I think my readers owe a debt of gratitude to Michael Padway.
Michael is a long time friend and client. We often have a chance to relax and chat about his latest brilliant business exploits.
I sometimes add a few stories from my several thousand business clients to the discussion.
Yesterday, Michael suggested that these stories are parables. People whose parents are in business get to hear stories like these at home and at meals. Michael’s parents were both in business. With Michael’s introduction, I once did a job for his father’s insurance headhunting firm.
Others, without business parents, may need parables like these to succeed in business.
The first parable is about Michael’s law firm, which he ran with his brother. The firm did auto liability claims. Usually a victim of an auto accident was the plaintiff against an insurance company.
Michael ran a powerful ad on post-mid-night TV that generated many responsive phone calls every day. The firm had lawyers on the phones full time screening callers to see if they had viable lawsuits. This phone answering was costly to the firm, because it required expensive lawyers to do the screening.
Michael’s solution was to make a high quality professional video tape (an important medium in the days before DVD’s and the Internet) and sent it immediately to everyone who phoned in with a case. The video helped the potential plaintiff decide if they had a viable case. If they did, they were given a quick pitch on why Michael’s firm could be good for them and what they could expect on the way a lawsuit would progress with medical exams and legal filings.
It was a brilliant screening, selling and training mechanism and increased the number of viable cases while reducing legal hours in getting good clients.
With that success in hand, Michael added an even more brilliant video.
He created a video to prepare his plaintiffs for depositions. Depositions with cross examinations are part of nearly every lawsuit. They require preparation time that is expensive; most clients are anxious about being cross examined under oath. The deposition video was a stunning success in preparing plaintiffs.
Such a success that Michael’s firm was able to sell the video far and wide in the legal profession.
In-house money saving option becomes outside revenue producer.