ESTATE PLANNERS CAN’T HIDE FROM MEDICAID ANY MORE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO AVOID MALPRACTICE: PART 2

Many attorneys believe Medicaid Law is challenging because it is constantly changing. If that scares you, I remind you many areas of law change often (i.e., tax law).  Medicaid law on the other hand, has only changed twice in over 25 years.  The first change came in 1993 with the passage of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA-93). There was not another change in the law until February, 2006 when the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA-05) was put into law. DRA-05 attempted to close many loopholes and has created many obstacles for lawyers dabbling in this area.  I believe, to the contrary, DRA-05 created the greatest opportunity we have seen in estate planning in more than 20 years.  In 2006, my practice exceeded its greatest year by 40 percent, and I attribute it totally to the implementation of DRA-05.  The question is, who is going to handle these complex issues for clients?  Those willing to commit to learn the rules and implement them in a way to make it easier for clients to navigate, will undoubtedly be the winners. I have seen it in my own practice.

Clients today need leadership and options. They need to be able to get answers to their questions and solutions to eliminate their fears. I have yet to meet a senior-aged client, whether wealthy, of moderate means or poor, who is not concerned about “losing everything they have” to a nursing home.  Estate planning today is no longer just about taxes or avoiding probate.  It has become much more comprehensive due to the changing dynamics of our health care system which forces you to be either rich enough to pay for it all or so poor you’re not able to pay for anything.  It provides nothing for those in between (which is a majority of estate planning clients).  It also discriminates against the types of care needed.  For example, Medicare will pay all costs associated with heart surgery (often $300,000 to $400,000), but pays little, if any, costs associated with care for Alzheimer’s ($60,000 to $90,000 per year).

Estate planning today requires a broad range of knowledge in several areas of the law. Obviously, you need confidence in how to draft wills, health care proxies, living wills, powers of attorney, and trusts.  Now, you must also become familiar with Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts (MAP Trusts™).  If you are going to practice in estate planning you must become familiar with the Medicaid qualifying rules and the trust and non-trust options to provide clients.  You must also commit to a comprehensive approach to get a working knowledge of this area of the law.  The good news is, it is a finite world, much less finite than tax law.  Many estate planning lawyers avoid discussing Medicaid because they don’t understand it.  Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean you don’t have to understand it.  You can no longer avoid it!

So remember the ad, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  The rest of the story is many experts  believe that single ad campaign led to the downfall and dissolution of the 103-year-old company. Estate planning is the same.  It is not what it used to be.  You must commit to learning the Medicaid laws and rules to accomplish the goals and objectives of your clients or you may suffer the same fate as Oldsmobile.  Many attorneys I work with in this area report a more rewarding practice because of the good they are able to do for their clients.  For those willing to dive in and participate in this exciting multi-faceted area of the law, you will create significant value to your clients and more opportunity for profit in your own practice.

[In part three and four of this article, we will cover the key Medicaid rules for you to be aware of.]

ESTATE PLANNERS CAN’T HIDE FROM MEDICAID ANY MORE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO AVOID MALPRACTICE: PART I

Do you remember the ad in the 80s, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile?” It was used to win over a new demographic of car-buyers. Previously, the car maker had been popular with adults over 50 and was looking to attract a much younger market. While recently teaching a two-day Medicaid boot camp to 50 lawyers, this ad resonated in my mind as I watched the transformation of these traditional estate planning attorneys as they became enlightened to the relevance of Medicaid Laws to their practice. It became clear to me, like Oldsmobile, estate planning is not like it used to be! If you are going to practice estate planning, you must obtain a working knowledge of the Medicaid qualifying and disqualifying rules and how they impact clients and the estate plans you create for them. If you are willing to commit to this, you will not only avoid malpractice, but will create added value for clients, and new opportunities and profit for your practice.

Most estate planning attorneys agree, the need for long-term care is the greatest concern among the majority of their clients. Many attorneys unfamiliar with the application of Medicaid Laws, fluff it off and say, “You have too much money to qualify for Medicaid.“ The net worth of clients rarely alleviate their fear. Often, the typical “millionaire” has a home and $500,000 in marketable securities and/or cash. This millionaire does not feel rich and often is a typical Medicaid-planning client. For those with less, it is even more important. Recent demographics indicate there are 101 million households in the United States. Thirty-two million have $100,000.00 to $500,000.00, and Martindale-Hubbell statistic indicates of the more than one million lawyers in America, roughly 8,000 classify themselves as practicing “elder law.” If you do the math, there is one elder law attorney per 3,750 households. Assuming a planning fee of one month’s nursing home cost and an average monthly nursing home cost of $5,000, the market potential per elder law attorney practice is $18,750,000.

Recent statistics also indicate more than 6,000 men and women in the United States turn 60 every day. The aging population is putting increasing demands on our health care system. In the “old days” things were simple - you lived, then you died. The typical concern of an estate planning client was estate taxes and most concerns were resolved by drafting a Will. Today, with the proliferation of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, and the enactment of estate Tax Reform under the Bush Administration, clients’ “worry” has shifted from taxes to long-term care. Estate planning has become more focused on clients’ lives (creating the need for trust planning) rather than their deaths (traditional Will plans). Eight out of ten individuals who come into our offices indicate loss of assets if they need nursing home care, as their number one concern. While estate planning dynamics have not changed, including clients’ need to control their property and to provide a legacy for those they leave behind, the threat to these goals has become far greater by the possibility of long-term care taking all they have worked so hard for. Estate planning today must address and resolve clients concerns regarding the need for long-term care. You cannot hide from it any more!


Medicaid Laws impact virtually every aspect of estate planning. Similar to tax law, simple things lawyers do pursuant to common law or contract law, which have been done for centuries, may, unbeknownst to the attorney, create adverse consequences in the Medicaid planning context. For example, individuals often transfer their home to their children to “protect it” from the nursing home. The truth is, in most all cases the home is exempt when determining Medicaid eligibility, but that simple transfer can create unintended adverse tax and Medicaid consequences. If the house is transferred without reserving a life estate, there is a loss in a “step-up” in basis at the client’s death and a completed gift has occurred. If it is transferred with a reserved life estate, a gift of the remainder interest has occurred without the ability to utilize the annual gift tax exemption because it is not a present-interest gift. Other adverse results include the property becoming owned by unintended beneficiaries like the spouse of a deceased child, the property being listed in a bankruptcy petition of a child or being liened by a judgment creditor of a child. While it appears to be simple on its face, the mere transfer of a home has multiple legal implications. The transfer also has significant Medicaid qualifying implications; it can disqualify an individual from Medicaid for 60 months or more.

Another significant impact Medicaid has on estate planning is its impact on trust or gift planning. Many clients believe revocable living trusts protect their assets from Medicaid. A simple rule I teach clients is “whatever you can get, Medicaid can get.“ Therefore, all assets in a revocable living trust are considered an available resource when determining Medicaid eligibility. More importantly, traditional estate planning lawyers often create an irrevocable trust granting the trustee ascertainable standards to distribute income or principal for the benefit of the grantor or spouse. While this may work for typical asset protection, there is an absolute exception in the Federal Medicaid law that treats all assets in discretionary trusts created by the applicant or spouse, an available resource when determining Medicaid eligibility. Most revocable living trusts convert to a family trust at the Grantor’s death, permitting income or principal to the spouse or other beneficiaries pursuant to ascertainable standards. This is also considered an available resource in determining the spouse’s Medicaid eligibility. Gifting also has significant ramifications. A simple gift to a child, grandchild for college, or to your church to build a new hall, can lead to disqualification for Medicaid for up to five years or more. These consequences are unlikely to be the intention of your client. The question is, are you aware of them? How can an estate planning attorney guide clients on transferring assets, creating trusts or giving gifts without being familiar with its impact on Medicaid eligibility.

-to be continued...

A Pleasant Surprise

This past Thursday and Friday, I attended the Ohio State Bar Association. What made this unique is, I am not a member of the Ohio State Bar. My intention started out relatively simple; to be a vendor at the event to promote my national training program. The results of the two days created a pleasantly surprising experience by reminding me of the great things we do as lawyers.

The 1 hour plenary session, which all attorneys attended, featured Paul M. Lisnek, JD, PhD. Mr. Lisnek spoke on communication skills. I was quite surprised and pleased to hear this topic as I personally have been committed to the importance of communication skills to get into the perspective of clients for many, many years. The speaker was right on the money when he indicated lawyers are not sued because they make mistakes; they are sued because they lose their client's trust or they are arrogant. The presentation, although, only an hour, was very insightful and reminded me of the MPS Power–In-Partnership™ model we train, and the importance of making sure attorneys are able to communicate at the client level with the client to solve their problems.

As the convention continued, there was a highly contested race for president elect to the State Bar. Everywhere you went was infiltrated by paraphernalia to promote one candidate over the other. At first glance, it was frustrating and I thought an invasion of this great event, but, at the luncheon where the State Bar officials spoke, it became quickly evident this group of lawyers was very collegial, all speaking well of each other. In fact, the current year's president elect, rather than speaking of himself, acknowledged the other attorney in the audience whom he prevailed against. He also acknowledged staff people on the Bar Association which is not typically seen but very honorable. As lawyers, we often get caught up in our world and our importance, but seeing professionals at the Ohio Bar Association reminded me, we can take our integrity to a new level and have common decency and respect for our fellow members of the Bar, even if we disagree with them, and in this case, even if they are running against us.

As the two day event continued, I noted the programs offered covered virtually every area of the law. The speakers came in different shapes, sizes, and had different speaking styles. Most, unfortunately, were the traditional lecture style. The materials were good, but few of the materials were able to be implemented into the practice of any attorney who attended to enable immediate results. Again, great education, great effort, but it reminded me of the importance of our Teach, Show, Do, and Go™ strategy our training follows. Teach the law, show how it's applied, teach a tool that follows the law, have the participants do an actual case study using the tools, and then send them home with the tools so they know they are doing it properly and can implement it immediately. What a critical difference on the impact of these attorneys, but most will not even realize it because this is all they know.

Lastly, while I came here in a “sales” mode, within an hour of arriving, it was gone and immediately began friendships. Instead of trying to convince someone why they needed my program, I merely started to find out about their pain and what it was about their practices they were experiencing. Being an active practitioner, I was able to relate quickly to their frustrations and share mine as well as some potential solutions. What resulted from this were new friendships based on common goals and objectives to help people discover the best ways to do it. I believe they call that collegiality. In fact, one of the friendships formed was with a well recognized attorney in the area of Asset Protection whom is affiliated with individuals who have spoken ill of our iPug™ Trust. In getting to know this gentleman, I realized how similar we were and in fact, have come to really respect his level of knowledge in the area of asset protection. On the other side, he got to understand me and our use of the asset protection strategies and was quite surprised at the applications and how the use of the iPug™ trusts are viable. Amazing isn't it.

As the event closed, the greatest thing I took from this two day event is an appreciation of what we do as lawyers. I am privileged to work with so many competent, caring, hardworking lawyers whose primary goals in life are to represent their client and help achieve the results clients didn't think were possible. It's very rewarding to realize that as lawyers, we are blessed with the ability to actually change the world because we know the rules by which the law is built and we can challenge it when we think it’s not being followed. What a special privilege this is for all of us to positively impact the world.

There's No Recession in Medicaid Planning

Has the stock market crash of 2008 and subsequent great recession affected your estate planning practice? In October 2008, my law firm celebrated the highest grossing month in our firm history, up 70% from January 2008. In November, we did one-half of what we did in October. Unfortunately, when the revenues fell in half, my overhead and expenses did not. I had to make significant adjustments quickly.

As I sit here, a year and a half later, it’s amazing how once again the old adage that “it all works out in the end” has once again prevailed. My law firm is now leaner and generates between 60 and 70 percent of the revenue we were able to do at the peak but with only 50 percent of the overhead, thus a more profitable model. What saved us? Actually, when the market tanked, all estate planning business ceased. Nobody was banging down our doors to avoid probate, but the doorbell continued to ring to help those people concerned with losing a lifetime of assets to the nursing home and wanting to qualify for Medicaid. Interestingly enough, through this economy we have found a whole new client market, those wanting a new type of “asset protection”.

As an estate planning Attorney, when you hear “asset protection” you tend to think of the sophisticated asset protection strategies to avoid estate taxes or the asset protection trusts domiciled in Alaska or one of the other 11 states that permit the wealthy to create irrevocable trusts and still retain some rights from them. This is NOT the asset protection planning clients are hiring me for.

Asset protection for non taxable estates has emerged as a whole new desire of the consumer market. The significance of these trusts is they do not have the restrictions of the traditional asset protection trusts that must comply with estate tax laws or the laws of the 12 states; they rely on common law and trust law. Statistics show only 3 out of 1,000 Americans have a taxable estate of $3.5 million dollars, thus representing 0.3 percent of the population, leaving 99.7 percent who don’t care about estate taxes.

Unfortunately, the legal industry has not caught up with this phenomenon, but MPS attorneys across the county have. What we are finding is clients are hiring us on a 10 to 1 ratio asset protection planning over traditional estate planning. We have also found that there’s a whole new fear of clients that didn’t exist before. When we ask clients what they want, they tell us to protect our assets but we don’t end there, we ask “protect from whom or what?” The No. 1 answer, they want protection from is the nursing homes. That did not surprise us, but what shocked us was the No.2 response, they want protection from the government! I began this blog with talking about the demand for Medicaid planning even during this down economy, which remains high. Since then I have also discovered, what I believe to be the next generation of estate planning, asset protection for non taxable estates, which provides asset protection while Medicaid compliant and permits the grantor full control of their assets and full use, but no access. Not only are clients loving the protection, they especially appreciate the “tax neutral” status they hold so no special tas reporting is required. Business owners and professionals are among the clientele hiring me for these trusts. Clients’ new fear of our government has created this new opportunity. I make no representation of what side of the isle you fall, Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, I am merely sharing feedback I am seeing day-to-day from everyday Americans. If you are not providing this new form of asset protection, I encourage you to get up to speed on it quickly. Clients need it, and more importantly, they are writing checks for it, even in this economy.

Is Estate Planning Dead? What Clients are Writing Checks For

I started my estate planning practice in 1992. In those days talking about a Living Trust, was a challenge; to get people educated on what it was and how it benefited them. Over the time, through the 90s’, a Living Trust became an easy sell as the stock market boomed and clients saw the value of avoiding probate to ensure the money accumulated went to the people they wanted without delay. As the 90’s ended, however, a whole new paradigm occurred. Beginning in 2000, with the crash of the tech market and corporate scandals, Enron followed by 9/11, clients, for the first time since the Great Depression, had real losses. Enron stock was not coming back. Followed by the recession of 2003 and the Great Recession of 2008 - 2009, the estate planning landscape has changed forever and what clients are willing to write checks for. In the early 90’s, 100% of my practice was focused on estate planning. As the 90’s came to a close, a great interest began in elder law and Medicaid planning to protect assets from the nursing home. By 2001 Medicaid planning had surpassed my estate planning practice as the number one revenue generator. Subsequent to 2001 with the change of the Bush tax laws that had its first major impact in 2005 with the exemption going to $2 million and later in 2009 with it going to $3.5 million, the estate planning industry entered a whole new paradigm for asset protection. Something I call asset protection for the non taxable estate.

After the most recent market crash in 2008, I literally saw my estate planning practice go to zero! Luckily, by that time my Medicaid and non taxable estate practice had grown to 70% of my business. Diversity shielded me from a more drastic reduction in business that I am seeing with many of the law firms I work with. Most traditional estate planning practices are on life support. Many attorneys I have had the opportunity to train are thriving and reported 2009 as their greatest year in their practice. What is it that clients are writing checks for?

One area of planning that never goes away is the need for asset protection and Medicaid eligibility. Most individuals will do anything to protect their lifetime of savings from losing it all to a nursing home because of an unforeseen illness. Medicaid planning transcends all economies and is always valuable to the client because they can derive immediate benefit that they can measure. Most attorneys are afraid of doing Medicaid planning because they believe it is complicated. This has always intrigued me. As a tax attorney having to deal with hundreds of thousands of pages of tax codes and regulations, the Medicaid planning was always so much easier because it has less than 200 pages of regulations. In reality, Medicaid planning consists of 12 core concepts applied to the variety of fact patterns. Once these 12 core concepts are understood, applying them to the facts patterns becomes fairly routine in a short period of time. That is how many lawyers I work with are able to generate significant revenues within months of completing 3 days of training. In addition to Medicaid planning, clients are writing checks for asset protection, interestingly, the number one protection they seek is from the government. With the growing taxes and regulations there is a tremendous fear of the government positioning itself to take what we have worked for. While the government assures us they will not affect everyday people only “the rich”, most clients are not convinced of the governments’ definition of “rich”. As a result, asset protection planning for non taxable estates has been our number one asset-protection planning strategy.

So what is asset protection for non taxable estates? Well, most of us are familiar with asset-protection planning and the 11 states that have specific statutes protecting individuals who create irrevocable trusts and permitting them some rights to them through trustees or third parties, the most famous being Alaska. Unlike that type of asset-protection planning, which is all related to higher net worth clients, those that have a taxable estate, the planning clients are writing checks for on a daily basis. This is a whole different genre of asset-protection planning; because it does not need the restriction utilized in tax planning and does not need to utilize one of the 11 states with special statutes.

Asset-protection planning for non taxable estates is based in common law. The concepts are simple and well established. In fact, most of us have used all of these concepts already in our practice just not in the context for non taxable estates because we have been so focused on tax planning over the last 40 years as attorneys. Asset-protection planning for non taxable estates has led to the creation of a whole new genre of trusts called IPugs. IPug stands for irrevocable pure grantor trust. Unlike an intentionally defective trust, which is a grantor trust for income tax purposes but not a grantor trust for estate tax purposes, an IPug is a Apure grantor trust which classifies it under the tax code as a grantor trust for both income and estate tax purposes. Essentially, it operates exactly like a revocable trust except that it is irrevocable.

We are not restricted by the tax rules to exclude the assets from the clients’ estate because 99.7% of clients do not have taxable estates so there is no restriction to the grantor being a trustee and maintaining control of the property. In addition, we can retain all rights to modify the trust with the exception of that portion which we desire to protect because as we all know under common law and trust law if a grantor can get at it, so can his creditor and predators.

Not only do these trust work very well in a Medicaid-qualifying context but they are especially revered by business owners and professionals seeking to protect their assets from the growing number of lawsuits without having to give up control. So what are clients writing checks for? In my experience my estate planning practice is near zero not from lack of effort and not from lack of trying but from the mere reality of the economy and the way people now look at planning. There is much more of a need to protect what clients are not willing to give up control.

So traditional revocable-trust planning unlike probate is on life support but new genre of estate planning to protect clients assets from a nursing home and keep them in control is flourishing. How is your traditional estate planning practice going in 2010, I would love to hear of your success stories and challenges alike.

Banks are a Pearl Referral Source

In 19 years of practice, my attitude of working with banks has turned 180 degrees. When I began my practice in the early 1990’s, banks frustrated me. Many of them were unwilling to consider my brilliant ideas as a young practitioner. Furthermore, many larger banks with trust departments had well-ingrained relationships with the old, grey-haired, established attorneys from the large firms. It was impossible to break through those barriers. In my early experiences with banks, I found their biggest push was to ensure every plan you created named it as trustee while in my heart I believed the family members were the best people to make the decisions regarding the family. Over the years, wisdom has taught me they weren’t totally off target and I was not totally on target.

As I sit here now enjoying several wonderful relationships with banks, I felt it interesting to reflect up on the things that have made the relationships most effective. Like all pearls, there are black ones and white ones, perfect ones, and some with blemishes. Banks as referral sources are no different. The biggest cons of working with banks, is they tend to be bureaucratic with many levels and lots of Vice Presidents. National and regional banks have multiple locations and often are controlled “somewhere else”. For smaller law firms it is more difficult to service banks with multiple locations as it tends to stress the internal systems and the time the smaller firms have to devote to their referral relationships.

The pros on the other hand for those willing to conquer the cons, are banks have an unlimited supply of customers and unlike typical financial professionals, the customers come to them. The bank rarely needs to go out and seek the customer. Another powerful aspect of working with banks is they have deep customer relationships. Many times over the years I have created extensive estate plans only to have the client tank them because the teller at the bank told them not do it. These deep customer relationships when you win over the relationship of the individual bankers are critical in building a similar relationship for you with the client. Another very positive aspect of working with banks is the diversity of the customer base. Most banks have many older people, business owners, and professionals as customers. The common theme, they all have money; therefore, they all need some form of estate planning. So what are the elements to working effectively with a bank?

Over the years, I have seen smaller banks be acquired by middle-sized banks and acquired by larger banks. The consolidation of the banking industry has been widespread over the last 10 or 15 years. But one main struggle seems to plague all banks, disconnect between the banking personnel and their financial services division. In many banks, the branches are hurt if they make a referral of the cash assets to the financial service professional to be invested in an annuity or other financial vehicle. This dis‑incentive, in many cases, leads to an ineffective relationship between the banking and the financial services division of the bank. The greatest success I have had over the last five years is having created a system to actually solve that problem with banks. Since most branch managers are hurt by losing deposits, we encourage them to work with us so we can discover through our process other assets of the client to refer to the financial services department. Our client process includes; A vision meeting to identify the needs of the client and the plan they engage us for, and a post-vision and pre‑design meeting to help identify and create a table of all client assets. As part of the design of the estate plan (the attorneys second meeting in the process) we not only design and create the estate plan and all of the associated documents, we also create the funding plan to instruct the client how to fund all the various assets into the different estate planning vehicles we have created for them.

To the bank, the most important column on the funding table is the “transfer to” column. This has become their favorite part of our process because we routinely recommend clients consolidate all of their assets outside of the bank with the bank to hold as many assets as possible in one location to the extent possible to minimize administrative struggles in the event of an unforeseen or anticipated disability or death. It also builds the professional “team” to help ensure their plan actually works. In our process, over 90 percent of the clients that work with us will consolidate 100% of their assets with the adviser that referred them and help build the professional team. This is a very strong statistic the banks love and has created a reason for them to continually flow their clients to us so the assets can be discovered and received from other financial institutions for investment, rather than from their own bank’s deposits. While a common concern of clients is not to put all their eggs in one basket, we advise them while they do not want to put all their eggs in one basket (one investment) they do want all of their baskets in one hen house (easier to watch and protect from foxes). With the diversity of the financial services industry today, banks now can offer full financial services the wire houses traditionally held control of. Obviously, as an attorney, we must be independent and confident of the service of the bank and the integrity and competency of the individual advisers and personnel we work with. The more relationships you can create within the bank the greater the likelihood of a synergistic approach for helping clients ultimately achieve their goals.

Several months ago, I met with a regional business banker for a large regional bank. After conducting my standard Synergy Meeting, I identified her concerns and pains in relation to serving their business clients. After explaining our process and our business protection solutions, she immediately saw the value but was unable to implement any referral relationship because of the bureaucracy. Over the course of the next several months I undertook to meet with every branch manager (all 14 of them) and each financial service professional (7) individually to a Synergy Meeting to identify their needs and share my process. As a result, I started to identify how our firm’s educational process and client estate planning process supports them in what they do more specifically or business owners protection trust. At the end of this three-month period, after over 20 meetings, I had the opportunity to speak with the regional manager again whom smiled and said Everybody wants to work with you. What do we have to do next? Obviously, with a little work, a pearl can become a gem.

Do Workshops Still Work?

I was speaking with several attorneys recently who said they've stopped doing workshops or seminars. Some said the advisors they work with were concerned clients were no longer willing to attend them. My experience has been the exact opposite. My workshops in the last three months have had double the attendance rate from 2009. Let's examine some of the reasons why I believe this is true.

Chet Holmes International did a multimillion dollar study to identify why people hire you or buy from you. The number one reason people buy is they must be convinced what is being offered will actually derive a benefit for them. Workshops provide a safe environment for the general public to come and learn about you, what you have to offer them (educate to motivate) and how you can help them. Another primary benefit of a workshop, it is a great opportunity to begin creating a trusting relationship with the perspective client.

Interestingly, the Chet Holmes survey indicated the second most important reason people buy from you is they must be convinced you will actually be able to provide the product sufficiently so they will derive the perceived benefit. In my experience, clients don't have a clue whether you know what you are doing or not. What they typically rely on is their instinct of whether you appear trustworthy. A workshop is a phenomenal opportunity to begin to create and build a working trustworthy relationship with potential clients. It is critical you be as personable as possible in your presentations and create an environment where the participants feel important and listened to.

The Chet Holmes survey indicated the third most important reason people buy from you is they are satisfied you will provide good customer service. The survey revealed this was the most difficult to measure because service was from the perspective of the consumer, not the provider. So, in these trying times, we must go above and beyond in customer service. Return calls immediately, get rid of voice mail, and answer the phones directly; increase their confidence by providing stellar client services.

The fourth most important reasons why people buy from you, according to the survey, was consumers must have options, and fifth most important in the buying decision was price. Interestingly, only 14% of the people in the survey cited price as their No. 1 concern. In my experience, most lawyers focus on their price; thus creating a practice that focuses on the 14 % rather than the 86% who want to see the value of what is being offered, be sure you can provide it, be confident in your customer service, and have options.

The workshop, when properly done, illustrates all the factors to get hired. A workshop is a way for you to show your knowledge of general ideas and concepts that impact the participant (identify their pain) and provide solutions to eliminate or minimize it. Show them what is possible, and how they can derive the benefit. Lastly, provide options. I recommend for you to have two platforms, a standard planning and personalized planning. Standard planning can accommodate those people more concerned with price, and the personalized will attract those who are more concerned with solutions. Be sure to distinguish the two and be able to simply identify the impact to the client of each.

Another great advantage of workshops is, it is a time management tool. By bringing groups of 25 people together in one sitting, you are able, in one two hour session, to convey your message, build relationship, and show value which equates to less than spending six minutes per client rather than the one to two hours individually with each client. Therefore, as a time management tool, the workshop not only helps bring in clients to you, but it also helps weed out those that are not ready or do not actually need your services. The good news, it still acts as marketing and branding to inform those not ready; who you are, what you do, and that you are there if ever they need you or if it comes up in conversations with family and friends.

The key elements to a successful workshop are as follows:

Make it about them. When you begin a workshop, you must make it about the participants. I greet them each personally and warmly when I open the workshop. I always personally serve them cookies on a tray to illustrate I am there to serve them when I begin the workshop, I ask them what they want to learn during the workshop, and write it down on an overhead, white board, or flip chart. This helps you immediately get into the participant’s perspective and tailor the conversation during your presentation to accommodate the individual questions of the participants. Do not answer their questions then. Take them down and address them as you go through your presentation. This will demonstrate your commitment to answer their concerns and help them feel listened to and important.

Set Expectations. In your opening, you must set the expectations for the attendees. Review the full agenda and tell them you will be answering all their questions and only ask for one thing in return, their evaluation. I make them three promises. One, the workshop will go quickly, two, they will learn a lot, and three, they'll have some fun, and I ask that if I keep my promises they will agree to complete the evaluation and let me know how I did. I actually get their verbal agreement up front by asking is that acceptable and pause and wait for their collective "yes".

Your presentation. Do not teach the law. Do not teach how trusts work. Do not teach them all your brilliance. Merely, show them, in simply terms and stories, how estate planning impacts their lives on a daily basis. For example, we have a simple story about Biff and Bambi. We simply state that many clients are married a very long time and, at some point, their spouse may die. The question is, when the surviving spouse is grieving, will the Biff, the pool boy, or Bambi, the bar maid, be there to get them thru their grief? Without getting into all the legal technical ramifications of remarriage and the risks, a simple reference to Biff, the pool boy, and Bambi, the bar maid, helps clients appreciate one element that estate planning can do, protect their assets for their children in the event of their passing, and their spouse's remarriage. Over 90 percent of the clients consult with us indicate a desire to protect against a remarriage. Interestingly, they giggle and say, “I don’t want Biff and Bambi get my stuff”. This truly is getting into the client's perspective and showing the value you can do by using simple stories rather than typical legal “mumbo jumbo”.

Identify unforeseen risks. Your presentation must also identify for them the risks that they do not see. Some examples include:

• If a beneficiary became disabled;
• If the client became disabled:
• The children became divorced; etc.

Closing. At the end of the presentation, I go back to the questions they ask, put them on the overhead, and confirm I've answered each one of the questions to their satisfaction. It shows them you are committed to them and you kept your word. I then remind them of the three promises I made, and I ask them collectively if I kept each of the three promises. After they've answered yes, I reply “great” and I ask they keep their promise to complete the evaluation and let me know how I did. At that moment, I also explain how as a thank you they are offered a free consultation and they are able to put that on the evaluation. I have found that this process has had a tremendous impact in building relationships, setting expectations, and giving the client confidence what I am able to provide for him. Overwhelmingly, I have found workshops are working now more than they have in the past, but you must get into their perspective.

How Am I Getting Referrals?

Referrals are the lifeline to any business, particularly a law firm. Over the last 18 years in practice, I have found many ways to generate referrals. This new economy, however, has changed the impact on each and garnishes different results. The following is my observations from "the trenches".

There are generally three ways to lead people to contact you: (1) retail marketing, a direct call to the consumer; (2) relationships, both personal and business; and, (3) branding, what you stand for in the marketplace.

Retail Marketing. Retail marketing has had a diminishing return over the last 10 years, but still proves to a viable approach. Ads in newspapers, radio, or other publications, must call awareness to the services you provide to target those needing your services now. Chet Holmes International did a multimillion dollar study and learned that at any given time 3 % of the population needs what you have to offer right now. An additional 6 % will need it in the near future, typically less than 30 days. Of the remaining 91 %, the study revealed, approximately one third, doesn’t know whether they need your service or not (they hadn’t considered it). One third needs it but doesn't know they need it, and one third does not need it. When totaled, approximately 70 % of Americans need what you have, will need it, or would consider it if they knew about it. That is what your retail marketing is going after.

When running retail ads, I found it important to include words like “protect” from government, taxes, lawsuits, nursing homes, and in-laws, or a combination of those. It is also important to stress you will keep the client in “control” and you will “keep it simple”. Another important factor when running retail ads is to make it about the reader, not you. Most ads I have seen start with the law firm name at the top or a general statement like estate planning services. This is a big mistake. The most prevalent part of the ad must be something relevant to the consumer's world. For example, an ad beginning with estate planning, many people would look at and glance over assuming they don't need it, while in reality they don't even know what it is. On the flip side, an ad beginning on top with protect your family, or protect from the government, or avoid nursing homes, are much more relevant to the consumer. After reading those headlines, they are much more likely to read the body and content underneath it to see how it impacts them. I typically have my law firm name at the bottom of the ad, so they have to read thru the ad to find it. That being said, your ad should not have so much copy they get lost in it. You should utilize bullet points and bolds strategically. Pictures are also important to tell a story. Chose pictures people can relate personally to.

The most critical element of retail marketing is it must have a call to action. Typically you can invite the public to a free seminar or workshop or a free consultation. In this recent economy, I have found retail marketing is actually getting a greater response than usual. The general public has a lot of concerns with the current economic condition. We have found, it is more difficult to get them to do planning, but many are in an information-seeking mode to determine if they need to be doing something they’re not. Recently, in a local newspaper, in addition to my ad, three other estate planners ran ads. I'm not sure how they made out, but we had the highest response from a retail ad in recent memory. I don't believe they did as well and here is why I believe so. All of their ads were invitations to go to their office for a consultation. Ours was a call to come to a workshop to discover the “7 Threats to their Family Security and How to Avoid Them™”. Many people who attended the workshop found it informative and empowering. We discovered that current consumers are very interested in Family and Asset Protection Planning and they are hiring us for our iPug™ Trusts. Believe it or not, the thought of going to sit with a lawyer for a personal consultation is not on most people's top ten list. In fact, I wonder if it hits their top 100. Most of them will wait until crisis. Our job, in this slow economic time, is to remind them that there is still strategic advances to doing planning without having to wait for crisis occur. A workshop is a great format to show that.

Referral Relationships. The second element to generate referrals is relationships. Relationship referrals are personal, including family members and friends, or business, including allied professionals, nursing homes, home care agencies, etc. Over the last year I noticed referrals from professional relationships have dropped off significantly. As I examined this, I discovered, like us, most of them are scrambling to save their practices, protect their relationships, and are struggling to create value for clients. The idea of referring a client to an attorney is not on their top ten list as well as most clients are crying poverty, fear, and holding on to everything they have.

Like the retail advertising, your conversations with your referral sources must also be in their perspective. Many are struggling to maintain relationships. Sitting down with them to discover ways to create value for them and their client and create a win, win, win situation is warmly received. Recently, I sat down with four different advisers whom were operating their practices from a realm of fear. After a one-hour MPS Strategy meeting, they were excited to sponsor private workshops for their clients for us to put on (one commitment to getting 50 clients to come). The success of this was because we identified the advisors pain and offered topics important to the clients (i.e., The 7 Threats™). We targeted their client base and asked the clients to "invite a friend". Instead of being overwhelmed and concerned, they saw the value in time management savings doing a group workshop which would enable them to see many of their clients in a one to two hour setting, to reestablish relationships and to meet their clients' friends and create opportunities for new business relationships. I highly recommend in this down economy, you consider discussing these types of private workshops with your referral sources.

Branding. The last and most important element in getting referrals is branding. Unfortunately, branding is a high cost and little immediate reward. Branding represents who you are in the marketplace. Currently, if you were to needed to buy a new car where would you be going in your community? The answer you just put in your head is that company that probably had the best branding. The strongest element of branding in and of itself may or may not be clients call you when needed. You know your branding is working when potential clients are talking to their financial advisors or others in the community. When your name is raised from multiple sources, it creates agreement and helps build confidence in consumer’s decision to call you. I had three clients in the last month tell me they knew me from my advertising and then checked with their advisor who also had nice things to say, and they had a friend that was happy with what we did for them. This multiple prong approach of having people think of you is ultimate success in generating an ongoing referral base.

So what can you do now? I recommend the following three things to start getting your referrals moving:

1. Consider running an ad in a newspaper periodically, or swap sheet that serves your target market. The ad should relate to the consumer’s current pain (i.e. their need to protect from government, nursing home, lawsuits, or the in-laws). It should be a call to action to come to a workshop which is less confronting than a consultation.

2. Have three Synergy, or Strategy, meetings per week with allied professionals and discover their frustrations, and identify ways you can support them. Consider doing a private workshop for them with the “invite a friend” approach.

Get out of your office. Create opportunities to speak anywhere and everywhere possible. Raise awareness, and make it about the consumers’ needs not yours.

Your Feedback is Very Important To Me

Hello Friends,

It's hard to believe that we are midway through March already. How is 2010 going for you? What have been your biggest challenges so far? Are you meeting your goals? What are your biggest areas of concern? For instance, are you finding any of the following areas particularly challenging?

• Acquiring new clients
• Marketing your firm
• Finding referral sources
• Balancing work with personal and family time
• Holding your prices

I certainly would love to hear from some of you. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know how things are going. As always, I look forward to supporting your success.

Thanks,

Dave

If you're feeling challenged in any of these areas, it’s time to explore and discover new methods…Join us on the call on March 18th to find out more! Click here for details.

Do You Know What Your Clients Are Afraid Of?

Do You Know What Your Clients are Afraid of? Do You Know What They are Not Getting From You? Do you know why you are not getting paid the FEES you should be?

1. Find out why you MUST be using the Asset Protection Analysis

2. Find out what clients need that 99% of attorneys are NOT giving them

3. Identifying the obligatory tools to avoid Malpractice!

4. How to build profitable referral relationships to avoid becoming commoditized

5. Learn how to transition from attorney to entrepreneur in 90 Days

6. What you need to show your value in the market place…and close no less than 77% of the time.

If your pipeline is not full, it’s time to explore and discover new methods…Join us on the call on March 18th to find out more! Click here for details.

Last Chance....

Referrals ~ Do you have the 3 Elements to Achieve a Referral in One Hour?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Discover in one hour the way to increase your referrals by:

1.Identifying the obligatory tools to avoid Malpractice!
2.Find out what is an Asset Protection Analysis and why you need it
3.How to build profitable referral relationships to avoid becoming commoditized
4.Find out what clients need that attorneys are NOT giving them
5.Learn how to transition from attorney to entrepreneur in 90 Days
6.The elements you need to show your value in the market place…and close no less than 75% of the time

If your pipeline is not full, it's time to explore and discover new methods…Join us on the Call!

Profiting by Operating Efficiently Using The MPS 5 Key Focusers

Law firms across the country share with us the exhausting amounts of time and money engaged in a lot (A LOT) of marketing efforts for their small firms. But, typically the activities are prepared in a haphazard manner and rarely would they know what works and what doesn’t. That’s the importance of tracking your efforts and knowing if they produce the results your firm needs to operate efficiently and profitably.

Tracking the results of your marketing activities, is the first step, if your marketing works and your phone is ringing or your website is getting hits, but your follow up lets them fall through the cracks, it’s an absolute waste of money, time and effort. Every business owner’s greatest need is to ensure not only their marketing strategies work, but there is an internal tracking system to ensure those that contact your firm result in actual REVENUE.

The 5 Key focusers follow the MPS process every step of the way which enables you to revise your plan if your efforts are not producing results while ensuring you get the greatest bang for your limited marketing bucks, and show you very quickly what’s not working before your bank account is empty. In addition, the focusers allow your team to eliminate the “reinventing of the wheel” week in and week out. Without the habit of weekly tracking it is virtually impossible to manage the operations within the practice, maintain efficiency and ensure consistent cash flow to cover overhead. Sounds great, but what’s the purpose and goal of each of these 5 key Focusers?!

The Initial Contact Focuser: Tracks the results of your marketing efforts while guaranteeing that the potential client is properly followed up with in a timely manner and that they attend a workshop or schedule an initial meeting. No more backtracking each week.

The Workshop Focuser: Tracks the progress of individuals that registered for a workshop, if an appointment was requested and actual accountability that it was scheduled and completed. We hate to break it to you; you do not get paid for delivering a workshop if the follow up doesn’t happen.

The Pipeline Focuser: Tracks every client scheduled to come in your office to potentially hire you, and the percentage of clients that retained the firm. It’s a little too late to investigate what is impacting your closing rate when there are no money appointments on your calendar or realize your pipeline has dried out because cash flow stops.

The Follow Up Focuser: To track and make certain all client’s and prospects are properly being followed up on to move the company ($$$) forward, each week. Know who is doing what and by when to generate revenue for the firm.

The Cash Flow Focuser: This is the most important focuser that provides the primary focus of your weekly meetings and reporting. In simple terms, identifies all money the firm can expect to collect upon. Cash is King and this simple focuser will keep everyone in the firm (especially the attorney) focused on scheduling appointments, completing work and going the extra mile based on Cash Flow Focuser. You can’t make a difference in anyone life when there’s no cash coming in.

The prime benefit of all forms of tracking is that the results are easily measurable – provided you actually use the tracking system. You can even take it one step further and automate all the tracking with the customized MPS Time Matters Overlay, MPSData™.

At the end of the day, all the focusers allow you to set specific measureable marketing results and track your firms progress (weekly) towards your firms goals. And you will very, very quickly see what’s working and what’s not working before your bank account is empty.

Want to learn more -- join us on the next webinar. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Will 2010 be the year to end the chaos?

Take control of your practice today. Don't wait another month or another year. Join us in February to learn how to immediately boost your firm and end the chaos. Tuesday, February 23, 2010 | 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Reach Your Highest Peak

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Holiday to you and your family! Best wishes for the New Year! Let's make it a productive and profitable one together!

There are many choices...but one complete solution ~ MPS

Be sure to check our website often in the new year for updates, webinars, educational downloads, programs and much much more!

VISIT WEBSITE NOW

Take Control in 2010

Lead, Follow or Get Left Behind

Join us in January for our next webinar!

Thursday, January 14, 2010 | 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

Discover the Key Elements Necessary to..
1. Take control of your firm in 2010 and start succeeding
2. Build profitable meaningful referral relationships to avoid becoming commoditized
3. Identify if you have the necessary tools, systems and processes
4. Transition from attorney to entrepreneur
5. Calculate your value in the market place
6. Prevent hidden risks that cause malpractice

You can lead, follow or get left behind ~ the choice is yours!

LEARN MORE -- CLICK HERE

Keep Your Promises

Join us for one hour and learn how keeping your promises can change the future of your practice. Our members are having firm revenue record highs, are you? Act now!

Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

TO LEARN MORE AND REGISTER, CLICK HERE.

Are changing times killing your practice?

Learn Key Elements to Stand the Changing Times and Increase Profits.

Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

Are changing times killing your practice? Has the economic changes, purchasing habit changes, and the change in how people view estate planning hurting profitability? Now is the Time to focus on ways to provide your practice the key elements to stand the changing times, and earn your greatest revenues.

1.Calculate what you are worth? (You may be surprised)

2.Identify the elements to stand changing times and maintain a profitable practice

3.Identify how Medicaid Planning is a concern for the fastest growing market in America

4.Identify how to build profitable referral networks to overcome the average view of Estate Planning

5.Identify how iPug™ Planning, a client's new best friend can impact your practice immediately

6.Identify how to avoid hidden potential risks for malpractice

7.Identify what impacts a client’s decision to hire you, and how to overcome their objections

Join us for one hour and see how acting now can change the future of your practice. Our members are having firm revenue record highs, are you? Act now!

TO LEARN MORE AND REGISTER, CLICK HERE.

Hear From Our Members

"MPS gives you techniques, skills, marketing, tools but it is not about techniques, skills, marketing or tools. MPS is about how to live your life with integrity. Everything flows from and ties back to that foundation."
David Carrier, Esq. / Grand Rapids, MI

DECEMBER IN ARIZONA

Check out the The MPS Profit Practice Program™ Schedule:

http://www.mpssuccess.com/schedule.html