Five Critical Elements of Business Development Success

There is no question that a successful career in professional services requires an ability to generate new business — a herculean task for anyone, but especially for a professional without any experience or training.  While acquiring the skills necessary to develop business is certainly a life-long journey, here are five critical elements to consider from the outset.

1. Focus on What is Important, Not Urgent

Jerry Rice, widely considered the best all-time wide-receiver in the NFL, once stated that "today, I will do the things others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't." Many attorneys are uncomfortable putting in the work required to maintain healthy relationships in the market, and, when choosing between simply doing the work on their desk today, versus the work required to build for the future; they exclusively choose the former and entirely neglect the latter. However, you must do both if you want long-term career success — in other words, you must learn to develop a dual-focus on what is important, not simply what is urgent. Admittedly, with all of the demands on your time — both personal and professional, this is much easier to say than to do — but, if you truly want to develop the business, you must first find the time to develop relationships. Make a list of the top 20 relationships you'd like to develop over the next quarter and make a point of calling, emailing and meeting up with those individuals. Don't make the list too long or it will never happen.

2. Learn Patience

You must sustain your energies over a very long and extended period — truly, it is a process that never stops. In the words of Sir Paul McCartney and the late John Lennon, "[t]he long and winding road that leads to your door will never disappear." Until you become an experienced attorney, your entire professional life is segmented into clear steps with relatively immediate gratification and a feedback loop of accomplishment — school, more school, internships, summer programs, perhaps a clerkship — then, if you join private practice, you are thrust into a world demanding billable hours and additional time obligations. After a few years of developing technical expertise, you realize that you are going to have to find clients of your own if you'd like to advance rapidly in your career. There is no guidebook, no manual — no test to study for — just a few seminars here and there and a lot of mysterious talk of being a "rainmaker." With the work piling up on your desk, and many deadlines and demands on your time, both personal and professional — plus the lack of training and the uncertainty of a return — many attorneys for obvious reasons shun the proverbial "long and winding road." Even if you are courageous enough to take that path, despite all the challenges, that door "will never disappear." The sooner you can embrace the process — which can take many years – and commit to sustaining the path despite the lack of immediate returns, the sooner you will break through to the next level.