Closing the Deal: 10 Steps to Take Now
By Roxana Bacon
Too often women lawyers are hesitant to take the steps that
will turn a business development opportunity into an actual
client. Those last few steps—asking for business and
closing the deal—feel unnatural and take us outside of
our comfort zone. But those steps don’t have to be difficult
or uncomfortable—they can fit your personal style and
showcase your strengths without hype or guile. Here’s
how to start.
1. Take a Personal Inventory. Long before you
get to the pitching stage, you need to look at the bigger picture.
You can’t sell a product you don’t know. Review what
you like most about your practice and your client-relations style,
and why. Then review what you like least. Do an external source
check and ask several colleagues and clients these same questions.
2. Determine What You Want From Your Career. You
don’t want to close a deal and find yourself tied to a
matter that doesn’t fit in with your career goals. Are
you looking for a short-term, intense work profile until you
start a family? Are you looking for a job that has the elusive
work-life balance? Are you looking to be senior partner at a
high-billable hours firm? Are you looking for experience before
you start your own shop?
3. Identify Your Marketing Targets. Who do
you want to do the deal with? Do you want to develop clients
who will have steady referrals (appropriate in transaction/corporate
work), or are you looking for individual cases (appropriate for
criminal defense/family law matters), or to retain existing clients,
or grow them? Does your target reflect your goals as well as
your firm’s goals?
4. Make the Business Case. This isn’t
personal, even though it feels like it. How well you succeed
in your business development efforts will, of course, depend
on your ability to sell yourself. However, the decision to award
the work will be based on whether the target sees a business
reason to hire you, so concentrate on data and facts rather than
emotion. This is true whether the target is a big company or
an individual.
5. Learn All You Can About Your Target. Making
a pitch without knowing your target’s history, culture,
needs, and concerns is just plain silly. Use all available resources,
from the Internet to experienced lawyers in your firm, so that
you go forward from knowledge, not guesses or desperation. Be
ready to listen, but with smart ears, when you have your face-to-face
meeting. Nothing says you care more than an intelligent question
that shows you know your target’s business.
6. Put Yourself in Your Target’s Pumps. Why
would or should they choose you for their legal service needs?
You will need to sell yourself as well as your firm. You will
need to tie your skills to their issues. To do this, you will
have to ask great questions and listen to the answers as building
blocks for your pitch.
7. Set Up the Face-to-Face Only When You Are Prepared. No
one wants to be your experiment.
- What have you done to tee up the meeting? Are there materials
you want the client to have ahead of time?
- What materials will you provide—on the spot and as
follow-ups? Have you adjusted your materials to the target’s
personality?
- What is the setting for your pitch? Are you in the right
place? It doesn’t have to be a restaurant or office.
Is it the right time of day, week, or month to be convenient
for the client? Have you allowed enough time?
8. Do a “Moot Court” of Your Pitch. This
is a presentation, so rehearse. You need to get comfortable talking
about yourself, especially your strengths. Ask someone who knows
the client to role-play the client. Be ready for the surprise
questions, and get feedback on when to quit the pitch. Aim to
find your own voice, one that does not feel self-conscious or
conceited but conveys the necessary facts about your skills.
9. Set Realistic Expectations. Marketing is
a long-term investment. Few clients make a decision on the spot.
You want to develop a relationship that can grow over time, so
rushing it is counterproductive. Your plan should include strategic
follow–ups, which can go on for years. But, if you do get the
client right away, be ready. Make no false promises.
10. Be Confident and Creative. No one wants
to hire a lawyer who is tentative or rote. Think out of the box
about fees, billing, and technology, for example. Tie your innovations
to the client’s needs. Always listen to your client’s
issues—no one wants a hard sell. And never insult the competition.
Finally, try to have fun. If you don’t enjoy the process,
no one else will!
Roxana C. Bacon is executive director of Western Progress, a nonprofit think tank devoted to issues of the American Southwest. She serves on the Ninth Circuit Advisory Board and volunteers as a mentor for young women establishing their own legal practices and businesses.
Note
“Closing the Deal: 10 Steps to Take Now,” by Roxana
Bacon, 2009, Law Practice, 35:1, page 54. © 2009
by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission.
All rights reserved. This information or any or portion thereof
may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means
or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without
the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
© Copyright 2009, American
Bar Association.
