What do you say when you ask for business?

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A client recently confided that he had never actually asked for business from a potential client. Surprised (since I knew that his $275,000 book of business hadn’t just happened), I asked what he meant, and he responded that asking for the business means saying something like, “I’d like to handle that for you.”

A flat, bold statement is one way to ask for business, but as my client and I discussed, it’s just one of a wide variety of “asks” that he could make. Asking for business isn’t a nice way of describing demanding business, and it doesn’t have to be a show-stopper request that sticks out as an “ask”.  Instead, asking can be a gentle statement or question that affirms your interest or ability to help.

I’ve previously written about what to bear in mind when preparing to ask for business — or when you notice that you’re shying away from making a direct request. As a foundational piece, you must be clear that discussing a potential matter is beneficial for a client (if you ask helpful questions and/or provide useful insights) and that asking for the business is a natural continuation in which you’re offering to bring your skill to meet a need that you and the potential client have identified together.

In other words, there is no magic formula, you don’t have to craft a single “right” way to make your request, and you should not feel that you’re trying to put one over on your potential client. Instead, you should listen to the potential client, ask questions to clarify the situation and your potential client’s goals and concerns, and discuss relevant experience or ideas that you have.  And then you should offer to take the next step.

With the caveat that no two attorneys will likely ask for business in the same way, consider language along these lines:

  • Would you like me to outline an approach based on our conversation?
  • Based on what we’ve talked about today, would you be interested in moving forward? (Optional:  when?)
  • Please let me know if I can help you in any way with this issue.
  • I can help you with [summarize issue].  (Optional:  I’d be happy to do that.)

How many ways can you ask for business? Limitless.  But the only effective way is to engage in productive conversation with a potential client who has a current unmet need and to offer your assistance in a way that genuinely reflects who you are and how you relate to others.

Mind-Set Matters

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The Power of Professionalism
The Seven Mind-Sets That Drive Performance and Build Trust

Lawyers and those who work with lawyers have taken to debating whether law is still a profession or whether it’s “just” a business. The substance of the debate matters deeply:  without attention to the business aspects of a legal practice, the practice will flounder and, ultimately, fail.  At the same time, the distinction is almost irrelevant, since many professionals attend to business as a part of their professional approach and we have many issues more deserving of attention than mere semantics.

While The Power of Professionalism seeks to define “prfessional much more broadly than the traditional meaning of one who works in the professions, the mindsets to which the subtitle alludes has special relevance for laywers.  Lawyers’ professionalism may be judged by clients largely based on public perception of lawyers’ trustworthiness.  According to a 2010 study, only 17% of respondents rated lawyers’ honesty and ethical standards as above average, and 35% rated those characteristics as below average. There’s work to be done.

Professionals know what they’re doing, both technically and in other tangible ways.  However, as important as technical competence is, professionals are not typically defined by their competence.  Technical competency is the minimum requirement when considering whether or not someone is a professional.

Too many lawyers expect that excellent legal skill is enough for a successful practice.  However, as The Power of Professionalism argues, skill also will not define a professional.  Skill is required, but knowing how to use that skill (knowledge that can be implemented, in other words, as opposed to pure intellectual knowledge) and using it in a way that produced trust, is the mark of a professional.

Bill Wiersma, the author of The Power of Professionalism, has identified several mind-sets of trusted professionals, which might be viewed as foundational principles for professionalism.

  1. Professionals have a bias for results. What’s more, those results are sustainable, consistently reproducible, and grounded in ethical behavior.
  2. Professionals realize (and act like) they’re part of something bigger than themselves. A trusted advisor (long the gold standard aspiration for lawyers) is one who puts clients ahead of his or own interest, without exception.  In the view of The Power of Professionalism, this aspect expands to include placing the team’s or the firm’s interest ahead of the individual’s.
  3. Professionals know things get better when they get better. While focusing on the overarching goals of someone (a client) or something (a firm) else, the professional will experience growth.  As I read this section, I flashed to lawyers who attend CLE programs to better serve their clients as opposed to those who attend merely to earn the required credits.
  4. Professionals have personal standards that often transcend organizational ones. Personal standards often derive from one’s “true north”, the core values that matter most.
  5. Professionals know that personal integrity is all they have. This mind-set is somewhat similar to #4, with the focus being on integrity based on authenticity, honesty, fulfilling commitments, and refusing to violate others’ trust.
  6. Professionals aspire to be masters of their emotions, not enslaved by them. This mindset is subdivided into three additional principles.
    a.  Professionals are respecting when it’s difficult to be respectful.
    b.  Professionals maintain their objectivity and keep their wits about them.
    c.  Professionals manage their ego and resist the urge for immediate gratification.
  7. Professionals aspire to reveal value in others. According to this principle, professionals seek to help others grow and succeed.

Whey does this matter for lawyers? In many cases, the standards of professionalism espoused by Wiersma are almost identical to the standards for solid leadership.  However, Wiersma expands these principles and demonstrates their applicability to day-to-day circumstances for a variety of workers, thus eliminating the objection that only those who have particular titles or responsibilities qualify as leaders.

Adopting the professionals’ mind-sets that Wiersma offers will also produce business development benefits. Revisit each of the mind-sets and envision a referral source attributing them to you.  Operating from these mindsets will help to grow relationships and will support a strong reputation.

You may not find anything new or earthshaking about The Power of Professionalism, but it’s an excellent reminder for lawyers at any stage of practice.

Client Care: The Good, The Bad, And The Just Plain Ugly

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Studies show that happy clients tell very few of their friends about great client care experiences, while unhappy clients tell (on average) seven other people about problems they experienced. I’d like to share three client stories that I’ve labeled the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly, each with lessons you can learn about how to treat your clients.

The Good:  Good Measure Meals

I’ve previously shared how much I love Good Measure Meals, a service that provides fresh packaged meals that are healthy and taste great.  What I haven’t shared until today is that their customer service makes me even happier than their meals. When I was unexpectedly out of town for a few days and missed a meal pick-up, Phil sent an email to see if I was OK and to inquire whether I was having any problems with the meals.  When I switched from meal pick-up to delivery one week and mentioned that I’d switch back the next week, Harmony told me that she’d change it back for me, and she called to let me know that she’d done so.  And when my monthly plan was up for renewal, Harmony again reached out to ask if I wanted to make any changes before the plan renewed.

What can you learn from Good Measure Meals?  

Be proactive with your clients. Look for ways to make it even easier to work with you.  And when you tell a client you’ll do something, do it.

The Bad:  Unnamed Doctor’s Office

I had a bad experience in a doctor’s office a few weeks ago.  (Worse yet, I wrote about a negative experience with this same office in 2007.)  I arrived around 8:25 for an 8:30 appointment and happened to take a seat in the waiting room with a view through the receptionist’s seating area straight through to a back hallway.  While I waited (and watched the minutes tick by), I observed an animated conversation between two members of the doctors’ staff.  The conversation seemed to center on a lampshade that one woman was holding, and it went on for about 15 minutes.  (I remember because I was puzzled how a conversation about a lampshade could last that long, but I digress.)

Imagine my surprise when I was finally called for my appointment around 8:50 — by “Kate”, the woman who’d been talking lampshades.  What did I learn?  That Kate had no regard for my schedule and put interior decorating ahead of patients.  In fact, because the lampshade was on a table in the office I was directed to, I casually mentioned it, only to learn that Kate had purchased the lampshade for her apartment that morning.  And the apology for the delay?  Nonexistent.  I’ve been a patient in this practice for more than thirty years (seeing first the father, then the son), but I won’t be back.

What can you learn from this doctor’s office?  Value your clients’ time. That means not only being on time for appointments (or apologizing when you’re unavoidably delayed), but also leaving clients sufficient time to review work product, to ask questions, and so on.

The Ugly:  Unnamed Law Firm

I recently heard a story that blew my mind.  Short version:  a firm represented a client in a divorce.  About two months after the matter was concluded, the client received an invoice for fees incorrectly posted to her file, and as a part of clearing that up, the client requested the return of remaining escrow and trust funds.  A month went by; no funds received.  The client inquired again.  About a week later, she received checks from the firm, addressed in her married name, even though the firm had drafted the final order that (among other things) restored her maiden name.  The client shared that although she had used her maiden name exclusively since contacting the firm, the firm used her married name instead and she didn’t address it because it seemed so petty.  Asked how the rest of the representation went, she snorted and responded, “Well, aside from the fact that my own lawyer didn’t know my name, I suppose it wasn’t bad.”

What can you learn from this law firm? The obvious answer:  use your client’s name and get it right.  Don’t ever put your client in the position of needing to correct or to overlook something so basic.  The deeper lesson is that it’s important to let your client know that you’re paying attention to details. Although the use of the wrong name didn’t affect the client’s representation, it did make her wonder what other details the firm might be ignoring.  You must not only represent your client well, you must create the perception that you’re doing so, especially in matters in which your client is unable to judge the merits of the work you’re doing.

The Bottom Line

We can all ignore the “niceties” of working with clients, focusing instead on the heart of the representation, which is the legal work.  However, your clients will notice everything, and they may evaluate the client service your offer more thoroughly than the legal service. Switch your way of thinking:  if your legal service is the meat of the representation, client service is the bread that holds together the engagement sandwich.

And why does this matter?  Clients are at the heart of your practice.  If you’re seeking to become your clients’ trusted advisor, or to receive referrals from your clients, you must focus on client service.

Two quotes to hammer this point home:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
~Maya Angelou

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
~Theodore Roosevelt

Fatal Mistakes That Doom Rainmaking Efforts

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Several potential client consultations over the last few weeks have put me in mind of the old story about the tortoise and the hare. We all know the lesson, that slow and steady wins the race, and the same is true in business development — though consistent is a more accurate word here than slow.  Jumping into rainmaking activity without a solid, strategic plan is like jumping into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim:  you may do a few uncoordinated strokes, generating lots of splashing, but you won’t get much of anywhere.  In fact, you may get so tired you drown.

The caveat to the slow and steady approach is that waiting until the plan is perfect is just as fatal as not planning at all — and maybe more so. If you refine and rework your plan to the point that it covers all contingencies, sets up a flawless strategy that takes account of every possibility and leaves no opportunities unexplored, you’ll never move from planning to action.  The fear of making mistakes or overlooking some favorable condition creates inaction or the disjointed, uncoordinated action that tends to accompany having no plan at all.

The answer? Make a plan.  Don’t wait for it to be perfect.  Start implementing, and then refine your plan.  That’s the process you’ll follow for the rest of your rainmaking career, and it’s the only way to start and finish strong.  Want more information?  See Chapter Three of The Reluctant Rainmaker:  A Guide for Lawyers Who Hate Selling.  In the meantime, consider this month’s quotes about hurry, fear, and action.

Quotes of the Month:

Do not fear mistakes.  You will know failure.  Continue to reach out.
~Benjamin Franklin

For a nation which has an almost evil reputation for bustle, bustle, bustle, and rush, rush, rush, we spend an enormous amount of time standing around in line in front of windows, just waiting.
~Robert Benchley

Just be patient.  Let the game come to you.  Don’t rush.  Be quick, but don’t hurry.
~Earl Monroe

We have time, there’s no big rush.
~Jimi Hendrix

Action expresses priorities.
~Mohandas Gandhi

Never confuse motion with action.
~Benjamin Franklin

There are risks and costs to action.  But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.
~John F. Kennedy

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.
~Confucius

Get action.  Seize the moment.  Man was never intended to become an oyster.
~Theodore Roosevelt

You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know.  Knowing is not enough!  You must take action.
~Tony Robbins

Follow effective action with quiet reflection.  From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.
~Peter Drucker

The time for action is now.  It’s never too late to do something.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Billable Time Or Biz Dev…Or Both?

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Last week, I delivered a business development workshop for an Atlanta law firm, and gave my recommendations about how much time lawyers should spend on business development. Although the exact number depends on several factors, in general I recommend 1-5 hours a week, with more time suggested for more senior lawyers.  Some participants bristled at the idea of spending that much time on business development.

But here’s the easy-to-miss, critical distinction:  done properly, time spent with clients is business development.

That’s because, “All things being equal, people will do business with – and refer business to – those people they know, like and trust.” This quote, from Bob Burg’s excellent book Endless Referrals, sums up why it is that relationships serve as the basis for rainmaking.  It also clarifies why your current clients should be your top priority for business development, followed by former clients and referral sources, then “warm” contacts, and only finally strangers.

Focus first on those who already know, like, and trust you, and then seek to expand those sources of business. That order of approach dictates, in turn, the priorities that you should set as you work to develop your book of business.

Your current clients are your “low hanging fruit”.  Your top priority should be providing excellent client service to your clients. Consider these aspects of client service:

  • Communicate with your clients and observe their preferences for amount and kind of communication they want.
  • Be responsive.  Manage your clients’ expectations and ensure that your clients always know how to contact you or someone in your office.
  • Share bad news appropriately.  Deliver the news as soon as possible.  Explain the news, what it means, and advise the client about next steps.
  • Be reliable with cost estimates and billing.
  • When you bill, do so in a comprehensible way that’s explained sufficiently to forestall questions about what was done or why.
  • Facilitate your work with your clients.  Anything you can do to make it easier for your clients to do business with you is likely to be well received by them.
  • Spend time with your clients.  Consider spending time with clients in a social setting or (where appropriate) by visiting their place of business to develop a more full understanding of their business.
  • Deliver extra value to your clients.  By providing some assistance, promotion, or service to your client that is over and above the legal services you’ve agreed to provide, you demonstrate the importance you place on your client relationships generally and on that client specifically.
  • Conduct client satisfaction interviews or surveys.  Unless you ask, your clients are unlikely to volunteer their level of satisfaction unless they’re dissatisfied to the point of considering terminating the relationship or effusive in praise.

When you apply these priorities to your business development efforts, you’ll begin to view your billable works as a rainmaking activity as well as the heart of your practice. You’ll also begin to see relationships as the “must do” meat of your business development plan, and you’ll understand why you shouldn’t expect to move a new contact quickly from stranger to client.  As a result, you’ll be able to stage the rainmaking work you do so that you put time in where it’s most effective.  And over time, you’ll find that your business development work yields much better results.

If It Ain’t Broke, Break It

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John Kotter, a noted expert on leadership and change management, fervently believes that attachment to the status quo is a silent but deadly killer. In A Sense of Urgency, Kotter demonstrates through numerous examples that organizations stall and atrophy as change fails.  Kotter’s bottom line?

If it ain’t broke, break it.

A Sense of Urgency draws on an earlier Kotter book titled Leading Change, in which he proposed instilling a sense of urgency as the first step of an eight-step process to implement successful transformation.  However, he found that increasing urgency is the most difficult and the least developed of the change process steps, thus prompting him to write A Sense of Urgency.

According to Kotter, change is continuous in nature. Rather than a single enormous change, such as an acquisition, continuous change exists in the form of (for example) new strategies and new projects.  Organizations must adopt a proactive approach to these continuous changes, which requires creation of an appropriate sense of real urgency.

Kotter maintains that carrying out proactive change requires organizations both to diagnose and overcome complacency (which he defines as “a feeling that a person has about his or her behavior, about what needs to be done or not done”) and to avoid false urgency, which creates a flurry of activity that distracts participants from legitimate activity that will produce meaningful change.  Kotter proposes several methods to do just that.

One of the most effective methods that Kotter recommends is to seek out opportunities and hazards coming from inside the organization, perhaps from clients, competitors, or the marketplace at large. This awareness encourages innovation and discourages complacency:  “When you don’t see opportunities or hazards, your sense of urgency drops.  With less urgency, you are even less inclined to look outside for the new possibilities and problems.  Complacency grows.”  Kotter offers a laundry list of approaches to develop this outside awareness, including listening to those who have the most interaction with the customer; using the power of video to bring important issues alive; sharing news — good and bad — with all members of the organization; sending people out as scouts to gather intelligence; and bringing key customers, prospects, new hires and information into the organization.

In addition, organizations should develop “urgent patience,” in which workers reject frenetic busywork in favor of working toward goals with purpose and intention, to avoid the danger of false urgency.  By remaining focused on key goals rather than merely generating activity, energy and attention are reserved for formulating actions that will produce desired movement.

One particularly interesting aspect of Kotter’s work is the marriage of logical, analytical, business-centered goals with an emotional connection to those goals. Bringing emotion to a solid business decision creates engagement, promotes workers to set and achieve higher goals, and prompts them to challenge the status quo and their ordinary comfort zones.  The result?  Meaningful change.

What’s in it for lawyers? There’s no question that the legal profession has undergone a complete sea change over the last several years.  The legal industry has been shaken up, and some lawyers are seizing the opportunities that are emerging.  Others, however, seem to be hunkered down, waiting for the storm to pass.  In my opinion, even when the storm itself has ended, we’re going to be left with a new world — there’s no going “home” anymore, Toto — which makes this a dangerous response.

Kotter’s theses speak to why those who are proactively seeking opportunities will be more successful than those who are just responding to crisis.  Effective change agents, he writes, “take carefully considered action to convert initial anxiety and anger into a determination to act now and win.”  Crises force re-evaluation and improvement, and in the absence of an externally-imposed crisis (a “burning platform”), Kotter urges organizations to torch their own platforms to stay abreast of change.

What has your (or your firm’s) response been to the downturn?  What has your own response been to your business development efforts?  If you or your organization tend to be reactive rather than proactive, I’d urge you to pick up A Sense of Urgency. For most lawyers, the platform has been in flames, and the resulting challenges bring both danger and opportunity. If you’re having trouble finding the opportunity, Kotter’s book provides substantial direction.  While complacency is unlikely to be the risk these days, false urgency (“We’ve got to reduce expenses!  Slash the business development budget, now!”) is running rampant in some circles.  Kotter can help.

 

Grab The Fruit!

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You’ve no doubt heard the advice to track “low-hanging fruit” as a part of your business development efforts. That fruit is easy to identify if you have a hot prospect, someone who has a current unmet need that you can fill, who already knows you, and with whom you’ve already had a conversation about how you might help.  (Did you think of someone in that category?  Stop reading now and contact that person.  Quit delaying.)

But what if you don’t have any low-hanging fruit that’s quite that “ripe” yet?

Low-hanging fruit is equally valuable when it comes to identifying people you want to meet. Most of us have unrecognized connections and introductions that others have offered.  That’s low-hanging fruit of a different kind.  Not as close to income as a potential client on the cusp of hiring you, but a valuable asset a step or two earlier in the process.

Pause of just a minute a list three or four people (or company representatives) who would be strong referral sources for you. To the extent possible, identify people with whom you have some sort of natural affinity, by virtue of mutual business opportunity, affiliation, or something similar.

Next, strategize about how you can meet those people. Who’s in the six degrees of separation between you?  (Have you checked LinkedIn?  Perhaps your separation is even less.)  Where are your natural points of overlap in activity?  Where can you create opportunities?

Alternatively, think about the organizations in which you’re active. Who should you be getting to know better there?  It’s easy to slip into talking with the same people meeting after meeting, but your network will grow only as you find ways to build new connections.

When you can see a natural path to reach someone you want to meet, or a connection that can be developed, you have low-hanging fruit for networking. By looking at your network through these eyes, you have an opportunity to step outside the everyday connections you’ve built to reach low-hanging fruit.

Simple, right?  Get started!

June’s Fabulous Finds

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Periodically, I like to share resources that have made my life easier and more interesting.  Here are my favorites for June:

  1. Good Measure Meals. I love to cook, but I have having to cook.  Good Measure Meals is an Atlanta business the offers healthy meals for pick-up or delivery.  It isn’t cheap, but when I ran their prices in comparison to the cost of take-out / delivery / fast food, plus the cost of spoiled groceries, plus the angst of having to figure out what’s for dinner again, I decided the cost was  a no-brainer.  Most metro cities have something similar (search on healthy meal delivery), or you might investigate hiring a personal chef to cook for you weekly.  I think of this as an indulgence with major benefits.
  2. Soundview Executive Book Summaries. Let’s face it:  no one has time to read all of the business books released every month.  Soundview does a good job of culling the most noteworthy books each month and providing an in-depth summary of a few, plus short overviews of a handful more.  If the summary intrigues you, you’ll want to read the whole book, but you’ll learn a lot from the summaries and you’ll likely avoid reader’s remorse.
  3. Springwise. “Your Essential Fix of Entrepreneurial Ideas,” Springwise will keep you on top of trends in new businesses.  Through daily or weekly emails (so you don’t miss a thing), Springwise will give you brain candy for what’s hot now, and it may even send a tip your way that you can share with clients and prospective clients.  I like Springwise because I learn about businesses worldwide, and about once a month, something triggers a new idea for my own business.  You can even see how many Tweets and Likes a link has garnered, which offers additional evidence of “hot or not” status.
  4. They Rule. Designed for visual thinkers who want to explore who sits on the Boards of Directors of various companies and institutions, this site is also useful for finding connections between board members.  They Rule is handy if you want to tease out the connections in an industry, for example.  (It’s also a great way to pass the time of day, so use with care!)

Keep Your Friends Close!

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Pop quiz:  Who are your best referral sources?  List the top 10 right now. If you are a more junior lawyer in a law firm and don’t yet have your own clients, list the senior lawyers for whom you do the most work.

How easy did you find it to make this list?  This information should be at the tips of your fingers. If you don’t know who your top referral sources are, your activity this week is to find out.

How often do you talk with the people who most frequently send you business? One of my clients recently realized that his top three referral sources send him seven to ten substantial matters a year, resulting in several hundred thousand dollars of business.  And then he realized that as he’d become busier, he spent less time maintaining the connections that had help to build those referral relationships.

Sure, he sent business to his top referral sources, he attended meetings with them frequently, and he went out of his way to send a nice “thank you” every time one of them sent a new matter to him. But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had lunch or played golf one-on-one with these people.  The business relationship was in place with each referral source, but the personal connections underlying it had grown weak.

Relationships, like anything else, are always in flux.  Are yours growing closer or more distant?  If you don’t stay consistently in touch with your contacts, the relationships will grow weaker and you may find that the support that you enjoyed shifts to others who are more attentive. There are no bad motives in play, but absence in business rarely makes the heart grow fonder.

Take a few minutes now to set times to check with the people who think enough of you to send you work. Make it a point to reconnect and find out what’s going on with them.  At the same time, express your appreciation for their referrals.  And then lay your plans so you can be sure to check in with them at least quarterly.

I Slipped. Now What?

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Occasionally, I’ll talk with a junior lawyer who just doesn’t understand that business development is critical to his success. (Just as a matter of interest, I find that these are typically younger lawyers as well as junior ones; second-career lawyers most often start thinking about rainmaking long before they finish law school.)

The top objections (with my responses in italics) are:

  • “But I’m not sure I want to make partner.”  Ok, but do you want to stay employed?
  • “I’ll never want to open my own practice.”  Fine, but do you really want to be at the mercy of someone else who gets to determine what kind of work you do, what clients you do (and don’t) serve, how and where and when you work, and so on?
  • “I’m going to produce top-notch work, and clients will flock to me.”  Super!  But how will they know you exist?
  • “I’d rather focus on client service, not client development.”  Don’t you think your clients would appreciate knowing about cutting-edge legal issues that affect them?  Get out there and write articles, or speak, or just attend some key CLE seminars!
  • “It just doesn’t matter that much to me if I’m a rainmaker.”  Huh?

That’s the objection that stops me in my tracks.  Rainmaking brings so many benefits: continued employment, increased career opportunities, greater opportunities for advancement, the ability to choose the kind of work you do and the clients for whom you do that work, more influence in your firm and legal community, and the opportunity to serve your clients better — just to name a few!  If that doesn’t matter to someone, what else is there to say?

But I’m  preaching to the choir here, right? If you’re reading this article, you already know that business development is a critical skill for lawyers.  But are you acting on that knowledge and accepting no excuses?

How often have you hit “pause” on your rainmaking plans because you got busy with billable work?  How often have you let business development activity slide because you didn’t know quite what to do or how to do it?  Let’s face it:  we all drop the ball sometime, even when we know deep down that the ball we’re dropping is an important one. That’s true, and yet it is not ok.  (That’s why I help my one-on-one clients to develop a standard for their Minimal Effective Rainmaker Activity.)

Occasionally, you may hit something more difficult, more protracted, with no end in sight:  the rainmaker doldrums. A lawyer enters the doldrums because she’s lost sight of what really matters or, more commonly, she’s just plain discouraged.  Perhaps she worked hard to woo a client and thought everything was going beautifully, right up until the client said thanks but no thanks.  Whatever the direct cause, the internal voice has one single message, “You’re no rainmaker.  I knew you couldn’t do it.”

The doldrums are the resting point of the cycle of business development failure.

What’s the route of the doldrums? To some degree, it requires an individual exit strategy.  However, I’ve noticed that two things are almost always effective:  Accountability to someone else and a shock to the system.

A recent post by Seth Godin provides a shock in The Taskmaster Premium. “Work for a coal mine and make minimum wage.  Discover a coal mine and never need to work again.”  Your job, whether it’s working in a large firm or in your own solo practice, isn’t a coal mine, but if you can’t bring in business consistently, it might as well be.

So, what keeps you moving forward with business development? Give this some thought as we enter the summer, when you may find even more demands on your time than usual.  You may find a seductive voice telling you that it’s summer, everyone is on vacation, it’s too hot to be bothered and you can pick up again in the Fall.  You might also hear another voice, one urging you to keep pedaling, to work every opportunity you can now so that you’ll have even more when Fall comes.  Which voice will you listen to?