It takes time to develop legal business,
and the most significant results from
any workshop or coaching program will
be seen weeks or months after the event.
Here are a few examples that occurred
faster, within our eight week coaching
programs. Each represents a return on
investment many times the initial cost.
For more examples, and for references:
The free meeting that led to a seven
figure litigation
A lawyer attended one of our public workshops,
and decided he should do more to increase
the satisfaction of one of his biggest
clients. He reviewed a summary of best
practices from other law firms (in The
LegalBizDev Desk Reference), and decided
to offer a free meeting, to learn more
about their business challenges. When
he called the client to offer the meeting,
the first reaction was skepticism. ("This
meeting will be free? You mean you won't
charge for the time? Will you bill me
for preparing for the meeting? How about
following up?") When the client was finally
convinced that his lawyer was genuinely
offering to do something for free, he
became quite enthusiastic, and provided
a list of additional people to invite.
The lawyer from our workshop called these
new contacts, and got chatting with one
person who said "By the way, did you know
that we are about to assign a significant
litigation to one of your competitors?"
"No, I didn't," the lawyer replied. "Why
don't I bring over one of our litigators
this afternoon to see if we can help."
He did, and his firm got the assignment
before he even held the free meeting.
Clearly, this new business resulted from
a proven record of legal excellence, a
strong existing relationship, timing and
luck. But if this lawyer had not offered
the meeting, he would not have gotten
lucky.
An associate's weekly reports that
produced substantial new business
In his first meeting with our coach,
one lawyer reported that he worked for
a large insurance company that loved him
and had plenty of additional work, but
the client felt that our lawyer was stretched
too thin and too busy to handle anything
new. As we talked more, it became clear
that the lawyer was indeed juggling a
number of clients and matters, and did
not always return phone calls or handle
issues as quickly as this large client
preferred. We discussed how to change
the reality and the perception, and decided
to increase the visibility of a senior
associate on the team. This particular
associate was not known for her interpersonal
skills, but was loved by the client for
her competence and reliability. She met
every client need the instant it arose.
The senior lawyer decided to institute
weekly reports to this client, and put
the associate in charge. This accomplished
two things at once: it increased the client's
satisfaction with the handling of current
matters, and it reduced the demands on
the senior lawyer's time by strengthening
the relationship between the client and
the associate. Within a few weeks, the
client had concluded that he could offer
more work to this firm after all, and
assigned new matters with fees in the
high six figures.
The third time was the charm
When one lawyer started talking to us
about the best way to find new clients,
we reviewed The LegalBizDev Desk Reference
section entitled "How to find new clients,
step by step." After we discussed one
of the first steps -- "Set up meetings
with people you already know" - we compiled
a list of people he had lost touch with.
One was a former client, now inside counsel
at a Fortune 100 firm, and someone whom
he felt comfortable calling to say hello.
Our lawyer was enthusiastic about picking
up the phone for the first call, but ended
up leaving a voice mail. He did not get
a call back, so a few weeks later, he
tried again. This resulted in another
voice mail, then silence. At this point,
the lawyer's enthusiasm for this particular
follow-up had declined. When the coach
urged persistence, the lawyer agreed to
one last try. This time the old friend
picked up the phone, and said "I was really
glad to get your messages. We have a new
matter coming up, and you'd be perfect
for it. Will you be in California in the
next few weeks? I'd like you to come to
my office to talk about it." The lawyer
went to California, and got the business.
His persistence had paid off.
The value of passing someone in the
hall
Taking clients to lunch is hardly a novel
technique, but that does not make it any
less powerful. When we coach lawyers,
we often suggest scheduling a few lunches
that seem overdue, and plan the best way
to maximize results. In one case, a client
had just moved to a new office. Since
the lawyer had worked with many managers
at that company, we urged him to arrange
a lunch near the new office, and combine
it with a visit. The lunch was a huge
success, because it focused on some client
satisfaction questions from our Desk
Reference and enabled the client to
address a new matter within their existing
retainer. When they went back to the client's
office afterwards, they passed a manager
in the hall who said to the lawyer: "I've
been meaning to call you. I have several
new files stacked up in my office, but
I just haven't had time to get to them."
This chance meeting put the matters "top
of mind" and within a few days, the lawyer
was working on the files. This might have
happened at a later date if the lawyer
had not walked the halls. But the lawyer
need the work right away, and the office
visit made that happen.
What these success stories have in
common
There was nothing magical or difficult
about any of these activities. The hard
part was identifying the best use of time,
and then actually following up. Our materials
and processes are designed to help each
lawyer find their own individual "low
hanging fruit," the cases where follow-up
is likely to pay off most quickly. The
lawyers we coach work on self-selected
activities that they are comfortable with,
within a weekly time commitment that they
agree to, and with a coach who helps assure
that business development stays near the
top of their very long lists.
