What Does That Mean?

July 10, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with 2 Comments Coaching & Implementation Legal Marketing

A few years ago my younger daughter and I splurged and spent 12 days in Italy, a country I had long longed to visit. The trip was utterly amazing and we managed fairly well despite the language barrier. I guess I must look somewhat native because on two separate occasions Italians approached me for directions and I could only laugh helplessly and indicate that I didn’t speak Italian.

Recently, I’ve noticed advertising for some pretty spectacular audio travel translators and find myself wondering how having one of those high tech gizmos would have impacted our trip.

What would be even better is if we had been able to take and master a crash course in Italian!

I was reminded of language differences some time back when preparing to launch an RMS process targeting nursing homes. An attorney at another law firm was coaching me in how to set up our campaign.

We were role playing conversations and approaches and she ran a couple of phrases in nursing home lingo past me but it was as if she were speaking Italian.

I stopped her and said, “Wait! What does that mean?”

“Have you reviewed the nursing home RMS material on the website?” she asked me.

“No, I meant to, but haven’t had time,” I replied.

Hmmmm …… What’s wrong with this picture?

A representative from a law firm positioning itself as expert in the area of Medicaid and VA is going to walk into a nursing home and introduce herself, but will be unable to understand or communicate in their language nor understand their priorities.

Well, worse things have happened. But the point is, the LWP website has hours of materials that can have you speaking “Italian” in no time. You’ll get valuable insight from other professionals who have had incredible success in establishing relationships with nursing homes. Spending the time to work through these materials will give you a true competitive edge from the moment you walk in the door.

What you say and how you present yourself in those first few minutes can mean the difference between being easily forgotten or positioning your practice for consideration as their “go-to” firm for VA and Medicaid apps.

So if your firm is considering a nursing home RMS process, I really hope you’ll brush up on your language skills first! And practice, practice, practice before you knock on the door.

Nedra Catale – Implementation Coach, Lawyers With Purpose

Congratulations To Terry Moynihan, LWP Member Of The Month

July 7, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Systems & Processes Team Building

What is the greatest success you’ve had since joining LWP?

Our greatest success to date is implementation of the workshop system. The public is responding to our "7 Threats" advertising campaign and we appreciate that LWP has provided high quality presentation and promotional materials. These have allowed us to get up and running with the workshops pretty quickly.

We also value the well-developed procedures for workshop set-up, presentation and follow-up. With each workshop we present, the entire process becomes more efficient and we become more confident that this system will be a key component of our growth and prosperity.

What is your favorite LWP tool?

Our favorite LWP tools are the Pipeline and Cash Flow Focusers.

How has being part of LWP impacted your team and your practice?

The biggest impact from being part of LWP came out of our attendance at the June Retreat, in Chicago. Using the tools provided, we have been able to unify our team around well-defined processes and specific goals. We now have a clearer idea of where we are going and what we need to do to achieve practice goals.

Bigstock-Blue-Door--Very-High-Definiti-1429912

Nursing Home Marketing: The Big Meeting

July 3, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Legal Marketing

Thanks for checking back for the next installment in our series on how to approach and attract nursing homes to your practice! If you missed the previous installments, you can find them in prior blogs. Or email me and I'm happy to send them to your email! Now that our previous pieces have helped you get in the door at the nursing home, we can address what happens next. Once you're in front of the business office manager, what do you say? Where do you go from there? Do you do the synergy meeting? We find that it's good to get the office manager to set up a meeting with other key personnel in the room.

The goal of this meeting is to get a Synergy Meeting on the books. You will need to have each of the department heads there (the administrator, the admissions director, the finance director – or whatever they call their chief financial officer – the rehab director, and the social work manager). If you get those key people to attend, they can then share your information with their departments and it leverages your time with questions each department has. In that meeting, you should present what you know about Medicaid qualification (the ins and outs of the Medicaid system) and how this is useful for them. Here's where you can educate them on the great opportunities for residents that could also benefit nursing homes.

For example, one such benefit is the rehab stay at a nursing home, and how that’s a critical opportunity for residents to start that ball rolling in terms of the penalty period. A patient who needs to be readmitted to the nursing home later may be qualified on day one for Medicaid to pick up the tab. That helps the nursing home avoid the black hole where somebody is occupying a bed and the nursing home is not getting paid because the patient ran out of money. Those are important things for nursing homes to know about, and more importantly, that YOU can help them with this.

Another example: In some states, for instance, you can educate them on how a person could get in-home care and also get help in paying for that care through Community Medicaid. Community Medicaid is totally different from Medicaid that would pay for a nursing home stay. The veteran’s benefit can also be used to help pay for care in your home. You need to make sure the nursing homes know to share that with residents and the residents’ families. You could also talk about pooled trust for example, and how those can be used to help somebody pay for care in their home. And then tie this in with the six legal must-knows for any nursing home (located on the members section of the website).

Try to make the meeting a "Lunch & Learn" or a "Lunch & Law" setting. It’s a very easy, relaxed atmosphere, which is a great setting for just going through the points of what YOU can do for them and answer their questions. You just need to make a connection at the meeting. From there, you're sure to get a Nursing Home Synergy Meeting on the books with the right person.

We hope this information will help you build your nursing home business. Check back soon for our next post, which will deal with how to follow up after you've established the business relationship. And, if you have any questions at all in the meantime, please don't hesitate to email me at rdrotar@lawyerswithpurpose.com.

Roslyn Drotar, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

IRA Marketing Packet: Login Or Order Today!

June 25, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Legal Marketing

On Tuesday, June 24^th Dave hosted a LIVE Lunch & Learn for all of the LWP members, all of his financial professionals, and the general estate planning industry at large titled: IRA's Not Protected The Supreme Court Rules.

The complete marketing package is now available to our members and posted to the member web site. This packet includes:

E‑blast to send to your referral sources.
The Power Point presentation to deliver to your advisors.
The recording of the live presentation to see how Dave presented it.
A complete evaluation that will be a call to act to those in attendance of the program.

In this workshop you will be able to provide to your referral sources:

An understanding of the key holdings of the recent Supreme Court decision.
Learn the asset protection strategies available for inherited IRAs.
Know the four requirements for trusts to qualify to own IRAs without causing taxation.
Discover the "inside" and "outside" planning strategies we have used for years to protect inherited IRAs and provide clients with the maximum number of options at death to avoid the loss of an IRA to creditors and long-term care costs.

To locate the packet, login to the member site, hover over the “Marketing” tab and choose the “Professional Presentations” folder. Scroll down to the folder titled “IRA's Not Protected The Supreme Court Rules” and you will find the materials along with the video.

For non-members, you order your own Marketing Packet and start doing your own presentations by clicking here: http://ira.lawyerswithpurpose.com

Roslyn Drotar, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation – Lawyers With Purpose

Integrating Easy

June 18, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Legal Technical Medicaid Systems & Processes VA

Tiffany Brown, Vice President of DocuBank, again join the Lawyers With Purpose blog as a guest and shares her perspective of how the administrative part of running a practice can be daunting.

Whenever you find something that builds value AND is simple to set up, it’s a win-win.

Thanks to some clever programming on the part of Lawyers with Purpose, getting started with DocuBank is one such winning proposition.

The DocuBank service is a value-added benefit for both your clients and your firm but it’s also one other very important thing – easy.

The DocuBank enrollment form is built right into the Lawyers with Purpose software so that your clients simply sign the form during the signing meeting and your staff then sends it along with the documents to establish their membership. Any information not supplied by the software can always be added by the client at a later date.

Getting started with DocuBank is easy. We have been working with attorneys for more than two decades to establish and comprehensive turnkey process. Having the software integration as part of the DocuBank and Lawyers with Purpose partnership means that the DocuBank solution is even easier for you to implement.

The discounted rates available to you through Lawyers with Purpose mean that adding DocuBank memberships to the service you provide for your clients is also affordable. Click here to find out more about DocuBank.

Click here to find out more about how DocuBank can be a great value-added tool for your firm and your clients.

Tiffany Brown, Vice President, DocuBank

Roslyn Drotar – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

Marketing To Nursing Homes: Talking Price

June 17, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Legal Marketing Systems & Processes

If you've been following our series about marketing to nursing homes, then we're glad to see you back for the third post in the series. If you missed the first two parts you can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

In this post we'll tackle the question of talking price. If you get your foot in the door with the administrator, is that the time to share your fee schedule, or do you risk your contact making a hasty value judgment on the costs?

Bottom line, you have to prove the value of what you're offering first. Then when they ask – and they WILL – let them know your fee. The cost is one month of nursing home care to protect the house. Again, let them know the value first. They aren't just looking out for themselves, they're protecting their residents.

It's a good idea not to undercut. Just tell them, “This is what it is,” because the business office manager knows how much work is involved in dealing with Medicaid, putting the application together or running it through the system. (The administrator, on the other hand, might not be quite as aware of what is involved, so tailor your message to the audience.)

So, a lot of times, the business office will be your biggest ally when it comes to cost. You let them know your fee, and the business office is probably thinking, “Yes, I do this myself and it’s worth it to have you do it.” So be straightforward about it, because they’re going to ask you. If you’re not willing to share that info or you kind of beat around the bush, you won't gain their trust and they might not be comfortable sending clients to you.

Tell the business office that it’s usually one to two months of nursing home costs, according to how complicated the process is. When you put it in those terms, the business manager relates the numbers to their fee, as well. You might not nail down exact figures, but it helps if you ballpark it to what their dollar figure is, what they’re charging their clients. Check back here soon for more on nursing home marketing.

Roslyn Drotar – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

What LWP Tri-Annual Retreat Attendees Are Getting Today

June 13, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Coaching & Implementation Legal Marketing Team Building

Today is Day 3 of the Lawyers With Purpose Members Tri-Annual Retreat. We have the priviledge of guest speaker Christine Kane speaking and we want to share with you a little sneak peek of her agenda for the day.

It actually shows very little of what's actually going to happen in the room. Estate Planning Attorneys nationally, together with their teams talking about growing personally and professionally. Transforming themselves and their team. It's just a little peek of the agenda from 10-2:30 but they've all been together for almost 3 full days!

Why do we set goals? Why don't we achieve them? Limiting beliefs, etc.
Breaking limiting patterns

Aspiration (motivation/goal/dream)
Awareness
Action (mindset and energy included)

You can’t run away from yourself!

What’s in the way of your goals?
Exercise
Set your goal – pick your number $ for the year or 3 years

Describe your environment – 3 words
Describe your time – 5 core activities you spend bulk of time doing
Doing things outside of what you’re being called to do costs energy
The more you start doing things you’re good at, the more money you’ll make (hiring people to take the chores off you)

Partner up, share your vision.

Name the vision

Camp Scarcity (fear): not enough, loss, competition, limits, well is dry, constriction/contraction, not deserving, hard, cold, alone, isolated, familiar, struggle, envy, martyr, victim, guilt, judgment, perfectionism, greed, lust, experiences deplete us
Planet Abundance: in the flow, effortless, ease, clarity, creative, innovative, community, collaboration, gratitude, love, appreciation, joy, happiness, presence, compassion
Worksheet prep (Becoming 360)

10 areas of work and life, in terms of your dream
5 core beliefs of the person you want to become
Rate truth – never, fairly, sometimes, always
Partner, share your 5 beliefs and rating

Create one affirmation statement for one of these beliefs
Create one action step that locks in the affirmation
Recurring thoughts, positive and negative
Write 5 beneficial recurring thoughts in journal

Rate truth – never, fairly, sometimes, always

Partner, share the beliefs and rating
Create one action step for these recurring thoughts
Worksheet

Fill in sections 1-2, “Becoming 360”

Daily activities (present)
WWOD – What Would Oprah Do?

Are your daily activities in line with the vision you? What can you offload?

Cross off anything on list that your vision self would no longer do

Start small if you need to, major drains
There is no recipe or formula, it’s your own experience
Protect your confidence, cross off anything negative

Partner up, share list and what’s going away

Create one action step for worksheet
Tell Me Later and Text Minder – apps for future reminders
Task Rabbit or Angie’s List to find help

Habits
Recurring patterns vs. activities
Partner; share new habit you will implement for next 90 days to bring this vision

Health & Energy

Holistic model, don’t compartmentalize – business and health are interrelated
3-5 places in health (mental, mindset, physical, etc.) that are draining you
Action step: 1 thing you can do to begin process of healing what’s draining you. Something do-able. Set the intention to see what can open up – be open to miracles.
Partner, share your action.

Environment
What can you clean up?

Partner and share who you’ll have on your team

Products & Offers

What needs to change to get you to your income goal?
Books leading into program (create back-end first)
3 things your vision self offers, and how they’re priced
Stand and partner, share
Free Time
Schedule your time
How often does your vision self take vacation?
What does free time look like?
Partner – current free time, one action step to boost it this year

Best Relationships

5 common, important traits of the people your vision self most spends time with
5 people you currently hang out with the most
How do these 5 people measure up to the 5 vision traits? Do these people serve you?
Action step to build better, more supportive relationships

You don't want to miss Pheonix in October. Block October 22nd – 24th on your calendar now and join in the conversation if you weren't able to make it this time. I can't wait to hop on my implementation calls next week and hear what the members came up with for their firm Money Plan and Becoming 360!

Roslyn Drotar – Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose

Have You Gotten That 2AM Call Yet?

June 9, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting Software Legal Technical

Lawyers With Purpose welcomes Guest Blogger, Tiffany Brown, Vice President of DocuBank. We frequently get asked on our CCI calls, or at our LWP events about the value of DocuBank.

Tiffany offers her insight, starting with one simple question:

Have you gotten that 2AM call yet? The one where a client's family is looking for the healthcare power of attorney or living will, while their loved one sits in an ER or ICU?

If you have, then you are probably already using DocuBank. We offer protection for your firm and your clients to ensure that that 2am emergency is covered. The DocuBank Emergency card offers 24/7/365 access to the documents your clients need during a medical emergency.

The DocuBank service has been protecting clients since 1993 and during the past two decades we’ve evolved to include an online SAFE that clients can use to access all of their estate planning documents. SAFE allows clients to upload and share all the personal documents they would like convenient online access to. The ability to create limited access sub accounts for family and friends, and appoint a Digital Executor to inherit the account upon verified proof of death makes SAFE a great tool for families to share and exchange vital information with you and each other.

Any of the thousands of attorneys who use DocuBank will tell you that they enjoy the peace of mind that DocuBank brings their clients. And those attorneys who have received one of those 2 am wake-up calls before using DocuBank will tell you that the peace of mind DocuBank provides for their firm is well worth the price for the service.

But DocuBank offers more than just powerful client protection.

We also offer creative tools to help you strengthen client retention, create referrals with friends and family and reach out for referrals in your area.

Email referrals to family and friends when clients enroll;
Hospital Outreach packet for area doctors;
Fax to Physician Program gives clients’ doctors the information they need to access these documents for your client;
Branding of your firm on each card
Branding of your firm on the client DocuBank landing page
Portal on your website that takes them directly to your branded page
Tangible addition to your maintenance plan
And much More…

We are happy to provide special discounts and benefits through our partnership with Lawyers with Purpose. Please click here to find out more about how DocuBank can be a great value-added tool for your firm and your clients.

Tiffany Brown, Vice President, DocuBank

If you're at the Practice With Purpose program, or Members Tri Annual Retreat with Lawyers With Purpose in Chicago this week, stop by the DocuBank booth and say hello to Mike Wall! He's there and can answer all your questions.

Roslyn Drotar, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation – Lawyers With Purpose

Congratulations To Michael Cohen, LWP Member Of The Month

June 3, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Legal Marketing Systems & Processes Team Building

What is the greatest success you’ve had since joining LWP?

I have been able shift my practice from being primarily “crisis” planning to planning that is more encompassing with more options than I what I previously was aware. We now tell potential clients that we are “Baskin-Robbins” – you just tell us what flavor you like, and we will design your plan to meet your flavor. I also see LWP as a way to approach the practice more like a business (i.e. with focusers, steadier cash flow, etc.).

What is your favorite LWP tool?

Although I mentioned the focusers in my answer above, my favorite tool (if you can call it a” tool” ) is having monthly workshops. As LWP members know, the “stories” in the workshop simplify the complex area of planning and allow us to help so many more people (and I can leverage my time even if an attendee doesn’t become a client) in addition to an increase in bottom line. In addition, the workshop design allows us to have fun (with my personal stamp or story) with prospective clients while showing them our knowledge and their need to take care of the ones they love.

How has being part of LWP impacted your team and your practice?

First, LWP has increased communications in our office. Second, although we are small, our “team” has grown as a result of LWP. Third, the focus of our practice has changed as indicated in my answer to no. 1 above. Fourth, I have expanded my horizon in legal-technical knowledge. Finally, I see a roadmap for a journey that (although I am not sure where it will end or what weather lies before me) I expect to have a rainbow at the end. A special thanks to Molly for keeping us on the right path.

Becoming 360 With Christine Kane of UpLevel You

June 2, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with No Comment Coaching & Implementation Legal Marketing Systems & Processes Team Building

We've had some phenominal ~ and passionate ~ conversations about the content we want to bring to the members at the retreat. Meet Christine Kane of UpLevel You who will be sharing her "Becoming 360" on Day 3 of the members only Tri-Annual Retreat in Chicago – June 11-13th, just two weeks from now! What is "Becoming 360" you ask???

and a more compassionate (and passionate!) perspective on you, your life, your future, and how you want to design your success.

In Becoming 360. You’ll dive deeper into your goals, your purpose and your WHY.

You’ll understand and celebrate the real reason we set goals at all.

HINT: It’s NOT about the achievement. It’s about WHO WE BECOME as we get there.

The day will be devoted to that process of setting the goal, and then examining – through conversation, clarity work and training – the 10 areas of your life that drive (or drain) your energy, and who you must BECOME in order to reach and manifest the goals you set.

This is the path of the leader and the entrepreneur. And it gives greater meaning and clarity to our work, our surroundings, our desires, and our relationships.

The LWP team can’t wait to do this work with you! Safe travels and we'll be seeing you all in the Windy City! There are still just a few seats left so if you're interested in attending the Tri-Annual Retreat, pick up the phone and reach out to Angela (acrowther@lawywerswithpurpose.com) TODAY don't wait!

Roslyn Drotar, Coaching, Consulting & Implementation, Lawyers With Purpose