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law firm sales - selling is a skill

• "We would like you to run a couple of sessions for our partners on getting clients"  they say

• "We don't want you to use the word 'sales' because the partners don't like it"  they say

• "and the partners don't want any role play" they say

But it's not them who need to get the clients.  It's the partners. 

• And getting work from clients is called selling,
• Selling is a skill not a knowledge transfer exercise which means role play and
• Getting good at a skill takes time; more than the 6 hours offered.

"The training you ran was well received but doesn't seem to have changed behaviour" they say

I wonder why?

Business Development – How much time do you need?

How big is your need?  Your time is valuable, and so are clients.  If you want a rule of thumb, 2 hours a week of your time devoted to business development (phone calls, emails etc) can create a couple of meetings a week – one with a client, one with a prospective client/intermediary.

You have to do this yourself.

As a partner you cannot delegate the responsibility for developing new clients.  Others can help you with the administration (your PA) or with events (marketing) or even business planning (a marketing director, if you have one), but only you can meet the prospective client.  However strong your firm’s brand is, legal services are personal.  You are the product which the client buys – your legal ability is seen through the lens of your personality/gifting/charm, and the client must therefore meet you. 

At the centre of your business plan is therefore the question “who would you like to spend time with?”  The answer can be existing clients (if that’s where your work is expected to come from), from prospective clients (if existing clients are insufficient), or most likely from both.  Working backwards, the next question is “how many meetings with people who could give you work do you plan to have in a week?”  It’s your decision, but this decision is the crux of your business development plan.  A plan that creates 4 meetings a week is different in scale from one that is designed to create 12 meetings or one that creates just one meeting. 

Not that quantity matters more than quantity, but we need both.  Not every meeting will be golden, but as Brian Tracy observed “the harder you work the luckier you get….”

Leading a law firm

There are few people in law firms who would be seen as inspirational leaders in law firms.  The “Type A” leader – firm jawed, resolute, driving and engaging – is unlikely to have the skills, knowledge and attitude required to come into a profession where risk-aversion and attention to  detail are the cornerstones of the training. 

 

But it also requres a different sort of person to inspire lawyers.  Lawyers don’t follow people easily.  They would far rather be left on their own with a pile of client-work to get on with. Non-compliant partners are far more common than non-compliant directors in a plc, and few aspire to run the firm.

 

So what works?  What can a law firm leader do to be really effective?

 

The derivation of the word leadership gives the clue.  “Leadership” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word which means “to show the way”. It’s not the same as management, which is based on the French word for “hand” and involves the manipulation of processes for maximum efficiency.  To lead in a law firm requires a partner to show the way in 2 key ways:

1. Set the vision.  Paint the picture of what we’re here for beyond the daily grind of timesheets and demanding clients.   Tell your team/department/firm where the firm is going, what makes it a great place to be, and how you as a team can get there.  Not in the form of a big document, but through talking to people individually.
2. Set an example.  Being inspirational is not only a function of what you say.  If you want your people to develop business, take them with you when you do it and let them learn from you.  If you want WIP brought under control, show them how it’s done.  If you want them to look after their own team members, model it. 

 

In leadership your character matters more than your gifting, because it’s your character that is revealed when the pressure’s on.  Set the vision and demonstrate the behaviour you want and the firm will (admittedly slowly) change.