“There’s no traffic on the extra mile.” – Zig Ziglar


With tight budgets and a roller coaster economy, times are tough and shortcuts are common. In this situation, law firms may suggest that their attorneys focus on billable activities rather than actively pursue business development opportunities. But the reality is that today, more than ever, law firms and attorneys must go above and beyond to close the deal.


In the book Making Your Point, Senior VP of Levick Strategic Communications David Bartlett emphasizes that when times are especially tough, focusing on the facts alone will not be enough to persuade a prospect to hire your team. You may remember our previous discussion of Bartlett’s advice to use speech and presentation tactics in client meetings. Today, we’re going to focus on Bartlett’s suggestions for closing the deal by going the extra mile when developing your pitch strategy.


Lawyers – who are trained to deal with facts – often have difficulty coming to terms with this directive. While facts are a necessary element in every meeting, the true value your law firm can bring actually comes from the intangibles. Teaching the prospect about your legal team is a great way to demonstrate both your past performance (facts), but also how well you would fit their needs (intangibles). Develop a pitch strategy that clearly explains to your clients what’s in it for them:

• Explain how your team thinks
• Reveal your strategies
• Point out related past successes

While telling them about you and your team is important, asking the right questions can help show you’re interested and committed. A handful of carefully researched questions can demonstrate your eagerness to learn and cater to their needs:

• What internal strategic discussions have taken place?
• How do you perceive the issue at hand?
• What are your expectations?
• How can our law firm assist with this problem?

These days, making a real impact on your sales prospects takes added effort and a little more thought. With a solid pitch strategy, your law firm is well on its way to the RED ZONE. The extra work required is minimal, yet the benefits of going the extra mile are likely better than you can imagine!

As we’ve previously discussed, it’s extremely important to hone your speaking skills so that you can present an effective, convincing message when delivering presentations both within your law firm and at law industry conferences. And the same tactics and skills that make an attorney a great speaker can also be translated into powerful tools that can be used in client meetings. In his book Making Your Point, Senior VP of Levick Strategic Communications >David Barlett suggests improving your legal sales and marketing meetings with prospects by applying specific tactics used in speeches and presentations. By using these techniques, you can increase the impact of your meeting and close more sales.


Though the book is not specifically geared toward attorney sales, the advice within is highly relevant to successful law firm marketing. For example, Bartlett suggests that when preparing for a speech or presentation, you should do two things: ask yourself “What do they expect from me?” and subsequently prepare an outline or agenda. This two-step approach also makes sense when preparing for a face-to-face meeting with a prospect.


Asking, “What do they expect from me?” is a great first step as attorneys map out your plan for success. Answering this question will allow you to identify key issues that will need to be discussed in the meeting: the prospect’s pressures, company problems, current market value, and their business. Assessing their expectations will allow you and your law firm to build a more comprehensive plan of action and meet their needs.


With these needs and issues identified, preparing an agenda will help keep your meeting on track. At the beginning or before the meeting, share the agenda with the prospective client. Allowing them to add, edit, and prioritize the agenda will foster engagement and interest while improving the productivity of the meeting. As with any prospective client meeting, the goal is to get to the RED ZONE.

“The more you say, the less any audience is likely to remember.” – David Bartlett


To excel at law firm marketing, we’re always stressing the importance of listening to your client, but what about speaking? When it comes to speaking with clients, you must focus on keeping it simple. In any meeting with existing or potential clients, there are two things you need to know: your ‘takeaway’ message and the questions you will ask that will show your commitment to the job.


A takeaway message is an important tool to for any attorney or law marketer have. Prior to any meeting, develop a concise, memorable statement that you want the client to remember and appreciate. This message should be utilized throughout the meeting to set the pace and direction:

• Share this message with the other attorneys on your team
• Integrate it into your meeting
• Repeat the message during the meeting
• Close the meeting with the message
• Use the message as a bridge back to the main point if you get off topic

This one takeaway message will create continuity within a meeting and hopefully be memorable to the client. There is no need for superfluous details, long-winded speeches, and unnecessary tangents. Keep it simple.


Similarly, informed questions are an excellent way for attorneys to show clients that you’re serious helping meet their needs. There are a number of topics that you can address to impress your clients and prospects, but don’t overlook the power of asking questions that show the client you’ve done your homework. Ensure that you and the attorneys on your team go into a meeting with some pre-determined questions that reference the market, the company, the industry, or the client’s needs, and you’ll be able to prove to the client that you’re not just there to win the business, but that your law firm is truly committed to the job.


Ultimately, closing the deal is about quality rather than quantity. Keep things short and simple, and you’ll be well on your way to the RED ZONE.

“The loftier the building, the deeper must the foundation be laid.” – Thomas Kempis

If you want your law firm to have deep roots and a solid foundation, you need to build from the ground up. And while the foundation contains elements like tactics, ideals, and approaches, the main ingredients are the attorneys. Finding, hiring, and cultivating your attorneys will create a base that you will always be able to rely on and be proud of in any situation – from introducing to clients to closing a deal.


Being the bread and butter of your firm, choosing the right lawyers to work at your firm is the most important step to securing a good foundation. When building your industry team or practice group, ask yourself this question: “Would I introduce this person to a client?” In the July edition of The Careerist, James Grayer of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel said their litmus test is asking themselves if the lawyer is presentable to clients. While there is no fixed profile for new employees, they must be personable, engaging, and presentable. Along with evaluating their merits, education, and personality, this question can help you make the final hiring decision.


While preparedness is of paramount importance when getting ready for a client or prospect meeting, involving the right people in the presentation is also essential. Previously, we’ve discussed the importance of knowing which Request for Proposal (RFP) to choose, which directories to list your services in, and which closing tactics are the most effective, and when it comes to making a good impression during a presentation, choosing the best attorneys to represent your firm is an ingredient that cannot be overlooked. In this instance, the question “would I introduce this person to a client?” can work equally as well as it does in a hiring situation. Consider which members of your team will be representing your firm.


Preparedness also includes researching the client to learn their needs, preferences, and personalities. Being sensitive to the client or prospect’s needs, consider who in your firm will best match these qualities. The appropriate people and personalities can help close the deal. When your team looks good, your client looks good, it reflects on your firm.


With the emphasis on the return on investment (ROI), the investment you’ve made in your firm through your attorneys, and the need for client sensitivity, you and your senior staff can focus on growing upwards and outwards. Through hiring the right lawyers your firm can build a solid foundation; through choosing the right people for a presentation, you increase the rate of success and help you get to the RED ZONE.

Over the course of this series, we’ve discussed several of our recommendations for keeping up in 2011 by improving client relationship management (tips 1 and 2) and internal processes (tips 3 and 4). Without a doubt, when it comes to growing your business, your clients and your internal people and processes can have a big impact on achieving success. But external factors outside of your control can also have a considerable impact on whether your business thrives or just survives in 2011. Here are a few opportunities to look outside your client roster and your current business to ensure continued success:

5. Evaluate Community, Business, and NPO Involvement: Giving back to the community is extremely important, but choosing the right organization is critical. Finding an organization that marries community participation with networking will increase your firm’s chances for landing new business. Continue with nonprofits or local associations, but also find programs that will contribute to your firm’s success. In addition, conferences, alumni groups, and nonprofits can be a great place to let new attorney’s get their marketing “feet” wet.
6. Stay Relevant & Keep Up with Trends: In every industry, especially with an ever-changing economic climate, keeping up to date with changes is important to staying relevant. Most universities and local chambers of commerce offer frequent updates along with national publications, conferences, and surveys. A variety of organizations provide insight into trends and changes, such as the Alternate Fee Arrangement, that allow you to see how competitors are winning business. The information is available and pertinent, but it’s up to you to go digging and use the findings to your advantage.

The key is to focus on who you know and who you can get to know. With strong client relationships and some internal and external improvements, your firm can significantly reduce complexity and streamline the business development process.


Never be too busy to invest time into great opportunities. In this series we’ve looked at how to simplify your firm’s core components of business development. As a law firm marketing consultant group, the Closers Group assists firms in developing and refining their marketing techniques and strategies based on these six, basic recommendations. Rather than suggesting a complex, tortuous strategy that actually decreases efficiency and productivity, we focus on keeping it simple and getting results. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your firm achieve success, contact us today for a consultation.

When it comes to achieving success, it’s not just about what you’re doing for you clients–what’s going on internally is equally, if not more, important than the rest. In our previous post, we discussed better serving and working with clients or prospects through enhanced efforts and relationship building. And while clients are the meat and potatoes of your business as we discussed in tips 1 and 2, at the core of your business are your own staff and internal systems. So today, we’re going to focus on you, and what’s inside your business.


When it comes to taking a closer look at the inner workings of your firm, here are a few elements you’ll want to consider:

3. Build Business Development Talent: The past few years, law firms have been holding back and not investing in business development. Though the economy has taken its toll, the time to take action is now. Provide your attorneys and marketing professionals with the valuable training, support, and incentives that will bring results. This investment will yield new business now and down the road. While many firms are still holding back, go on the offensive and start building.
4. Review Pitch & Proposal Success: You may have an exceptional line-up of lawyers, but if your management of pitch and proposal activities is mishandled then the process will become ineffective. Coordinating and collecting approaches, responses, follow-ups, and client decisions in an organized fashion will help create a streamlined sales and marketing plan. A strong pitch and proposal plan will increase both your efficiency and your ROI. Your firm will learn what works, what appears to be irrelevant, which services are being requested, and more that will help you plan for future pitches and proposals.

When revamping internal processes, you can expect some initial reluctance from colleagues, but after you work through this you’ll find that it is worth the effort. Developing talent is one of the best ways to increase productivity and new business. This tactic is the only of the six we’re discussing in our blog post series that may cost money, but the ROI is far greater than the cost. Reworking internal processes can increase efficiency and decrease time spent on searching for information lost in the shuffle while improving business development techniques. In the last installment of this series, we’ll be looking at external factors to stay abreast of in order to increase opportunities.

The past year has proven tough for all types of businesses, including law firms. With increasing client workload in the face of a faltering economy, law firms need to concentrate on achieving solid, measurable results. Keeping up in 2011 requires cultivation and reinforcement of sales skills and closing techniques through tried & true tactics. In this series of blog posts, we will discuss six Closers Group recommendations for law firms that will help you withstand the test of time and will prove worthy of your time.


Today, it’s all about your clients:

1. Expand Client Efforts: Many firms make the mistake of never expanding their efforts with current clients. By asking clients how your firm is performing and what else they need, you can improve client retention and increase your business across and within practice groups. Many firms conduct client service surveys, but this is not in itself enough to win new business. According to one in-house counsel, firms rarely follow through after surveys or interviews–a huge missed opportunity.
2. Enhance Relationship Building: Building, maintaining, and cultivating client relationships is more important than ever in this market. Clients value relationships and relationships build trust, loyalty, and retention. Know the voice of the client: go where they go, read what they read, and know who they know. Ask them to participate in a conference, to co-author an article, and to speak to your younger attorneys—or consider inviting them to join you for a round of golf or going to the opera. Spend time building the relationship now and down the road, you’ll be able to ask for references and introductions.

Often we get by just doing the minimum required because we’re busy. But if you’re looking to grow in this economic climate, that approach doesn’t cut it anymore. Going above and beyond by following through and reaching out further will result in happy attorneys and happy clients. You may already be in the RED ZONE, but you still have to focus on closing the deal. In the next post of the series, we’ll discuss the importance of maintaining and building effective internal strategies that strengthen a law firm’s core –its employees.

In our previous post, we looked at a survey conducted at the ALM Marketing and Business Development Leadership Forum and talked about how the responses they received weren’t fully in line with our own experiences. And when it comes to law firm directories, our opinion again differs from the survey’s findings.


According to the survey, 80% of chief marketing officers said law firm directories played no role in their marketing efforts. However, I think that the findings here don’t seem to accurately represent the reality, and if you look at the results from the2011 BTI Survey, you’ll see that I’m not alone in my belief. Answers from the BTI Survey respondents showed that law firm directories can actually play an important role in a firm’s marketing efforts. The BTI Survey in-house respondents asserted that they use directories in the following ways:

• 81% use directories to identify outside counsel in an unfamiliar jurisdiction
• 70% use directories to identify outside counsel experts in an unfamiliar legal matter
• 77% use directories to validate the credentials of a referral
• 73% use directories to evaluate outside counsel qualifications
• 56% use directories to compare outside counsel qualifications to competitors
• 45% use directories to conduct periodic reviews of current outside counsel

Whether your law firm is the outside counsel or you’re looking for outside counsel, we’ve found that directories are a great resource. But which directory is the best? According to the BTI Survey, 71% of respondents used Martindale-Hubbell to find other lawyers, while a sprinkling of other respondents used resources such as LinkedIn, Chambers, and the ACC Value Index.


While there are a number of ways to find outside counsel, directories are a great tool that should not be disregarded by your CMO. You may find that you can get to the RED ZONE with a little help from directories. Ask around to see which directories clients and prospects use to get a good sampling.

At the recent ALM Marketing and Business Development Leadership Forum, a number of chief marketing officers were present to weigh in on a variety of topics relating to law firm business development activities and their approaches. During the conference, law firm CMOs were surveyed and asked to respond to a number of questions regarding their approach to marketing, hiring, and other topics–and the results were surprising.


While I will admit that there is often truth in non-scientific surveys, I find some of the responses generated as a result of this survey to be slightly misleading, and not accurately matching the realities I’ve seen in our work with hundreds of law firm CMOs over the past decade.


Below, I’ll share with you some of the specific survey results, along with my personal view on the topic:

From the survey: 60% of respondents stated they have a “strong” input into their firm’s business strategy, and 75% said their firm management is aligned with professional staff on strategy

Arguably, I believe that CMOs are both under- and overestimating these figures. Often CMOs misjudge their scope and reach in their firm’s marketing strategy; in fact, often they have a lot of input. The question is: how is it valued by the management?

From the survey: 50% of respondents agreed that a “brand” is important to decision makers

If one defines brand as a logo or tagline, it matters little to in-house decision makers. However, the reality I’ve experienced is that brand defined as firm reputation is important to more than 50% of corporate decision makers. In this sense, brands can represent quality, reputation, and other positive emotions that often win business and set a firm apart from others.

From the survey: 93% of respondents indicated their distaste for the conflict that arises over sending holiday cards

At Closers Group, we are firm believers in doing the little things that clients will notice. Sending holiday cards and other small memos or articles to say thanks or wish people the best can never do harm.


As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the results from this survey/poll were not entirely scientific, but they do offer a lesson to consider. Statistics can lead to misinformation or reveal truths, but interpreting the truth in numbers takes a bit of digging and reflecting on your own experiences.

Lawyers are undoubtedly great at talking. Listening is the challenge – and an important one at that.

“A good listener is a silent flatterer.” – Proverb

When it comes to making clients happy, listening to them and letting them know they’re being heard it critical. Companies want lawyers that are good communicators and are easy to talk to. Flatter them—and improve your client service skills– by listening to what they have to say.


Are you doing the right amount of listening? If you’re not sure, consider following the 60:40 rule, where the client speaks 60% of the time and you speak 40% of the time. This means you need to use that 40% very wisely. Ask thoughtful questions that draw out the most important pieces of information and you’ll find that your listening skills will continue get better.


When you’re interacting client, consider focusing on the following topics during the valuable 40% of time you’ll be talking:

1. What you do
2. How you can help them
3. How you’ve helped others in the past
4. Specific questions to help you better understand their needs

When you’re actively listening to the client, pay close attention to ensure that you get answers to the following important questions:

1. Who they are
2. What they need
3. How you can help
4. What their goals are
5. What they expect

Increase your chances of impressing the client and closing the deal (or getting the future business referral) by focusing on listening. Use the 60:40 rule with every client, current or prospective. This will help you to close the deal and bolster client retention.