Want to thrive? Fire the bottom 10% of clientele

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By Emily Kelchen | Raise the Bar

Lawyers are often told to find their niche, and the rest will follow. Attorney Bonnie Treichel has done just that by tackling the tricky subject of retirement plan compliance. As the founder of both Endeavor Law and a consulting group called Endeavor Retirement, she focuses on helping financial advisors and employer-sponsored retirement plans ensure they are in compliance with the myriad rules governing this topic. Treichel sat down with Raise the Bar to talk about what she has learned by laser-focusing on one area of law. 

You have developed an interesting way to ensure you are always focused on serving your ideal client. Can you share that with us?

First, you have to recognize that you can’t be all things to all people. Second, you should periodically fire the bottom 10% of your clients. That sounds harsh but these two pieces of advice go together. When I started my firm, I would take every client that walked in the door and I essentially let them set the price and boundaries of the relationship because I needed revenue. Now, I recognize that doing business that way is a disservice to my other clients. I know my niche and refer business to other attorneys and consultants where I am not the best fit. It’s essential to know your ideal client and where you can provide the most value and over time, weed out those clients that don’t fit your model so that you can ensure they are with an attorney or consultant that can provide the best value to them.

How has focusing on retirement planning shaped how you practice law?

There is often a perception that financial advisors are “bad,” in a similar way that attorneys get a bad reputation. But both are focused on doing good work for their clients, and that is what you have to keep in mind. 

Running two different businesses must keep you busy! How do you stay grounded?

Giving back in whatever capacity I can. It can be with time, money or marketing—whatever your bandwidth allows. There will be times in life when we have more margin to be able to do so versus other instances where we don’t. However, when we have that space to do so, it is always helpful to find ways personally and professionally to give back to our communities. Right now, I am focused on Make a Wish and FinServ Foundation. 

Thank you for reading Raise The Bar.

Hello readers! Thanks for spending a few minutes with today's edition. I'm Bianca Prieto and I am the new editor at the helm of Raise the Bar. I look forward to producing a valuable, fact-filled, 5-minute read for you each week. The best part of this newsletter is our audience, those of you who read weekly, share our content and participate in the conversation. 

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Bianca

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