Shelley Bilbrey
Business Name: Shelley L. Bilbrey, P.C.
Website URL: http://slbilbrey.com
Email Address: shelley@slbilbrey.com
Year Founded: 2008
Number of Employees: 2 attorneys and 3 assistants
What does your company do?: We are a law firm in Huntsville, Alabama specializing in domestic relations law. We also handle some personal injury and criminal cases. My associate is fluent in Spanish and we tend to get a variety of cases from the Spanish-speaking community in Madison County and surrounding areas.
Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level?: Yes. I have grown more rapidly than anticipated. I believe there are three reasons for that success and they are:
1. We approach domestic relations differently than many firms. We strive to help client’s resolve their conflict by agreement as often as possible. In fact that are times we “talk ourselves out of work” with one client. However, that client who walked away without wasting money, makes more referrals. So, the focus on empowering clients to take better control of their outcome by forming creative and very detailed settlement agreements has kept past clients from returning, but has drastically increased the number of referrals we receive. The long-term thinking and care for our clients has been beneficial to us.
2. We keep our rates lower than our competition. We do not undercut by a vast amount. But, undercutting by $25.00 an hour has enticed several high end clients to hire us because they have research the issues and can get top quality representation for less money.
3. I made the decision several years ago to spend more money than I wanted to spend on my website. At the time I made that decision, I was very concerned and it was very possible that I would invest more money on the website than on the referrals we received. My instinct was right and paying top dollar for a very informative website that also gives clients our philosophy of practice has brought us numerous referrals from the website and others who were referred by someone, but compared websites first.
What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company?:
The answer to the above-stated question is applicable.
In addition, we actively manage our caseload. We do not accept every case as quickly as they can come through the door. Many attorneys make this mistake and then the quality of representation declines because they cannot manage the caseload they need to represent. Word of mouth can always help you or hurt you. Quality service is vital. And, you cannot provide quality service when you are overwhelmed.
In general, the business philosophy has been to not become greedy and care about your clients in helping them achieve what they want and helping them to cope with an outcome they did not want.
What is most rewarding about running your business?: I love the management side of things and never expected that. It is so rewarding to hear from others that the people who work for me rave about working for me and plan on working for me over the long-term.
Again, I pay my staff higher and provide more benefits than other law firms in town. It provides me with less money in the short-term. But, over the long-term it saves me money, by avoiding staff turnover and costly mistakes made by unhappy employees. I show my loyalty by providing competitive salaries and a superior benefits package. They show their loyalty to me by not only working hard, but always volunteering to help me when they see a need.
What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?: Although I love management now, I hated it at first and did not do a good job. I had quite a bit of turnover the first two years in business. I was fearful I could not afford to pay them as much as I should. More importantly, I did not communicate well until I was frustrated or angry and then I overreacted. I also did not explain the reasoning behind my decisions.
The changes I have made that have been hugely beneficial is the increase in competitive and superior salaries and wages. That is always most important. They are in this for the money just like I am. But, a close second is that I began having staff meetings (lawyers are notorious for not doing this) where I could impose policies with my explanation of the policy and the reasoning behind it. I also have made that meeting a safe place for an individual or the group to express their concerns, suggestions, or desires for a change. When people feel someone listened to them, they are more likely to positively accept an outcome adverse to their agenda. There is always some resistance. But, there is less resistance. And, typically that process leads to acceptance and even pleasure at feeling they participated in the problem solving.
If you were starting over today, what would you do differently?: I would change the management style I had at the beginning.
What advice do you have for other business owners?: 1. Take the time to make long-term goals. After that, decide what sacrifices have to be made to achieve those long-term goals. You cannot get there without sacrifice. Understand there are many sacrifices you will make in addition to the time you spend. Do not take stupid financial risks by over-reaching. But, always take an occasional small risk.
2. Listen more than you speak at the beginning because you can learn how to mange your employees by learning what is important to them and making them feel their opinion is respected.
3. When you overrule an employee’s thoughts or approach don’t be in such a hurry that you fail to explain why you are doing what you are doing.
4. Do not become greedy. There is a reason why Walmart is so successful. Have competitive pricing and undercut the competition every chance you get.
5. Invest in successful advertising. If you only want to spend a small portion on advertising, you will not receive a benefit and should not waste the money. In advertising, you get what you pay for as the saying goes. If you are going to advertise, spend the money to do it right. That advertising makes your first statement to a possible client. If you lose them at that point, it is highly unlikely they will find their way back to you at a later date. But, if you sell yourself in that moment, you will capture that client but also develop at a more rapid rate “word of mouth” advertising.
6. Maintain balance in your life. It is pointless to earn money if you are never going to use it. And, always remember too much of a good thing is still “too much.” If you are more balanced as an individual, you will make better decisions and create more client / customer loyalty and employee loyalty. Without both of those things, you will never have a lasting and successful business.
Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others: I do not read business books. I read about topics that interest me and fiction for a diversion. You probably do not want those titles.
However, there is one book that has been fascinating to me that might be applicable to this. The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Dr. Kevin Dutton is fascinating. In general he makes the case for the benefit of calm decision-making under fire. Obviously, some psychopaths are in prison and depict what we imagine when thinking of Hannibal Lector. However, as with most things in life, you are not a psychopath or not. A person falls somewhere on that continuum. First responders who can dis-passionately respond to a tragic situation are a benefit and sometimes test positive on that scale. From an individual stand-point, it makes the case for striving to make more decisions with less emotion. Again, it’s fascinating.
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?: I am about to finish building an addition to our shop at home. I have never done anything approaching this project before now. But, I have read a lot and asked millions of questions at Lowes and have learned by making mistakes. I was not afraid to try it. And, in the moments that I thought I was in over my head and wanted to quit, I forced myself forward. More than anything, my advice to others is that they have to be willing to try new things and take those risks, even if they are afraid. So many people limit themselves because they are afraid to try. It sounds cliche, but it’s true. Who knew a female divorce attorney could build a framed building without any experience and do it well? And, if it falls down in five years I will deny I ever touched it.
