Hi Reader!
As I mentioned a few weeks back, at the beginning of the year, I switched over to Honeybook. I’m using it primarily for contracts and invoicing. But this switch has been a good opportunity to look at my onboarding with fresh eyes.
Onboarding isn’t just a set-it-and-forget-it system. It needs to grow, evolve, and change along with your business.
While migrating my onboarding system, I identified a couple of areas that needed tweaks.
One tweak was something that I used to do, and for whatever reason, it had fallen by the wayside. (In fact, it’s the fourth common gap outlined in this week’s video.)
Long story short on this one, my law firm services agreement has several requirements and sections that must be included according to the California State Bar. And because of these mandates, I cannot set my contract up the way I would like.
So I’ve returned to explaining a few of the clauses, what they mean, and more importantly, why my contract is set up the way it is. (And how it’s not a reflection on how I usually write contracts.)
I also experimented with another tweak, related to the CRM functions of Honeybook, that isn’t quite working. So I’m trying a new iteration in Q2. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll try something else in Q3.
But this process has been a good reminder that even after 15 years of running my law firm, nothing is perfect and nothing is done.
You can always make improvements, you can always grow, change, and evolve.
👉 Your action item
Think back over the last few client projects (or pull up your Business Hangups note) and brainstorm any places where tweaks in your onboarding might have avoided a hiccup. Commit to making one small tweak for your next project.
If you only have 20 minutes this week, the task above is the most important thing to do. But if you have a little more time, keep reading.
Chat soon,
The clause to notice
One small section of a contract that can have an outsized impact later.
This week’s clause: Expenses & reimbursements
If your work has lots of expenses that aren’t covered by your fee. This is a good clause to highlight in your onboarding materials. Because there are times when you can’t anticipate the exact costs.
How I handle this: If you don’t know, most of my law firm work is on a flat-fee basis, but many projects I work on have government costs or filing fees associated with them.
- If the filing fee is fixed and small, then I bundle it into my project fee.
- If the filing fee is fixed and large, then I include it as a separate line item on the invoice and don’t bundle it with my project fee.
- If the filing fee is variable, then I provide an estimate in the quote and state in the contract that I will invoice them at my cost.
If contracts are starting to come up more often in your business, the Contract Decoder is your secret weapon to signing contracts with confidence.
LATEST VIDEO
Onboard new clients for smoother projects
How you onboard new clients sets the tone for the project. But is your onboarding system stuck in the past? Learn 4 common onboarding gaps even experienced creatives make.
Other things on my radar…
- Website accessibility once again is in the courts. And this time, in very good news: a NY court dismissed the lawsuit because the e-commerce retailer had taken all “commercially reasonable steps” to make their website accessible.
- I’ve seen this discussed in some of my attorney forums, but if your website search bar is connected to other services, like Google or Facebook, you might be at risk for this cut-and-paste lawsuit.
