail to think through and budget enough time for (and winds up killing their results!)
  • The portions of a seminar that the speaker must commit to memory or “script” (only about 10 to 20 minutes that make all of the difference in your results) - - and how to do this easily and effectively
  • The very first things you must always do when you arrive at your seminar venue
  • How to calm your pre-seminar jitters and start strong and confident
  • What to do with your eyes, your voice, and even your hands and feet while you’re speaking!
  • How to keep on track and on time while you’re speaking
  • When and how to use humor - - and not!
  • What to do when you forget something or make a mistake!
  • How to properly use the Question & Answer period at the end, so you make more appointments
  • How to use a special Certificate, and other “props” to boost your results
  • Whether you should talk about your fees and how
  • And much, much more!

• BOOK #8: Developing An Exit Strategy: How To Properly Merge, Acquire & Sell a Practice Package
  • So, if you’re thinking about BUYING (or merging) a practice, you will learn:
    • The key overlooked steps you must take to properly position your practice as a buyer, even before you start looking for one to purchase!
    • How to find the practice that’s the right fit for you (you’ll be surprised that the way most go about seeking a seller is WRONG!)
    • Three vital issues you must investigate about a potential seller’s practice early in the acquisition process - - that literally will make or break the deal!  (They’re probably not what you think!)
    • The remaining key criteria for evaluating potential sellers and their practices (including my step-by-step, invaluable, six-page checklist!)
    • Creative ways to finance the purchase of an estate planning practice, so that you have little or no “down” money out of your pocket!
    • At least four different ways to structure the purchase transaction, depending on the circumstances of both the buyer and seller
    • The most effective way for the seller to participate in the process, immediately after the sale closes (so that you pay off the seller in less than a year!)
    • The marketing “system” that will help transition the seller’s clients into your clients and turn them into immediate cash flow generators!
    • The traps to avoid throughout the process, so you learn from the various trial and errors that I have already made, instead of learning the hard way on your own!

• And, if you’re looking to SELL your practice, you will learn:
  • The overlooked key steps you must take to properly position your practice as a seller, way before you start to list it for sale - - including what will not only make your practice more attractive to potential buyers, but will help you maximize the sale price!
  • Why setting and asking for a fixed price when you first market your practice may be a big mistake!
  • How to go about valuing your business - - the right way!
  • How to best market your practice, discreetly and confidentially and avoid the typical approach most sellers use (which is the worst!).
  • How to determine which potential buyer is the right fight for your practice (you just might be surprised to learn that the criteria most often used in selecting a buyer is WRONG!).
  • At least four creative ways to structure the transaction and close the deal.
  • What things need to happen immediately after the sale, so that you’re protected and actually get paid as soon as possible!
  • Your best continuing role after selling your practice (it’s probably not what you think it is or should be!).
  • The traps to avoid throughout the process, so you can learn from Phil’s trials and errors, and not your own!
  • And much, much more!

• PLUS, you will also receive several modifiable forms, checklists, and sample purchase agreements to use to actually be able to implement what you learn, including:
  • A Simple Checklist to help guide you through the steps that you will need from start to finish in order to successfully purchase, merge or sell your estate planning practice
  • Marketing Materials to help you solicit prospective purchasers (or buyers)
  • Tools for the Investigation and Negotiation Process, including a Confidentiality Agreement and a checklist for evaluating a practice so that you can evaluate and help negotiate the price on the purchase (or sale)
  • Three Sample Contracts so you can see three different, yet successful, ways to structure the purchase and merger of another practice and determine the right terms and conditions for your particular practice and personal needs
  • Firm Merger Marketing

All of these materials combined, if purchased individually, would add up to over $10,000!  But, these have been bundled together for a reasonable one-time fee!