PROBLEM: Our office has terrific attorneys but our revenue is flat.

RESPONSE: Organize and attack. Indoctrinate the lawyers in a basic business development truism: clients and prospects do not care about how great the attorneys are. They assume that to be the case. They care about what those great attorneys can do for them.

RESULTS: The effect of such an enhanced client service mentality will not only unearth new prospects but also develop new business from existing clients.

PROBLEM: I just lost my largest client!

RESPONSE: Setbacks should catalyze action, not cause paralysis. The firm should monitor and evaluate all such occasions where clients fall by the wayside to ensure that the lawyers responsible jump back into the business development fray with a new three-month action program.

RESULT: A crisis should spell opportunity. Losses should pump the collective adrenaline. If that kind of response becomes ingrained in the firm’s culture, odds are that the bottom line will actually improve at a reasonable point in time after every loss.