If there’s one single activity that should be at the center of your business development focus, it’s building relationships. How? Through personal meetings, telephone calls, emails, social media contacts, sending useful articles, sharing new resources, and more. There’s no single right way to establish, build, or maintain relationships, and the best growth strategies (which feel […]
There was a time when I had a pool and hired a contractor to close my pool for the season. My contact Pete (I didn’t know it at the time, but he’s also the owner) was terrific: he set the appointment, let me know exactly what to expect, told me what the cost would be […]
An interesting article to share with you: Law Firms Leaders’ Moneyball Mistake: Written by Steven Harper, author of the can’t-miss book The Lawyer Bubble, this article points out the problems with large firms’ “aggressive inorganic growth” via lateral hires. Harper quotes Group Dewey Consulting’s Eric Dewey’s observation that, “An attorney needs to bring roughly 70 […]
You’ve probably heard some version of Bob Burg’s statement that “All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” We tend to focus on getting known, we work to communicate in a way that increases the chances of being liked, but how do you […]
Have you ever had the wind knocked out of your business development sails? That can happen when you expect to land some new business and it doesn’t happen, when you hit a few closed doors in a row, or even when you lay out your business development plan and feel exhausted just looking at it. […]
What’s wrong with the status quo? Maybe nothing. But here’s what you need to keep in mind when you’re considering whether to make a shift of some sort: Status quo doesn’t get attention. Status quo doesn’t delight anyone. Status quo doesn’t get talked about. Status quo doesn’t feel fresh or tailored. Status quo… just IS. […]
Consider this short exchange: What have you decided to do to grow your practice? Are you actually doing it?
On one level, clients are looking for different things as they choose and work with attorneys. Some want a budget provider who will do the minimum necessary or collaborate closely with in-house counsel or businesspeople for DIY completion. Others want to hire the most prominent, best known, most expensive lawyers to appease the Board of […]
Recently, I had two strategic planning sessions with private clients. As usual, writing (articles, blog posts or comments, newsletters, client alerts, etc.) featured prominently in both of the business development plans we created. And also, as usual, my clients each asked why they should bother writing when so many other lawyers are already writing on […]
A friend recently ran her first marathon. She didn’t know how it would feel to run 26 miles, and she was concerned about giving up partway through if she started to feel too tired. She even used a marker to write on the inside of her arm, “Your mind will give up before your body. […]