Though miserly Ebenezer Scrooge may be best remembered for the phrase ‘Bah, humbug,’ it’s worth pointing out that first and foremost, Scrooge was a businessman. He searched for opportunities to sell when others were sitting on their hands crying “woe is me,” and he took advantage of every possible opportunity to do business.


In our recently completed nationwide survey of lawyers and marketing professionals, the most surprising result was that the current economic crisis has not provided a significant impetus to new business development training initiatives or to more law firms retaining business development consultants.


The marketplace has presented you the opportunity to truly differentiate your small- or mid-sized firm from the others. With more corporations and agencies looking for high value work at a lower cost, your law sales are ripe for success. But in order to take advantage of the market, you and your firm have to be out there; people and businesses need to know who you are.


Remember, there are only 3 sources of new business to focus your legal sales efforts on:

1. Current clients who may have additional needs for your services
2. Referrals that come in based on the service you’ve given current and past clients
3. New clients that you bring in from a list of prospects

If 50% of your new engagements are not coming from repeat clients who need additional services, or from referrals from your current clients, bringing in a business development consultant who can make your efforts more productive is a great option. Rather than hunkering down and bracing for the worst, you can take advantage of tools and closing skills that let you increase your client base and grow your firm - without looking like a Scrooge in the process.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Legal Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.