Building your profile to bring in more work

Building your profile to bring in more work

Business development is not a favorite for the majority of lawyers. I hear many lawyers say, “I didn’t train as a lawyer to sell.” There are exceptions of course.

Why business development is important

However, lawyers need clients to have work to do. Essentially, lawyers solve a problem or realise a benefit for clients in what can be an emotional matter for them – even if it is a corporate matter. Therefore, it can be helpful to think of business development as letting people know how you can help them deal with a challenge or gain a benefit. This can help to shift mindset away from ‘selling’

If you are really good at what you do, don’t more prospective clients need to know how you can help? They can’t know about you and your work without you doing some activity to make them aware.

If you are a good lawyer and treat your clients well then you have the potential to bring in additional work. However, a more proactive approach to business development is now often required – here’s why:

• Most firms want to increase their revenue and this growth will be limited if only a few people – usually Partners - are contributing to bringing in more work.

• As an individual, it helps you progress in your own firm if you have brought in new work.

• It also helps you build your market profile, so if you ever leave your firm, you have a ‘following’.

The earlier in your career you start, the easier it will be. Doing this will also make sure you have a good network at the point where you have to contribute to business development. However, starting before this is the case will also help you stand out positively amongst your peers and if as a firm, more fee earners get involved with active business development then your firm will perform better than your competitors.

Having a business development culture not only contributes positively to firm growth and individual career development but also creates a dynamic environment that is often attractive to top legal talent.

Key types of business development

1. Developing relationships with existing clients

This is obtaining more work from existing clients; it includes the same service area and different departments of the firm – cross-selling. Many lawyers completely miss out on this when it is the easiest way to grow a practice/firm.

2. Referrals from existing clients and intermediaries

Prospective clients who come through a referral are four times more likely to buy and have a 16% higher lifetime value*Wharton. You need to build, maintain, and gain the benefit from a network of referrers.

3. New Business Development

Finding new clients – this requires you to be able to build a personal profile and become known in the market to attract them.

Top tips for bringing in more business from all three types of business development

1. Deliver excellent quality work – this might sound obvious but it’s not just the ‘what’, it’s the ‘how’! Clear communication and losing the jargon are two top tips.

2. Personal impact – consider what others’ experience of you feels like. Coming across as credible and friendly are key, as well as being able to adapt your communication style to others.

3. Listen and learn – get to know your clients and prospects so they feel valued and engaged with. They are more likely to share concerns they have and talk to you about challenges which can lead to further instructions.

4. Be clear who your clients are – this might sound obvious; you might have had the approach to take work that comes without much further thought. However, it is important to consider if there are specific types of clients you do great work for and can create (anonymous) case studies about e.g. a certain sector or type of person. You can then be more focused in terms of your approach to find more of these potential clients.

5. Keep in touch – regular contact is important to remind people you exist and to build the relationship - staying top of their mind is vital.

6. Different ‘touchpoints’ – consider how you come across in the different ways you engage with others. For instance, do your emails align with how you come across in person?

7. Internal relationships – make time to build them. Not only will this help your career, but it will also help other lawyers in different departments to understand what you do, to trust you and to make them more likely to refer their valued clients to you and vice versa.

8. Know who shares your clients – depending on what legal work you do, intermediaries can be a great source of referrals e.g. other professional services such as accountants.

9. LinkedIn profile – make sure this represents you well. It should be ‘push’ and ‘pull’. Easy for those who know of you from elsewhere to find you and for new people to find you in a search for your expertise. Your profile needs to be complete, credible, accurate and engaging.

10. Get comfortable with networking – very few actively enjoy attending events but with the right skills and practice it is an excellent way to meet many people in a limited time and enjoy it more. I have written a whole chapter in Globe Law and Business’s book on Business Development for Women Lawyers.

11. Improve your visibility – consider where else you need to be active and present. For example, if your clients read certain magazines, websites etc. can you write for those to showcase your legal expertise?

12. Develop a relationship with marketing – this is really important as marketing shouldn’t operate as a silo, especially as law is a service and clients are essentially ‘buying’ you. Working with marketing to align, as well as using and asking for the marketing resources you need is vital. You are the key point of client and prospect contact so can feed into marketing what clients are saying and wanting now, as well as ask for what you need in terms of collateral to support business development. Marketing often has helpful knowledge about events and can help you increase your visibility and build your individual profile.

13. Ask for support – this is a general point as more can be gained by lawyers and relevant business services people working together. However, specifically if you need some training to help you start/improve your business development, then ask L&D or whoever is relevant within your firm.

14. Consider the internal impact – building your profile and developing business for your firm are highly valuable activities. However, they can sometimes be the cause of challenges in your department/broader firm if you don’t take people on the journey with you, whether you are a junior lawyer or more senior. It is a collaboration opportunity.

What next for you?

This might seem like a very long list of actions to take. A good start might be to review the list objectively and see which elements you are already doing well and code them green, which you are doing to some degree (amber) and which not at all (red). Then take a couple of the ambers at a time and work on them. If you try and do too much at once, it will be overwhelming, you won’t have time and are unlikely to continue with any of it.

Joanna Gaudoin

Joanna Gaudoin

Managing Director of Inside Out Image,

specialises in helping lawyers excel at relationships in different professional situations, helping them improve performance and achieve their goals.

She offers tailored training for firms and works one-to-one with lawyers. She is the author of Getting On: Making work work and a co-author of Globe Law and Business’s book on Business Development for Women Lawyers