Professional Development: An Effective, Individualized Approach to Business Development Training

In 2007, Pillsbury commenced its Talent Development Strategy, which encompasses initiatives in the areas of attorney integration, mentoring, career management, alumni outreach, and business development. When planning the business development initiative, the firm sought to benefit a broad population of attorneys, including newly promoted partners and counsel, more experienced partners, and senior associates. After considering numerous vendors, Pillsbury chose Akina's six-week “Accelerated Business Development Program.” Their program stood out because it coupled individual coaching with the overall goal of creating and building upon authentic relationships with current and prospective clients.

Akina's program begins and concludes with small group workshops. At the workshops, the attendees learn and discuss key phases of business development: “Getting in the Door,” “Closing the Deal,” and “Growing the Base & Cross Selling.” In addition, the attorneys have five weekly, in-person, one-on-one coaching sessions with their Akina coach. At the first session, the attorney and coach establish specific goals for what the attorney hopes to accomplish during the program and beyond. Akina's goal for the initial session is not to instill a “cookie cutter” philosophy of developing business. Rather, the coach seeks to identify the attorney's interests and skills and align them with appropriate and attainable business development goals. The attorneys leave their initial coaching sessions with varying strategies, such as:

• Creating a 30-second “Quick Pitch” or “What's New?” response that captures the essence of their legal specialty and is most likely to engage conversation with others;
• Developing and honing a network of potential “clients” and “connectors” both inside and outside of Pillsbury; and
• Identifying the “authentic” reasons to touch base with clients who previously used the attorney's services.

After the six-week program, Pillsbury business development specialists meet with the attorneys to review their strategies, discuss action items, and assist them in moving forward.

Attorney Response

The attorney response to the training has been overwhelmingly positive. This is especially gratifying given the differing seniority levels and practices of the attorneys. Here are representative comments:

“I liked the program because it was structured to the individual rather than vice versa. Because of the training, I am more confident going to receptions and other events ' when I go, I have a strategy for meeting other people. I also stepped up my involvement in one non-profit organization, and joined another. Both organizations, which align with my interests, have great potential to help bolster my practice.” ' Washington, DC.

“One of my goals was to raise my profile within the firm, particularly with certain Finance and Energy partners. As a result of my focus, I was recently named a co-lead associate for our Energy and Infrastructure Team.” ' New York.

“At my coach's urging, I reached out to a former acquaintance with a well-known clothing retailer. No work landed from them, yet, but I've been in regular contact with him since I reached out.” ' Washington, DC.

“I had attended previous business development training sessions. This was the first that was individualized. I was held accountable during the program, but in a positive way. My coach said to 'do business development as a natural extension of who you are. It needn't be torture. This can be fun.' In terms of specific accomplishments, I learned to take a less formulaic approach to client pitches, and instead tailor them to each situation.” ' Los Angeles.

“I obtained my first client thanks largely to Akina. My coach encouraged me to broaden my network and keep in touch with Pillsbury alumni whom I knew. After reconnecting with one alum, now a GC with a regional company, I was contacted by her regarding a bankruptcy matter involving an acquaintance of her company's CEO. After she referred me to the company's CEO, I was subsequently hired to handle the matter.” ' San Francisco.

Among the attorney comments, a common thread is that they see the “big picture” of business development and also recognize attainable steps they can take to be more successful. These steps, of course, are not the same for everyone. As Akina puts it, “ultimately, our goal is to help every individual find a few things they can do extremely well and naturally to produce the outcomes they desire.”

James R. Lovelace is Senior Manager of Professional Development, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP. At Pillsbury, Jim has firm-wide responsibilities for training (through Pillsbury University) and talent development initiatives in various areas, including: mentoring, attorney integration, career management, and business development.

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In his book “True Professionalism” (Touchstone, 1997), David Maister addresses why many professionals, attorneys included, have a negative attitude toward the topic of business development. He feels it partly comes from “a profound misunderstanding of what business development is truly about.” He says that many attorneys have the mistaken impression that business development is similar to “encyclopedia selling.” For those of us tasked with training attorneys, this “misunderstanding” explains why many attorneys are reluctant to commit to business development training. They see the exercise as pointless because they do not possess the innate acumen or drive for “sales.”

Maister correctly calls this view “nonsense” and goes on to say: “Being good at business development involves nothing more than a sincere interest in clients and their problems, and a willingness to go out and spend time being helpful to them.” (p. 28) At Pillsbury, we recently teamed with Akina Corp. to roll out a training program that builds on this broader view of business development. To date, over 100 attorneys ' partners, counsel, and senior associates ' have taken or are taking this training. This article briefly describes our program and highlights feedback we have received.

Background

In 2007, Pillsbury commenced its Talent Development Strategy, which encompasses initiatives in the areas of attorney integration, mentoring, career management, alumni outreach, and business development. When planning the business development initiative, the firm sought to benefit a broad population of attorneys, including newly promoted partners and counsel, more experienced partners, and senior associates. After considering numerous vendors, Pillsbury chose Akina's six-week “Accelerated Business Development Program.” Their program stood out because it coupled individual coaching with the overall goal of creating and building upon authentic relationships with current and prospective clients.

Akina's program begins and concludes with small group workshops. At the workshops, the attendees learn and discuss key phases of business development: “Getting in the Door,” “Closing the Deal,” and “Growing the Base & Cross Selling.” In addition, the attorneys have five weekly, in-person, one-on-one coaching sessions with their Akina coach. At the first session, the attorney and coach establish specific goals for what the attorney hopes to accomplish during the program and beyond. Akina's goal for the initial session is not to instill a “cookie cutter” philosophy of developing business. Rather, the coach seeks to identify the attorney's interests and skills and align them with appropriate and attainable business development goals. The attorneys leave their initial coaching sessions with varying strategies, such as:

• Creating a 30-second “Quick Pitch” or “What's New?” response that captures the essence of their legal specialty and is most likely to engage conversation with others;
• Developing and honing a network of potential “clients” and “connectors” both inside and outside of Pillsbury; and
• Identifying the “authentic” reasons to touch base with clients who previously used the attorney's services.

After the six-week program, Pillsbury business development specialists meet with the attorneys to review their strategies, discuss action items, and assist them in moving forward.

Attorney Response

The attorney response to the training has been overwhelmingly positive. This is especially gratifying given the differing seniority levels and practices of the attorneys. Here are representative comments:

“I liked the program because it was structured to the individual rather than vice versa. Because of the training, I am more confident going to receptions and other events ' when I go, I have a strategy for meeting other people. I also stepped up my involvement in one non-profit organization, and joined another. Both organizations, which align with my interests, have great potential to help bolster my practice.” ' Washington, DC.

“One of my goals was to raise my profile within the firm, particularly with certain Finance and Energy partners. As a result of my focus, I was recently named a co-lead associate for our Energy and Infrastructure Team.” ' New York.

“At my coach's urging, I reached out to a former acquaintance with a well-known clothing retailer. No work landed from them, yet, but I've been in regular contact with him since I reached out.” ' Washington, DC.

“I had attended previous business development training sessions. This was the first that was individualized. I was held accountable during the program, but in a positive way. My coach said to 'do business development as a natural extension of who you are. It needn't be torture. This can be fun.' In terms of specific accomplishments, I learned to take a less formulaic approach to client pitches, and instead tailor them to each situation.” ' Los Angeles.

“I obtained my first client thanks largely to Akina. My coach encouraged me to broaden my network and keep in touch with Pillsbury alumni whom I knew. After reconnecting with one alum, now a GC with a regional company, I was contacted by her regarding a bankruptcy matter involving an acquaintance of her company's CEO. After she referred me to the company's CEO, I was subsequently hired to handle the matter.” ' San Francisco.

Among the attorney comments, a common thread is that they see the “big picture” of business development and also recognize attainable steps they can take to be more successful. These steps, of course, are not the same for everyone. As Akina puts it, “ultimately, our goal is to help every individual find a few things they can do extremely well and naturally to produce the outcomes they desire.”

James R. Lovelace is Senior Manager of Professional Development, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP. At Pillsbury, Jim has firm-wide responsibilities for training (through Pillsbury University) and talent development initiatives in various areas, including: mentoring, attorney integration, career management, and business development.

For LinkedIn and Twitter followers, subscribe to the Marketing the Law Firm newsletter at a special introductory rate. Click here – http://www.lawjournalnewsletters.com/subscribe/mlf329_landing.html. This offer is valid for new subscribers only.