Author Archives: tonyreiss

How to Tell One Specialist From Another

A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a woman down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, “Excuse me. Can you help me? I promised my friend … Continue reading

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Should Your Firm Outsource Business Support Functions?

Many firms have slashed their support functions (ie Finance, BD, HR, IT etc). I’m not at all sure that’s the right thing to do. Do you really want your partners spending time on administration? I offer an approach to ensure … Continue reading

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Finding the Perfect Firm for a Merger

So you’ve decided you want to find a merger partner. The trouble is there are a lot of prejudices out there and a good deal of misinformation. So you need to adopt a rigorous approach to data-gathering on the potential … Continue reading

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Handling the Media – What to do When a Journalist Contacts You

Maybe you are working on a case where there is a lot of public interest. Most people panic, feeling nervous about how best to handle the call to avoid the wrong thing being said in the media. But it can … Continue reading

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Is Client Service Going Out the Window During Lockdowns?

It’s not easy delivering outstanding service at the best of times. But now, with so little fact-to-face time? There are just so many pitfalls. Let’s analyse the situation to show where these potential traps are. First, there’s knowing what the … Continue reading

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Post COVID 19 – Your Firm Probably Needs a New Strategy

I can always tell if a firm hasn’t got a working strategy. All I have to do is ask a partner what the strategy is. What I typically then hear is a list of activities – and that isn’t a … Continue reading

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Is Your Firm Measuring the Right Things?

You’ll most likely have heard the saying “What gets measured gets done!” If you set people targets, and reward them when they meet these targets, they’ll often do all they can to achieve them. This is great in principle, but … Continue reading

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Is Asking Clients for Feedback a Sign of Weakness?

Sadly, many professionals think it is! Perhaps they believe that clients will think you lack confidence, or awareness. But I think this view is sorely mistaken. Imagine this situation: you have halfway through your first piece of work with an … Continue reading

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Improving Margins in a Downturn for Professional Service Firms

COVID-19 is bound to be affecting workflows and margins.  Here’s a programme of activities to address this. Some are strategic and fundamental and others are tactical and operational. These are the questions that need to be answered together with the … Continue reading

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How to Price Your Legal Services

In the old days we weighed the files to gauge the price. Then accountants were hired by law firms – timesheets were introduced and the majority of lawyers charged on the basis of time spent. This easily leads to over-charging … Continue reading

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