Scott Katz, The Daily Record Newswire
Another summer has receded into memory and fall is upon us. For parents, this means school is back in full swing, and as my two young daughters bring home glowing midterm report cards (clearly a reflection of their mother’s positive influence), I am reminded of the strong guidance and wisdom that my own mother imparted on my sister and me during our childhood.
I have found that many of these adages have transcended my playground days as I have continued to use them throughout my professional career. In this vein, I will try to share with you those same lessons to apply to your own legal marketing efforts.
You are judged by the company you keep. Too many attorneys waste time on “bad leads” that aren’t really leads at all. It is important to try and connect with people who can help you and your business efforts, and social media can greatly enhance your ability to connect with those higher value connections that you seek.
Focus on connecting with those who are in a position to sing your praises, refer you cases or simply validate you by virtue of their own standing within an industry. Don’t waste your efforts on those who have shown no interest in giving you business; it is not the best use of your resources and indicates to those around you that you’re spending your marketing and business-development time unwisely.
Share your toys. Attorneys who are generous with their time and knowledge often receive far more than they give. Nevertheless, some attorneys continue to scoff at this idea (remarkably,
at blogging) and claim it is “giving away free advice.”
That attitude is short-sighted and wrong. In my 25 years of sales and, more recently, legal business-development experience, the most successful rainmakers are those who aren’t shaking your hand one minute and extending the other hand with an open palm the next. Giving someone your time and attention, with no quid pro quo expected on the spot, goes a long way to establishing trust and building relationships that could prove fruitful down the road.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Many attorneys believe that they need to be overly aggressive and treat opposing counsel as the enemy. Although you are on different sides, you should not be rude to or unreasonable with opposing counsel. I have worked with retired judges and had them as law professors, and never once have I heard one say that they enjoyed that type of behavior from an attorney.
It is a very gratifying experience for an attorney to receive a referral from someone who was once opposing counsel. It speaks to the respect that they have for you as a professional, and it is far more likely to happen if you are reasonable and courteous whenever possible.
Don’t finish other people’s sentences; instead, listen. It is said and repeated so often that it sounds like a cliche, but it remains a fact that the best business developers are usually those who are the best listeners. Most people enjoy talking about themselves and want to work with someone, from any profession, who listens to them and understands their needs. The best way to learn about a potential client is to listen to him/her. The more effort you exert in listening, the greater the chance that a potential client becomes an actual client.
Watch your language. Know your audience. Sometimes attorneys can become a bit too “familiar” with people, while other times they can stand on too much ceremony. Depending on the audience, either could be wrong. If you listen and pay attention, you will determine how to strike the right tone, tenor and style. That’s what separates great salespeople from order-takers. It will help you to distinguish yourself as a rainmaker. The easiest way to blow your connection with someone is to misread your audience, which is usually a result of not listening.
The best way to save money is to pay yourself first. For business development purposes, this translates into making business development and/or marketing a priority by scheduling time for your own efforts each week. Scheduling this time on your weekly calendar greatly increases the odds that you will actually do it.
The concept is similar to why you prepay for personal trainers: to make sure that you actually stick to the program and show up to work out. The top rainmakers are most often the busiest people at their firms. The most common excuse I hear from attorneys who aren’t growing their practice is: “I’m too busy to develop business.”
Don’t make this excuse a self-fulfilling prophecy by not scheduling some time for yourself to grow. Even if you schedule only 30 minutes a week for business development efforts, it’s the same principal as working out; you’ll be developing better business development skills and you’ll be far more confident flexing them at the appropriate time.
Admittedly, legal marketing is far less treacherous than high school, but I think you’ll discover that applying these common-sense tactics will greatly increase your chances of success as you venture out with your own business development efforts. I’m sure I’m not the only one who didn’t always listen to his mother growing up, but I’m listening to her now.
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Scott F. Katz is the business development manager at Burns & Levinson in Boston.
