Lynda ArtesaniLegal Accountant and Data Migration Specialist at The Proper Trust

When first meeting a potential attorney client, it's important to speak their language

5 Mar 2024 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker advises bookkeepers on how to effectively engage attorney clients by learning and using legal‑bookkeeping terminology. She recounts a recent conversation where an attorney praised a bookkeeper for speaking her language, noting that many bookkeepers perform the work but fail to communicate in a way that resonates with lawyers. The speaker emphasizes that using the right lingo and asking industry‑specific questions—such as whether the firm performs a three‑way bank reconciliation—demonstrates deep understanding of the legal sector. She also highlights the value of a specialized niche: accounting firms that focus exclusively on law‑firm legal bookkeeping, which can streamline processes for attorneys and differentiate the service provider.

Chapters

The fact that when you're in the conversations with the attorneys, especially if you're new, like, practice this with someone. Yeah. Learn the lingo and start to use the words in the conversation. Because I had a lady last week or this week, and she said, the fact that you speak my language— I've talked to so many bookkeepers, and I know that they're nodding their heads saying they've done the work before, but they don't talk to me like you're talking to me. They're— you're asking questions they did not ask. So I know you understand this industry. And she said, I want to tell the world that this exists, that there's accounting firms that all they do is law firm legal bookkeeping because this niche is so specialized. It's helpful to the client because now they're not having to go, well, a 3-way bank reconciliation is— and that's another question you could ask, do you have a 3-way bank reconciliation?