Eric Green's Tips for Managing Clients, Documents, Deadlines, and Pricing

Are your staff spending countless hours dealing with clients’ disorganized documents? Having to find, sort, and file hardcopy or electronic documents increases overhead costs that can cost firms thousands (and annoy your team, too).

Tax attorney Eric Green recognized his team was doing just that – investing hours of time before projects could truly start being billed. This highlighted the need to find technology that could eliminate the disorganization and manual tasks.

And while leveraging technology is key, Eric also recognized the need to update his pricing tactics. This helped him further maximize profits.

In a recent webinar, Eric shared his strategies for managing clients, documents, deadlines, and pricing at his firm Green & Sklarz, LLC. A summary of the conversation is below. Watch the full webinar on-demand here.

Automating the Intake Process

One of Eric’s biggest timesavers is automating the entire client intake process. Rather than going back and forth with clients, trying to gather information through email and phone calls, Eric requires new clients to complete an intake form. This helps him and his team determine if the client is a fit – there are many times, Eric says, people request services that Eric’s firm doesn’t even offer. His firm sends electronic engagement letters and document collection checklists to keep the process straightforward.

Leveraging SmartVault for Document Management

Before SmartVault, Eric and his team spent three to four hours opening a new client project – mostly because of how much time it took to go through their documents. At $150/hour of staff billing time, they were spending $450-$600 to open a rep file. They didn’t bill the client for this work because no client wants to see a charge for $600 to “get documents from the client.”

Once they implemented SmartVault, the firm cut nearly two hours off the set-up and review of the PDF documents. How? They’d send the client links to the SmartVault portal, and they’d upload the documents directly into the correct folders – all organized for Eric and his team.

That $300 of billable time saved, multiplied by the ten new files they open a week, means about $150,000 of saved time (billable time that can be spent on collectible client work).

The benefits compound from there. Smart integrations allow clients to e-sign engagements and share documents securely. And with documents hosted securely in the cloud, Eric, his team, and his clients can work from anywhere and access files seamlessly.

Implementing Consultation Fees

Instead of providing free consultations, Eric charges an upfront fee starting at $750, but he strongly urges firms to consider the fee that makes sense for them and their clientele.

“If you don’t charge a fee, you’re going to just start getting more and more phone calls,” he said. “If you’re going to sit and do free consultations, do you know what you’re going to end up doing all day? Free consultations.”

The consultation fee acts as a filter for time-wasters. “It will weed out the tire kickers if you tell them ‘I charge $250 for a consult,'” he advised. Clients who balk at the fee likely weren’t going to become paying clients anyway.

Follow More of Eric’s Tips

By automating the client intake process, leveraging SmartVault for efficient document management, and implementing fees, Eric has created a system that eliminates disorganization, saves substantial billable time, and ensures the firm works with clients who truly value their services.

His strategies demonstrate how leveraging technology combined with updated pricing tactics can significantly improve a firm’s bottom line while delivering an excellent client experience. To use SmartVault at your firm, start here with a demo.