If I have learned one thing over the years, it is that successful lawyers know and excel at business development. Some are natural which means they are developing business all the time. For these attorneys, it is seamless – just part of their DNA. Other lawyers are good at it and know what to do. However, business development often falls by the wayside due to busy schedules, etc. And lastly, some lawyers do not care about business development nor want to learn the necessary skills. For the purposes of this blog, we will focus on the middle group (the busy lawyers). For them, we say attorney business development starts with a plan.
The Benefits of Planning
- Now, we do not want to suggest that you spend time (that you do not have) creating an elaborate plan. A simple plan will do just fine. Regardless of your business development plan’s format, it will provide you with several benefits including:
You will develop business which means making more money. In other words, you are more apt to actually do it with a plan. - Important contacts will not go stale, be forgotten, or disappear altogether.
- Valuable time will not be wasted.
- You can measure results against efforts.
- Your business development meetings and interactions will have a purpose. Every interaction should accomplish a business development goal, move the relationship ball forward, and have a follow-up activity.
- If you make a plan and hold yourself accountable, you will get results.
Get Out of Your Own Way
Are you too busy to even make a simple business plan? Well, guess what, we have a solution. A business development coach. A good coach will help you make the plan. But more importantly, you will have an accountability buddy. Likewise, a business development coach will make sure you do all three things in the “purpose” bullet point above. The coach will help you define the business development meeting goal, move the relationship forward, and brainstorm the follow-up activities. In short, a business development coach helps you create the business development plan, and then make sure you are executing it.
I wish there was a magic formula to provide you with instant business development gratification. There’s not. But there is a simple formula for growing a book of business:
Marketing + Business Development = Success
You need to do both! If you do not have the bandwidth, seek assistance. This blog’s title is Attorney Business Development Starts with a Plan. Perhaps for those too busy, the title should be Attorney Business Development Starts with a Call. We can help, so give us a call.