Is it any wonder that law firms enter pitch or proposal meetings without being aware of “what keeps ‘em up at night”? I have heard an in-house counsel describe her outside firms as “dumb” and “arrogant”?. Recent surveys offer detailed maps of the minefields in which many law firms get trapped. In January 2005, an INSIDE COUNSEL survey indicated that 59% of responding GC’s would soon be firing at least one of their outside law firms. If your firm is terminated, do you know why? Is it:
 
* Budget pressures?
* Consolidation of companies?
* Tightening of supervision and management of outside support?
* Desire for fresh strategies and new approaches?
* Turnover of counsel, either outside or inside or both?
 
Next time we’ll discuss the turnover rate of in-house counsel and its impact on client relationships.

A major complaint I have often heard from in-house counsel is that their attitudes about outside counsel are unsuspected. And many go on to say that their needs are unexplored by law firms.
 
These are two different concerns, but the same theme pervades. The next few articles will cover what inside-counsel are facing and what you should be doing to be truly “clientcentric.”
 
Issues they confront include:

* GC’s positions have become more tenuous;
* Shareholder pressures on corporate value have increased;
* New product or service development costs have grown;
* Boards of Directors’ expectations of in-house counsel and their
roles in “preventive law” present even greater challenges;
* SOX has created liability for GC’s that many do not want to bear,
or simply can not bear; and
* CEO’s are breathing down their necks.
 
So, when you enter a pitch or proposal meeting, are you really aware of
WHAT KEEPS ‘EM UP AT NIGHT?

PROBLEM: What do we do with our up-and-comers?
 
RESPONSE: A true business generating pipeline includes ideas for deploying junior partners and associates. Take them to sales meetings. Encourage them to get their names out there via articles and speeches. With younger lawyers, the key is to encourage business development without undue pressure. Whatever they bring in is gravy, and you’re making a great investment in the future as well.
 
RESULT: Some firms are creating a true sales culture, from top to bottom. You can too.

PROBLEM: Our practice group has no business development budget.
 
RESPONSE: Of course it does. You’re already spending money on business development at one or more ends of the spectrum. You simply need to collect the data and find out what you’re already spending. That’s your budget.
 
RESULT: Getting a hold on your current actual spending will allow you to focus resources where they will clearly do the most good.

PROBLEM: We missed the major new litigation!
 
RESPONSE: Don’t dwell on any one matter or even on any whole genus of legal business. Look to the pipeline to deliver a stream of alternative possibilities, some of which may not yet be on your radar screen.
 
RESULT: You’ll need to start making decisions about which kind of business to go after and which to let some other law firm go after. That’s a wonderful problem to have.

PROBLEM: Our office has terrific attorneys but our revenue is flat.
 
RESPONSE: Organize and attack. Indoctrinate the lawyers in a basic business development truism: clients and prospects do not care about how great the attorneys are. They assume that to be the case. They care about what those great attorneys can do for them.
 
RESULTS: The effect of such an enhanced client service mentality will not only unearth new prospects but also develop new business from existing clients.

PROBLEM: I just lost my largest client!
 
RESPONSE: Setbacks should catalyze action, not cause paralysis. The firm should monitor and evaluate all such occasions where clients fall by the wayside to ensure that the lawyers responsible jump back into the business development fray with a new three-month action program.
 
RESULT: A crisis should spell opportunity. Losses should pump the collective adrenaline. If that kind of response becomes ingrained in the firm’s culture, odds are that the bottom line will actually improve at a reasonable point in time after every loss.

PROBLEM: Our firm has no business development pipeline!
 
RESPONSE: Manage your speakers, greeters, authors, communicators, trainers, marketers, etc.
 
RESULT: Properly assigned, with concretely defined roles, the firm’s staff will become a kind of conveyor belt, with all their designated tasks funneling toward the actual sales moment. The pipeline thereby remains engineered to support the one final moment - the closing - that justifies its existence in the first place.

SO YOU WANT TO MAKE RAIN is the title of our new, 50 minute pro bono seminar offered to law firms, LMA chapters, professional associations, etc. It’s focus on business development is that rainmaking is both an art and a science. Not everyone who succeeds as a rainmaker has the innate qualities to do so. Not everyone who develops business even necessarily enjoys the process, at least not at first.
 
But there are systematic steps that can be taken to build and close more business. Let’s begin by taking a look at some of the basics, and then, over the next several weeks, move on to other skills and techniques. Some strategies and tactics seem obvious to anyone who’s already building a book of business. For others, these approaches need to be enumerated.
 
If, for example, you are not tracking and stayng in touch with law school colleagues or past classmates at your law firm, start doing so now.
 
Knowing what your competitors are doing is essential.
 
Looking for possible new areas of action in your professional specialty areas should be a regular part of your workload. Every time a legislature sneezes, you’ve got an excuse to contact clients.
 
Are you asking in-house counsel to introduce you to their colleagues? Are you offering to host a lunch where you can pick their brains to identify their future needs? In-house counsel like it when you do.
 
Join foundations and local boards of directors as a way to contribute to your community. But do give decisive preference to those with which in-house counsel or senior executives are already involved.

Following our theme of asking questions of in-house counsel, our recent article in MARKETING THE LAW FIRM is worth repeating here. “You know Susan, it’s funny. I’ve been reading these damn surveys about what’s most important to in-house counsel and I see two very different results. One of them says that understanding your business needs is the most important thing. The other says that cost-efficiency is the overriding priority. What do you think?”
 
Whatever answer you get will at least be helpful and may be decisive. A thoughtful buyer might even tell you how and why the two contrasting priorities are not in opposition. One response heard is that all of our business lines include cost-efficiently; so you will need to consider that.
 
Another answer presents an either/or situation. “If you can scare plaintiffs’ lawyers off, we don’t mind a little budget creep.” A third might be “We’re under enormous pressure to keep fees down. We need to settle these cases and settle them fast.”
 
In all cases, you have your answer - and perhaps a cue for further action. If, for example, you’re apprised of that “enormous pressure ” from the C-Suite or the board to hold or cut costs, offer a solution. Volunteer to meet with the CEO (off the clock) to provide long-term assessments of what a less pound-foolish approach can achieve as well as the dangers of being overly penny-wise.