Practice Building Skills: Can I Really Learn How to Be a Rainmaker?

The first step to becoming a successful rainmaker may not be the obvious one. If you want to be a successful rainmaker, the first step takes place inside your head. You must make the decision to move out of your comfort zone (the practitioner) and make a conscious effort to try to develop new business for your firm. People who are good at business development don't become good by accident. Somewhere along the line, they made the decision that they are going to learn business development skills. At first, it might be uncomfortable to put yourself in situations that will allow you to develop business. You may not even be sure where to go to get started. Usually, when we talk with attorneys who want to acquire these skills, we find that they've had no training on the best ways to develop business. Our experience with the attorneys with whom we've worked over the years tells us that there are no classes in law school, and no continuing education courses on how to be a successful rainmaker. For attorneys to get the help that they need to become successful rainmakers, they must do their own research to find the resources to get started.

Develop the Skills

Once you make the decision that you are going to move beyond your current comfort zone and learn how to develop business, you need to develop the skills that will turn you into a successful rainmaker. If we had to guess, we would say that when you started law school, you were not skilled on how to write briefs or how to practice the law. You took classes, studied, and practiced to gain the skills that you currently possess. Even now, most attorneys take continuing education classes and continue their reading and skill development so they can improve as attorneys. Even the best lawyers are constantly learning and building their skills to become better at what they do. If you are achieving some success now in developing new business, we would suggest that by learning new skills and sharpening the skills you already have, you would only get better.

We'd like to ask you a question. Think back to when you were growing up. Did you play a sport or an instrument? How did you become a better ball player or musician? Our guess would be that you practiced on a regular basis, and that a coach guided you. The best athletes in the world constantly practice and work with their coaches. We have another question for you. Who is the best golfer in the world? If you guessed Tiger Woods, you would be right. We recently attended a talk where Tiger Wood's swing coach, Hank Haney, was a guest speaker. Hank said that while other golfers are practicing to beat Tiger Woods, Tiger is practicing to improve his best. Tiger practices 12 hours per day to hone his skills. If you want to become a rainmaker, it becomes important to find a coach that will keep you motivated and to help you develop business development skills. Sitting through a two- hour marketing seminar, or even a two-day program, isn't enough to develop and strengthen these skills.

The skills that you need to become a rainmaker fall into two categories. First, you must set your goals and develop an action plan. What type of business would you like to develop? How much business would you like to generate? What type of work fits into your practice? What activities will lead you to your natural market? How much time will you have to devote to client development? Our experience tells us that it is imperative to have a written plan in order to develop new business. Take the time to think strategically about the book of business that you would like to build. What resources do you already have in place to make you successful? Historically, where has your business come from? If you want to have a better chance of being successful, ask someone to review the plan with you. Make sure that there is someone who you can trust available to you to hold you accountable for following the plan.

Next, you must go out in the field and prospect. What kind of help will you need to improve your networking skills? Have you thought about where to network and what associations to join? Are you willing to move out of your comfort zone and ask for referrals? If you are part of a large practice, are there any cross-selling opportunities within your firm?

Track Your Results

Make sure that you are not only making the time to prospect, but that you are tracking the results as well. You need to measure the Return on Investment for everything that you do, so that you can duplicate the aspects of your plan that are working well, and minimize the activities that are not leading to results. Some attorneys find that they can do all of these activities easily and naturally and don't need much help. However, we have found this to be a rare occurrence. Most attorneys need some coaching and practice before they can go out into the field and become successful rainmakers. Even superstars like Tiger Woods know that a good coach and lots of hard work bring great success.

Chuck Polin and Evan Polin are Partners at The Training Resource Group Inc. (www.trainingresourcegroup.com). They provide professional coaching and training to law firms and attorneys (both associates and partners) who are looking to build their practice. Chuck and Evan can be reached at 215-320-4650.

The Definition of Insanity: 'Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.'

It is amazing to us how often we meet attorneys who have the self-limiting belief that they will never be successful rainmakers. We constantly hear things like, 'I didn't go to law school to sell something,' or 'the people I know who develop business can do so only because it comes naturally to them.' These are excuses that may make us feel better when we say them, but they will not ever help us move out of our comfort zones to become well-rounded professionals. As most of you already know, attorneys who can combine being a great practitioner with the ability to develop new clients are the most valuable commodities to their firms. As the economy becomes tighter, it becomes imperative that everyone in the firm become responsible for developing business. If you are a solo practitioner or work in a small firm, you already know the importance of developing business. If you work for a larger firm, the question to ask yourself is this: Who brings more value to the firm, the attorney who doesn't want to build a book of business, or the professional who can develop business as well as practice law?

The First Step

The first step to becoming a successful rainmaker may not be the obvious one. If you want to be a successful rainmaker, the first step takes place inside your head. You must make the decision to move out of your comfort zone (the practitioner) and make a conscious effort to try to develop new business for your firm. People who are good at business development don't become good by accident. Somewhere along the line, they made the decision that they are going to learn business development skills. At first, it might be uncomfortable to put yourself in situations that will allow you to develop business. You may not even be sure where to go to get started. Usually, when we talk with attorneys who want to acquire these skills, we find that they've had no training on the best ways to develop business. Our experience with the attorneys with whom we've worked over the years tells us that there are no classes in law school, and no continuing education courses on how to be a successful rainmaker. For attorneys to get the help that they need to become successful rainmakers, they must do their own research to find the resources to get started.

Develop the Skills

Once you make the decision that you are going to move beyond your current comfort zone and learn how to develop business, you need to develop the skills that will turn you into a successful rainmaker. If we had to guess, we would say that when you started law school, you were not skilled on how to write briefs or how to practice the law. You took classes, studied, and practiced to gain the skills that you currently possess. Even now, most attorneys take continuing education classes and continue their reading and skill development so they can improve as attorneys. Even the best lawyers are constantly learning and building their skills to become better at what they do. If you are achieving some success now in developing new business, we would suggest that by learning new skills and sharpening the skills you already have, you would only get better.

We'd like to ask you a question. Think back to when you were growing up. Did you play a sport or an instrument? How did you become a better ball player or musician? Our guess would be that you practiced on a regular basis, and that a coach guided you. The best athletes in the world constantly practice and work with their coaches. We have another question for you. Who is the best golfer in the world? If you guessed Tiger Woods, you would be right. We recently attended a talk where Tiger Wood's swing coach, Hank Haney, was a guest speaker. Hank said that while other golfers are practicing to beat Tiger Woods, Tiger is practicing to improve his best. Tiger practices 12 hours per day to hone his skills. If you want to become a rainmaker, it becomes important to find a coach that will keep you motivated and to help you develop business development skills. Sitting through a two- hour marketing seminar, or even a two-day program, isn't enough to develop and strengthen these skills.

The skills that you need to become a rainmaker fall into two categories. First, you must set your goals and develop an action plan. What type of business would you like to develop? How much business would you like to generate? What type of work fits into your practice? What activities will lead you to your natural market? How much time will you have to devote to client development? Our experience tells us that it is imperative to have a written plan in order to develop new business. Take the time to think strategically about the book of business that you would like to build. What resources do you already have in place to make you successful? Historically, where has your business come from? If you want to have a better chance of being successful, ask someone to review the plan with you. Make sure that there is someone who you can trust available to you to hold you accountable for following the plan.

Next, you must go out in the field and prospect. What kind of help will you need to improve your networking skills? Have you thought about where to network and what associations to join? Are you willing to move out of your comfort zone and ask for referrals? If you are part of a large practice, are there any cross-selling opportunities within your firm?

Track Your Results

Make sure that you are not only making the time to prospect, but that you are tracking the results as well. You need to measure the Return on Investment for everything that you do, so that you can duplicate the aspects of your plan that are working well, and minimize the activities that are not leading to results. Some attorneys find that they can do all of these activities easily and naturally and don't need much help. However, we have found this to be a rare occurrence. Most attorneys need some coaching and practice before they can go out into the field and become successful rainmakers. Even superstars like Tiger Woods know that a good coach and lots of hard work bring great success.

Chuck Polin and Evan Polin are Partners at The Training Resource Group Inc. (www.trainingresourcegroup.com). They provide professional coaching and training to law firms and attorneys (both associates and partners) who are looking to build their practice. Chuck and Evan can be reached at 215-320-4650.