“No” – The Most Important Muscle You Need To Train
As a law firm owner, especially in the early days of starting your firm, it can feel like you need to say “yes” to every opportunity – every new client and matter, every networking event, every meeting with a potential client or referral source. The “yes” is how you build the business, get revenue in the door, and get your name out there, right?
But what if it isn’t?
What if some of those “yes” answers are actually keeping you busy on the wrong work, so you can’t build a strong brand around your particular niche? What if some of them are keeping you from honoring your own priorities – the reasons you went out on your own, to practice law your way? What if some of them actually have you losing money on work that isn’t profitable, because the client can’t pay you what the work is worth, or you have to waste time trying to get the client to pay long after the work is done?
Maybe it’s time to start exercising your “NO” muscle. Here’s your workout plan:
- Get clear on the work you want to be doing, that you’re best at, and that you want to be known for – and say a clear “NO” to work that doesn’t fit that profile.
- Create the avatar for your ideal client, including clarity on the red flags – what characteristics your ideal client does NOT have and what types of clients you do NOT serve well. When you’re sitting down with a prospective client and see the red flags pop up, confidently and unequivocally tell them “NO”, you’re not a great fit for their needs.
- Do the work to figure out where your ideal clients hang out, and how they find you. When someone pitches you on a marketing approach that doesn’t line up with that path (whether that’s ad spend in the wrong places, or involvement in an organization that doesn’t put you in front of your ideal clients or referral sources, or whatever else), graciously and firmly give them a “NO.”
- When a great fit client walks in your door, with work that is right in your sweet spot, resist the urge to say “yes” and dive in to the work right away. Instead, take the time to understand their project well, and give the client a sense of scope and fee on the front end. (HINT: Our P3 Method gives you the exact roadmap for how to do this.) If the client says “NO”, you can either reframe the project to find an approach that suits the client’s needs and budget and also makes sense for you, or you can part ways on the front end, knowing you didn’t do work you were never going to get paid for. Giving the client the opportunity to say “NO” – before you’ve done the work – is a really important muscle to build, too!
As your “NO” muscle gets stronger, you’ll start to see opportunities to put it to work in other ways. Go for it!
You’ll start to see that the right “NO” can open the door for a lot more “Hell Yes”. Your standards for what deserves a “yes” will likely start to shift, too. When you’ve had a taste of some “Hell Yes” moments, the “meh, yes” begins to feel more like a “NO.” You may even adopt one of our favorite mantras:
If it’s not a “Hell Yes,” it’s a “NO.”
And that, my friends – a firm that is full of “Hell Yes” – feels like a PROmance to me!
To more “Hell Yes” for all of us,
Whitney