Archive for category: Business Development

An excerpt from The Reluctant Rainmaker: A Guide for Lawyers Who Hate Selling

Take note of the attitude you bring when you engage in client development activities.  Do you dread them?  If so, identify specifically what you dislike and find a way around it or a way to make the prospect more palatable.

For example, John, a self-identified “nice but introverted guy,” detested the idea of business development because he felt like a fish out of water.  When we began to explore the reasons for those feelings, John recognized that he believed that the goal of business development activities is to target people and use connections to get business, and he was uncomfortable with that approach.

He wanted to be thoughtful to those with whom he came into contact and could not see a way to engage in rainmaking activity while meeting that objective.  When we discussed what he did for clients and the appreciation he sometimes received (as well as the satisfaction he felt in a job well done, even when it went unacknowledged by the client), John recognized that he was not using anyone and that providing legal services was in fact helping his clients. Moreover, he came to see that withholding his skill from someone who needed it would be destructive, not thoughtful.

Instead of viewing potential clients and referral sources as a “target” that, if “bagged,” would generate extra income and other benefits for him, John began to view them as individuals who have or know others who have legal needs that he could meet. This recognition, while it might appear elementary, was a significant shift for John. It changed the attitude with which he approached client development activity from an uncomfortable “what can I get” to a thoughtful “what can I give” attitude.

John even altered the methods he used for business development to focus more on education and resource provision, in essence marketing his services by giving a taste for them. He felt aligned with this content–focused approach, which in turn made him feel more comfortable, which in turn made others feel more comfortable with him, and in the period of a few months John began to view rainmaking through an entirely different lens.

John continued to struggle with some activities, such as networking among strangers when he felt a pressure to uncover their needs, so he focused on activities that were a better fit for him. When I last spoke with John, he had developed a reputation as a client service provider par excellence and had brought in several new matters from and through existing clients.

What attitude are you bringing into your business development efforts?  If it’s a positive one, terrific!  If not, take a few minutes to examine your attitude, see where it comes from, and how you might shift it.  While attitude alone won’t ensure success (or failure), it may well impact both what you do and how you do it, which will impact your success.

We cannot solve problems with the same level of consciousness that created them. — Albert Einstein

Einstein’s quote, one of my all-time favorites, is a touch-point for our times.   We hear about “out of the box” thinking, we know that innovation is a requirement in today’s world, and the only way to produce either is to adjust how we think about whatever we’re facing.

In the context of practicing law, changing how we think about practice (and building a practice) is usually the first step to making a change.  For example, if you’re aiming for success in a law firm by being a reliable, industrious, somewhat reserved worker-bee but you notice that you keep getting passed over for the big cases you’d like to work on, continuing to work harder and harder without more is unlikely to lead to change.

If you’re constantly running ragged, wondering how you can connect with your spouse and/or children in an hour or so at the beginning or end of each day, it’s a safe bet that you won’t shift your actions until and unless you shift your perspective.  Want a new job?  You’ll have to pull some time and attention away from what you’re doing now to make the time to launch a job search.

And if you believe that business development is something that you’ll begin “later,” you likely won’t recognize business development opportunities that may come your way — because chance favors the prepared mind. 

Making a change often requires stepping outside a situation long enough to identify a problem and then making a mental shift that will help in solving that problem.  How the shift happens is individual to each person.  But creating and then using a shift relies on several basic principles.

1. The shift must be authentic.  If your partner, your supervisor, your doctor, or anybody else tells you to make a change and you don’t buy into it, there will be no shift.  Remember the punchline to the joke asking how many psychiatrists are needed to change a light bulb?  One, but the light bulb has to really, really want to change.  No psychiatry here, but if you don’t really, really want to change (or at least really, really, really believe you need to change), chances are good that you’ll keep on doing the same old, same old.
2. Maintaining the shift means keeping it in the forefront of your mind.  If you’re trying to make a habit of arranging lunch with one key contact a week, put a reminder on your calendar where you see it daily.  If you want to improve your efficiency in the office, use time management tools that keep your eye on efficiency.  Holding onto a shift in perspective means keeping it in front of you in some way, because it’s often all too easy to slide back to the old, familiar approach.
3. Reaping the benefit of the shift requires action.  While it’s important to recognize a problem or a situation that can be improved, that’s empty if it’s merely recognition without follow-through.  If you want more balance in your life, take some action, even if it’s a small one.  Claiming a 15-minute walk for yourself in the afternoon will not only provide some balance but also will remind you that you’re seeking balance.  (Put it in your calendar and keep that commitment, too!)
4. It’s easier to maintain a shift, and to design and implement the actions that the shift calls for, when you have support.  Tell your spouse that you need to set aside 3 hours on Saturday morning to catch up on work.  Tell your assistant that you plan to eat lunch away from your desk one day this week.  Work with a coach to provide accountability as you set out on your business development plans.  According to a study conducted by the American Society for Training and Development, “consciously deciding” to complete a goal usually yields about a 25% success rate. Deciding to make a change, telling someone what that change is, and committing to completing it by a certain deadline, raises the chances of success to about 95%.

What do you need to shift in the way you see your practice?

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 with 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.

I didn’t think I’d be the type to scream if I ever saw a mouse in my kitchen.  Turns out I was wrong.

You see, I lived in an old house (built in the late 20s) and we had mice coming in for a few months.  One time, I was standing in my kitchen and putting some food into the refrigerator when I happened to turn just in time to see a mouse flying through the air.  No, seriously, flying.  Like Mighty Mouse.  He’d jumped off a shelf in the pantry and nearly landed on my dog, then he made a U-turn in front of my other dog and went running down the hall into the dining room.  In my shock, all I could do was scream.

There’s a flying mouse in my kitchen!  SCREAM!  It’s going to land on my dog!  SCREAM!  My dog is going to catch the mouse!  SCREAM!  My dog is chasing the mouse down the hall!  SCREAM!  And so on.  Happily, sort of, the mouse made it safely into a heating register, and I didn’t have to deal with the horror of trying to pry a dog’s jaws open to let a rodent escape.  (SCREAM!!)

I called a mouse specialist the next day, and he explained how hard it is to plug all the holes into an older home.  “We can plug the ones we see, ma’am,” he explained, “but it may take us some time to find all of them and to get them completely plugged.  Until we do, you’ll have a continuing problem, but as we work on it, it will get better.”

Why do you care?  What does this have to do with business development?

You probably have some holes in your approach to business development that you should plug.  Perhaps you’re letting prospective clients slip away because you don’t have a reliable follow-up system.  Maybe you aren’t getting repeat business that you could if only you would keep in touch with your former clients.

Having a hole is hardly unusual; your task is to sniff it out and close it.  It’s unpleasant enough to let mice in.  But it’s worse to let business out.

Life has a way of throwing curve-balls.  Sometimes they come in the form of emergencies that demand attention, sometimes they’re staff departures (planned or otherwise), and sometimes they’re opportunities that you just can’t pass up, even though jumping in will eat every bit of time and energy you have.  Curve-ball or baseball photo here, please

How do you cope with those curve-balls?  You can implement three strategies now so that you can deal with curve-balls as they come your way.

1. Create an “operations manual”.  Those of you working in large firms may have access to some sort of manual that defines how certain tasks are to be completed.  However, whether you’re in a large firm or working as a sole practitioner, you must have a document that explains how we do things around here.  How should an assistant answer your telephone, when should he schedule appointments for you, and what should he tell callers who need to reach you urgently?  What needs to be accomplished every day without fail?  It’s daunting to imagine creating such a document from scratch.  Start today.  Document every task that you complete and request your assistant to do the same.  (No assistant?  No excuse!  If everything is in your head, the need is even greater.)  The manual that you build will allow you to cut down on the time necessary to train a new employee, and if you are called out of the office without notice, the manual gives a road map to keep things running without you.
2. Use technology well. Most lawyers now use some sort of electronic calendar and docketing system.  Who else has access to your professional calendar?  Even if you choose not to allow anyone access to that information on a day-to-day basis, you should consider creating a login that you can provide on an as needed basis to an assistant.  If you are currently working without an assistant, you should create a way for a temporary assistant to have access to your calendar so that she can contact your clients and reschedule appointments if necessary.  (In fact, it may be incumbent upon you to do so, depending on the ethics rules in place in your jurisdiction.)  Let’s hope than you’re reachable in the case of curve-ball – but if you’re hit by a bus, some mechanism must exist to meet your clients’ needs.
3. Maintain a comprehensive “to do” list. Many of us go through our days tucking “to do” items into our memory.  This approach creates stress, as you’ve experienced if you’ve ever been lying in bed, just about to drift off, when you’re suddenly jolted to full consciousness with the question, did I send that email/make that call??  For purposes of the “what if” conversation, however, if you maintain your task list in your head and get pulled away by a curve-ball, there’s little chance that you’ll be able to sort tasks effectively to be sure every task is covered.  If the curve-ball should take you suddenly out of commission, you’ll have no opportunity to pause and download all of the tasks in your head onto paper.  Instead, use a Word document, a spreadsheet, or task management application to keep track of every task (of any magnitude), and be sure you can sort those tasks by due date, importance, client, and project.

If you use these strategies, you’ll be able to handle the curve-balls that come your way. Remember that curve-balls generally come with no notice, so assess your preparations today and begin to fill the holes you discover now.