Practice Building Skills: Straight from the GC's Mouth

When trying to develop your business, it is always important to think about the client or potential client with whom you are speaking. It is vital to find out what their needs are, and to discover how you can best help them with their issues. It is important to take the time to ask your clients and potential clients detailed questions. These questions should not just pertain to the legal matter at hand. You should also be asking questions regarding how the individual or company prefers to interact with their law firm. Two companies may have similar legal issues, but have completely different expectations regarding what they are looking for from their law firm, and what they hope the final outcome will be. One of the major mistakes that we see attorneys and law firms make when they pitch business is that they spend too much time outlining their experience and what they can do for their client (the pitch), and they don't spend enough time asking their potential client what is important to them when hiring an attorney.