Having spoken with thousands of lawyers in the almost 20 years I’ve been consulting, I’ve identified three universal challenges to business development success. Do any of these sound uncomfortably familiar to you?1. “I don’t know what to do.” There’s so much information out there about how to bring in new cases and clients and, even more importantly, how to […]
Every lawyer—associates and partners alike—should have a professional development plan. Professional development and business development go hand-in-hand for several reasons: Professional development includes identification of strengths (and how to maximize them) and weaknesses (and how to compensate for them). Doing this will help you to work more effectively, work with clients more effectively, and grow […]
Quick check: how’s the health of your professional peer network? Lawyers are accustomed to building a network within their firm as a resource for questions about how certain partners work, business development expense reimbursement, and more. And that’s important, particularly for new associates and lawyers who’ve recently made a lateral move or were part of […]
When you’re working on your BD plan, it’s important to have an objective and accurate sense of your strengths. I’ve met lawyers—my client Nate, for example— who enjoy making presentations to large groups of people (at a conference, for example) but rarely get follow-up conversations that lead to business when, in contrast, small-group or one-on-one […]
I’m on vacation this week, so I’m sharing a slightly updated version of one of my most popular newsletter articles, unearthing an article that’s almost 20 years old and still fundamental to understanding client relationships. Enjoy! Nearly 20 years ago now, David Maister (a now-retired advisor to professional services firms and author of several excellent […]
A reader recently sent in a question following this article about finding ways to stand out from other practitioners in your field. After outlining several potential points of differentiation, this general litigator asked, “I just can’t figure out how to make myself stand out in a town with thousands of attorneys. I write, I speak, […]
Further to last week’s post on the value of taking small, consistent steps toward your business development objectives, here’s a quote from Bruce Lee. It’s true in physical training, and it’s true for business development. Make it a consistent week.
I was listening to a podcast recently when I heard a phrase that’s stuck with me since: little hinges swing big doors. We can use that phrase in a number of ways for business development, but let’s focus on one of the most common blocks lawyers hit: being “too busy” for business development activity. If […]
Over the years, I’ve noticed that some lawyers are making mistakes that will undermine their business development efforts. These are short-sighted decisions that may seem smart in the short run but will cause great damage over time. Marketing Don’t #1: “It’s all about me” newsletters. A lawyer I don’t know subscribed me to his mailing list, using […]
Every lawyer must be able to bring in at least enough work to support his or her own practice. Of course, with rare exceptions, no one springs into business development fully formed. It’s a process that takes both time to perform and time for the results to appear. Successful BD requires effort and skill. Every lawyer […]