While young Harry may have eventually become a great wizard on his own, it was the lessons that he received at Hogwarts – along with the relationships that he formed with his professors and classmates – that fully shaped his path to success. When not enjoying a spirited game of Quidditch in the apple orchard behind the school, young wizards and witches like Harry:

• Received a specialized education that started early.
• Were provided the benefits of a mentor.
• Were exposed to the ups and downs of progress.
• Discovered great rewards for their successes.

That model also offers a strong foundation for mid-sized law firms that are looking to provide business development training to the attorneys on staff.


Business development training should start early as early as possible in a lawyer’s career. Close relationships should not just exist among the managing partners; it’s important to involve the entire associate population in the program as well. This allows even the most junior attorneys to learn from the partners, and allows everyone in the firm to learn from one another and from the business development consultants who lead the training exercises.


Mentoring not only helps newer attorneys grow their practices, but it also helps them to learn more about what does and doesn’t work. More importantly – as business development consultants will tell you – mentoring focuses on everyone’s success and sets the stage for those who are just getting started to become viable partnership candidates. Keep in mind: the young lawyers of today may be the ones who are leading the firm in the future.


With the right training, a business development mindset and a mentoring plan in place, the result is the creation of a law sales culture in the truest sense – a sales culture that will be poised to make the magic happen.

With well-known contestants as diverse as Tom DeLay and Kelly Osbourne, it is little wonder that fans are tuning in for the latest season of Dancing with the Stars. Though much of the broadcast is devoted to the stars’ performances – after all, keeping the audience and the judges happy are major components of how contestants win – the producers take the time to show rehearsals and other “behind the scenes” events.

For lawyers focused on increasing sales and client retention, this popular show offers an important lesson: the work that you do behind the scenes is every bit as important as the time you spend in the spotlight. When you’re working with a client, it’s important to keep them happy – and to remember to continue selling throughout the engagement.

A law firm marketing consultant will remind you that thinking about future sales is particularly important if the client you’re working with needs only limited effort – especially if you see the potential for future business development opportunities. Here are some suggestions that will help you focus your client retention efforts to better ask for and ensure future sales:

• Know what’s working and what could be better. Find out by conducting regular client satisfaction visits or discussions to enhance your client retention opportunities.
• Focus on more than just what you’re doing now. Cross-selling other practice areas is a solid approach to law marketing.
• Keep adding benefits to your services. While perfoming a document review or conducting a client interview, keep notes on issues that you are spotting. Give your clients something extra by arranging a lunch to go over these issues with the General Counsel – without charging a fee, of course.
• Participate rather than just attending. Law selling success requires you and others from your firm to attend and actively participate rather than just buying tables at dinners or offering tickets to sporting events. And remember, while you’re dancing around the floor at a client-sponsored fundraiser, don’t forget to thank your client for inviting you to a great event.

Remember, when it comes to client retention, your clients are both the audience and the judges. The more that you prepare, the better your performance will be.

“Go ahead; make my day” is one of the most frequently repeated movie quotes. However, that memorable line isn’t the only great advice that Dirty Harry offers to lawyers who are interested in making more legal sales.


Since most attorneys don’t conduct sales meetings with a 9mm Glock in hand, when you’re planning a meeting with your clients or prospects, it’s probably better to focus on Harry Callahan’s advice from The Dead Pool: “You want to play the game you’d better know the rules.”


A business development consultant can help you learn “rules” that will help you prepare for meetings or calls and produce successful legal sales:

1. Understand the economics of the business your prospect or client is involved in. The more you know about the financial side of a client’s business, the more focused your message will be to their needs.
2. Know your audience and what resources will be available. It’s important to know to whom you will be speaking and what their role is. It’s also helpful to know what the facility where you will be giving the presentation is like. If you have a presentation with slides, for example, you’ll need to have access to screen and projector in order to show them.
3. Plan and rehearse your presentation, conversation, or phone call. Be sure to anticipate the questions that your prospect or client is likely to ask and to develop your answers.
4. Clarify the objectives at the beginning of the call or meeting. Even if you come to the table with one plan in mind, remember that situations change. Your client or prospect’s needs may have changed between the time the meeting was scheduled and the time you sit down to talk; taking stock at the beginning lets you make any necessary adjustments and gets them involved early.

Get your clients talking 60% of the time and then listen to how they are responding. Pay attention to how they give and receive information to get clues on what communication techniques they favor. Make sure to address their concerns and focus on creating a positive result – closing the sale.

Of course, a business development consultant can do more than help you prepare for the meeting. You can also learn to stay on top of your game by conducting a post mortem after the meeting, presentation or call. Your business development coach can help you pinpoint questions that you could have asked but didn’t, identify answers that have room for improvement, and create a plan for going after additional opportunities that were presented.


When you know the rules of the game, have the right “coach” and put in enough time preparing, you’ll be ready to go ahead and ” make each meeting work!”

When Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield took a correspondence course on making ice cream and opened their first scoop shop in Burlington, VT, they weren’t setting out to become known internationally. Their goal for their product was far simpler: they wanted to make the best ice cream possible.


Ben and Jerry reached this goal by focusing on their customers. They took the time to research what their customers wanted, and then they put their efforts into creating new flavor combinations and trying new products. But their customer focus didn’t end with their first taste of success; even today, they continue to study sales and change products as needed.


Of course, this business development model doesn’t just work for making great ice cream. When you’re working with a business development consultant to increase legal sales, you’ll receive similar advice about doing your best work. Specifically, you’ll learn to focus more on your clients by:

1. Knowing who they know.
2. Knowing what they read.
3. Knowing where they go.

How will getting to know your clients help you develop your law business?

Know Who Your Clients Know

Who are your clients’ colleagues? Who are the executives in their agency? What sorts of activities are they involved in outside of the workplace? By answering these and similar questions about your clients, you will have the opportunity to tailor a marketing message that speaks to them and to make a connection with other prospective clients as well.

Know What Your Clients Are Reading

Do your clients read the Wall Street Journal to stay current on general business news or do they get most of their information from trade magazines? How often do they read blogs written by their competitors? What’s their favorite comic strip? When you know what your clients are reading, you’ll be able to keep up with that information – and to work it into your sales proposals.

Know Where Your Clients Go

What conferences do your clients attend? Where do they hold company meetings? Which restaurants do they prefer when the time comes for a major celebration? Knowing this kind of information not only helps you better understand what they’re learning and what’s important to their business, but it can also help you connect with more prospects. Even something as simple as knowing their favorite restaurants can come in handy when you need to suggest a venue for a proposal presentation or want to get together to brainstorm around an issue they’ve been facing.


Client relationships will always be an essential part of business development. The more insight that you have about your clients, the more effective your proposals will be, allowing you to enjoy even more sweet success.

After learning to cook and releasing Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child didn’t sit back and wait for an audience. Instead, she was always looking for ways to win converts to her cooking style – writing newspaper columns, contributing to magazines, hosting a number of TV shows, presenting awards – and never stopped testing new ideas with sponsors and friends.


Refreshing her approach – and continually developing new recipes – led Julia Child to great success. This approach also offers a great lesson for lawyers who are trying to increase their sales and win new clients.


All too often, lawyers and law firm marketing staff fall back on the “tried and true” when they respond to RFPs. Rather than responding with a specific, targeted proposal, they take a “cookie cutter” approach and offer each prospective client the same pitch that lists the firm’s abilities and accomplishments.


Pitching every new prospect the same way almost always leads to a low number of wins. By working with a law firm marketing consultant, it’s possible to dramatically increase a firm’s client base – to win more clients through RFPs and other prospecting.


The right business development consultant can help attorneys see why their input, practical knowledge and experience are the key ingredients of successful legal sales. Once attorneys understand the value of their contribution, they are better able to support the firm’s marketing staff with information about how a prospect’s situation can be addressed.


By following this recipe for success, you firm’s proposals will be more tailored to the request and speak directly to your prospect about their needs and business.

Because it is the fourth and final stop on the Grand Slam tennis tour, the US Open is one of the nation’s most watched tournaments. It also tends to be dominated by the best of the game. This year, however, many of the top seeds were upset early on. The well-known Maria Sharapova was eliminated in the third round by a 17-year-old from Georgia and Andy Murray’s hopes for a win ended after what he called a “most embarrassing defeat.” Other well-known players like Venus Williams and Andy Roddick were also knocked out of contention for the top prize.


But these types of upsets don’t just take place on the courts at Flushing Meadows-they also take place in the boardroom. More and more “name” law firms are losing business to small- and mid-sized law firms that are coming on stronger and more aggressively with their marketing messages.


As big business looks to cut costs, high-priced big-city law firms don’t seem as necessary. Businesses aren’t looking to cover a large firm’s overhead costs; instead, they are looking for high-quality legal services, and attorneys who are quick to respond to their needs and who are accessible to them.


The more small- and mid-sized firms recognize this opportunity – and hone their business development skills to better take advantage of it – the more successful they will be. With legal sales training, a strong marketing message and the drive to grow, smaller firms will be the ones staging an upset – just like Kim Clijsters who won the women’s final upset Serena Williams in the semis and Juan Martin del Potro upset number 1 seed Roger Federer to win the men’s final.*


* Post updated 9/15/09 to include additional US Open upsets..

When the IRS launches an audit, agents set out to identify a person or business’ overlooked assets in order to increase the amount of money they collect. Consider launching a similar (but much less dreaded) approach to your law firm sales by developing a plan to take an inventory of your existing in-house assets. Taking a closer look at the resources you currently have available is especially important when you embark on new projects.


Working with a business development consultant will help you to hone your skills, improve your marketing approach, and increase the number of sales you make. It will also help you to better identify the assets that are already available to you.


If you’re working in a small or a mid-sized firm, then you’re not the only attorney who is marketing services and focusing on making sales; have you taken the time to talk with your colleagues or to cross market with them? Identifying and sharing law marketing opportunities with your colleagues lets you learn from the techniques other lawyers are using and creates an opportunity to earn referrals.


Another asset that lawyers have within their firms that often goes untapped involves other members of the staff. Paralegals, legal secretaries, and others are often members of professional organizations. By making a connection with them, learning more about what they do, and helping them get to know more about you and the services that you offer, you’ll create the opportunity to ask them to make presentations to their professional organizations.


Also, with regard to professional organizations, don’t overlook the value of your own involvement. Instead of just attending professional or community association meetings, get on the board or on the program committee–by getting involved and networking, and you’ll create opportunities to market yourself, your practice and your firm.


Many of the sales and marketing opportunities that you’ll find fall into the category of “invisible marketing.” Invisible marketing is all about building relationships, identifying what your prospects and clients really want, creating value in meetings, and sharing your enthusiasm for your practice. Remember: if there are no obvious business development opportunities with a prospect, it’s up to you to create one and take advantage of it.


There’s a good change your law firm is sitting on unused or overlooked legal sales opportunities.. Take a page from the IRS playbook to ferret out law firm marketing opportunities, and then take full advantage of them.

Hard to believe it’s Labor Day weekend already – time to celebrate another passing summer, for the kids to head back to school, and, of course, to recognize what working men and women contribute to our communities. For lawyers focusing on sales and client retention, celebrating your contributions is important – but often overlooked.


While you’re celebrating Labor Day with family and friends, consider the legal sales benefits of celebrating successes with your clients. Won a major settlement or experienced another in-court victory? Treat the client to dinner. Successfully completed negotiations for a merger, acquisition, or real estate purchase? Recognize the victory by sending over a case of wine – along with a personally written note of congratulations.


Business development training can help you understand the importance of a hand-written note when it comes to building a long-term client relationship and keep you focused on staying in touch. When it comes to future legal sales, the last thing that you want to do is to wait for the client to call you about possible future work.


Future law sales depend on staying in touch, and subtly reminding your clients of the win and the celebration. By working with a business development consultant to develop strategies for effective marketing, building client relationships and making legal sales, you’ll begin to see even more fruits of your labor.


Have a great Labor Day weekend!

The “Shaq Attack” is notorious in basketball. Players who face off with Shaquille O’Neal often find themselves at a loss – no matter what they bring to the court, Shaq has so many tools at his disposal that it’s tough to stop him. Wouldn’t it be great if your attorney marketing efforts were equally unstoppable?


You can be sure to “make it rain” by working with a marketing consultant who doesn’t focus on just one marketing technique. When it comes to business development training, make sure you’re working with someone who:

• Fully understands what is happening in the client’s market.


• Sets realistic objectives – and helps you stick with them.


• Focuses on getting you selected by your clients rather than just getting your name out there.


• Pinpoints the importance of getting to know the client’s business, and understanding what they really want and what pressures they face.


• Helps you to produce and measure your results.


• Emphasizes closing rather than just getting you to the discussion table – someone who helps you tell companies, agencies, and individuals the best possible reasons for hiring you and your firm.

Working with a business development consultant, after all, isn’t about learning one new technique; it’s about discovering the power of using multiple tactics from your law firm marketing strategy to win over your prospects and grow your client list and your firm.

A good quarterback is always pushing his team toward the Red Zone – and needs to be focused on outsmarting the defense to complete the play. No one knows this better than football superstar Brett Favre, who spent 16 years showing Green Bay Packers fans that he had what it took on the field; last year he came out of retirement to play a season with the New York Jets, and now, as the season is about to get underway, Favre is ready to give his all for the Minnesota Vikings.


For lawyers, the lesson that Favre teaches is less about football and a lot more about making a comeback. Brett’s return to pro football clearly demonstrates that he knows how to identify new opportunities, how to negotiate and how to close deals. Each of these things is also an essential part of successful attorney selling.


Throughout the process of closing with a client, it’s important to know that he or she is open to reconnections. When you bring a client to the decision point, be sure that you have answers to the following questions:

• When will you make a decision?


• Is there additional information that you need – or that will be needed to smooth the internal decision-making process?


• When should I follow up?

The more that you’re prepared to meet your prospects’ and clients’ needs once you’re at the negotiation table, the more sales you’ll be able to close. When you love what you do and are willing to “sweat” to develop strong closing skills, you might find yourself, like Favre, on a list of all-time greats!