“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” – Henry Ford

While being bold and putting your best foot forward can yield great results through your business development strategy, thinking ahead and thinking critically should also be at the foundation of every good plan. There are a number of ways that attorneys can think strategically and close the deal when they’re in the RED ZONE. Here are some ways to bolster your legal business development efforts:

Underscore accountability: When selling law services to prospects, demonstrate the meticulousness with which you execute all business. This should be a reflection of the how you practice law, including itemizing budget reviews on the agenda during a regular meeting. This makes the prospect aware of the way you do daily business, as well as keep them up-to-date of what’s happening and how much it will cost.

Let them talk: When a client is talking, they’re engaged. Encouraging your law clients to get involved will make them more interested, feel more at ease and involved, and promote valuable communication. The 60:40 rule is a great directive; the client talks 60% of the time and you talk 40% of the time. Asking great questions will get useful, insightful answers and will help improve your overall attorney marketing skills.

Identify hidden decision-making: Each company has its own internal decision-making processes and quirks. When selling legal services, identifying these processes will provide key insight into unlocking the way to get things done with your client. Often, this isn’t an easy task, but it’s definitely worth asking questions that can lead you in the right direction: “Who will be using the services?”, “Who’s buying the services?”, and “Who is the key contact?”

Evaluate relationships & retention: Finding out a company’s past and present is important in making a comprehensive business strategy and to tailor legal sales techniques and closing skills. This includes their past law firm choices, problems that occurred during and after the contract, media coverage surrounding the company (good or bad), and market or industry climate. All these factors should determine your legal business development approach, as well as the meeting and business plan.

Throughout this series, we’ve focused on one main point: every legal sales strategy needs even better legal sales tactics, including some that are outside your comfort zone. In order to win more business, your firm must have an arsenal of legal sales tactics that support an overarching, comprehensive business development strategy to bolster attorney marketing and will help you sell legal services to each prospect.

“Fortune favours the bold” – Virgil

When it comes to preparing the most comprehensive legal business development strategy, it may be tempting to take the easy road and play it safe. While your research and background work will have helped you take the first steps toward success, being in front of the client is no time to rest on your laurels and take a laid-back approach. When you’re in the RED ZONE, closing skills need to be supported by clever, multifaceted tactics informed by not only the homework that you’ve done on the prospect, but also your past performance.

The closer you get to the RED ZONE, the tougher the competition gets. That’s why you must be bold–don’t be afraid to go for it! Not sure what we mean? Here are a few ideas on breaking the legal sales presentation mold and taking a more daring strategic approach:

Dump the resume: When you make it to the RED ZONE, you should refrain from talking too much about your law firm and its accomplishments unless it is extremely relevant to the client’s needs.

Give something away: When you’re in front of a prospect, provide them with some free legal advice on how to win their case. Specificity is essential, as this will give the prospect some idea of what your overall strategy is and what it’s like to work with you.

Be a formidable competitor: Just because a particular law firm has been retained for a number of years, doesn’t mean you should assume the work is not up for grabs. Make sure the sales prospect knows you’re willing to compete for work by talking strategy. Even if you don’t win the business, you’ll gain yardage by showing your interest and willingness to provide value to the company.

Ask for business: While this may seem to be an unusual concept, asking for new business on a fairly regular basis is a solid client retention tactic that can help you win more business. Avoid getting stuck in particular types of tasks by demonstrating your capabilities beyond the scope of your current engagement through a clearly laid out business plan.

Capitalize on rejection: Not winning the business is a disappointment, but no loss is a complete waste. Maximize rejection by keeping in touch with the prospect: send updates, keep them informed, and invite them to events and panels. Keep your firm in the RED ZONE by creating more possibilities for closing the deal!

While some of these legal sales tactics may seem out of your comfort zone, think of it this way: taking a bold approach is all about taking calculated risks. Using any or all of these tactics will get you closer to closing the deal and winning new business for you law firm. Perfecting and diversifying your legal sales techniques will make you more attractive to a variety prospects and open more doors than were previously available.

When you’re looking for more information about a product or service, chances are that you turn to the web. The Internet is the first place that most buyers go to find professional services; why would your prospects be any different?


Your website is the single, most important visible representation of your brand. If your website doesn’t convincingly present your firm as the best choice, your prospects will go elsewhere.


When we work with clients to enhance and refine law firm websites, we focus first on improving “findability” – on ensuring that their best prospects will see their site. We follow a series of organized, effective, timely, and results-oriented actions in order to ensure that the site is found by – and appeals to – the right audience.


Our filtering process helps to:

• Raise the firm’s profile


• Clearly communicate the firm’s key differentiators


• Find and close more clients

In other words, when we work with our clients to enhance their web presence, we continue to build on our sales training philosophy: Know and build on the techniques that work well for your firm. Then, yes, you can increase legal sales with your website.

What are your strategies for engaging with your prospects? How do you improve law selling?


Recently, I participated in a brainstorming session with a group of attorneys – some in-house counsel, some outside counsel. The focus of the session was on how to improve law selling. Even though the attorneys represented different areas, they all agreed on which legal marketing tactics were the most effective. As a business development consultant, I listened closely to their feedback – so much so that I have expanded our training programs to include their top tactics.


Here are five of the top tactics for engagement that the attorneys mentioned:
BR>

1. Talk with, not at! Engaging with a prospect is about more than just giving your pitch – it takes hearing your prospect out and responding to his or her needs.
2. Test your approaches with colleagues before the actual meeting or call. Practicing your pitch can help to do away with nerves and your colleagues’ feedback may help you improve your presentation.
3. Make sure that there is one “takeaway” that is clearly communicated throughout the discussion.
4. Do not repeat. In-house counsel say if they don’t get something, move on. Don’t risk turning off your prospects or annoying them by belaboring a point.
5. Utilize “active listening.” Focus on what your prospect is saying rather than on what you plan to say next, nod or respond when it’s appropriate, and ask clarifying questions if you need to.

Engaging with your prospects enables you to show your investment in working with them and is as crucial as your message when it comes to generating new business. You can learn more about engaging with your prospects and increasing law sales with one of our seminars or workshops – and you can learn more about the tactics related to adding substance to your presentations in our next post.

When you find yourself in the Red Zone – that legal sales area in which lawyers are directly in front of their clients and prospects – you’ll need to have the right strategies. It’s essential to have a plan for dealing with all of the people you may encounter.


During our business development training workshops and one-on-one advisory, coaching and strategy sessions, one of the most frequent questions that I am asked is, “I have a friend who could introduce me to their counsel. How do I ask for an introduction without risking the friendship?” The answer is quite simple.


For law business development, the recommendation that we give is to address your friendship directly and ask if you can make contact. You can approach your friend by simply saying, “I really value our friendship. Would it be alright if I call you in your office next week to set up a meeting?”


Every single client who has followed this advice and asked for a meeting has had a positive result. Better yet, after you’ve done it once, your comfort level for attorney selling will grow! Just ask.

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.

The primary goal for joining associations and boards, at least from a business development perspective, is to generate future business. But the essence of this activity is developing relationships. Because you are a member of a popular association in your industry does not necessarily guarantee a full docket of new business. Sometimes smaller, more intimate organizations may reap the largest rewards.
 
A client prospect of mine, already involved in several associations and non-profit boards, was asked another busy lawyer to join a neighborhood association. I suggested she give it a try and if it seemed valuable, consider dropping one of the others. She joined, and immediately received new engagements from him. She wisely dropped two other “underperforming” boards.

Like many myths, this one has a grain of truth. If your firm is spending tons of dough on sponsorships and speaking engagements only for attorneys to sit in a corner clique, then yes: it’s a total waste of the firm’s time and resources.
 
Clients won’t come in by osmosis. Law selling requires an active effort. I remember observing attorneys at a firm I was doing work for congregating together at an event, sitting together at the same table instead of mingling and chatting up clients and prospects. For future events, I advised the firm to have each partner assigned to meet several prospects and to sit at separate tables.
 
Their leads grew to over 125 last year and 15 produced new engagements.

Ever feel like the character in “Where’s Waldo” when you look around at other competitors who perform the same services as you do? If the marketplace in which you serve is crowed, it’s time for some drastic measures to get noticed and generate new business.


Gather Intelligence
What law firm marketing maneuvers are your competitors using to get noticed? Is everyone advertising in the same law journal or legal web site? Find out what others are doing, and put your own unique spin to it. Or better yet, go the opposite way. For example, if you notice that your competition engages in expansive marketing and advertising sweeps, don’t be tempted to follow the herd. Go small. Be strategic about advertising. Put more effort into public relations. If others are heavy in print, go to the radio or television and become a go-to source for reporters on hot topics.


Focus on What Your Client Wants
If you want to know what your clients want, ask them. Then honor the request. A few weeks later, follow up, then ask how you can serve them further. Then, ask again. See a pattern here? To be attuned is a great client retention technique. Soon, word will spread about your commitment to strong customer service, which could lead to more business development.

Close communications during any client contact effort, whether pursuing new business or arranging for an in-house presentation, are critical to assess success, analyze and adjust to challenges, and keep on moving. I’ve often had outside counsel tell me how surprised they were about in-house questions they were unprepared for. And I’ve also heard from in-house counsel how surprised they were at the absence of communications once an engagement started.
 
So what does work when you are preparing for a legal marketing foray? The following questions should be asked and answered, by you and your colleagues, before you begin pursuing current or recent clients:
 
* How do you define the current relationship?
 
* What is client’s satisfaction level with your work? Can you be sure?
 
* Who are the contact points in your firm that have contacts at the client’s?
And have you gathered their information and strategies?