Expanding your ADR Practice

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© 2008, Eisenstein & Fincher 1 Expanding Your ADR Practice as a Workplace Neutral Finding your niche, gaining acceptability, and making money Annual ACR Conference Minneapolis October 9-12, 2013 Richard Fincher, Debra Dupree, Michael Dickstein

description

Thursday, October 10, 2013 4pm - 5:30pm This workshop explores how to generate income as a workplace neutral. We will review the competitive market, emerging niches, ethical rules, evolving qualifications, and techniques for gaining visibility. We will also discuss fees and cash flow techniques to ensure your financial viability. Lastly, we will explore how to apply to mediation rosters, application to the ACR arbitrator AP designation, and other rosters. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Transcript of Expanding your ADR Practice

Page 1: Expanding your ADR Practice

© 2008, Eisenstein & Fincher 1

Expanding Your ADR Practice as a Workplace Neutral

Finding your niche, gaining acceptability, and making money

Annual ACR ConferenceMinneapolis

October 9-12, 2013

Richard Fincher, Debra Dupree, Michael Dickstein

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First assumption

You fall into one of three categories, reflecting your career experience…

Starting neutral…0-2 years Emerging neutral…3-5 years

Established neutral…5 plus years

This workshop offers different value to all of you…

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Second assumption

You have or will build your technical skills.

(mediation, arbitration, facilitation, etc.)

You must have the technical skills to succeed in this profession.

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What business are you in?

• You are selling resolution, fairness, patience, integrity, trust and sound judgment...

• Your products are settlements or awards and neutrality…no one remember the actual terms, but how you got there…

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What is the number one barrier with your career journey?

What is holding you back?

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Good news: ADR as an industry

• ADR is a huge growth industry• Applications for ADR are expanding• Societal acceptance of ADR is rising• Recognition of ADR as a real, paying profession is

finally being realized• Money is to be made

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General Company Description and Industry Overview

Other news: ADR as a profession

• Moving towards becoming a true profession with accepted credentials, codes of conduct, and professional development

• Difficulty leaving behind its volunteer image

• Becoming a niche driven profession

• Becoming lawyerized

• Starting to be placed under the microscope, with criticism

• Massively increased demand for competent mediators – projected to be 3x in the next 10 years

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Finding your niche:The competitive markets of

workplace ADR

Do you have a professional niche today?

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Evolving marketplace for workplace mediation

A core practice for neutrals (but 80/20%)

Interpersonal mediationInternal EEO mediation

Litigated case mediationThree schools of mediation

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Evolving marketplace for workplace arbitration

A core practice for neutrals

Labor arbitrationEmployment arbitration

FINRA arbitrationHearing Officer

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Emerging niches of workplace ADR

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General Company Description and Industry Overview Evolving areas

Facilitation

• Strategic planning

• Teambuilding• Retreats• Public planning

Other Areas

• Systems design (ICMS)

• Conflict coach• ADR consultant • Conflict style

diagnostics• Investigator• Trainer• Executive mediation

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Market segmentation: setting your market niche…

For example, some labor arbitrators have a niche in railroads, or airlines, or in teacher disputes, or in sports…

Most commercial arbitrators have acknowledged niches…

Most employment arbitrators try to have substantive niches…

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The three step marketing paradigm

Credibility – Visibility – Acceptability

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Credibility – Visibility – Acceptability

Building personal capability

• Step 1: Establish your credibility• “If they knew me, they would agree I am competent.”

• Gaining credibility and capability• Skills training (volunteer or professional, training for

cost or for free, and how many hours of initial training)

• Apprenticeships (not that common in mediation)• Volunteer opportunities (court annexed)• Formal education• “Doing” which makes a longer resume

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Credibility – Visibility – Acceptability

Visibility to potential clients

• Step 1: Establish your credibility• “If they knew me, they would agree I am

competent.”

• Step 2: People cannot buy things that they don’t know about. “Now they know about me.”

• In professional services, most visibility comes from word of mouth (passive), not from “active” marketing (e.g., advertising)

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Credibility – Visibility – Acceptability Simultaneously building credibility and

visibility

SpeechesWriting ArticlesJoining BoardsWriting a Book

Mentoring others You must focus or risk becoming overwhelmed

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Credibility – Visibility – Acceptability

What if it isn’t working?• If you cannot be first in your niche, create a niche you can

be first in…try to create new markets. • Don’t compete against entrenched competitors…create

a bigger pie

• Embrace Segmentation – Targeting – Positioning (dig where there is water)

• Be sure you know your market:• You know the client base• Clients need your services• Clients can afford your fees• You can communicate with them

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Making Money as a Workplace Neutral

Getting paid: fees, cash flow and

taxes

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Are you charging enough?

Do you increase your fees annually?

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Are you being paid on time?

Have you changed your billing practices?

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What are the customers saying about ADR, and what do they look for in

neutrals?

Complaining about costs and delay…Criticize weak arbitrators who fail to manage the process

Lawyers seek strong evaluative mediators

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Facing the Competition (other neutrals in the market or entering the

market)

Name the top five neutrals…Estimated income…

Publicity…High profile cases

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Setting Up Your Business – Tax Strategies

Advanced tax strategies for self-employed neutrals

• Not how much money you make, but how much you bring home…

• How aggressive are you with tax deductions?• How aggressive should you be?

Lots of different ways to organize your business – repercussions for taxes

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Finally, continual driving to the next level…

analyzing your local market for opportunities

The “four Ps of marketing” are product, pricing, promotion and place…

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General Company Description and Industry Overview Integrated framework for strategic analysis

Sustainable CompetitiveAdvantage

ProductProduct

PricePrice PromotionPromotion

PlacePlace

CompetitionCompetitionCompanyCompanyCustomerCustomer

VulnerabilitiesCompetencies &Costs

Unmet needs

S – T – P

Appraise the Situation

What business are you really in?Who else is in it?

Further Break Down the Market

Sub-markets?Whom to target?How to differentiate yourself?

Propose Tactics to Implement the Strategy

How do the tactics deliver value to the target market?

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Drafting a Business Plan

“It is not the plan that’s important, but the learning (and insight) that you gain

in the planning process.”

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Creating your Business Plan

An essential step for everyone!

• A business plan helps to • Define your market, organize what services you will provide,

analyze competitors, determine pricing, and overcome barriers to entry (and erect your own),

• It also forces you to consider marketing practices, cash flow issues, startup costs, and business steps

• In ADR, you are very unlikely to be “pitching” your plan to investors looking for money.

• However, you should write as if you are going to get funding.• Would you fund your business idea?• Get feedback from local businesspeople as to whether they

would fund your plan. Their reservations may be the key to your success!

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Goals for your business plan

• The plan should tell a compelling story about your business.

• Your plan should be focused and clear. It’s not about the number of pages or style of the cover.

• The plan should define specific business objectives and goals, and include general parameters that will guide the next several years of development.

• Writing a business plan should force logic and discipline into a business.

• Properly used, a business plan is a living document. It should be updated regularly.

• Is it compelling? Would you invest money in this plan if someone approached you with it?

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The seven Cs for career success

1. Clarity of who you are2. Competence of service3. Overcoming constraints / 80%4. Concentration and focus5. Creativity to new ideas6. Courage to do the right thing7. Continuous learning to improve

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ACR Advanced Practitioner Designation

Mediator APArbitrator AP