The Flying Wallendas and Lawyer Marketing
For generations, the Flying Wallendas have performed high-wire tricks that dazzle audiences – in part because their acrobatic stunts seem so impossible and create an illusion that they will fail. The family now continues to push their limits and recognizes that their success depends on mastering each act of their performance one step at a time until all of the components are brought together.
Even when the Wallendas seem to have mastered a new act, they continue to review its components, raising the skill and confidences levels of the performers, and moving toward making the act an even bigger success. Your business development process should take a similar approach.
In order to ensure that all of the lawyers in your firm are comfortable in marketing situations—from your first year associates to your 20-year veterans–training and motivation are crucial. Urge associates and junior partners to test out one or two marketing tactics, evaluate their success, and identify what it will take to bring them to the next level of client development. Encourage them to focus their attention on clients and prospects even as they are attending conferences, taking part in bar association meetings, writing articles, giving speeches or providing pro bono services. Most importantly, include accountability in the process on a frequent basis.
For Karl Wallenda, the family patriarch, “Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting.” Similarly, for lawyers focused on growing their practices, success is focusing on marketing and business development, and everything else is just passing time.
