Business Development: Clients Can Come From Unexpected Places

Yesterday I spoke as part of a panel discussion about rainmaking for lawyers. We gave advice and shared examples of the ways we and other lawyers we know have developed business.

Among other things, we talked about how clients can come from unexpected places and sources.

Although we strongly recommend focusing your efforts on your target market and your niche, realize that business can and many times does come from somewhere else. You can't rely on this phenomena as a steady source of business, but it can supplement the results you get from your focused efforts and activities. Keep this in mind as you are out and about in your world, stay open to the possibilities and you'll experience this phenomena. This can happen regardless of whether you are a new lawyer or a seasoned one.

Here are a few examples of unexpected business opportunities from my career and the careers of lawyers I have known as colleagues, clients, co-counsel and opposing counsel.

1. A referral from someone who was the opposing party in a piece of litigation. The opposing party was so impressed with the skill and professionalism of his opponent's lawyer that he recommended that lawyer, not his company's own lawyer, to another company after the lawsuit concluded.

2. Referrals from associates at out of state firms. A young lawyer who joined the law department of a corporation asked her former firm for the name of the Michigan counsel the firm used as local counsel. While at the firm she had never worked on those matters or with the Michigan counsel, but she trusted her former colleague, an associate, who gave her the name of a junior partner in the Michigan firm. The inhouse counsel ended up hiring that lawyer and the lawyer got credit for bringing in that corporate client. The young Michigan lawyer's relationship with and service for the associate in the national firm led to this referral and origination. The inhouse counsel used the Michigan firm for all of her cases in the state and the Michigan lawyer received the origination credit for those cases.

3. Judges who leave the bench and take positions elsewhere have become clients of and referral sources for lawyers who have appeared before them and/or with whom they have become friends. This is because people, including former judges, do business with people they know, like and trust. Less well known is that former and active judges do get privately asked to recommend lawyers for matters that will not be before them. Whether active judges make such recommendations may depend on the judge and the jurisdiction.

4. Referral sources become clients themselves. Again, this is because people do business with people they know, like and trust.

5. Helping someone find a job. Many people who have done this naturally and without any ulterior motive have then found that they have a friend for life who never forgets how they helped in a time of need. The people you help in this way often do become excellent referral sources not just because they are grateful, but because they believe in you and they know you to be a high caliber individual.

6. Striking up conversations with people in the airport or on an airplane. A lawyer made a firm presentation to inhouse counsel at a major corporation as a result of offering cookies to a man who seemed to be listening to her conversation with her colleague in the airport. It turned out he was a lawyer and was inhouse counsel facing similar legal issues. He was also interested in the cookies being shared. The woman's ease in talking with strangers and her natural interaction with her colleague made a positive impression on the inhouse counsel.

Feel free to share your stories.

Business Development: George Clooney & Lawyers

No, this post isn't actually about George Clooney, but it is about business development and job search advice that holds true for actors as well as lawyers.

Over the weekend I heard a brief interview with a local actress who has a bit part in George Clooney's new movie, Up In The Air. Apparently she plays an airline ticket agent with a scene with Mr. Clooney. Part of the movie was filmed in the Detroit Metro Airport. When asked what advice she would give to aspiring actors and actresses who want to be in such movies, she said "Put yourself out there, meet people, network." (And she wasn't referring to another way of trying to get to the top.)

So there you have it. Whether you are an aspiring actor or a lawyer trying to develop more business or get a new job, the advice remains the same: extend yourself, meet people and build relationships.

Business Development: Luck Is What Happens When . . .

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." (Seneca, mid-1st Century Roman philosopher.)

I was reminded of this saying this week after I congratulated three lawyers on getting new clients within the last week, and then, when discussing business development, three other lawyers told me that they weren't born into country club families and/or their relatives didn't own businesses.

The second group of lawyers shares a narrow perspective about how lawyers start to develop a book of business. We could name the perspective "I Don't Have a Book of Business Because I Wasn't Lucky Enough to Have Family Connections." I think it's a commonly held perspective about rainmakers and rainmaking. It's often a very strong self-limiting belief for lawyers.

If these lawyers shifted their perspective even slightly to "Having a Book of Business Depends on Luck", they might see some new ways to attack the challenge of getting more clients.

For example, if you believe luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, then (1) prepare, and (2) start improving your chances for opportunities.

I'll leave the preparation part alone for now, and focus on how you can increase your number of opportunities, and thus improve your rainmaking.

Are you always eating lunch alone (author Keith Ferrazzi says never do this), avoiding colleagues in embarrassment because of your hours and other statistics, wondering why referral sources have gone dry, letting friendships slide, shunning networking events, procrastinating over writing articles for industry associations, making no new friends (business or otherwise), always sending email but never using the phone, giving up on new marketing efforts after just six months?

Do you talk to strangers in the airport, in line at the grocery store, at your child's soccer game, at networking events? Are you getting involved in issues and organizations that you care about and becoming a leader? Are you letting your world know who you are, what you care about, and what you can do for people and organizations that matter to you?

Or do you assume and hope that people who know you and what you do will come to you when they need a lawyer, and that those who don't know you will somehow find you?

Creating opportunities boils down to putting yourself out there, meeting people and building relationships.

Here are a few recent success stories of lawyers overcoming their own resistance, putting themselves out there and increasing their business opportunities. One of my lawyer coaching clients joined FaceBook in the last two months and this week received a job opportunity through an old friend. Another reached out to reconnect with former colleagues and now is local counsel on a matter. A third befriended a quiet partner last week and now has a strong new champion. Another lawyer recently resisted a last minute urge to skip his law school reunion and now has a new relationship.

So here are my questions for you: What's the name of the perspective you want to have on business development? And what can you start doing to create your own "luck"?

I'll write more about "resistance" in a later post. For now, consider this challenge compiled from real life examples in the last two months, including the reunion one above.

Challenge: If you get a last minute urge not to attend an event you planned to attend, RESIST! Resist that urge. Even if you were always luke warm about attending, resist and attend. Notice what happens. See what business development opportunities are there. You'll never know who you might meet unless you go.

Powerful Questions

This week, in a non-coaching context, I experienced the power of coaching questions to diffuse tension and start a productive discussion about an employee's performance. You don't have to be a coach to ask these types of questions.

• What will help you do your job?
• What do you need to get this [task accomplished]?
• What do you need from us?
• What can we do to help you to . . . ?

If these kinds of questions diffuse tension and open up discussions at work, how can they help your other relationships? What if you asked your spouse:

• What can I do to help you . . . this week?
• What do you need from the rest of us [to keep your sanity over the Thanksgiving holiday]?

Thoughtful questions to potential and current clients will elicit the same kind of information. You'll find out their pain and you'll realize what you can do to help them.

You don't have to be a lawyer coach to ask powerful questions, and you don't always have to wear your lawyer hat.