Lawyers With Purpose

Use Your Maintenance Program to Generate Additional Revenue Through Advertising

A members-only section on your website can allow enrollees in your maintenance program to sign up for exclusive events, download videos of workshops they might have missed, and more. It also allows you to generate revenue through advertising (as does your newsletter). How? By offering companies that provide services of interest to your clients the opportunity to advertise on this portion of your site. House cleaners, estate sale firms, delivery services, caregivers… service providers like these and many more will pay handsomely for access to a targeted demographic. So, too, will financial advisors, accountants, attorneys who practice in areas outside of your own, and other professionals.

Of course, you must screen potential advertisers carefully to make sure they are good at what they do and worthy of your clients’ trust. Also, don’t run too many ads. Enrollees in your maintenance program will appreciate exclusive access to companies that provide services they need and can trust. However, you don’t want to leave the impression that generating advertising revenue is the only reason you offer a newsletter or a members-only section on your website.

Generating Additional Sources of Revenue Through Your Maintenance Program

Your maintenance program will help you forge solid bonds with your clients and members of your clients’ families. Consider the latter for a moment. Inviting family members to social events, encouraging them to attend review meetings and workshops, providing counsel  to the family following a client’s incapacity or death… all of this allows you to bond with the adult children of your existing clients. Not only will your client’s adult children see the value of proper planning first-hand, they’ll know exactly who they want to design their plans—you.

Encouraging your clients to bring their advisors as well as their family members to social gatherings and plan reviews also allows you to form bonds with the advisors themselves, who can then become valuable referral sources for future new business. Many law firms struggle to develop profitable referral relationships. Your maintenance program can help you get your foot in the door. 

Once you’ve established a maintenance program, there is another opportunity worth exploring… advertising. Well discuss that next time.

Potential Components of a Profitable Estate Plan Maintenance Program

The TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program offers all of the services listed below. Remember: This information is intended to provide you with an idea of what a maintenance program can offer. Your program must reflect your clients’ needs and your firm’s capabilities.

The TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program EPLC includes:

• A quarterly newsletter 
• The hosting of an annual social event 
• Free review of documents with agents and/or family members at disability and/or death 
• Invitations to public events sponsored by EPLC
• Phone calls by clients or their advisors to office staff at no charge 
• An annual client meeting for groups of clients aimed at keeping client documents current within the changing legal environment 
• A complimentary meeting for family members to explain the client’s estate plan upon his or her death or disability 
• “Word processing” amendments to estate planning documents requested by the client 
• Specialized and Advanced planning workshops offered throughout the year
• Assistance with funding new assets 
• An annual trust review 
• A guaranteed, discounted fee to administer the client’s estate plan after death. For clients who remain in the program, we will guarantee the family (in writing) a fee of 1% rather than the customary 5-7%

As you can see, this is an extensive program. You might also have discerned that the components of the plan involve services that do not cost you a great deal of money or “attorney time.” For example, let’s say a client wants to make a simple change to a will or trust, like swapping out a daughter for a son. You already have the client’s documents in your system, so making a change like that is easy. Or consider the annual client group meeting, where all of the clients’ changes can be made at once. Your staff can handle the vast majority of such changes, as well as client calls, a newsletter, and the program’s various social events.

Your maintenance program provides enrollees with easy access to your firm and a sense of belonging to the “firm family.” It will also provide them with the peace of mind that comes from knowing the plan will work, and that the firm will be there to counsel family members in the event of the client’s incapacity and/or death. All of this sets your firm apart from competitors that do not offer a maintenance program. In addition, your program creates loyalty, a bond with your clients. We’ll talk about the benefits of  that next time.

Important Considerations in Creating an Effective and Profitable Client Maintenance Program

When it comes to maintenance programs, one size does not fit all. You should tailor your program to the needs of your client base and your firm’s capabilities. Also, as we mentioned last time, you have to limit the scope of your program. It’s supposed to be a source of steady revenue, not a loss leader. Accomplishing this requires offering services in your program that you are already providing free-of-charge, or services whose fees are insignificant. As one attorney with a successful maintenance program put it, “The administrative costs of billing for photocopies exceeds the income generated by it.”

You can also offer different types of maintenance programs. At EPLC, we have our main program, the TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program. We also offer a program for Medicaid clients, which basically provides enrollees with the annual certification they need. It is important to note, however, that our goal is to have clients who need nursing home care keep their TLC Program and add the Medicaid program to it as part of a package. We don’t want clients dropping the TLC Program when, say, one spouse enters a nursing home while the other continues to reside in the couple’s primary residence. Finally, we have a relatively inexpensive Will-based program for clients whose plans do not include trusts.

In our next email, we’ll detail the elements of our TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program.

Why Would Clients Pay for a Maintenance Program? Peace of Mind

Some attorneys dismiss maintenance programs out of hand because they don’t see why clients would participate in them. Don’t think like that. Maintenance programs are very appealing to clients, for two powerful reasons.

First, a maintenance program helps ensure that a client’s plan is always up-to-date and capable of accomplishing its goals when the client needs it. By explaining this benefit to your clients, many of them will quickly see the program’s value and the importance of enrolling in it. 

Second, one of the main complaints people have about working with attorneys is the notion that attorneys bill for just about anything, whether it’s an email, a photocopy, or a one-minute phone call. Your clients will appreciate the fact that you will not “nickel and dime” them, and that there will be no unpleasant “surprise” invoices in their mail boxes.  

By addressing these two issues, a maintenance program provides clients with peace of mind—the same long-term benefit that motivated many of them to want an estate plan in the first place.

So, what services should be included in your plan? You need to offer enough to make the program attractive to clients, but you must also be cognizant of not selling yourself short and offering too many services. We’ll discuss the particulars of an effective maintenance program next time. 

How to Generate a Consistent Revenue Stream with an Estate Plan Maintenance Program

Generating a consistent, reliable revenue stream is a challenge for many law firms. An annual maintenance program can provide a solution to this problem, and, in effect, function as a line of credit for your firm. 

In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss the elements of a successful program, the benefits of such a program to your clients and to your firm, how your plan can generate additional income beyond what you charge for the program itself, and more.  

At EPLC, we currently have approximately 600 clients enrolled in our various maintenance programs (we’ll talk about how our programs differ from one another in a future email). We charge $650 a year for what we call the TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program. If you do the math, you’ll quickly see that this income, which is both continuous and predictable, serves as a line of credit we can draw upon to cover any number of expenses over the course of a year.  

At this point you may be saying, “Well bully for you EPLC, but frankly I don’t know why any client would even want a maintenance program, let alone pay for it.” We’ll talk about that next time.

CLE Opportunity! Dave Zumpano Co-Presents as Part of March 11, 2020 Medicaid Seminar Hosted by The Rossdale Group

The costs of healthcare & long-term care have dramatically increased in recent years. Yet, only a small minority of clients has adequate insurance and funding for this required assistance. At the same time, the spend-down of assets to qualify for government & elder benefits has changed over the years and become more complex. For most of the population, public benefits, including Medicaid & other government benefits, provide the principal funding of care. This has caused an unprecedented need for counsel fluent in asset planning & protection techniques to assist clients needing to qualify for government assistance. The faculty for this program features a national authority in the subject, who will cover tools for spend-down's, exempt vs. non-exempt assets, differences between singles and married couples, the effect of future medical expenses on government benefits, and the landscape of Medicaid & medical expense planning.

On March 11, 2020 from 12PM - 1:30 PM EST, Lawyers With Purpose Founder Dave Zumpano, Esq. will join Landon Sandberg, the founding law partner at Sandberg, Stettler, & Bloxham, and Lissett C. Ferreira, a Partner at Meenan & Associates, LLC to present, "Mastering Medicaid Spend-downs, Government & Elder Benefits CLE."

The 90 minute program offers CLE credits, with the number of credits varying by state.  For more information, including pricing and CLE credit hours by state, and to register for the program, click here.

Registration includes online access to course and reference materials that serve as a helpful guide to the numerous topics and techniques discussed in the program.

Agenda:

Mastering Medicaid Spend-downs, Government & Elder Benefits CLE:

a. Essential Spend-down Techniques

b. Qualifying for Medicaid & Other Benefits When Your Assets Exceed the Limit

c. Determining Ideal Timing to Protect Assets

d. Utilizing Special Need & Trusts-based Solutions

e. Planning for Critical Needs

f. Successful Planning Considerations

g. Use of Annuities & Insurance

h. Understanding the Application Process

i. Insight on the Appeals Process

j. Tools to Generate the Best Possible Proof

k. Exempt vs. Non-exempt Assets

l. Best Practices on Seeking Prescription Drug Assistance

Interactive Question & Answer Session with the Experts

 

Start 2020 Off Right by Kick-Starting Your Maintenance Program

By LWP Implementation Specialist Amanda "Mandy" Bossow

From mid-November through the beginning of January, Lawyers with Purpose members tend to see a decrease of initial contacts, initial meetings, and workshop attendance. The holidays are THE time for your prospects and clients to be thinking about AND discussing their future plans with family, however, not as many do. How can you remedy this? By kicking off your maintenance program!

What is a maintenance program? The maintenance program is an additional service your firm can offer your clients to keep them informed of changes to the law, reminding them of the importance of keeping their plan up-to-date with personal changes, and keeping your firm in their top of mind awareness by sending out periodic newsletters, event invites, etc.

The beginning of the year is a wonderful time to send out an invitation to your clients, inviting them to join your maintenance program. It can fit right into their new year resolutions and provide them and their families great benefits, not only for this year, but for years to come.

You first must decide what you will include as part of your Maintenance Program. The suggested LWP Engagement Agreement (found on the LWP Member site) includes an option for a Maintenance Program where you can find some suggested items to include as part of your program!

Some suggested offerings the engagement agreement includes are:

• Regular client newsletters
• An annual client updating workshop aimed at keeping the client current with the changing legal environment
• Law firm-initiated changes to the client’s documents, if requested, to take advantage of changes in the law
• “Word processing” amendments to the client’s estate planning documents
• Regular specialized workshops
• On-going guidance with funding of new assets acquired during the year
• Annual estate plan review upon request
• Assistance to the client’s disability panel to verify their disability and get their successor Trustee appointed
• Meeting with the client’s family or helpers upon their disability or death to explain the estate plan they created and outline the assistance available in maintaining or settling their plan (any new services, if required, will be identified and billed separately)
• Annual social event for the client and their family to enjoy
• Special pricing for their family members to do planning during the year

Don’t be intimidated by this long list! You can make your Maintenance Program as inclusive as you’d like. You may decide in the beginning the only thing you can offer is the law firm-initiated changes, word processing amendments, and an annual estate plan review. Make sure you pay attention to your calendar to ensure you have time allotted to take care of these clients.

Next you need to start offering it to new prospects and clients during their initial and vision meetings. The lovely part about this is it’s already built into the LWP Enrollment Process! As you are discussing the various planning options with the potential client, you can discuss which plans have a maintenance option. You can even find a space for it directly on the Vision Clarifier tool!

Third, you need to determine how you are going to inform your current client pool of this beneficial new service. Some members send out a letter inviting their current clients to join at a discounted rate, while other members inform their clients they are enrolled into the maintenance program free for the first year so they can reap the benefits and then officially enroll the next year. You could also invite your clients to a kick-off event in which they can attend, maybe grab a drink with you, and hear all about other amazing events and additional benefits this program offers (as this is just a taste). The options are endless and entirely up to you!

The final step, which will be an on-going part of your practice, is to continue to maintain and grow your maintenance program. Maybe you start out small, offering only a few additional items, but then can add in quarterly newsletters, private events for maintenance clients only, etc.

The benefits for your clients to join and maintain their maintenance membership as well as the benefits for your firm is unlimited!  During the slow-down mentioned earlier in this article, you can plan your revenue goals to include the maintenance income right around the same time a decrease in new clients may occur! This also helps you stay in contact with your clients, reminding them to keep their plan current, inviting their family and friends to get their own estate plans completed, and providing a wonderful service to your community!

Updated VA Rates for 2020

The VA annually updates the amount paid to Veterans and widows for the Improved Pension Program. Here are the latest amounts which became effective December 1, 2019 and will likely continue until December 1, 2020.  

LWP members, you can access this rates sheet here.  (You will need to enter your login information to access.)

Building Profitable Referral Relationships: The Importance of Consistent Touches

People have different needs regarding the amount of attention they want to receive in a relationship. For some of your referral sources, getting together once a year might be fine. Other sources might want to meet every six months, or even once a month. If the referral source is providing you with plenty of profitable leads, track the frequency of your touches to ensure you’re meeting his or her needs.

You also want to track the goals of each touch. Is the meeting strategic and focused on future opportunities? Is it a joint workshop or presentation? Is it a review meeting designed to make sure the expectations of both parties are being met?

Tracking touches allows you to ensure your relationship is moving forward and that it’s on solid ground. Remember: You’re not the only attorney in town. The last thing you want is a competitor swooping in and “stealing” your referral source simply because you haven’t done enough to keep the relationship going. Finally, don’t underestimate the power of a hand-written thank you note. It may seem old-fashioned, but it works.