This summary provides the key points from the document in 3 sentences: The document provides 10 tips for lawyers to develop business, including starting with existing clients by calling one each week to check in, following up on past clients to identify additional needs, thanking referral sources, utilizing LinkedIn, playing to your strengths, and taking a business development training course. It emphasizes finding the time for business development activities, such as spending at least 5% of your time each week on it, in order to build a base of established clients. Developing business takes effort but following these tips can help lawyers be more successful.

1. ManagingPrincipil at Law Strategjt Carp-
&
Hnd tlrc ti:ne. I cmt tdl you hur mmy
lauyem trll me drey don't haw the time to
do busins developmmt Although some
of these 1myere rc busy md pmductive,
many of them m contst, IMF afraid, or
all thm. lf 1cu dontmt to have a book
ofbusiaess that cm enable you to guide
you m couse, then dont take the time-
If you do wt to here mtabl.ished climts
thrt you can grow and *ut cm give You
&e freedom to take you pnctice whsm
you wt, then spend et least 596 of your
time each week engagcd in a business
dwelopmmt activity. You cmt mare time,
so you haw to find tlre time for busiress
developmmt md get rid of time stealss
that limit the mmnt of dme you cm
spmd.
&ff!lhe nrney. Law fims (or individual
laxyen) shouid be spmdilg 3-5% of their
gross rmue 0n marketiag md bmines
dwelopment activitis.' Buq hafore you
spmd my money,you should know what
types ofactivities have worked well in the
past, which lines of buires are lroducing
the pro$table rereaue, md s,hat kind of
breiness is the bst fit for yor or your iim.
Crcxte a solid short-tm mrketing plm
based on these facmn, md then spmd the
money to enable d:e plm to happen. This
will ensure you rc speaaing money oa rle
right activitia.
Give b gct Think about something vou
clicnts could acnrally ue that you can givc
thm for free. Aa mployment fim I
know gim awy an "emplolment law
update" booklet each yer. The offering is
testefiilly done md offercd dirmdyto
uisting climts, to prospective clients via
the fum's website (aftu they 6ll out a
simple disciairns form and provide a
secue email addrms), ard at conferocm.
The 6m Bellas &Wtshoreki offes a frre
vidso on the mtrits of Ging e attorney to
iacorporate abusinms, m nrcll re a
chrklist of considcmtioro whcn starting a
businms-'Other idm include midng ar
e-book on you spaific niche, creating a
iiee white Daper that prospective clienrs
cm domload that showases vou
expertise, or doing a podcmt on a rclevant
topic. Think outside the ba Whet re
other professional senice firms (outside of
law) doing to get busins, md how cm
you converi their wees to Your om?
tlt Bo kind, do dlat you stly yo$ ore going b
do, and keat EllBYo*E wittl lEsPeeL
People want to do breines with people
that are nice, frimdly, and kind. OPen
doors, say "than} you," make a conscious
e$ort to be polite cvery dry.
Do what you sy you ue going to do' If
you sey you are going to rettm a client call
by 3:00 p-m., thm do it.
Some people nmd minding about
treating ewryone with Gpect. I ms
recetly in a mallmt md saw a law;rr
who gcted mcwith a mile ad
haadshake. He pmaded to uke a call
while tlle mirs ffi witing for hhn to
ords. Whm othm cme to join his table,
he commmted loud enough for mrYore
to he*r that he ms giad thet they had
6n:liy mived- Embanassed, they sat down
and shrmk hto their chairs. Admittedly, I
dont know the back story on his actions,
but remember whm You rc rode, others
watching won't knw the back smry eitha'
I trust tlat thme simple steps wi1l be helpf,rl to
you, but they will work only ifyou actually try
thm. So, make something happen.It's not that
hrd...really!
' fuildw Wn lderdiy, U[kedln.csm, accessed Nirch 8.
201 5, hths/fdp.linkediE.c$r/app/h0me
' John David, "tlow ttt!61, Slwltd W &end an
,ltarkatlrg?"La$,Pressfieleas.6:s.n Blog, July 16, 2014,
aceessed tularch 8, 2015,
http/fl awsuiBressrel€ase.r$bttow-much-shouldlaw-fi I
ms-spend-ofl-marke$flg
1
kwpante l&.tt Btf,ifies€. bellas-wachowski.com,
accesssd March 9. 2015, httpl mN.beilas-
wachowskr.corldneorpomle-yotr-business.htfi{
g
April2015

2. f am often mked by fims md individual
lawym lbr the ereiet ways to dwdop buinw.
Hec re ny tcp 10 tiPs:
1. Start urith your exist*ts lxninese For
whatmr roson, your aisting dimts
chose you to be their lewyer. Capitalia on
dris. Look at you uistiag dient roll, md
each week, selat just ee of dlem to call,
simply to rach mt Consider this cail m
appointrnmt, md write it on you
calenda- Beforc 1ou ell look up the
company's rebsite or google its name so
you wi.ll tre awre of rout developmetts
involving *re company. This wiJJ give ynu a
conKrsation stilttr- Ask you dieat how
thry rc doing pemonaliy and then how
their businms is doing. Listm. Do not
mmipulate the conwtion for your m
bmefit.If thev bring up a legel ned md
ask for lour help, tlreo offer it without
swnring too hung, . lf they do not bring
up anything, ict thm know that You wt
to stay in touch md politely end the call-
This is NOT a sales call, but I have fomd
that the'hit" rate on thme cclk is uomd
X)%. This is easy ard effatiw md a great
way to firther you mlationshiP with
mlsting climts md gct nw mattm &om
them.
Examim your"fr@n M.D Most fims
trtrer uke a second lmk at a cree or
matter onre it is dosed, But thse "liom
msets" re mong you best buines
dwelopment 1eads. For aarple, if you
harc incorponted a bwins over the lst
12 months,I would il.ouage you to
follow up with tlnt mell busiams md find
out what else they might need: an
employmeat hmdboo a non-compete
agreement, a Eadcmak, a contract rwieq
a lease negotiation, etc,
The sme often holds truc for litigation
matten. It you just wapped up a contract
dispute regrding a vsrdor, thc obvious
n*t suggstion might be, "Itt me ake a
lmk at you otlcr vendor conuacts so rc
cm ryoid this qpc of isue in the futue"
This is a proactrc ruei'tc h:lp i'cu clic;ts
avoid futue litigation (wen if they might
have hired you for that litigation) ud give
them thE realiation that you re more
thm a lawyer: you re a business Pxtna
looking out for their best interest.
& Appreciabyolrrefurdsurces.I am
consistmdy mared at the nmber of
law-vers who get refenals fiom oths
}aw1ros, accountmts, or othu businss
ssociats md fail to thank thm. You
referal sources chose to rder busin€ss to
youl You shouldbc honored md shw
drem gratinrde- Evm if the refbred party
dcmnt tum out to be a "paying" client,
member to let the retixal souce know
you appeiate
the ppsture and
rwembs to
miprocate if
possible- A
lawyer I know in
NwYork invites
all of his refmal
sorces to a
dinm duing the )m. T he referal sourms
rreiw thebmefit of renvorkingwith
each othu but also feel apprciated. Ifyou
have not ben doing this, immediately sit
dom md think of the last five pople who
refered business to you md wite them a
thmk-1nu note. You gsnm will not go
rrcnoticed-
{. 0tilize Unkdkt I dont hwe enough spece
in this rticle to tell you how to do this,
but the Linledln website has wonderfirl
"hw to' artorlals on sctting uP a grut
pro6le.'Thre re a fcw ethical concms (I
would use a disclaims and nwer use the
word "ocpert " for uample), but these re
not diBanlt to eddres- If you re not
lmraging your retwork with Linkedln,
then you m mising m easY businms
dweiopmmt oppornmity-
5, Play b yotr shlgilts. I do not advmate
spendirlg tirre gerting'oettu et somerhing
1ou dont like md dont do well" If yoa m
a tenible speaka who cmt make it
drough a premtation without wutirg
prcfurely, then dont spcnd hom trying to
become a gcat speaka.Insted, spmd the
time doing something you mjoy. If you
like to wite, thm mirc a timely,
easy-to-read uticle on a relemt topic.
Thw m numsous publicatims lmking
for contmt, or you cm post your iltide on
Lilkedla or a bleg- Ifyou hate to go to
large netwcrking events: thil s€k out
smaller events where you can feel morc *t
ase. For mple, r*oose a local chapter
meeting of the rmde msmiadon You
beiong to instead ofthe statewide meetilg.
fyou do want to have established clients thatyou
can grow afld that can giveyou the &eedom to
take your practice wherever you want, then spend
at least 5% ofyour time each week engaged in a
business development activity.
'lhe point is, ifyou choos the right typc
of activitg you will tle more intrcsted md
scited about doing it, md that will lead to
more success.
5. Take a busines$ det Glopment hining
c{il$e. Ifyou had to leam a foreign
Ianguage in ordu to land a nw jo wodd
1ou just wing it? Probrbly not. I would
strongly encomge you to erc1l in a
business development tnining program
(online or in-person) or coaching progrm,
or just start Hding about the sales prcess.
You will find tlat salm is a process md cm
be lwed. High intelligence is also key to
being e great sdcpereoa, but as smart as
re lawyers are, this does not sutrstitute for
aking the tim: to masts the art of sals.
Ifyot do, the muits will maze you
z
16 April 2015