Growing a practice requires expertise in the handoff. You can’t do it all. If you’re seeking to grow, you need to be willing to let go of some responsibilities.
Some of the attorneys I meet tell me they’re desperate to give up some of their work to the attorneys and paralegals in their firms.
Letting go of some of the work is essential to growth. You’ve got to be able to transfer a client from the rainmaker to the attorney handling the work.
Those same attorneys complain about the difficulty they find in handing off the work. “The clients resist,” they say.
The handoff is a cause of great concern to many attorneys. They worry about whether the client is going to be happy with someone else. They don’t want to tarnish their reputation by bringing in business and having the client relationship turn sour.
It’s a legitimate concern. If you’ve failed to assemble a talented team, then you’re going to have trouble keeping clients happy. But, if you’ve got a good team, the handoff shouldn’t be a problem.
There are all sorts of rational, logical ways to make the handoff work. You can implement systems like client transition meetings, proper documentation, etc., and you’ll have a successful handoff process.
However, one thing can keep the handoff from working well.
What?
You!
You see, if your ego gets in the way, the handoff is going to fail.
Here’s what I mean:
Some of us have BIG egos (I plead guilty).
Sometimes our BIG EGOS get in the way.
We claim that we want to hand off the work, but we behave in ways that result in the work coming right back to us.
Sometimes it’s our egos struggling to help us feel important by being needed. We sabotage our efforts to delegate.
We let our need to be needed create a situation where the handoff becomes more difficult.
We make all kinds of delegation mistakes. We delegate partially. We keep a hand in the case. We undermine the authority of our associate. We jump in when we shouldn’t. We show up when we don’t need to. We micromanage. We interfere. We check behind. We refer to ourselves as “senior” and the person we expect the client to trust a “junior” or an “associate.” We make the other attorney carry our bag, fetch our coffee, or worse. We put our name first on the letterhead. I could go on, but I won’t. You already know the things you’re doing to undermine the handoff.
We like to say we’re bad at delegating, but that’s not the problem. The problem is deeper than that.
If you’re having trouble handing off clients, you need to ask yourself whether the problem is really the client or whether the problem is really you. If it’s you, you need to let go. You need to accept that you’re not essential to every client relationship. Many clients can be quite happy having the work done by someone else.
This has been terribly difficult for me. I have to constantly remind myself that, by letting it go, I find time for other things—better things. I can grow the practice in my free time, I can take vacations, and I can enjoy life. Letting go is good. I’ve had to teach myself these lessons over and over. I’m reminded of the struggle every time I see one of our people do “it” differently than I would have done it.
We can’t control everything, and we’re not essential to every interaction. Let your people run. Tie yourself to your chair and turn off your phone and computer if necessary, but stay out of the business of your team. Let them do a good job.
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What clients want and need, in most instances, is responsiveness, caring, and action. If they’re getting that from your associate, then they’re going to be happy. If they’re not getting what they need, do what you can to help your team deliver.
I’ve counseled a number of attorneys on the handoff process. More often than not, it involves letting go rather than tweaking the process with any particular technique. You may just need to have a conversation with yourself and let go.
