Business Development: the art of generating revenue without turning lawyers into (gasp!) "salespeople"

A coaching perspective on changing behavior

Each time I begin a coaching relationship with my attorney clients, the first thing they say is "please don't turn me into a salesperson." They are willing to learn the skills that will help them develop business, but they don't want to become someone else. The good news is that they will generate more business by being themselves and not taking on some altered personality.

So the task is not changing who they are but what they do. Becoming successful at business development requires them to change their attitudes and change their behaviors. It may be overstating the obvious to say that change takes time. A one-day training program rarely yields results. You know from your own experience that learning a new skill takes time and a lot of practice.

As you can see in the chart below, a coaching program uses a specific methodology to work on skills over time until a certain level of competency is achieved. Learning to become proficient at business development is similar to learning any new skill. The amount of time invested in practicing determines the results.

What are the skills and behaviors that are important for business development? First, think about the distinction between "sales" and "business development." A sale can be a simple purchase or single transaction. Business development implies a long-term, ongoing relationship that is far more complex. Clients don't want to be "sold" on their lawyer's ability. The potential for a trustworthy relationship is more important.

The critical skills are:

• building relationships
• developing listening skills
• providing excellent client service.

Relationships are the basis for developing business. Clients hire people they trust, and those who make them feel comfortable. Clients know that they will have frequent interaction with their lawyers and they want to have amicable working relationships, especially when they are involved with unpleasant or challenging legal issues.

There is wisdom in the Calvin Coolidge quote, "No man ever listened himself out of a job." Listening to clients is an important skill that must be used in the first meeting and in every interaction afterward. It is far more important to ask questions and find out about the client's issues. Clients are interested in solutions when they know their concerns have been heard.

What is excellent client service? It depends on the client. How do you know what they expect? You have to ask them. Every marketer knows that retaining current clients is the top priority in business development. One of the ways you retain clients is to deliver the level of service they want and expect. You can only do that if you continue to check with them to determine what is working for them and fix what is not working. Managing expectations is an important part of client service.

When it comes to business development, there is really only one rule:
It's all about the client.

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