The Power of Delegation and Expertise

When my firm first rolled out Lawmatics, our CRM system, I spent about 100 hours learning it, writing the emails, and building the system. During that time, my marketing director also went through it and did a ton of work on the project.

Why?

Because I was too cheap to hire someone to do it.

Although I now run a company with five team members doing this, and we have built these CRM systems for firms across the country, it was still a mistake.

Why?

Because there were better uses of my time and my marketing director’s time.

Will this whole newsletter be rhetorical questions?

No.

Because no one wants that.

We are not alone in wasting time instead of spending money. I see so many lawyers posting and asking how they can do something themselves. What tips do we have to help them accomplish their goal?

But that is fundamentally the wrong question.

It is not about how I can do this. It is about who can do this the way it should be done.

This is exactly the point Dan Sullivan makes in his book, Who Not How. He is right, and this concept is worth emphasizing.

The Argument Against Learning New Business Skills

Yes, I try to learn a new skill every few weeks. Rubik’s Cube. Lock picking. Origami cranes. I am not talking about fun skills. I am talking about business skills.

Let’s say my billable rate was $300. Let’s say my marketing director’s rate was $150. I wasted $30,000 of my time and $15,000 of his time learning the program. That is $45,000 because I did not want to hire someone for $5,000 to $15,000 to do it.

And remember:

I am not a copywriter.
I am not a graphic designer.
At that time, I was not even a marketer. I did not understand KPIs or sales strategies.

So I spent three times as much to get something worse, with less expertise behind it.

Yikes.

What Should You Do Instead?

Step 1: Identify What Only You Should Do

Make a list of the things you must do:

• Trust accounting
• Supervision of non lawyers
• Legal advice
• Major trials

Step 2: Identify What You Enjoy Doing

Make a list of what you actually enjoy:

• Content creation
• Networking
• Being the visionary
• Hosting events

Then only do those things.

Delegate everything else.

As a bonus, you will identify the skills you truly need to develop for those specific responsibilities. Ignore the rest unless it genuinely interests you.

For some lawyers, helpful skills might include:

• Marketing fundamentals
• Hiring and firing principles
• Running better meetings
• Growing a leadership team
• Designing a firm that runs without you

Read those books. Buy those courses. Listen to those podcasts. Do your required firm work. Then enjoy your life.

What About Everything Else?

Here are your options:

• Hire great staff
• Bring in experts
• Outsource it
• Use technology
• Hire VAs

Let’s break that down.

Hire Great Staff

When I first opened my firm, I thought if I could clone myself, my firm would be amazing. Now that would be my nightmare.

Instead, I hired people with skills I do not have. Patience. Attention to detail. A calm and caring phone voice. Then I put them in the right roles and empowered them to improve their jobs and our systems.

That can look like:

• “We address too many envelopes. Can we get a stamp with our address?”
• “Our KPIs show a 90 percent consult booking rate within seven days. Can we move outreach earlier and book faster?”
• “A client left a review and mentioned a team member by name.”

If you want deeper hiring advice, look at Molly McGrath and her podcast. For me, culture fit and soft skills matter more than experience. Experience often means someone learned someone else’s system. I prefer building ours.

Bring in Experts

Yes, I am biased. Many firms hire us as fractional CMOs. But whether you hire us or someone else, expertise matters.

You probably do not need a full time website employee. But you likely benefit from an expert for a few focused hours at a higher rate instead of assigning website updates to a paralegal.

The same goes for:

• Copywriters
• EOS implementers
• Business lawyers for employment contracts
• Specialized consultants

Targeted expertise saves time and raises quality.

Outsource It

What can you assign to another company and know it is handled?

One of my favorites is phone answering. You do not need every call covered, but overflow, nights, weekends, trial weeks, or emergencies are all moments where it is worth the cost.

Other examples:

• Medical record request companies
• Headhunters
• Payroll and accounting
• Bookkeeping services

Use Technology

I write about automation often, so I will not repeat everything here. But if you are not actively evaluating what can be automated, you are wasting time.

Automation does not replace people. It makes your people more effective.

VAs

I am covering this next week, both from a workflow standpoint and an office culture standpoint, including remote work.

Stay tuned.

Final Thoughts

This is not an exhaustive list, even if this article feels long.

If you made it this far and still have something on your plate that you cannot seem to delegate, let me know. I will walk through it with you one on one.

Until next week, may you find your version of a miniature Mos Eisley Cantina in the Quantum Realm with Bill Murray.

Have a wonderful week, and I will see you next Friday for the article on remote work and VAs.