Weekly Rainmaker Activity 10/12/09

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One-on-one meetings with individuals offers one of the best opportunities for business development, and attending organizational meetings and networking opportunities gives you the chance to meet a lot of people in a short time.  That’s ideal — if you’re meeting the right people.

How can you identify the right organizations for your purposes?  First, refresh your recollection of your ideal clients and referral sources, and then check the strategy that you’ve devised for meeting those people.  Chances are good that your plan will include a specific description of the people you want to meet.  Do (or better yet, delegate) a bit of research to find the groups that those people might attend.

If your business development plan does not provide clear guidance as to where you should network to find your ideal clients and referral sources, answer the following questions to help specify the best groups for you to attend.

  • What are the common features of my ideal clients and referral sources?
  • What are their common interests?
  • What business circumstances concern them?
  • What kind of educational opportunities might they seek?
  • What are their professions likely to be?
  • Will they likely attend national or local meetings?

These questions will help you to focus on where you might be able to find the kind of people with whom you should be networking.

You might also consider working backward based on substantive area of practice.  For example, if you are an estate planner, think about where large numbers of people who might hire estate planners or refer clients to estate planners would congregate.

This week’s activity: take another look at the organizations whose meetings you’re attending.  Is the fit good?  Are you meeting enough of the right people?  If not, run through this exercise and locate a few more groups to investigate.

Weekly Rainmaker Activity 10/05/09

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One of the comments to last week’s WRA post about checking written materials for client-centric language requested an example of a “good” paragraph and a “bad” paragraph.  Because of my travel schedule, I knew I wouldn’t be able to respond until today, so today’s WRA offers the requested examples.

Please note: these examples are drawn from my own imagination – written while sitting, to be completely transparent, without Internet access at the San Francisco airport.

A “good” paragraph might look something like this:

“As a small business owner, you know that your employees are critical to your business.  What they know and do (and what they don’t do) can make a substantial difference in your bottom line.  Especially if you have previous experience in a larger company, you are probably aware of the value of documents like employee manuals and specific employee policies that speak to the rights and responsibilities of yourself and your employees.  And if you’ve ever had a problem from an employee who claimed that you discriminated against him or her in a hiring, promotion, or termination decision, you know that such claims can pose a threat even to the most solid companies’ operation, pulling time, money, and attention away from your business operations.

At Smith, Jones, and Richards, we understand your concerns and provide the full range of employment law solutions to small businesses.”

A “bad” paragraph speaking to the same area of law:

“The attorneys of Smith, Jones, and Richards have extensive experience in drafting employee manuals and associated documentation, as well as in defending employers against discrimination claims.  Our approach is to deliver the same services to small businesses that other firms offer big businesses, but we do so at a reasonable fee and with an understanding of small business concerns.  The partners of Smith, Jones, and Richards have a total of over seventy-five years in practice and are graduates of the nation’s top law schools.  Our lawyers have been recognized in merit-based directories such as Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers of America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in the World.  You’re in capable hands with Smith, Jones, and Richards.”

Do you see the difference between these two examples?  While the basic operating principle is the same in both (serving the employment law needs of small businesses), the first paragraph discusses those needs from the clients’ point of view.  The second simply references the clients’ point of view but focuses on the firm’s and its lawyers’ credentials.  Credentials are important, but clients are often pulled toward a lawyer who demonstrates an understanding of their concerns and has credentials that indicate competence as opposed to one who “markets” on credentials alone.

So, with these examples, take another look at the written marketing material you selected last week.  Is it written from a client-centric point of view?  If not, spend some time revising it.

If you’re uncertain about the point of view or about how to make client-centric revisions, we should talk.  You can also find more information in Chapters 4 and 6 of The Reluctant Rainmaker (also available on Amazon.com).

Weekly Rainmaker Activity 9/28/09

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What written marketing materials do you have?  Examples include a website, a one-page description of your practice, a newsletter, articles, and so on.  For this week’s activity, choose one item for review.  (Although I would generally include a biographical sketch as written marketing material, exclude it for this week’s purposes.)

As you read your marketing material, how much is written from your perspective (generally indicated by lots of “I” and “we” statements), and how much is written from your client’s perspective?  Although your potential clients will be interested in your qualifications and experience, they will be primarily interested in whether you are someone who could meet their needs.  (Don’t allow yourself to imagine that legal sophisticated potential clients are different here.  They aren’t.)

In other words, potential clients won’t care about all of those “I” statements until they have a sense that you understand their concerns, that you know where they’re coming from, and that you are someone who serves clients like them.  It’s important, then, that your materials speak to your potential client and not at her.  How you accomplish this will vary somewhat depending on your area of practice.  In general, though, you’ll want to describe the concerns your ideal client is facing, the decisions at hand, the problem he’s confronting, the doubts or worries she may have.  Then you’ll describe how you assist someone in that position, preferably with examples based on past experience.

Review the material you’ve chosen through the “speaking at”/”speaking to” filter.  If you find many more “I” and “we” statements than statements designed to speak to your ideal client’s situation, it’s time to revise what you’ve written.

If you’re uncertain whether your written marketing materials speak to your ideal clients, perhaps we should talk.  Please send an email to schedule a complimentary consultation, during which we’ll explore the challenges you’re confronting and the solutions that may be available.

Weekly Rainmaker Activity 9/21/09

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Pop quiz: Who are your best referral sources?  List the top 10 of each 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.

Were you able to make the list?  This information should be at the tips of your fingers at any moment.  If you don’t know who these people are, your activity this week is to find out.

Assuming you know who your top clients and referral sources are, the next question is:

How often are you in contact with them?  One of my clients recently realized that his top referral sources send him at least 5 substantial matters a year, resulting in several hundred thousand dollars of business.  And then he realized that as he’d become busier, he moved away from the close contacts that had helped to build those referral relationships.  Yes, he sent business to them as well and he attended mettings with them frequently, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had lunch or played golf one-on-one with these people.

Relationships, like anything else, are always in motion.  Are yours growing closer or more distant?  If you don’t stay in good contact with others, the relationships will grow weaker and you may find that the support that you enjoyed is transferred 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 to 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.

Weekly Rainmaker Activity 9/14/09: More on introductions

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Last week’s WRA focused on the language to use in introducing yourself to potential clients and others.  This week, let’s look at the substance of the introduction.

Many lawyers seem to fall into the habit of the “just the facts, ma’am” introduction, which goes something like this: “Hi, I’m Bob Smith.  I’m a litigator with Dew Goode.”  While that introduction does give some valuable information, it’s also downright boring.

Choose a more interesting introduction, and you’re more likely to get conversation going that has a chance of developing into a relationship that may lead to billable work or other opportunities.

In The Reluctant Rainmaker, I share five approaches to introductions, but I’ll focus on two today.

  1. The benefits-focused description.  The typical so-called elevator speech follows a template, such as “I help ______ to ______ by _______ so that they can ______.”  An example: “I help small businesses to maximize their net profits through careful tax planning so they can grow quickly and pass on more of the company’s hard-earned profit to its owners.”  Or, “I help pharmaceutical companies with annual revenue in the range of $2 million to get the cash they need by negotiating funding deals so that they can conduct clinical trials of drugs in development.”  This form of introduction may lack panache, but it offers results-oriented information that will allow your conversational partner to understand quickly what you do.  If you follow this introduction with an interesting example, however, you can provoke good conversation.
  2. The “you know how” introduction.  Using this approach, you cast the problem that you solve for clients in a common, easily-understandable “you know how” framework: “You know how often a couple who’s no longer happy together decide to divorce and the situation turns into an absolute disaster, with each spouse blaming the other and trying to get any possible advantage, with the result that everyone comes out a loser in the end?  Well, I work with divorcing spouses before all of that begins, using an approach called collaborative law.  I represent one spouse and another collaborative lawyer represents the other spouse, and we sit down together to find a way to end the marriage without starting World War III.”

Whatever style you choose, be sure your introduction is brief, conversational (please, do not memorize and recite a great introduction!), attention-grabbing, and cast in a form appropriate to your listener.  Try new introductions regularly and see what gets the best response from listeners.

If you’d like to learn more about effective networking, check out The Reluctant Rainmaker, which is also available on Amazon.com — Kindle version coming soon.

Weekly Rainmaker Activity 9/7/09

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What kind of language do you speak when you’re talking with potential clients and referral sources?  I don’t mean English or Spanish, but whether you use “jargon” or “regular” language.  As with most anything else, each has its place, but you must select the appropriate language intentionally.

If you’re talking with lawyers or legally sophisticated consumers, carefully sprinkled jargon may have its place.  Those who are familiar with the area of law you’re discussing may expect to hear certain buzzwords.  If they don’t hear them, they may not be confident that you’re fully up to speed and skilled in the revelant area.  Dropping a word or two of jargon (a reference to a code section, perhaps) indicates that you are likely competent in the area of practice at issue.

If you’re talking with laypeople, however, sprinking in even a small amount of jargon may confuse the listener or — worse yet — may come across as if you’re talking down to him.  With some care, you can address even complex issues with clear, simple, and jargon-free language.  No one wants to feel stupid, and potential clients (or clients) may be reluctant to ask questions that reveal their lack of familiarity with the subject.

Lawyers often cross the jargon line in introducing themselves.  Think back over your recent introductions.  Do you use the appropriate amount of jargon?  Do listeners immediately understand what issues you address in your practice?  For the purpose of this week’s WRA, focus solely on the language you use.  Next week, we’ll look at a few other aspects of introductions.

Who Is Your Ideal Client?

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While in Teton National Park last week, I noticed a trend among serious hikers.  I parked at several trailheads during my vacation, and I noticed that the parking lots for the more intense hiking trails featured a surprising number of Subaru cars, all with outdoorsy names like Outback.  I’ve never seen so many Subarus in one place, and I’m not at all sure that I’ve seen more than a handful elsewhere.  I was curious, so I did a quick Google search and turned up a Subaru Outback user forum that includes lots of photographs, many (if not most) of which show the Subaru in an outdoor sports setting (with a canoe strapped to the roof, camping in the woods, etc.), as does much of the advertising for the Subaru Outback.

Subaru Outback and outdoor enthusiasts apparently go hand-in-hand.  I imagine that further research would turn up Subaru sponsorships of outdoor events, advertising in hiking and mountain climbing magazines, and so on.  Subaru seems to have its finger on the pulse of this market, and the market appears to have responded.

What does this have to do with practicing law?  Like Subaru, you must identify your ideal client to a level of great specificity and deep understanding of your ideal client’s interests, preferences, and activities.

When working with lawyers on business development, one of the first questions I ask is, who’s your ideal client?  It’s a marketing truism that it’s much easier to direct your services to a well-defined group of potential clients, because doing so allows your ideal clients to recognize you as their ideal lawyer.  By focusing specifically on a particular group and their legal needs, you also develop your expertise and your reputation for expertise more quickly.

How specifically should you define an ideal client?  Some lawyers stop at a fairly high level – estate planners, for instance, may focus only on those who have estate planning needs, which is an adequate description but lacking the full body that can prove helpful.  Others delve more deeply and might hone in on new parents who have never done any estate planning before, parents of special needs children who have particular estate planning needs, or those who want to arrange for pet trusts, for example.  The more narrowly you can draw your niche, the more accurately you’ll be able to tailor your message – and, or course, nothing says you must restrict your practice to a narrow group.

When you begin to define your ideal client narrowly, you can consider psychographics in addition to demographics.  Demographics include information such as age, gender, occupation, education, and so on.  Psychographics describe the attitudes, values, and motivations that your ideal clients hold.  What interests them?  What magazines do they read?  What groups do they join?  Where do they vacation?  What are their hobbies?

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that psychographics are irrelevant if you represent companies rather than individuals.  Individuals make the hiring (and firing) decisions for companies, and individuals acting together determine company strategy, goals, and planned outcomes.  While you may be less interested in the personal psychographics of corporate representatives, looking at the psychographics in their professional capacities will provide valuable information.

When you’ve analyzed your ideal client psychographics, you may find that you’ve created a roadmap of forums for publications and presentations, networking activity, and so on.  You may notice connections that had not been apparent before, or you may define known connections more clearly.  Whatever the level of revelation, you will certainly find information that you can use to better reach out to your ideal clients, which will in turn help you target your business development activity.

Uncertain about how to describe your ideal client?  The Reluctant Rainmaker includes a step-by-step process to help you discover who your ideal clients are and how to reach them.  Check out The Reluctant Rainmaker: A Guide For Lawyers Who Hate Selling.

Weekly Rainmaker Activity 8/31/09

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A primary benefit of being active online (by having a website with a biographical sketch and having articles relevant to your practice published online, for example) is that potential clients have an opportunity to learn something about you before meeting you.  Whether your name surfaces by referral or by an internet search, it’s a safe bet that almost every potential client will search on your name before contacting you.

Do you know what these potential clients will find?  I recently read an advice column in which the writer was struggling with how to tell her doctor that his son, who shared the doctor’s name (plus a “junior”),  had posted “obscene” photographs on Facebook and that patients were finding those images and associating them with the doctor.  I imagine that the doctor and his son had a rather frank conversation after that revelation, but the questions go a step further: how long had the doctor’s reputation been damaged by his son’s online antics?  And more importantly, how could he recover his professional reputation online?

Your task today: perform an internet search on yourself.  Start with Google, as it’s the most popular search engine, but be sure to check Yahoo!, Ask.com, Excite.com, MSN, and so on.  What do you find?

You may disover that your profile on a social media platform is high on the result list.  If so, one of the quickest ways to ramp up your online presence is to be sure that your profile is complete, accurate, and up-to-date.  If it’s difficult to find yourself online, getting a LinkedIn profile is a quick and easy way to make sure that those who search for you will be able to find something useful.  And if you find results that conflict with your professional persona, consider how you might address them.

Do you sponsor? (And WRA, resurrected)

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Do you know how to get the most from your sponsorships?

Getting in front of a group of potential clients can mean different things to different people.  These are some of the considerations I recommend you evaluate if you’re contemplating taking on a sponsorship:

  • Who will be present?  Potential clients or referral sources are good; the general public is less likely to produce measureable business results.
  • What recognition will you receive as a sponsor?  Will your firm name be on the signage, on the event website, on bags or t-shirts?  Will you be mentioned during the event itself?
  • What perks will you receive as a sponsor?  Look for opportunities to mingle with attendees at sponsored luncheons, coffee breaks, or cocktail parties.  You’re more likely to be able to meet selected participants if the sponsored event is not open to all comers.
  • Who will attend from the firm, and what is the strategy for making the most of the opportunity?  As usual, without a plan, your efforts are likely to produce little.  The strategy will depend on your business development goals, the nature of the event, the attendees, and more, but you must be able to identify at least the basic strategy before you commit to sponsorship.

Sponsorships aren’t dead, by any means, but it’s just a waste of money to take on a random sponsorship without a defined objective and a clear plan to reach that objective.

WRA, Resurrected!

Back in January, I launched a new weekly blog feature: the weekly rainmaker activity.  I described it this way:

One of the keys to being a successful rainmaker is making a habit of consistent client development activity.  I recommend that lawyer doing something designed to increase business every single day, whether it’s writing a 2-minute email, hosting an hour-long lunch, or attending an all-day industry meeting. I’m launching a new blog feature this week: the Weekly Rainmaker Activity.  I’ll offer a weekly business development task.  Those who choose to accept that challenge will make the time to engage in the activity of the week at least once.  If you’re so moved, please post a comment (anonymous is fine, of course) to let me and the other readers know what you’ve done this week.  Healthy competition of this sort can benefit everyone.

And then I started writing The Reluctant Rainmaker, thus effectively putting the blog on hiatus.  Ooops.  But now, it’s time to resurrect the WRA, and the first task will be posted Monday.

Weekly Rainmaker Activity

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This week’s task: Set up Google Alerts for your top 5 clients.

Why is this a good activity?  Google Alerts deliver news results about whatever topic you select direct to your mailbox on the schedule you select.  They function as a free clipping service.  In this instance, receiving alerts about your clients will let you know what’s happening with their business or industry, what others are saying about them, etc., and put you in an opprtunity to be proactive in providing advice or offering assistance.

How to undertake this activity?   Go to http://www.google.com/alerts and complete the form.  It’s simple of self-explanatory.  Use your clients’ names as the search terms.  If you choose to expand this week’s task, you might also add other terms relevant to your clients — perhaps their industries, their products or service, or their competitors.  Two tips to avoid an avalanche of results:

  1. Be selective in the terms you use.  For example, if you represent Boeing, you would not want to use “Boeing” as a search term because you’d get millions of alerts in a few days’ time.  Instead, you might use “+Boeing +airplane +manufacturer” or ” +Boeing +air +defense +contractor.”
  2. Set up email filters so alerts go to a specific email folder.  You’ll need to make checking that folder a part of your routine, but that’s far preferable to missing a critical email because your in-box is overly full with alerts.

How long will it take?  Just a few minutes to set up the searches, and probably 5-10 minutes daily to review the results and/or edit your searches.