How to Start a Maintenance Program
By Vincent E. Bonazzoli, Esq.
Over the past decade, maintenance program implementation has, for many firms, been a trial and error process. While there is no silver bullet, the success of any maintenance program begins with the attorney believing that the maintenance program will work and then "committing" to the implementation of the maintenance program. Those firms that are not clear as to what services to provide or whether it will work often have few clients enroll or have their maintenance programs go out of existence over time. In addition, the proper implementation of the maintenance plan hinges on efficiency and organization. Creating systems for managing the day-to-day tasks of office life is essential - from the seemingly small things (such as managing incoming mail) to many of the larger tasks (annual invoicing of maintenance program clients, tracking initial funding of assets into the trust and continual funding of assets, and updating documents). Identifying and building systems around the services that the attorney or firm wants to provide as part of their annual maintenance program is all part of mapping a route to success. In addition, finding a mentor or coach who has already "done it" and has a thriving maintenance program in place will help attorneys to learn from the mistakes of others and eliminate much of the error from "trial and error".
In terms of enrolling existing clients in the maintenance program, there are two schools of thought. One is that a line is drawn in the sand and from that day forward, only future clients may enroll in the maintenance program. The other, and the approach that our firm has taken, is to start by going back to former estate planning clients and having them "convert" into the maintenance program model. We found it an easy conversation to have with our old clients. We simply state the truth --"As professionals who continue to learn in a profession that is constantly evolving, we have learned a new system which we believe is essential and will dramatically increase the chances of an estate plan working and your family being taken care of at the time of death."
What services should my maintenance plan include? There is no standard in the estate planning community regarding what should be included. Each firm must decide what services to include based upon their core values, resources (number of support team members, attorneys or type of outsource providers) and services they feel are essential for their clients and that can actually be delivered. Some firms simply provide short phone calls and copies of documents upon request as their "maintenance program"; other firms provide one on one meetings with the attorney, annual asset reviews and reviews of estate planning documents and restatements of documents on a regular basis. Two notes of caution for those firms that may consider offering one-on-one annual meetings. On-on-one annual meetings are not typically the most important element in keeping an estate plan current. Further, the attorney may become overwhelmed with meetings once the number of maintenance clients becomes significant.
To learn more from Vinnie about starting an estate planning maintenance program, join our Webinar on July 29th at 4-5pm EST. Click here to register.
How to Implement an Estate Planning Maintenance Program.....No Kidding
I talk to attorneys every day across the country. The most common project everyone has on their "to-do" list is to get a maintenance program started but no one seems quite sure how or when. This series of blogs, written by Attorney Vincent Bonazzoli, will share with you how to implement a maintenance program. I've had the opportunity to work with Vinnie and see how his process works and I can honestly say his firm is one of the most systemized, effective firms I've worked with, while still providing customized, genuine client value. - Laney Lyons, Co-founder of Your Outsource Resource, LLC
Over the next several decades, trillions of dollars are expected to pass from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, failed and outdated estate plans will cause a significant percentage of those dollars to be unnecessarily diverted to lawyers, probate courts and the state and federal government in the form of higher than necessary ' fees, costs and estate taxes. Most estate plans are out of date because the typical client will not come back and update their plan, even when prodded by their estate planning attorney.
When a client retains an estate planning attorney to not just design and implement an estate plan, but also to maintain it, the attorney, the client and the client's family all benefit. Through our firm's experience, one of the best ways to actually maintain a plan and keep it current is through the development and implementation of a formal "maintenance program".
Although there has been much discussion regarding maintenance programs, very few firms have actually built their businesses around the maintenance program model. There are a few reasons for this. Many firms simply don't know how or where to begin. Some may question how they could maintain financial viability with such an arrangement. Still others wonder whether the time and effort required to design and implement a successful maintenance program is actually worth it. The purpose of this article is to get beyond the conversation about the concept of a maintenance program and to discuss why a maintenance program is essential, workable and worth it. Further we will begin to discuss how to implement a maintenance program.
First, what is a maintenance program? A client maintenance (or membership) program is an estate planning model based on ongoing representation of the estate planning client. It goes against the traditional "transactional" model (Here are your documents -call your attorney when you want to make changes) and toward a "relationship" model. Maintenance plans vary, but at their most basic level, consist of a periodic review of estate planning documents, asset ownership, client goals and other estate planning-related matters. The main distinction between maintenance-centric and non-maintenance-centric estate planning is that maintenance-centric estate planning is a proactive engagement between the estate planning attorney and client whereby the attorney is hired (and typically paid annually) to maintain the plan and the client is obligated to continue to provide information to the attorney. The goal of the representation is not just to have "good" legal documents, but to have a plan which will succeed when the client dies. In order to be successful, the plan must: be consistent with the current laws in effect; have assets properly titled in accordance with the client's estate plan; and be aligned with the client's family and personal goals.
Why have a maintenance program? The simple answer is: because a maintenance program is a "win-win" both for the client and for the attorney. A maintenance program is a common sense process for both the attorney and client. Almost all of our clients have represented that one of the main reasons they would not call or meet with their previous counsel is that as soon as they were in communication with the attorney the "meter begins to run" and fear they will be billed by "the hour/minute". An annual maintenance program based on an annual "flat price" will remove one of the primary barriers preventing clients from being in communication, providing information and updating their plan. An estate planning maintenance program allows the client an "affordable" means to communicate with the attorney (to ask questions that may come up) and to provide information and documents necessary to keep the estate plan current. Through this model of open communication, consisting of a regular review and updating of assets and the estate plan documents, the chances that the plan will be up to date and work at the time the client dies increases dramatically. From the law firm's perspective, many attorneys do not have a mechanism in place to charge current clients for periodic phone calls or other counseling that they may need. Some attorneys will submit hourly bills which are often objected to by the client, causing lost time and frustration for both the attorney and the client. After all, from the clients' perspective, they were just asking that "simple question". A maintenance program structure provides for the attorney to be compensated for his or her time, but on a "flat price" platform, which the client can consider a "controlled cost".
Perhaps the greatest financial benefit of a maintenance program for an attorney or firm is the increased referrals and recurring revenue that the maintenance program will generate. We have identified at least six sources of revenue or referrals that result directly from a maintenance program outside of any marketing to referral sources. They are as follows:
1. Annual maintenance fees generated by the annual maintenance program;
2. Additional work needed by the client apart from the original engagement or annual maintenance services;
3. Client referrals;
4. Client family members and fiduciaries becoming clients as a result of the generational planning and as a result of the Family Care Meeting™;
5. Trust administration fees from clients; and
6. Referrals from clients' other advisors after being part of the Family Care Meeting™ and seeing the maintenance program in action.
If clients believe they have been well taken care of, they become the very best evangelists for the attorney and the maintenance program itself, and will refer their friends and family members. If a maintenance program provides for a family meeting structure, the seeds of a relationship with those family members have already been planted. In this regard, a maintenance program is simply one of the most effective business-generating tools an attorney can have. In addition, a maintenance program helps to create a financially viable, stable practice which has the ability to thrive in good and bad economic times. Aside from creating an annual revenue source, maintenance programs are creating businesses that have quantifiable value. We suggest that the annual fees plus the administration work after a client dies will be seen as an asset. We have estimated that our base clients (with estate values of less than $7 million) will need administration services to assist in passing over $1 billion at death.
Stay tuned for part two, discussing How to Start a Maintenance Program and What Services Should be Included.
I Need Attorneys to be a Part of Our National Deed Network
One of the biggest time vampires I had when working for a law firm was out-of-state deeds. Based in Florida, a lot of our clients were part-time residents. They were smart enough to head north for the Florida summer so we were constantly looking for attorneys in other states to transfer property to trusts. This seems like a simple task. Look up an attorney or post an inquiry on a listserve.
What’s the big deal? Well, it actually worked like this:
1. Client tells us they have out–of-state property.
2. We look up an attorney in that state and call or email them.
3. Several phone tag calls later, we connect and I inquire about their services and price.
4. Obtaining the price, I try to contact the client to get an ok since they will be paying for it.
5. Several phone tag calls later, we connect and they ok the price.
6. Then I forward the information to the attorney to draft the deed.
7. Assuming it goes well from there, and I am not intercepting client questions and status requests, this is already WAY too time-consuming considering the task.
Many of the attorneys that I currently do back-office work for also need out-of-state deeds prepared. Since I only prepare Florida deeds, I again find myself on that quest for an attorney to do a deed. However, this time, I have a plan to improve the process.
I am creating a National Deed Network of attorneys who offer the service of preparing deeds to transfer property to trusts. This way, I immediately know who I can send this work to in each state. There is no charge to be on this list. It’s simply my way of saving myself time and providing faster turn-around service. If you wish to be on the list to receive deed work, you simply provide me your pricing and turn-around so I can have it on hand to convey to attorneys needing your services. I do not up-charge this service on my end. It is simply faster and more effective for me to know the price ahead of time rather than playing phone tag to find out. And, you will know that if you need an out-of-state deed, you can call me for a connection and I will be able to provide you with complete pricing and turn-around information. If the work requires any property searches or additional research on your end, you would absolutely retain the right to charge additional.
If you would like to be in the National Deed Network, please respond to me and let me know.
If you need an out-of-state deed prepared, contact me to connect with an attorney who can assist you.
I hope this service helps save you time and frustration.
I don’t think I made myself CLEAR
Let Me Explain............
I’ve been explaining how to outsource funding to law firms for months now and I’ve realized that there may be things that I haven’t made clear. Each time I talk to a law firm they are surprised that we not only prepare the funding documents, but that we make all of the follow up calls and handle all client contact with regard to the funding process. We carry it through until the funding is complete. Many attorneys have told me this is a key deciding factor in their decision to outsource their firm’s funding. I guess I didn’t realize how unusual it is that we include this level of service or that I needed to better explain how we work!
To Your Outsource Resource, it only makes sense to handle all the follow up and client contact. If a firm is outsourcing funding, they should outsource it all the way. It doesn’t make sense to only outsource the document preparation then staff someone in your firm to handle the follow-up. The follow-up and on-going client communication is the more time-intensive aspect and it is the area where you most need an experienced professional that will inspire confidence. Our goal is to efficiently and quickly complete the funding process for your clients, so directly handling phone calls and follow-up only seems to make the most sense.
How Does My Client Not Get Confused?
Typically, law firms we support with funding have us interact with their client as a representative of their law firm. So, for example, we don’t call a client and say “Hi, this is Laney from Your Outsource Resource” – we would instead call a client and say “Hi, this is Laney. I work with attorney Joe Smith’s office”. In today’s times, it’s not unusual to have employees that work in different cities or states. Most of the time, clients don’t even notice. They are just pleased to know that someone is working diligently on their funding.
How Do I Stay in the Loop?
It’s important to us that you always have your clients’ most current funding status at your fingertips. We work off of your network for confidentiality purposes, so we are happy to post client updates and status notes in your contact management software (Time Matters, Goldmine, etc.) just as any regular employee would. We save all of the funding-related documents right in your network filing system.
Our goal is to support you in a manner consistent with your onsite staff so your regular office processes and procedures don’t have to be altered just because you are outsourcing. We want to fit into your practice, not have you alter things to fit with us.
To learn more details about how we interact with you and your clients, call us today at (888) 857-4115 or email info@outsourcesolution.net. You can also find more information at www.outsourcesolution.net.
The 5 Things Your Team COULD be doing if they weren't Funding
If you are not sure if outsourcing makes sense for your firm, consider the 5 things your team could be doing if they weren’t funding:
- Making follow up calls to prospective clients the morning after your workshop…not 2 days later. Every 24-hour period that a prospect isn’t contacted your conversion potential drops significantly. When I tracked my conversions, my ability to book an appointment for a workshop attendee dropped 50% after the first 24 hours!
- Helping implement that new software program you bought 6 months ago and haven’t used yet.
- Invoicing clients and collecting outstanding payments due to you.
- Finishing your website/blog/newsletter…you get the picture.
- Calling your top 20 referral sources to ask for referrals or invite them to a new workshop. My tracking showed that for every 10 referral sources I called for any particular reason, 1 of those 10 said “Oh, while I have you on the phone, I have a client I was talking to last week that needs to meet with your firm for planning…”
Yes, outsourcing funding costs money; but what’s it costing you NOT to?
"You'll Do Our Funding?? You are my new best friend!"
I recently had the honor of attending the Medicaid Practice System (MPS) graduate retreat in Syracuse to share the possibilities of outsourcing with attorneys and their teams. I joined the MPS team members in an on-site visit to founder Dave Zumpano’s office to learn the nitty gritty of the MPS process. I introduced them to our company and the outsourcing services we provide, such as funding and trust drafting.
I was a little concerned that the team might initially be uncomfortable with outsourcing, seeing it as a threat to their job security. But, I know from working in a law firm that the team members are so much more valuable than the documents they draft. They are your front-line client experience and have more valuable things to do for your firm than call banks for the tenth time to request funding documents. I hoped I would convey the power of outsourcing to them, and help them see how much brighter their futures could be.
My worries were needless! The MPS team members “get it”.
“You mean I can hand off all those follow up funding calls to you?” Yes.
“You mean you can get our files funded in 45 days so that clients aren’t complaining?” Yes.
“Can you handle drafting and funding while I am maternity leave?” Yep.
“You mean you can draft our trusts so the attorney isn’t staying late the night before a signing doing it and I have to come in early the day of to print it at the last minute?” Absolutely.
“You’ll do our funding? OMG you are my new best friend!” … ok!
And my favorite: “I am new and don’t know what this funding stuff is but it sounds awful. I ain’t doing it – you are. I already texted my attorney.”
Do you have talented team being dragged down by funding? Free your team and free yourself. Outsource your drafting and funding today.
5 Easy Tips to Get Clients to Respond to Funding Requests
In our last blog, we shared “Sure-Fire reasons clients won’t respond to your funding requests”- from putting follow-up requests inside a client’s trust binder to mailing requests for information rather than calling. Now, let me share 5 easy tips to help successfully get clients to respond to your funding requests that I have discovered during my 12 years working at a law firm.
1. PICK UP THE PHONE! I can’t say this enough. You have a much better chance of getting the information from the client while you are on the phone with them, 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 and obtain any forms you do not have prior to having the client sign everything.
3. If you mail something to a client to sign, put a sticky note OVER their 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 their signature notarized. If you place your note OVER their signing line, it forces them 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, always go through them 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.
Your Outsource Resource uses a specific funding process called The Pit Bull Funding Follow Up System™ that produces quick funding results; however, these 5 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 Your Outsource Resource. We typically complete funding within 45 days for a flat price, so no matter how much follow up is required to complete a file, your cost stays the same!
Sure-Fire reasons clients WON’T respond to your funding information requests
During my days as the Funding Coordinator in a law firm, I was often tempted to do “client drive-by’s” - where I drove to the client’s house and checked their mailbox for the forms I was waiting for. After all, my multiple reminder letters seemed to be getting no response!
There are two things that will drive you crazy in the funding process: lack of response from the financial institutions and lack of response from the clients. In a process that is already a frustrating paperwork chase, things get even more backed up when you can’t get clients to return documents or supply the information you need.
After years of aggravation, we found some sure-fire ways client’s WON’T respond to your funding requests. We even held Client Advisor Board meetings and learned some interesting reasons why clients ignore our requests:
(These are actual client statements.)
1. “Don’t put homework lists or funding instructions inside my estate planning binder. While you think clipping it in my binder is a great way for it to not get lost, when I get home I never open my binder until the next time I come and see you. Any request or instruction form inside my binder might as well be in a black hole.”
2. “Don’t mail me letters asking for one piece of information. That requires me to open it, read it, find the information, call you or write it down and then mail it to you. In reality, if I even open it, I set it on the kitchen counter where it promptly gets covered with new mail and forgotten. Just CALL ME and ask me.”
3. “Don’t mail me a 3-page summary of my plan with a request for action related to my funding at the end. While I appreciate the value of my estate plan, I may not read the 3-page summary all the way to the end and see the request - at least not in a timely fashion.”
4. “Please don’t ask me to call my financial company when I don’t know how to answer their questions about funding my trust. I will probably make the matter worse.”
5. “Please tell me EXACTLY what you need from me; I don’t know what “financial information” means. Tell me you need ‘something showing my account number, bank address, who owns the account and the value, etc.’ I know this seems silly, but I promise you I don’t know what you mean.”
6. “Please call my financial advisor. I will give them permission to talk to you and give you what you need.”
Essentially, whenever possible, avoid flooding your client with paper. Pick up the phone and call them to ask for the information you need. You will get faster responses, make your clients happier AND save a few trees!
Stay tuned to our next blog for techniques to help you to get clients to respond and how to work with financial institutions.
The Pit Bull Funding Follow Up™ Process gets your trusts funded in 45 days with only 45 minutes of your time
Frequently Asked Question: How can Your Outsource Resource fund a trust in 45 days with only 45 minutes of your time?
Answer: By Using the The Pit Bull Funding Follow Up™ Process. Before we even get to the follow up, our process begins by providing you all of the tools necessary to quickly and efficiently collect the information from the client to fund their trust(s). This avoids the lag time that occurs when you are going in circles trying to get the exact information you need from a client, driving you and the client crazy in the process.
Next we prepare the most complete package possible for initial signing. By including company-specific forms, we reduce a lot of the extra time and delay of signing additional documents. If we don’t have the form on file, we call and nag the company to provide it to us ahead of time, or we brave the scary waters of financial institutions’ online resource areas or we use whatever means are necessary to find forms. As a virtual company, we can allocate the necessary “nagging” time that you and your team just can’t afford. And the good news is, you pay us a flat price. No matter how much time it takes us, your cost is the same!
Most importantly, we have The Pit Bull Funding Follow Up™ process. We are aggressive and we don’t let go! 10 days after we mail a transfer form, we conduct the 10-day Confirmation Call: we personally call the financial institution to confirm that someone there received our request and is doing something with it. If there is a hold-up, we want to find out NOW and do something about it NOW. Every 6 days thereafter we have a specific action step designed to keep the transfer process moving and obtain the written confirmations we need.
It takes a certain skill-level to cut through the paper chase of funding, get results from financial institutions and make clients feel confident about their financial accounts being moved about. It requires more skills than just filling out forms and mailing them. Effective funding requires finesse, problem solving and a tremendous ability to cut through the mess and get things done. Unfortunately, the revenue typically generated by funding doesn’t cover the cost of an employee with these skills.
It will always be more cost-effective and efficient to outsource your funding work.
To learn all the steps of The Pit Bull Funding Follow Up™ process attend Thursday’s free Funding Webinar.
To view the forms that YOR provides to make it simple and easy for you to outsource a Trust Funding file and learn more about our Trust Funding Process, join our Trust Funding Webinar August 20th at 1:00-1:30pm. Email info@outsourcesolution.net to RSVP.
It really is possible to have a fully funded trust in 45 days and only 45 minutes of your time!
When Drafting a Trust, how does Your Outsource Resource handle state law and customizations?
Frequently Asked Question: If you draft my trust, how do you handle state law and customizations?
Q: How does Your Outsource Resource handle different states' law?
A: The short answer is: we handle state law customizations the same way you do now. Typically, by using your software, your state law preferences will be generated in your documents just as if you drafted it; however, in the event customization is required, we are happy to handle this for you. All you have to do is provide the state-specific language to us in your initial 30 minute Set-Up Webinar. The easiest way to provide this to us is to give us a previous document in which you have made the state law reference so we can note the language. We maintain “customization” directories for all the attorneys we work with to track and manage specific language or format-changes they prefer. Our Set-up Webinar is designed to discover these state law changes along with other preferences you have, such as formatting preferences, so each plan drafted for you is exactly the way you want it.
Q: How do you handle customizations in the plan?
A: We have a large directory of custom language. Any custom language that you request and we use in your plan will be highlighted for you to review and approve. Any especially unusual customizations that are needed to achieve your clients’ goals will be your responsibility to draft as the attorney; however, we find that most customizations can be handled by our custom language directory. To make your review thorough and quick, we will provide you with a Customization Checklist which will note every location where we modified the Word document.
To view our Customization Checklist and other forms and procedures of our process, join our Webinar August 18th at 1:00-1:30pm.
Email info@outsourcesolution.net to RSVP.
