Will your clients and contacts think of you first when they need help?
Jon, a mid career lawyer working in a boutique law firm, handles white-collar criminal defense matters. Most of his clients come through referrals from other lawyers. Far too often, those lawyers fail to appreciate that they need someone who practices in the area every day. Instead, they try to handle a matter themselves. After doing the […]
Are You Tough Enough?
This week, I’d like to share some thoughts on determination. Business development is not a one-time effort. It isn’t rocket science, as the saying goes, but it does call for sustained effort over a long period of time, especially when things aren’t going quite as well as you’d like. And that requires determination. I could […]
Catching attention, building connections
I recently spent nearly two hours sitting at an airport gate, sitting about 5 feet behind a stand with Delta American Express card representatives. You’ve probably seen these stands: a table to the side of a concourse, with various promotional freebies, application forms neatly stacked, and one or two hawkers, trying desperately to get people to […]
Ya Gotta Say NO to Grow!
When you think about business development, do you think more of “yes” or “no”? Most people seem to think “yes.” YES, I’ll attend that networking meeting YES, I’ll write that article or blog post or newsletter YES, I’ll meet with that potential referral source YES, I’ll get another certification or specialists’ certificate YES, I’ll speak […]
What do you say when you ask for business?
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, […]
Working Your Practice
A business seminar, I attended recently, focused on hiring and managing employees. I was surprised that the program started by asking us attendees to identify our business vision and what we stand for. I was even more surprised to find how difficult that was to do! You may have heard the distinction between working in […]
How can you work smarter?
“You’re working too hard. Why don’t you look for ways to work smarter?” That was a key element of the feedback I received during this quarter’s mastermind meeting. After hearing my colleagues’ suggestions, I put some new practices in place to help me work smarter, and I do believe I can already see a difference. […]