LMA 2010 - Creating and Implementing a Sales and Business Development Culture in Your Firm

The first session on Friday was another session that delegates were excited for, and the big room was packed.  Moderated by Patrick Fuller, the Managing Account Director at Hubbard One, the presenters included Twitter favorites like Melanie Green, Director of Business Development and Marketing at Baker & Daniels LLP and Tim Corcoran, Senior Consultant at Altman Weil, as well as Robert D. Randolph, Jr., Director of Marketing and Business Development at Bryan Cave LLP and Steven B. Bell, Chief Client Development Officer at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC. 

Tim started the session by saying that the difference between business development and marketing is that marketing is the tactics to build awareness and identity, while business development is what you're doing to further that relationship.  Steve wondered why there should be a distinction between marketing, business development and sales, saying that "we all want to ring the cash register."  He said that everyone in the room is engaged in the buying process every day, and it's marketing's role to create awareness.  Anyone can take their own lessons from the things that they buy - buying legal services is no different.  Buying is emotional and justifying a purchase is logical, though he clarified that an emotional purchase doesn't mean it's illogical.  He emphasized that companies don't make purchases, individuals do.  So you have to understand the individual.  As we all know, clients buy services from peope they trust, like, are capable, and understand their business.  This isn't an illogical process, but they have to trust you.  Lawyers sometimes think that they can't do this business development "stuff," but it doesn't have to be a close relationship.  They just need to build a relationship of trust.  Lawyers also think that they need to explain their capabilities in the buying process, but most clients are not even considering you if you don't already have the skill set they need. 

The panel cautioned that it's important for marketers to understand the difference between sales and business development, so that we understand what we're asking lawyers to do in growing their relationships.  The data says that the key attributes for clients in hiring firms are client focus, value for money, a willingness to help, and understanding the client's business.  Relationships matter.  The panel asked the audience what their lawyers know about their clients and their budget reductions in the current economy.  They encouraged the attendees to tell their lawyers to ask their clients how their budgets have been affected and to learn what they're going through up front.  Tim said that he asks lawyers whether they know their clients' budget changes from the previous year, and they generally don't.  Since clients live and die by their budgets, it's a key factor in the relationship. 

The panel said that we have a new buying equation, and so legal marketers should be leading lawyers and firms to the discovery of this equations.  Find out if your clients are experiencing these budget cuts across their company and look for ways to help them.  Tim added that as law firm providers, we can look for other ways to please our clients that doesn't involve doing their legal work.  Melanie talked about a sales program that her firm has for their associates, taking them from 1st year associaties through partnership to educate them on how to work with clients.  She said that they do use the term "sales" and Rob added that from his perspective, all the lawyers in the firm are salespeople.  They coach their attorneys to have business conversations with their clients, because casual conversations won't bring in business.  Tim commented that sometimes the firm thinks they have a solid relationship with a client, but if it only relies on one attorney's contact with them, versus many to many, you're in jeopardy.  Steve commented that there is a natural role for non-lawyer salespeople to initiate a conversation with a potential client and Nancy Myrland added via Twitter that "this is a very typical model in other professional services firms. Bus[iness] Dev[elopment]/Salespeople pave the way."  The panel mentioned that because you don't know how many "touches" you'll have to have in order to push a relationship with a potential client to the next level, lawyers often get impatient.  Business relationships can be kept alive by always identifying what the next steps are. 

The panelists observed that while some firms are basically silos who share overhead, there are others where the partners actually want to work together and seek out work to help their other partners.  Tim said that when seeking out opportunities to have fellow partners brought into the equation to help clients, it's good for the firm.  Melanie said it's important to be able to break the relationship manager from thinking that the client doesn't need anything else from the firm.  To help this process when lawyers are hoarding clients, one option is to use client interviews to bring in someone else.  Through these interviews, the firm can identify the needs of the client and how to meet those needs.  Another way to identify what other work a firm can be doing for a client is to do a White Space Analysis from Bill Flannery, which is a client/workspace matrix.  It puts the clients on one axis and the work being done on the other, and then looks at where they don't overlap for opportunities to target.  Tim said that legal marketers can help with targeting because of their marketing training.

The panelists then talked about the culture shift at clients' companies, and Steve said that this is being driven by a shrinking budget - the market is not abundant.  Tim commented that demand hasn't necessarily disappeared, but the budgets to meet that demand have.  So the question becomes what are the sustainable changes versus just a blip on the radar.  Tim doesn't see spending increasing again when times get better, because when budgets were reduced, firms still managed to get the work done.  And when Chief Legal Officers said, "We can't predict our legal budgets," the CEOs and CFOs called them on it.  Melanie sees these changes as an opportunity to adapt her firm's internal culture - to showcase and highlight their message to make it more strategic and focused.  Steve said that at his firm, they leverage the lawyers' competitive nature in a sales contest to drive lawyers without the hammer of compensation.  They have an inter-office Sales Contest, and when asked what the winning office gets, Steve answered that it doesn't matter because the competition itself is the reward.  Melanie said that although she looks forward to a time when the compensation structure at her firm changes, she can't wait for that to drive her lawyers, so she, too, looks for work-arounds.  She publishes success stories and "wins" across the firm, which raises awareness of the process. 

The panelists then talked about lawyers' fear of the sales process because of the word "close."  They agreed that there's no reason to be afraid of it, because "closure" is just the agreement between the client and the lawyer to move to the next step - they don't have to become like hard-driving car salesmen.  Lawyers only need to do a good job of matching their services to the client's needs in order to get closer to the "close."  As Tim said "A close is just a confirmation that you are the right lawyer to take care of my needs." So when meeting with a client, lawyers should think through the different skills, tools, etc. that they have that can come up in the conversation.  Tim cautioned that law firms shouldn't think customizing a pitch extends to putting a prospect's logo on it.  Melanie suggested that marketers do opportunity coaching with their attorneys before a meeting with a potential client or existing client to help the lawyers learn how to get the close.  She agreed that the legal market won't go back to the way it was, and said that if lawyers think it will, it's a problem. She reiterated a statement that seemed to be another theme of the conference: new business is going to come into firms by taking it from others.  Steve said that clients have always been in charge, but didn't know it.  Now they're in charge and they know it. 

A question came from the audience as to what nonmonetary rewards the panel would suggest for their lawyers.  Melanie said that telling and publicizing success stories has been very useful for her firm.  Rob commented that he's never seen a problem with lawyers being motivated to pursue work, only problems with them doing it the right way.  They added that attorneys simply knowing that someone is watching their sales process can be very effective.  Steve said that lawyers don't always know how to manage their clients well, but marketers do and can help them learn.  Tim commented that lawyers shouldn't apologize for being premium-priced. They just have to learn how to provide reasons why they're better.  He also suggested that lawyers remove their clients' influence on things like how to staff a matter by pleasing them on other metrics and said that during the sales process, create your own category that differentiates you. 

ILN Business Development Webinar Series: Review of How to Increase Results from Speaking, Writing and Networking

In coordination with Jim Hassett of LegalBizDev, the ILN put together a series of five educational webinars available to member firms on a monthly basis. Jim is the founder of LegalBizDev, which helps lawyers to develop new business by applying best practices from other law firms and professions through coaching, webinars and workshops, retreats and much more. Jim comes highly recommended by the Legal Marketing Association, who regularly relies on his expertise for their conferences and webinars. More information about working with Jim and his colleagues can be found on their website.

The fourth webinar, How to Increase Results from Speaking, Writing, and Networking, took place on April 29, 2009. Jim described the session: "For some lawyers, speaking, writing and networking are very successful marketing techniques. Other lawyers give speeches, write articles, and/or go to networking meetings, but never seem to get enough business from them. This presentation will review how the most successful rainmakers use audience targeting, follow-up, and other tactics to increase results."

Some of the highlights from the session included:

* Jim started off by letting the audience know that these tactics are not for everyone. He said that the best sales people understand their strengths, and find the right fit, so he encouraged the audience to focus their limited marketing time on their strengths.

* Speaking: In terms of speaking, Jim emphasized the importance of choosing a specialized topic that has business potential. Once a topic has been chosen, it is essential to find the right audience. Jim discussed the process for doing this, as well as how to gain a speaking invitation. In terms of writing speeches, he encouraged the audience to follow emerging business trends and to keep folders with articles, quotes, and data to draw from. If speakers and writers do this consistently, they will always have source material to draw from. He added that these source materials can also be used as excuses to build relationships with contacts. Jim also went into detail on tips for the actual speech, as well as how to effectively follow up. He said that although speeches won't directly generate business, they can help to build relationships.

* Writing: Similar to speaking, Jim said it was important to find the right publications to target. He gave tips on how to do this, as well as how draft a query letter. He went into a list of the types of articles that are more attractive for publications, and therefore, more likely to be accepted. In addition to writing for publications, publishing a white paper on their firm's website or association websites is another way to attract attention through writing. Jim also listed blogs as another means of publication, but cautioned that he thinks these are overdone by lawyers. He also discussed how it is possible to network while writing, saying that authors can call people to interview and follow up with them with a draft, as well as using published articles to keep in touch with clients and prospects.

* Networking: Jim started by giving the audience Bob Burg's (of "Endless Referrals") Golden Rule of Networking, which is that "Clients do business with people they know, like and trust." He said that if you help others succeed, they will help you. Networking takes patience and perseverance, and case be a time waster if it's done with the wrong people. Jim then discussed how the audience could consider their personal network, and gave some advice for how to make the most of a networking meeting. He also spoke a little about having an "elevator speech," including its definition, the goals, how to develop one, and testing it.

* Jim ended with a few comments about social networking, listing some of the many options available. He felt that there are some powerful tools out there, but there is a need for caution.

The webinar recording and materials for this fourth session are available to ILN member firms at a low cost- please contact me for more information.

ILN Business Development Webinar Series: Review of How to Find New Clients: From Prospecting to Closing

In coordination with Jim Hassett of LegalBizDev, the ILN put together a series of five educational webinars available to member firms on a monthly basis. Jim is the founder of LegalBizDev, which helps lawyers to develop new business by applying best practices from other law firms and professions through coaching, webinars and workshops, retreats and much more. Jim comes highly recommended by the Legal Marketing Association, who regularly relies on his expertise for their conferences and webinars. More information about working with Jim and his colleagues can be found on their website.

The third webinar, How to Find New Clients: From Prospecting to Closing, took place on March 25, 2009. Jim described the session: "This presentation will describe how to address the challenge of finding new clients. The basic principles are simple: you must meet the right people and advance the relationships. This presentation will describe best practices for referrals, cross-selling, networking, and publicity, and emphasize the importance of developing systematic processes to assure consistent followup."

Some of the highlights from the session included:

* Jim observed that finding new clients is the hardest thing someone can do in a suit. So he said that in order to maximize success, they need to do the right things in the right way. He emphasized that above all else, persistence matters.

* To start, Jim broke business development down into two types: current clients, which he had addressed the previous week, and new clients. For new clients, he said that some lawyers would be better at bringing in new clients than others, and firms should support those who are successful. He said that bringing in new client is more difficult and harder to evaluate than bringing in new business from current clients. However, he added that bringing in new clients is critical to long-term success, while working with current clients is critical to short-term success.

* Jim focused on five main points during his presentation: the challenge of new clients, meeting the right people, advancing the relationships, closing the deal, and what the lawyers should do.

* Challenge of New Clients: Jim explained that selling is a numbers game. He said that 25% or more sales professionals fail, while top performers often sell ten times as much as average performers. In order to succeed, sales professionals need a lot of contacts to make a small number of sales. Using examples, Jim showed how planning to reach a large number of prospects and persistence are necessary in selling. He also talked about whether it's possible to predict which lawyers will be successful rainmakers, saying that tests cannot predict success. He also cautioned the audience to beware of sales stereotypes, saying that instead, firms should support and measure the results of those attorneys who are willing to try.

* Meet the Right People: The next point in Jim's plan focused on meeting the right people. He suggested that the attorneys start with a plan, which should include defining their niche, defining their ideal clients, meetings the right people, and then qualifying the prospects into who will buy, who will buy soon, and who will buy from them. Next, he encouraged them to follow up with (in increasing order of difficulty) referrals, cross-selling, networking and publicity (speaking/writing). The second two topics will be covered in the fourth webinar, so Jim just focused on the first two.

- How to get referrals: Jim detailed the four steps for how to get referrals, which include asking at the right moment, following up immediately, thanking people repeatedly, and keeping them informed. He went through each step to explain to the audience the best way to achieve success and emphasized the importance of always framing the requests in terms of the needs and desires of the people that they're asking.

- How to cross-sell: Again, Jim encouraged the audience to think in terms of meeting the needs of both the other partner at the firm and the potential clients. He recommended that they start by looking through their own client lists to see which clients might benefit from some of the other services the firm offers and then offer to share these clients with a trusted partner. Jim said the next step was to aim for a few small successes, by giving the clients advice that saves them money or better meets their needs. He called this "integrity-based cross-selling," a term coined by Larry Smith at Levick. Jim added that Mark Greene of Nixon Peabody had identified four key factors in cross-selling success, which are communication, compensation, competence, and control. He went through these in detail to explain how they aid in successful cross-selling.

* Advance the Relationships: Jim went through the next section quickly, reiterating that an advance is any action that moves a sale forward. Since less than 10% of face to face meetings lead to a decision (either positive or negative), it's important to plan what the next advance will be. Jim suggested that the attorneys plan their primary advance, their secondary advance, and a list of questions to ask before every meeting.

* Close the Deal: While some people think that selling is all about closing, Jim likened a focus on closing to teaching a gardener how to pick tomatoes. It's more important to teach them how to grow tomatoes, and then picking them is easy. Jim adapted Robert Kimroy's tips for insurance sales into something he calls the "Zen of Selling by Not Selling," which focuses on building relationships over time. Part of this involves keeping in touch with a fair number of prospects over time, and Jim suggested that attorneys aim for quarterly contact with their prospects to stay top of mind. Newsletters are one option for this, but Jim said that the best systems require little lawyer effort, provide value, and most importantly, are personal to the recipient. He ended with a few common sense tips from How to Win Friends and Influence People, including agree, don't criticize or complain, give sincere appreciation, become genuinely interested, smile, be a good listener, and talk about the other person's interests.

* What Should You Do?: Jim suggested that most lawyers start small and define an action item that they are likely to perform. They should set a deadline, and follow up. In terms of group action plans, Jim emphasized the importance of supporting both high performers and the motivated. He recommended that groups respect individual differences, and treat action steps as pilot tests, so that if something doesn't work, they can move on to something else. Then, they can refine their tactics to fit the firm culture, and publicize successes. Jim ended by discussing the three steps to business development success he had written about in one of his books, along with the thirteen steps to new clients he had identified in another book.

* Jim summed up by saying that selling is a skill that anyone can learn. He challenged the attorneys to start today by defining their action items, using the worksheet he had made available in the handouts to the participants.

The webinar recording and materials for this third session are available to ILN member firms at a low cost- please contact me for more information.

ILN Business Development Webinar Series: Review of How to Protect and Increase Business with Current Clients

In coordination with Jim Hassett of LegalBizDev, the ILN put together a series of five educational webinars available to member firms on a monthly basis. Jim is the founder of LegalBizDev, which helps lawyers to develop new business by applying best practices from other law firms and professions through coaching, webinars and workshops, retreats and much more. Jim comes highly recommended by the Legal Marketing Association, who regularly relies on his expertise for their conferences and webinars. More information about working with Jim and his colleagues can be found on their website.

The second webinar, How to Protect and Increase Business with Current Clients, took place on February 25, 2009. Jim described the session: "Although lawyers equate marketing with finding new clients, marketing experts agree that the best place to start marketing is with the clients you already have. Relationships with current clients are especially critical in the current economy with threats to your practice coming from two directions: from hungry competitors trying to steal your clients, and from budget cut-backs by the loyal clients who remain. This presentation will describe how to protect and increase business by assuring that current clients perceive you as a trusted advisor who is providing high value."

Some of the highlights from the session include:

*Everything attorneys need to know about business development could be summed up in seven words: Meet the right people, advance the relationships.

* In the case of current clients, Jim said that the attorneys already know the right people. He went on to cover three points, emphasizing that client satisfaction is urgent, asking how satisfied the audience's clients are, and calling them to action.

* Client Satisfaction is Urgent: To make this point, Jim referred to studies by BTI Consulting in 2008, ALM Research in 2006, and the Rainmakers Toolkit. He explained the current clients are the best source of new business and that research shows that 2/3 of revenue increases come from current clients. Additionally, the chances of new business are 1 in 2 with existing clients, 1 in 3 with past clients, and 1 in 8 with new prospects. Focusing on current clients has become even more important in the current economy, which Jim called "defensive marketing." He said that with competitors trying to take current clients away and leading firms focusing on delivering more value, long-standing client relationships may be threatened by financial pressures. Jim quoted Steve Barrett, the former CMO of Drinker Biddle, who said that it can take five years to get back in with a client once you've lost the trusted advisor role.

* How Satisfied Are Your Clients?: Once the audience sufficiently understood the urgency of client satisfaction, Jim moved on to ask how satisfied their clients are. He asked them to choose a top client or, in the case of litigators, a referral source, and to rate on a scale of 1-10 how satisfied their client might be, with 1 being a client who was extremely dissatisfied, but hadn't yet gotten rid of the firm, and 10 being a client who was so satisfied, they couldn't wait to go home and tell their partner about all the wonderful things their lawyer had done for them that day. Jim cautioned that for those rated 8 or lower, they were in the danger zone, because 60-80% of clients who leave say that they were satisfied. For those who rated their clients at a 9 or 10 for satisfaction, Jim asked them to consider whether they were sure about this, because many clients find it hard to respond negatively and some people overestimate satisfaction. To illustrate this point, Jim showed a chart from Inside Counsel's 2008 survey of large law firms and clients, who had each rated the performance of the firm on an A-F scale. While 42% of lawyers gave their firms an A, only 17% of clients did. Jim then went on to discuss some action items the attorneys could take, first saying that the degree to which lawyers need to focus on client satisfaction depends on the type of work they do. It's less important for firms who do "bet the company" and commodity work, because results and cost are the keys to success, respectively. However, for those who do work that companies classify as "important," success depends on client satisfaction. Jim gave a few tactics for litigators to use with their referral sources before moving on.

* What should you do?: In terms of calling the audience to action, Jim started by encouraging them to think about the service providers they work with. He asked whether technical expertise or the way they treat them matters more, and said often, it's how you are treated that matters. He relayed Gerry Riskin's tips for how to "bulletproof your crown jewel clients," including listening, understanding their needs and meeting them, genuinely caring, and showing that they care, being responsive and handling problems, and offering something "cool." Jim said that these things can show a client that their attorney thinks they're important.

Jim also talked about the Association of Corporate Counsel's Value Challenge, which says that "most traditional law firm business models...are not aligned with what corporate clients want and need: value-driven, high-quality legal services that deliver solutions for a reasonable cost." He said that this is part of a much larger trend that's been happening in other industries for decades and went over how these past and future trends will look, emphasizing that value will be more important than social relationships. As part of these trends, Jim spoke about alternative fees, and suggested that the audience look at the LegalBizDev Guide to Alternative Fees, available for free download on his website.

* Jim summed up by saying that increasing client satisfaction is easy, but failing to focus on current clients is equal to marketing malpractice. He also challenged the audience to follow up on the presentation using the action items in the provided handout.

The webinar recording and materials for this second session are available to ILN member firms at a low cost- please contact me for more information.

ILN Business Development Webinar Series: Review of Six Ways to Increase Results from Your Limited Marketing Time

In coordination with Jim Hassett of LegalBizDev, the ILN put together a series of five educational webinars available to member firms on a monthly basis, starting in January of 2009. Jim is the founder of LegalBizDev, which helps lawyers to develop new business by applying best practices from other law firms and professions through coaching, webinars and workshops, retreats and much more. Jim comes highly recommended by the Legal Marketing Association, who regularly relies on his expertise for their conferences and webinars. More information about working with Jim and his colleagues can be found on their website.

The first webinar, Six Ways to Increase Results from Your Limited Marketing Time, took place on January 28, 2009. Jim described the session: "Lawyers never seem to have enough time for marketing. This presentation will help lawyers save time by developing new business more efficiently. We will review the research on what works in legal marketing to help you focus on the individual tactics that are most likely to produce immediate and practical results for your practice, your personality and your schedule, starting with prioritizing marketing activities by applying six key principles: Start with current clients, listen, plan advances, focus on personal strengths, work with others, and build the right relationships."

Some of the highlights from the session include:

* The legal profession is changing, but not only because of the economic crisis, and it's getting harder to develop new business. This is evidenced by there being a number of new marketing techniques that were not around twenty years ago.

* Lawyers have greater challenges for business development than sales people because of their limited time. This is especially true for litigators and Jim pointed out that while marketing principles are the same, tactics may differ. He said that litigators will focus more on referral sources than current clients and that visibility and reputation may be more important than relationships.

* Jim used examples and book recommendations to illustrate the six ways to increase results from limited marketing time:

• Current clients: This topic is so important that it will be the focus of the second webinar.
• Listen: Experts suggest listening 50-80% of the time and Jim offered some practical tips for how to improve listening skills.
• Plan Your Advances: Jim explained that 90% of sales calls in a successful sales process (one that results in new business) do not result in a successful sale. They simply advance the relationship. So Jim emphasized that when planning a meeting, attorneys should figure out what's the best thing they can do to bring them closer to getting a piece of new business. He defined an "advance" as "an action that moves the sale forward."
• Personal Strengths: Jim talked about the stereotypes that people hold about what makes a good salesperson, and said that people with different personalities can be successful in business development. The key is understanding their strengths and finding the right fit.
• Work with Others: In order to provide accountability, Jim recommended forming a group with a few other lawyers who care about business development. The group can meet once a week or once a month, go over their to-do lists, and create some friendly competition to achieve the action items developed. Jim also supported working with a business development coach.
• The Right Relationships: When developing business, it's important to focus on the right relationships. Jim said that all lawyers should develop a quick business plan - he emphasized that a plan was necessary to avoid engaging in "Random Acts of Lunch," but that lawyers shouldn't spend too much time planning and not taking action. To do this, lawyers need to define their niche, meet the right people, and qualify their prospects to determine if they will buy, if they'll buy soon, and whether they'll buy from them. Jim also recommended reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" for common sense advice on how to interact with people in a new way.

* Jim summed up by encouraging the attorneys to prioritize their marketing activities relentlessly, so that they can make the most of their marketing time.

The webinar recording and materials for this first session are available to ILN member firms at no charge - please contact me for more information.