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Five Easy Steps To Get Clients To Respond To Funding Requests

March 6, 2014

by Roslyn Drotar with One Comment Uncategorized

Strategic Outsource Services, LLC provides estate planning and elder law practices with an alternative to the costs of full-time employees. Outsourcing gives you the opportunity to cut costs and free up more time. Founder, Susan Dachs, has years of professional experience supporting law firms with trust funding.

Today Susan joins our blog and provides "Five Easy Tips to Get Clients to Respond to Funding Requests:"

During my many years working with clients to get their trusts funded, I have learned a lot about getting them to respond to my funding requests. Here five easy tips that will help:

1. PICK UP THE PHONE! I can’t say this enough. You have a much better chance of getting the information from your clients over the phone than you do if you expect them to open your letter or email, go find the info you asked for and then reply to you. Life will get in the way every time, and your request will get lost in the shuffle. If you need an account number or a value of an account, pick up the phone, call them and ask them to set the phone down and go get you the info. Your client will be happier because you made it easier for them, and you will save time, frustration, letterhead, envelopes and postage!

2. Get all the info together ahead of time. Put in the extra time and effort to get all company-specific forms together in ONE package for the client. Many law firms, because they are pressed for time, simply prepare law firm instruction letters for the client to sign and then wait for the companies to reply with a request for their specific form. This creates a constant stream of additional paperwork for the client to sign and return to you. Not only does it slow down the process, it frustrates the client. Start a file of company-specific forms. Put in the extra time and effort to call in advance and obtain any forms you do not have so you can then have the client sign everything in one shot.

3. If you mail something to a client to sign, put a sticky note OVER the signature line if a notary or any other signing method is required. I can’t tell you the number of times a client sees a Sign Here tab and signs away, without reading your note to have the signature notarized. If you place your note OVER the signing line, it forces the client to read it before signing. Simple, but effective.

4. Be specific! If you send a request to a client, be very specific about what you need. For example, rather than sending a reminder letter to a client saying “please forward us any mail you have received from your financial companies,” ask them to “please forward to us any mail you have received from Fidelity, Charles Schwab or Smith Barney – we are waiting for information from them.” Specific company names stick and resonate with a client when a general request doesn’t. A client is more apt to think “Aha! I DID get something from Fidelity the other day” rather than setting your letter to the side to “check into it later.”

5. Always use a local contact. If your client has a local contact or advisor, that is who you should go through for the funding request. The local advisor is often listed on the financial statements, or you can directly ask your client. Even if the advisor instructs you to mail items to the regional office, you can always contact them again if you are not getting a response. Advisors want to look good and provide good service to their clients. Helping you is a great way for them to show their clients their value, and it makes your law firm look great too. So, you are subtly marketing at the same time.

Strategic Outsource Services uses a specific funding process called The Pit Bull Funding Follow Up System™ that produces quick funding results; however, these five tips alone will help you get clients to respond to your requests even within your current funding process.

If you simply don’t have time to properly handle your firm’s funding, contact us to discuss outsourcing your funding to Strategic Outsource Services. We typically complete funding within 45 days for a pre-determined price, so no matter how much follow-up is required to complete a file, your cost stays the same! Get more information about our services at www.outsourcesolution.net.

Blog post contributed by Susan L. Dachs, Director of Operations of Strategic Outsource Services LLC.

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Community Means Being There

February 17, 2014

by Molly Hall with No Comment Uncategorized

Our latest Enhancement Retreat brought home a powerful message: Community can be a difference-maker. I simply cannot articulate the sense of community that we all felt there; you had to experience it firsthand. I have personally attended all nine of our Enhancement Retreats, and this year we are kicking it up a notch.

Over thirty five elder law and estate planning firms from across the nation, along with their dedicated team members – 125 people – in a room together for two and a half days, three times a year. We were sharing values and goals with other like-minded entrepreneurs, law students, paralegals, client service coordinators, marketing coordinators – all of these different roles coming together to make their firms shine.

Members were blow away with what they have accomplished since our last retreat in October – just four short months ago.

Community played a big role in making that happen. It’s important to be able to communicate what community is. People join clubs and organizations on some level for the community they get. If it’s a gym, you get the accountability of people saying “Where were you on Tuesday? We missed you at cycling class!” People are dependent on you and they feed off of your energy and the excitement you bring. The collaboration and accountability that comes from community meant the goals that were set in October were going to get met. No. Matter. What. So being in the room is key; that's a message we can't articulate with a marketing piece.

Being there means you hear things from other members – we call them your Board of Directors – like “You have to slow down and manage that growth,” or “You have to speed up.” It means you can talk more and share what has worked and what hasn’t. One of our members declared in the room that he would be launching consistent workshops starting in April. His Board of Directors responded, “You can’t wait! You’ve got to do it now to leverage your time!”

These conversations with others support you with controlled and consistent growth. Most people are afraid of growth and success. It’s scary. They don’t know if they are doing it right. They are afraid they are going to blow up what they’ve done before. Community can be the antidote for those fears.

And it goes way beyond the attorneys. For the perfect storm, we also have your team centric. It’s great that you're getting ideas from other attorneys, but the beauty is that they have teams together that are on the front lines. They’re talking, sharing, gaining confidence and getting fired up! I was hammered with emails when I got back asking how they can get their hands on tools, webinars and training pieces, to get whatever they need in their bones to support the firm with reaching its goals.

Our attendees are definitely on a high this week – so come April they may gap out. But June is just around the corner, and they’ll be back in the room for the next Enhancement Retreat. That will bring accountability. Collaboration. Meeting with their Board of Directors. You will only get so much from the ListServ, the Live ListServ, Your Legal Hour, member webinars, marketing roundtables, etc.; they are no substitute for being in the room.

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

Open Enrollment Period To Expire Soon For Same-Sex Couples’ Survivor Benefits – Lawyers With Purpose

February 4, 2014

by Lawyers With Purpose with No Comment VA

In compliance with the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Department of Defense (DoD) has opened enrollment for the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to retired military personnel who are gay and married. The Survivor Benefit Plan is income that a widow receives when that person's retired military spouse dies. It replaces, up to 55%, the pension the retiree was receiving prior to death. When the military retiree dies, the pension terminates. Without the SBP, the widow could face financial hardship.

Enrollment in the program is not automatic. Retirees or their widows must act before June 25, 2014 to participate in the SBP Open Enrollment Window.

DoD guidance is as follows:

Any claims to SBP spouse coverage for same-sex spouses of eligible participants of the SBP for periods before June 26, 2013, are not valid, as the Defense of Marriage Act was still the law and in effect prior to June 26, 2013. As a result, no SBP premiums for such coverage will be charged prior to that date. Further, no SBP annuity payments for such coverage will be paid for deaths occurring before that date.

Effective from June 26, 2013, a person who becomes eligible to participate under 10 U.S.C. 1448 (a)(1) and is married to a same-sex partner shall have the SBP program applied as for any other married couple under section 10 U.S.C. 1448, including the requirements for spousal consent for less than full annuity coverage of the spouse.

A person who was married to a same-sex partner upon becoming eligible to participate in the plan prior to June 26, 2013, and who had married that same-sex partner before June 26, 2013, shall have one year from June 26, 2013, to make a spouse election under 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(3). Such person may not participate at less than maximum coverage described in 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(3) without the concurrence of the person’s spouse unless they already had provided an annuity for a dependent child. If an election is not received on or before June 25, 2014, full spousal coverage shall be entered and the member shall be responsible for payment of premiums effective from June 26, 2013.

A person who is married to a same-sex partner on June 26, 2013 and has insurable interest coverage under the SBP may terminate the insurable interest coverage and elect spouse coverage. This election must be received on or before June 25, 2014.

A person who was not married upon becoming eligible to participate in the plan, but who married a same-sex partner before June 26, 2013, shall have one year from June 26, 2013, to make a spouse election under 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(5). The election must be received on or before June 25, 2014, or the person shall be prohibited by law from making such election.

Generally, a person who is a participant in the plan and is providing coverage under the SBP for a spouse, who later does not have an eligible spouse beneficiary may, under 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(6), elect not to provide coverage for a new spouse in the event of a remarriage.

For a person who enters into a same-sex marriage after June 26, 2013, the election to discontinue participation under 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(6) must be made within one year of the remarriage. If a member does not discontinue participation, then pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(6), spouse coverage will resume effective on the first anniversary of the marriage.

If the remarriage took place prior to June 26, 2013, the participant has one year from June 26, 2013 to elect out of SBP. If a member does not make such an election within one year of June 26, 2013, then pursuant to section 10 U.S.C. 1448(a)(6), spouse coverage will resume effective no earlier than June 25, 2014.

Additionally, any such person falling within the parameters of section 10 U.S.C. 1448(g), shall have one year from June 26, 2013, or the date of any marriage subsequent to that date, to elect to increase the level of coverage under 10 U.S.C. 1448(g).

Now that marriage rights are recognized, more benefits are becoming available. However, some, like SBP, have open enrollment periods and deadlines to receive the benefits. To protect your spouse, ACT NOW. Lawyers may want to send a letter to all of their clients advising them of this change.

Victoria L. Collier is a Veteran and Certified Elder Law Attorney, Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Co-Founder of Lawyers With Purpose LLC, and author of “47 Secret Veterans’ Benefits for Seniors—Benefits You Have Earned … but Don’t Know About.”

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This Has To Work

January 31, 2014

by Molly Hall with No Comment Uncategorized

It's Super Bowl week, and as you can imagine, the energy in the Mile High City is infectious. Community is brewing, and the birthplace of “America the Beautiful” is a giant love fest. The grocery stores, offices, banks and bus stops are all buzzing with “We got this!! Right?” For the past17 Sundays we’ve devoted our sacred recipes, handcrafted microbrews and family days, which took on a whole new religious zeal. All anybody can talk about the past few weeks is spreads, odds and luck. I have to say, as a born and raised Buffalo Bills gal, it warms my heart to be “part of” a Super Bowl team (hold the Norwide jokes please).

It’s been said that fear is the flip side of excitement. I am seeing evidence of this; the verve of January 1^st is slowly fading as we approach flipping the calendar past the first month of the New Year. Weekly football stakes, new budgets, revenue goals, and health goals are all officially moving from “game on” and resolutions to tenacity and inevitability. Something about February brings a purposeless calm to the calendar as a whole. The buzz is stripped harshly from the air once the Monday after Super Bowl hits. It really doesn’t matter if you follow football or not, it’s the reality of too many days ahead to count until the next excitement (socially acceptable distraction). There’s a melancholy stillness.

Just like the excitement/anxiety coin tossing around in Colorado right now, I see so many law firms experiencing the same emotions of “This has to work out.” The circumstance might be that you just hired your very first employee, or set a revenue goal that you have never set before, or committed to new office space that you are not certain you can afford. When the hype and excitement is stripped away, we find ourselves in the quiet of “this has to work out,” and that is honestly never a feeling we want to have, especially when it's not “just a game.” So when you find yourself with that feeling, ask yourself, is the “have to” feeling truth? WHY does what we are doing right now have to work? Am I putting the intentional time and intention in (training that new employee), or is the “have to” because I don’t want to go back to the locker room, huddle, engineer Plan B and then recourse.

It is just like the two-minute warning: If you are willing to declare that something just isn’t working, to confront the brutal facts of your current reality, in the face of absolute fear, you can find the courage to stop, recourse and commit to ending the insanity. That’s the beauty. At the end of the game, nothing has to work other than your willingness to let go of “this has to work” and call another play when “Omaha” is no longer going in the right direction.

Molly L. Hall, Co-Founder, Lawyers With Purpose, LLC, and author of Don’t Be a Yes Chick: How to Stop Babysitting Your Boss, Transform Your Job and Work with a Dream Team Without Losing Your Sanity or Your Spirit in the Process.

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Do You Know Lorraine?

January 23, 2014

by David Zumpano with No Comment Uncategorized

Recently, while reading the obituaries, I saw that Jeff, my neighbor’s father, died at the age of 78. While viewed as somewhat ordinary, it immediately made me flash back to my childhood and growing up in a neighborhood of over 25 kids, ten of which were myself and my siblings and seven were Jeff and his wife, Lorraine’s, all the same age as one of us.

We grew up in the 70s playing kick the can, red rover, red light/green light and many other outdoor games to keep ourselves busy (there were no video games in those days). With Jeff dying, it symbolized the end of an era we see as the “good old days” where you can relate back to where you came from and appreciate the simple things. I made it a point to visit Lorraine and her children, several of whom I was still casually in touch with, to express my condolences.

Unfortunately for Lorraine, she not only had to deal with the loss of her husband of 55 years, but also had to deal with the tremendous unknown of having to maintain her life without him. You see, Jeff did everything; he paid the bills, managed the finances, and handled all the financial responsibilities of the household, while Lorraine managed the family. Lorraine did not even know how much money they made each month. She was unsure of what bills had to be paid and she was scared to figure it all out now, without her most important ally with her. As an estate-planning attorney, the family naturally started to ask me questions, which began with, what we in the business often refer to as, “the morbid scavenger hunt” – that is, the hunt for information after someone has passed to try and figure out what was being done. They were unaware of insurance policies, financial accounts, bank accounts and, in fact, Lorraine did not even have power of attorney for Jeff in his final phase of life.

This very stressful time leading up to Jeff’s death and after his passing was exacerbated by the unknown and the additional fear created by it. Do you know someone like Lorraine? The truth is estate planning is ensuring you have a plan in place to handle the legal and financial matters while you are alive and healthy, after you become disabled, and after you pass. Ultimately, a properly drawn estate plan will also provide for a smooth transition after the second passing and, most importantly, avoid the family fights.

Lucky for Lorraine, I am an estate-planning attorney and do this every day of my life. And because I have a strong affinity to her, I was willing to sit in her kitchen and go through information with her and her children to try to assemble the past, resolving all the unknowns. We began calls to the insurance companies and some miscellaneous names she had given me all to try to discover all the pieces and parts that made up her financial life. The good news is we are making headway; but it didn’t have to be this stressful.

I feel for Lorraine and I encourage those of you who are not actively involved in your estate to begin the journey of knowledge now to alleviate the unnecessary pain created by the unknown after the pain of losing your loved one.

David J. Zumpano, Esq., CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder of MPS, Founder and Senior Partner of EState Planning Law Center.