“Emails do not end in handshakes.” That’s the headline of a recent British Airways ad aimed at getting businesspeople to head across the pond for a good old-fashioned face-to-face meeting. I think their message is spot on.

Certainly, electronic communication like email, cell phones, faxes, etc. have all made it much easier to stay in touch with your clients, but if you believe that electronic communications are the path to retaining clients and facilitating closing skills, you need to think again. Your clients and prospects would tell you that they value the one-on-one time that an in-person meeting provides. Sure, you can just click and open up a file without ever laying eyes on the sender, but to truly demonstrate your skill and ability to a client or prospect, in person communication is the way to go.

One of my business development consulting clients recently said to me, “I won that case for my client 6 months ago—why hasn’t she called me?” If my client wants to lock in more work from his client, he should get a few more lunches or in-person meetings on his schedule. And always have something planned to talk about; celebrate their successes, ask them about their plan for next year’s work, and inquire about potential introductions or referrals they may be able to make.

Email has made our lives easier, but it is only one tool in the law sales arsenal, not the only medium available. Don’t forget about the good old-fashioned in person meeting. There’s still plenty of room for it in our high-tech world.

We hope you enjoy your holiday with family and friends. Don’t forget to thank the people that you work with—your clients and vendors—for their help and support throughout the year. And remember those folks in your community who can benefit from your generosity. From all of us at the Closers Group, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

It was perhaps the best NFL game of the year, where the Indianapolis Colts came from behind with less than a minute to play, beating the New England Patriots by a single point.  Watching the game, it was clear that neither team was willing to quit—both team’s offenses and defenses played their hearts out.

The number of times each of these teams scored when entering the RED ZONE demonstrates just how important it is to persevere and to never say it can’t be done. That same ‘never quit’ sense of commitment should be practiced by the legal sales leadership team at your firm.  Just because your proposal wasn’t selected, your firm did not make it on a company’s panel, or you couldn’t get that client meeting you wanted, don’t quit.  Periodically contact the prospect in order to keep your name in front of them.  That way, when it comes for his business to replace their current firm or bring in a legal specialist, you’ll be considered again.

A guest post by Strategic Partner Bob Gero


One of the most potentially rewarding transactions — and arguably the most challenging, frustrating and disappointing transactions — for law firm management and partners is the effective integration of lateral hires, whether they be equity or non-equity partners, counsel or experienced associates. All too often, law firms aggressively (not to mention the high cost in time and dollars) recruit poaching an attorney from another firm or the corporate world, introduce him or her at a partners meeting, have them fully processed through HR’s regimen, handle the basic marketing needs like bio, website presence and press release, and then send the attorney out into the world to bring in loads of new business.


Law firm management please pay attention: the above is a formula for failure for everybody involved. The sad point is your firms probably won’t realize the failure until more than 2 years into the relationship. There is good news, however, with a little planning and a thorough process, law firms can considerably increase the odds that your new hire will succeed. Both with careful due diligence before and during the negotiations, and most critical implementing a complete Lateral Intergration/Orientation Program.


For more information, click here to Contact Us for an immediate response.

“Law firms and their lawyers are in the throes of choosing whether to adjust to, resist, or embrace the fallout from the economic calamities.” — Aric Press, Editor in Chief, The American Lawyer, November, 2009.

In the same column, “In-House at The American Lawyer,” Press goes on to talk about the importance of attorneys going out to the market in order to focus on business development, attorney marketing, and sales, and focuses on the opportunity that exists for those brave enough to enter the public space.


I call that public space the Red Zone because just like the last yards before the goal line, the Red Zone is where law selling needs to take place – where attorneys are face to face with their clients, their referrals, their prospects and their opportunities. As a business development consultant, however, I’ve found that it’s also an area from which attorneys are often notably absent.


Success in the Red Zone happens when you have a solid strategy in mind. Often, creating a business development strategy can be simple – especially when you focus on this three-part marketing motto:

1. Go where your prospects go.
2. Read what they read.
3. Know what they know.

Your current clients will often be the best source for future business, but don’t rest on your laurels and rely solely on attracting new business simply because you provide high quality work. Go to the conferences your clients attend. Ask them to be on panels with you and invite them to attend seminars with you. Learn more about the charitable organizations that your clients are active in. All of these also contribute to client retention.


Similarly, because a significant portion of legal sales come from client referrals, be sure to get to know your clients and their colleagues. Know their in-house colleagues and learn more about their collaborators at other companies and agencies by hosting a lunch. Ask your clients to keep you and your firm in mind for referrals as well, but be sure to show your commitment to earning the business.


Read your clients’ industry publications and features. Offering to co-author an article in their publications allows you to contribute to their business and provides you with a collateral piece to use for handouts at other presentations and on your firm’s website.


Of course, you’ll want to apply the “Go-Read-Know” approach to your referrals and prospects and not just your current clients. Even as you focus on understanding the lead and their issues, have begun offering possible strategies and discussing the next steps, take the time to create a relationship. Even if your prospect doesn’t become a client immediately, you will have set the stage for meeting them at their industry conferences and events.


By attending meetings and conferences and reading various publications, you’ll remain up-to-date on the latest business trends and court decisions and you’ll make new contacts. By continuing to use the “Go-Read-Know” process, your efforts will generate new prospects, and your law firm marketing efforts will continue to keep you focused and successful in the Red Zone.

Each year, Major League Baseball’s World Series is a reminder of the importance of developing strong closing skills. Regardless of which teams make it to the “big dance,” the players to watch are the power hitters and the closing pitchers. This year, the Philadelphia Phillies returned to the series, but the power of the hitters and the closing skills of the New York Yankees pitchers combined to dethrone last year’s champs.


Just as strong closing pitchers are critical to an MLB team’s success, an attorney’s closing skills are crucial for law firms. In our recent survey, the overwhelming majority of responding attorneys indicated that closing was an essential component for business development training.


Whatever analogy you use when you’re making an important pitch to a prospect it’s important to focus on the close. Perhaps one of the most underutilized tactics for closing involves simply having an agenda.


When you’re invited to the big dance and have an opportunity to generate more business– whether an informal dinner meeting to discuss future opportunities with a current client or a formal RFP response–take the time to talk with your prospect ahead of time. Indicate what you believe will be important and be sure to identify your prospect’s ideas and priorities. Focus on each of these areas, practice your responses to possible questions; consider different approaches, anticipate what might be “thrown at you,” and even ask your business development consultant to play devil’s advocate and introduce additional scenarios.


The preparation that you put into a meeting will ensure that you’re ready for the big event. After the handshakes and greetings, “warm up” by reviewing the agenda with your client or prospect. Ask them if anything new has become opportunity or a challenge for them, get their input on the importance of discussion items and involve them in agreeing to the order in which topics will be discussed.


Think of your agenda as a playbook for the meeting – and go back to is as necessary to adjust your play when they throw a curveball or count on receiving a soft pitch. Make sure that your bases are covered throughout the meeting – focus on addressing all of their questions and needs, and don’t be afraid to swing for the fence and ask when their decision will be made.


The more that you practice your plays, the more that your performance will improve and the more success you’ll have.

While few firms will admit it, diversity is icing on the cake.

Whatever your racial/gender mix, you need to be profitable. When profitability was a given, firms could focus on recruiting minorities and creating a more diverse work environment. And clients could use diversity as a factor in outside counsel selection.

With today’s economic challenges, firms want to hold onto those lawyers who are profitable, and clients want outside firms that will give them the most bang for the buck, regardless of the gender and racial composition of the teams that staff their engagements.

So how can a diversity committee add value in these troubed times?

1. Reach out to minorities and women lawyers, in both private and corporate practice, at your firm, in your community, and at clients, who may be out of work or feeling employment pressure. Collaborate with clients who are facing the same tough choices of who to retain and who to let go. Now is a great time to help their minority and women lawyers with skills assessment,career planning, resume preparation, job search, and networking (I’ve done presentations of this sort).
2. Do a survey that measures the employment stress that may be falling disproportionately on those “diverse” lawyers who don’t have a big book of business to back them up. Ask them good questions that hit at the heart of the issues they’re facing. By so engaging them, you may provide a chance to add them to the firm’s network of diverse lawyers (we can discuss that content if you wish).
3. Prepare a presentation of survey results that will get you in front of minority lawyer groups, and publish the results in trade magazines. Give them to the general media, thereby postioning your firm as one that isn’t reneging on its commitment to diversity.

Additional reading on diversity in legal marketing and business development:

• Fostering Diversity in a Skeptical Marketplace
• An Agenda for Success

While a business development consultant should bring a curricula as broad as the Rockies to the table, it’s essential to know that the training itself is narrow and focused and that it will provide solutions. Just as the Panama Canal has created efficiency for the shipping industry with a direct route across the Isthmus of Panama – rather than forcing vessels to navigate around the tip of South America – legal sales training should focus on providing marketing strategies and tactics that:

• Enable you to identify your best prospects.
• Simplify your approach.
• Allow you to reach your goals quickly.

Attorney marketing and legal sales training, therefore, must focus on specific activities. After identifying your goals and the needs of your firm, a business development consultant can create a training program tailored to your business. This training program will focus on key elements like:

• Training lawyers to engage and follow up with audience members after a presentation to ensure that questions are answered and that a personal connection is made.
• Crafting, refining and practicing elevator speeches, contact scenarios, and talking points.
• Developing, practicing, refining and presenting seminars with colleagues before offering the material to clients or prospects.
• Evaluating and determining the value of attending legal, industry, and community events.
• Identifying which publications are worth writing for in order to reach prospective clients.
• Using existing business development collateral for touch points.

This list of key elements is far from exhaustive. A business development consultant should customize his approach to your firm to focus on what you do, what tools you have access to, and what you’re comfortable with. After the right training approach has been identified, moving straight ahead will bring access to your prospects, and the path to closing will be just like sailing through the Panama Canal – bringing along with it a sense of accomplishment and success.

Success in the Red Zone doesn’t just come for teams like the New England Patriots. Hard work, determination, focus, practice, teamwork and preparation can pay off for much smaller teams as well – something exemplified by the women’s soccer team at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. No one was surprised when the women of Messiah ranked number one in NCAA Division III despite being a smaller school. Instead, their competitors often identified the team as a “national powerhouse.”


Similarly, successful law firm growth isn’t limited to the giants of the game. Smaller and mid-sized firms are able to accomplish similar successes. Like the Messiah women’s soccer team, smaller players are recognizing that – with the right strategy in place, a practiced approach, and a thorough understanding of the market and their target clients – growth is possible.


An October 9, 2009 Law.com article, “Some Midsize Firms Believe Now Is the Time to Expand,” said it this way:

“We think there are a lot of great opportunities to grow in this market,” said Bruce James, Brownstein Hyatt’s managing partner.


“There are certain practices and opportunities that are opening to midsize or regional firms that aren’t attractive to the large firms.”

The Red Zone approach to law firm growth and closing more business is not only about looking for growth possibilities that may come in the future. Success in the Red Zone comes from identifying the best immediate opportunities, designating attorneys who can take action quickly to pursue new contracts, and closing more business.


If you’re ready to focus on your firm’s growth and success, the time is right to look into business development training, to develop a legal sales culture and to commit to winning more clients.

When you look at the width, breadth, and height of the Rockies, it’s hard not to understand the power of the entire range. If you’re looking to cross the Rocky Mountains your success depends on your preparation for the peaks and valleys, ice and snow, and the wild animals that call remote areas of the mountains home.


Successful business growth takes a similar amount of preparation. Business development training can open doors – but it’s crucial to know that you receive that training from a consultant with a broad approach.

A business development consultant should prepare you for the peaks and valleys of client relationships.

Relationships can be challenging. There will be times when communication is easy, and there will be times when you need to re-evaluate your position and ensure that you have identified the real needs of your clients so that you can better meet them. Likewise, there may be situations in which your prospect isn’t the decision-maker. Your business development consultant should be able to help you identify what it takes to address the needs of your clients and prospects and focus on choosing the right path at the right time.

A business development consultant should help you bring substantive value to your client meetings.

When hiking in the mountains, it’s essential to know that you’re stepping onto a firm foothold rather than loose rock. In meetings with your clients and prospects, it’s important to know that you’re offering them real value with your services – to ensure that they know you will solve their problems. A business development consultant who helps you better understand your clients and their needs will work with you to ensure that your services offer the client real demonstrable value.

A business development consultant can help you develop the skills you need to reach your destination.

Reaching the peak of mountain often involves following a trail, but when it comes to closing sales, the path is not always clearly marked. That’s why it’s important to work with a business development consultant who emphasizes closing skills and asking your prospects and clients for their business.

A business development consultant can help you recover from setbacks along the way.

In any endeavor, there’s a chance that not everything will go as planned. When the consultant you are training with understands this and can help you maximize rejection, you’ll be able to follow up with your prospects, identify future opportunities, and chart a new course that will enable you to arrive at your goals.


Business development for your law firm – like traversing the Rockies – is a journey. Working with a consultant with a broad approach ensures that you’re outfitted for that journey and for achieving your own success.