You Don't Have to Sell to Develop Business

According to industry research experts, every hour spent on business development can yield up to $34,000 in additional fee revenue per year. So why aren't attorneys doing more of it? And why is it so hard to train them to do it effectively?

One reason is that many attorneys are hesitant to focus on business development because they think they will have to become “salespeople.” They likely have some image in their heads of the pushy used car salesman strong-arming some innocent little grandmother, rattling off bells and whistles, overcoming objections and trying desperately to “close” that sale. Their distaste for this type of selling is completely understandable.

More recently though, I have noticed a dichotomy. I've talked with several attorneys who are trying to take control of their careers and who understand that developing business has practically become a prerequisite to partnership. As consummate students, they have read the top books about selling and have come to our meeting full of questions. What do they want to know? How to “pitch” their services or make “an ask.”

There Is No 'Pitch'

When lawyers ask me about “pitching” or “closing,” the first question I ask is where they got these ideas. Watching too many reruns of “Glengarry, Glen Ross,” I suppose. You may remember the line: “Alwaaaays ' beeee ' closing.” Here is the advice I give about pitching and closing: don't. If you want to be a good business developer, stop selling and start helping.

For an attorney, successful business development is not about pitching or closing. It's about building relationships and helping your clients succeed. It's about becoming their trusted adviser, the one they come to when they have a business or a legal problem. As one of my law professors used to say, being an attorney provides “the opportunity to do good and do well.” When business development is presented in this light, most attorneys become much more open to instruction. After all, this is the reason many of them became lawyers in the first place.

The good news is that training attorneys to become business developers isn't rocket science either. They just need to learn some common-sense principles including:

Prepare

You wouldn't walk into a courtroom or sit down at the deal table unprepared. So what makes you think that you can “wing it” when it comes to developing business? Trust me, there are plenty of other attorneys who want your clients ' and they're doing their homework. You should too. Learn everything you can about the client's business and industry.

Solve Problems

Clients have problems, and their problems are your problems … literally. If they didn't have problems, we wouldn't have jobs. To stand out as a great business developer, embrace their problems and find creative, innovative ' and even cost-effective ' solutions.

Be Proactive

Want to really impress a client? If you can anticipate an issue before the client is even aware of it and find a way to diffuse it before it becomes a major problem, you will set yourself apart ' and get plenty of work.

Practice

Face it, you didn't know how to practice law before you went to law school ' or realistically even after you had been practicing for a few years. So why should business development be any different. Sure, some attorneys who pride themselves as “natural” rainmakers like to suggest that when it comes to business development, you either have it or you don't. That's often because they don't want better business developers stealing their clients. In reality, business development is not a divine gift. It's is a learnable, repeatable skill ' and the more you do it, the better you get.

Be Positive

That serious expression and cynical attitude won't win you business. All things being equal, clients prefer to work with people who like what they do and who have a positive outlook ' people with passion. These are the people who win the work.

Get Personal

You may have heard that people hire the smartest lawyers or the best firms. Often, they don't. People hire people ' people they like, trust and connect with. Spend the time to get to know your client personally.

Be Persistent

Hiring doesn't happen on the first client meeting ' or the second ' or third. In fact, more than 80% of business development happens after the fourth client interaction. The good news is that more than 90% of other attorneys give up after the second or third try. To be a great business developer, just be in that 10%.

Conclusion

Once attorneys are open to business development and have been through training, working one-on-one with a business development coach can really help to foster accountability and enhance results. Mastering the key principles of business development is only a start. To actually bring in new business, you have to put the principles into practice ' habitually.

As a Business Development Success Consultant, Chris Fritsch partners with law firms and attorneys across the country to provide business development education and coaching solutions. Fritsch has a background as an attorney, top salesperson and sales manager. She can be reached at 404-249-9914 and [email protected].

According to industry research experts, every hour spent on business development can yield up to $34,000 in additional fee revenue per year. So why aren't attorneys doing more of it? And why is it so hard to train them to do it effectively?

One reason is that many attorneys are hesitant to focus on business development because they think they will have to become “salespeople.” They likely have some image in their heads of the pushy used car salesman strong-arming some innocent little grandmother, rattling off bells and whistles, overcoming objections and trying desperately to “close” that sale. Their distaste for this type of selling is completely understandable.

More recently though, I have noticed a dichotomy. I've talked with several attorneys who are trying to take control of their careers and who understand that developing business has practically become a prerequisite to partnership. As consummate students, they have read the top books about selling and have come to our meeting full of questions. What do they want to know? How to “pitch” their services or make “an ask.”

There Is No 'Pitch'

When lawyers ask me about “pitching” or “closing,” the first question I ask is where they got these ideas. Watching too many reruns of “Glengarry, Glen Ross,” I suppose. You may remember the line: “Alwaaaays ' beeee ' closing.” Here is the advice I give about pitching and closing: don't. If you want to be a good business developer, stop selling and start helping.

For an attorney, successful business development is not about pitching or closing. It's about building relationships and helping your clients succeed. It's about becoming their trusted adviser, the one they come to when they have a business or a legal problem. As one of my law professors used to say, being an attorney provides “the opportunity to do good and do well.” When business development is presented in this light, most attorneys become much more open to instruction. After all, this is the reason many of them became lawyers in the first place.

The good news is that training attorneys to become business developers isn't rocket science either. They just need to learn some common-sense principles including:

Prepare

You wouldn't walk into a courtroom or sit down at the deal table unprepared. So what makes you think that you can “wing it” when it comes to developing business? Trust me, there are plenty of other attorneys who want your clients ' and they're doing their homework. You should too. Learn everything you can about the client's business and industry.

Solve Problems

Clients have problems, and their problems are your problems … literally. If they didn't have problems, we wouldn't have jobs. To stand out as a great business developer, embrace their problems and find creative, innovative ' and even cost-effective ' solutions.

Be Proactive

Want to really impress a client? If you can anticipate an issue before the client is even aware of it and find a way to diffuse it before it becomes a major problem, you will set yourself apart ' and get plenty of work.

Practice

Face it, you didn't know how to practice law before you went to law school ' or realistically even after you had been practicing for a few years. So why should business development be any different. Sure, some attorneys who pride themselves as “natural” rainmakers like to suggest that when it comes to business development, you either have it or you don't. That's often because they don't want better business developers stealing their clients. In reality, business development is not a divine gift. It's is a learnable, repeatable skill ' and the more you do it, the better you get.

Be Positive

That serious expression and cynical attitude won't win you business. All things being equal, clients prefer to work with people who like what they do and who have a positive outlook ' people with passion. These are the people who win the work.

Get Personal

You may have heard that people hire the smartest lawyers or the best firms. Often, they don't. People hire people ' people they like, trust and connect with. Spend the time to get to know your client personally.

Be Persistent

Hiring doesn't happen on the first client meeting ' or the second ' or third. In fact, more than 80% of business development happens after the fourth client interaction. The good news is that more than 90% of other attorneys give up after the second or third try. To be a great business developer, just be in that 10%.

Conclusion

Once attorneys are open to business development and have been through training, working one-on-one with a business development coach can really help to foster accountability and enhance results. Mastering the key principles of business development is only a start. To actually bring in new business, you have to put the principles into practice ' habitually.

As a Business Development Success Consultant, Chris Fritsch partners with law firms and attorneys across the country to provide business development education and coaching solutions. Fritsch has a background as an attorney, top salesperson and sales manager. She can be reached at 404-249-9914 and [email protected].