Malofsky & Schwartz | Worcester, MA Real Estate, Corporate, Estate & Trust Attorneys

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Brett — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:15:08 +0000

So we recently had a new client hire us. One of our largest clients. Turns out we were competing with a law firm from New York City who had helped a client very similar to our new client. The difference? We were highly recommended to this client by another client of ours who had a business very similar to the one being started by the new client. Ah, referrals. They’re the best way to get new clients, aren’t they? This older client of ours spoke so highly of us and we knew what we were talking about, so it was a no-brainer for the new client to hire us. There was no questioning of fees. There was simply a question of how quickly we could start working, which was almost immediately.

We love clients who are starting businesses and who come to us by referral. They could be the best clients we have!

Don’t Always Sell

Brett — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:04:43 +0000

Ok, so how often do you go to a networking meeting, whether it’s a Chamber After Hours, BNI meeting or another meeting, and someone that you just met immediately tries to sell you his product or service? Is that really what the meeting is all about? That can actually hurt your credibility. You’re trying to sell something to someone who barely knows you. It’s all about networking at a networking event – hence the name! Sure, you might stumble upon an easy deal to close at a networking event. Let’s be realistic though and understand that is not the norm.
The next time you are at a networking meeting of any sort and you meet someone new, don’t try to sell them your product or service. They are not at the meeting to buy, so don’t turn them off by trying to sell to them.

Don’t Give Up

Brett — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:22:45 +0000

Ok, so the Patriots did not look so good at times yesterday. What was the most important part of the game for most people? The W at the end of the game, of course! Do the Patriots EVER give up when losing? Do they ever slow down when winning? When you don’t get that big client right away, do you give up? When you do get that big client, do you stop looking for the next big client? When you achieve one of your goals, do you take a nice rest and pat yourself on the back or do you reset that goal higher and work even harder to get there?

Are You Different in Different Places?

Brett — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:34:27 +0000

So this is the time of the Jewish New Year. We call it the ten days of awe and it just ended last night with a huge feast. My wife and I open our home to people we know and people we don’t know. What a great time, especially for someone who loves to network.
Well, Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky, the rabbi at our temple in Worcester, mentioned a story that I had not heard before yesterday and, being a networker, I immediately related it in my head to networking. The story is about a Hassidic rabbi’s son who would go to the forest every day. The rabbi was concerned and curious why the son was doing this, so he asked his son. The response intrigued the rabbi – “I go to the forest to find G-d.” The rabbi felt the need to remind his son that G-d is everywhere and that G-d is the same everywhere, so there is no need to go to the forest to find G-d. The son replied that G-d may be the same everywhere, “but I am not…”
Are you the same everywhere you network? Should you be? When you network at your office, at a networking event, at a weekly meeting, at a wedding, or anywhere else, do you prepare in the same manner? Do you use the same tools? Do you have the same attitude?

Sales or Customer Service?

Brett — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:03:44 +0000

Ok, so last week we discussed whether a salesperson only sells. There were many comments about how a salesperson should be developing a relationship, not just making the sale and then moving on. What if there is a customer service issue? You sell a service to someone, who buys. There is a challenge with that service and the client contacts you, even though you were the “salesperson,” not the customer service rep. What do you do or what don’t you do? Why or why not?

Does a Salesperson Only Sell?

Brett — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:02:37 +0000

Ok, so this may seem obvious to some of you, less obvious to others. Say you sell widgets. I buy widgets from you, cut you the check and your company deposits the check. Are you done with your job? Obviously I have had a personal experience which has led to this posting and my reentry into the blogging world, so I hope that many of you will post comments and make this an incredibly active blog.

Do You Focus on Giving or Receiving

Brett — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:14:54 +0000

When you join a networking group, you join to ultimately make money, but is your approach that if you just tell people about yourself they’ll send you business? Do you try to build relationships or just stand there with your hand out? When you go to a networking event, do you offer your card to everyone you meet and explain what you do or do you ask them what they do first?
My goal in my BNI chapter is to always give more referrals than I receive. I don’t just mean the number of referrals, I mean the value of those referrals.
If you can’t give a referral to someone with whom you want to develop a relationship, do you try to connect them with a referral source? Perhaps let them write an article in your newsletter? Do you help them with a non-profit event they are working on? There are so many ways to give to other people, so I encourage you all to remember to focus on giving first. Then you will undoubtedly receive many times over. I definitely remember an expression about it being better to give than to receive…

Practice What You Preach

Brett — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:42:18 +0000

So most of you know that I am an attorney. If you don’t know that, please email me so that we can get together and talk about what we both do!

Well, I am driving to work yesterday and I see a sight that, to be blunt, was just shocking for me. Perhaps it should not have been. Here’s the scene. I am driving along just below the speed limit (that’s how I drive for the most part these days) and I see a fire department car (probably one of the local Fire Marshalls by his attire) waiting to turn onto the road. It’s a 2-lane road and I am in the left-hand lane. So he turns into the right-hand lane pulling up next to me. Ok, all sounds normal so far, right? So the shocking part is that he was driving with just his left hand while holding his cell phone in his right, talking on it! Am I missing something here? We expect our kids (and ourselves) to not do this, but the guy who would have had to pull us from the car wreckage is doing it???

Besides making me think what a poor example this guy is and how dangerous he is being as a driver, it made me think in general about practicing what I preach.

If you are a marketing expert, do you use your own expertise to market your business? How many unhealthy doctors have you gone to see for a checkup? How many estate planning attorneys don’t have their own will? If you are a web site designer, do you have a top-notch web site?

Now watch out for this Worcester Fire Department employee on the roads. He’s not a safe driver until someone gets him a hands-free device to use.

Are You Always "On?"

Brett — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:16:21 +0000

So I was reading Rick Roberge’s most recent post

RainMaker asks “Are you happy?”

and it got me thinking. Well, most of Rick’s blog posts get me thinking. This one in particular really struck me. I am pretty much always happy. From the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep, that is how I feel about 99% of the time. I’m ready to work from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep. Ready to play too. Very little complaining. Learn from every situation. But always with a smile on my face and a friendly voice.

How about you? Can people hear the smile on your face over the phone? Can they seat it on you at the networking mixers? When you talk about your job, do you do so with passion and energy or do you talk about it as if it is just a job that you would rather not be doing?

Thanks Rick for keeping me thinking!

What does giving away your work for free really cost you?

Brett — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:22:54 +0000

Ok, so my wife and I have this awesome law practice. We are great at what we do, but we very rarely give discounts on our fees. If you want the best, you have to pay us. I don’t mean to say that in a cocky way, but this is our livelihood here, so we can’t just go giving it away for free.

We got a call from a client who has used our services in the past. That client had refinanced a few times over the years, although we did not know that. The reason we did not know is because another attorney had been doing the closings for this client’s lender. The main reason that client had not asked us to get involved and represent his lender? The other attorney was not charging him legal fees. Now don’t think that the other attorney was not still making some money. He was. But he was making $400.00 to $500.00 less because he was not charging the legal fee portion of the closing costs.

Now we get to why this client called us. He is building and buying a new home and he said that he could only use us because he trusts us the most. While the other attorney had not charged him for previous deals, he still not only feels loyalty to us, but he also feels that we are the most competent attorneys to handle the work.

So did giving away his services for free hurt the other attorney? Did it cause the buyer to think that he was just getting what he was paying for, which was nothing? What are your thoughts on this?