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What can you do to generate new business in 2003, at
the same time that you retain your current clients?
If you are not in private practice, don't stop reading
now! Everyone who is working needs to insure current
and future business. If you don't have enough work,
your position isn't necessary. So if you are in an in-house
position, or in government practice, you still need
to make sure that you are generating business. In addition,
as you think about managing your own career, you will
want to think about the kind of business that
you are generating. What new areas of expertise do you
want to add and grow? If you are managing a firm, a
group, or a practice, what do you want to teach your
junior staff about developing a practice?
According to a survey conducted by Prentice Hall Law
and Business, in the '90s more than three-quarters of
partners in law firms spent 10% or less of their time
on client development. Be it resolved, in 2003, you
will up that figure substantially. But how?
Talk to those around you
Do you have a marketing director? Or committee? A department
head? Take advantage of the expertise of the people
that you have chosen for these positions. If you are
thinking seriously about the future of your business,
these committees or individuals are a great place to
start. In addition you can insure that you aren't short-circuiting
any other plans that are already in development. What
if you're a practice of one? Or you are in a small firm?
There are still many resources available to assist you.
The web site www.lawmarketing.com
can be a terrific resource no matter what the size of
your firm.
The best source of new business - existing clients.
If you are practicing with others you want to make sure
that you are cross-selling your firm to current clients.
If you are working in business litigation, perhaps your
transactional attorneys could assist these client in
creating plans that would enable the business to prevent
some future exposure. Cross-selling is best facilitated
by meeting with other members of your firm to insure
a good understanding of their practice, clients, and
expertise. For instance, if you are a healthcare attorney,
perhaps physician clients may not be aware that your
firm has an excellent trusts and estates department.
Think through appropriate ways for you to talk about
the other aspects of your firm's practice with existing
clients.
Generate a contact list
Who are the people that you would contact if you wanted
to talk about your practice? These aren't just people
to whom you would want to pitch your business. They
are also trusted friends and colleagues. Often business
comes from second party referrals. If people don't know
that you are looking for new business, they can't refer
it your way. Make sure that each of these individuals
has more than one of your business cards and a good
understanding of your practice. Be specific about your
needs and interests. If you practice with others, make
sure that your contacts have information about your
firm's entire practice. Make sure that these people
know how you or other members of your firm might be
able to help them, or their friends and colleagues.
What if you're relatively new to the practice? How can
you start client development activities?
If you are an attorney relatively junior to practice,
developing good habits about client development is just
as important and may become more important than simply
being a good legal practitioner. The key to long-term
success in the private practice is the ability to develop
and maintain a client base that can generate income.
It makes you both desirable and portable. At the same
time, depending upon the size of the firm where you
are working, client development may or may not be encouraged.
It is important to remember that client development
can be internal as well as external. If you develop
good skills in generating work from the partners with
whom you are affiliated, you can frequently begin to
transfer those skills to external client development.
Here are some suggestions for junior attorneys to assist
them in developing clients.
- Join a not-for-profit board. Many not for profit
organizations are interested in having attorneys become
part of their board of directors. Here you will meet
other professionals, some of whom may need the services
of your firm. In turn you will be making a contribution
to your community and making a variety of new contacts.
- Stay active in the bar association. Attend events
and join committees. Many referrals come from other
lawyers.
- While lunch at your desk may often be called for
to meet current work needs, don't neglect your network,
including law school classmates. Meeting people for
lunch keeps you visible and helps you gather information
that can help your practice.
- Join the local Chamber of Commerce and professional
industry groups and attend their functions. You will
meet people at these functions who may be in need
of services.
- Create and practice a thirty-second to two-minute
description of the services your firm could offer
a new client.
- Remember that listening to potential clients to
learn more about their business and their needs is
probably more important than talking.
- Balance your time spent in these activities ensuring
that you are meeting the needs of your internal clients
- the attorneys for whom you are doing work.
Internal marketing as career development
As you think of your current set of skills and interests,
think about what new sets of skills you want to develop.
These are ways that you will want to market yourself
to your existing employer. Just as you would approach
a potential client, think about the ways in which you
may want to approach your employer to develop "new
business" for yourself. This marketing plan is
just as important for a junior attorney as the plan
that you will develop to market yourself externally.
You will only have as much to offer a future client
as the skills you have developed in your practice. This
is critical whether you are in private practice, government
practice, or working in-house.
If you supervise a group or a practice
The only way to ensure that time will be spent on developing
and implementing individual or group marketing plans
is to build a reward system into the planning process.
If business development activities cannot be counted
for any billable time, it is difficult to create incentives
for attorneys to develop and act on such plans. Work
out a way that time spent on marketing activities can
be included in bottom line commitments. Create a budget
and encourage your attorneys to spend wisely in pursuit
of current and future opportunities.
Follow up, and follow through.
Persistence is a major factor in the client development
business. It may take a significant amount of time to
generate business. Many businesses are not anxious to
change legal staff. They may only decide to do so based
upon unsatisfactory service from another provider, a
need for new services, potential conflicts, or a change
in decision makers. Consistent contact with a potential
provider over time is necessary to win business. Some
of the characteristics of the best lawyers are characteristics
useful in developing business. These include commitment,
thoroughness, accuracy, and follow through.
The practice of law is also a business. As such, it
requires diligence that will ensure that productivity
is maximized. Business development is easy to ignore
when your calendar is full and you're under pressure
to properly serve your clients' active needs. Just keep
in mind that attempting to generate new business at
a time when no billable hours are available is a much
worse kind of pressure you want to avoid. So start the
New Year by thinking of ways that you can balance ongoing
business development activity with the rest of your
work commitments. It is a resolution worth making…and
keeping.
Top
Reprinted with permission
of The Louis Lawyer, The Bar Association of Metropolitan
St. Louis
Wendy Werner is the owner and principal of Werner
Associates, a law firm consulting and career coaching
organization. She can be reached at WernerWL@yahoo.com
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