All hands on deck client development

One of the things that I amazed to hear from senior partners at large law firms is that client development when it is netted out falls to a certain percentage of the attorneys within a firm. The shortsighted ones go as far to believe that if their associates begin to develop business that they will want to leave and take the business with them.

Is it any wonder why the loss of a few key clients causes the daily announcement of layoffs.

Large law firms are in many cases living a self fullfilling prophesy. The bill rates and overhead price out good potential clients. The arms race for associates that delivered jaw dropping starting salaries over the past few years. The acquisition binge of some firms that has caused alot of miscommunication within firms, among other things.

Some partners and most associates lives have revolved around billing hours originated by a few.

Meanwhile, alot of firms that have run themselves as businesses are still doing well in most areas. I have seen a trend over the past couple of years of attorneys that I have placed from larger firms to smaller firms. The money in many cases is comparable, sometimes have better benefits plans, but the number one reason that the attorneys have made the move is that they want to do more than sit behind a desk and bill and research. They want to be part of growing the firm. They want to have a sense of culture and community within a firm.

Firms that are not utilizing every person from the receptionist, to the legal secretary, summer associate, clerks, associates to partner in the client development part of their business do so at their own peril.

My background is in sales. After college I joined a financial services company and went through extensive training. My brother was the million-dollar roundtable financial planner that they decided to put me next to. I brought alot of misperceptions into that role. None more false and abruptly corrected as, "I am fresh out of college, why would someone want to invest or buy from me when they can have someone that has been doing this for years?"

I sat across from the managing partner at the firm and he told me if I believed that was my problem, I would own that.

I speak with associates and counsel all of the time that state they can not sell until they become a partner because no one will buy from them. I find that especially interesting when I speak with a young associate that has a few hundred thousand dollar book of business and growing. If you believe that you can't, you wont. If you believe people will leave your firm if they are doing well then they will. I can’t begin to say how many attorneys that I talk with that are perfectly happy where they are and that it would take “more money than they are worth” to get them to even think about leaving.

Client development is a process. Partners taking associates to lunch with clients is a good gesture but how do they know how to get clients of their own that they can take to lunch someday?

Great law school grades, research dynamos, can write so perfect that it can almost be considered 15th century literature, but they have never had a business conversation with anyone to learn about their business. Not legal issues, about their business.

You have administrative staff that has relationships with people across a wide spectrum of interests but they are never engaged in business conversations with a spouse or friend that happens to be a VP at a regional company, or Operations Director at an international company.

Partners who have worked their way to that role and are great attorneys, but do the legal work generated by someone else.

Are your employees a cost or are they an investment?

When investing in the growth of your firm, how much of a return would you see in that investment if everyone added incrementally to the bottom line?

How to start:

Identify who you are and who you are not: Most attorneys that I speak with generate 80-90% of their business through referrals. Identifying what clients are a better fit for another firm and referring them to that firm is a HUGE head start on receiving business in return. It also protects your brand on the work that you do. You have a better chance of doing work well that you do all of the time than simply “taking whatever comes through the door”.

Facilitate asking questions. You can have anyone in your firm ask an open ended question of a contact and one that usually opens the flood gates. What does your business do? How many people does your company employ? What are your company’s goals for this year? Over the long term? Has your company acquired any companies over the last year? Who uses your products/ services? Are you a publicly traded company? Who handles your legal issues internally?

Messaging. It is crucial for an organization to have the same message. Having someone stating that the firm can or cant do something or represent something that is a stretch, even with the best of intentions, can damage everything and drive wedges in relationships internally and externally.

Communication process. How does a contact become a lead and a lead become a client? Who at different levels of power within a firm needs to be involved for levels of commitment. For deals over X size that will involve X resources who needs to sign off.

Habits of rainmakers. If 20% of the firm is generating 80-100% of the business, what are they doing right? Facilitate lunch and learns. Accountability partners. Create an environment where everyone is encouraged to prospect without fear of a client being stolen by someone else in the firm. Nurture trust and a team approach to client development. Remember the internal referrals.

When your investment begins to pay off you still may lose some to another firm. You just might have more work than you know what to do with working with a close knit group of people that has each others best interests in mind.

Written by Andrew Wilcox, Andrew@Wilcox-legal.com, 850-893-8984