Business development is, first and foremost, about people and your relationships with these people. While marketing and visibility activities (speaking, writing, etc.) are critical, it's the people who ultimately make the hiring decisions. As a lawyer, while time is rarely on your side, developing your Nurture System will help you strengthen and deepen your important relationships in ways that are sustainable and effective.
Artificial Intelligence will revolutionize law firm marketing forever. Law firms are now (or should be) leveraging the potential of AI in order to enhance their marketing efforts. By harnessing the capabilities of AI, law firms are able to expand their marketing strategies, boost efficiency, accuracy, and overall client engagement.
The problem isn't that economies are cyclical, that's a fact of life. The problem here is that Big Law can sometimes have unrealistic reactions to both upturns and downturns. If this happens, it's not in the interests of their own attorneys or their clients. It's inhumane and unhealthy.
Your clients are what they are, clients. The idea that they can be turned into bigger clients by you developing them is a myth. If you need to develop yourself to make your clients bigger — such that they send you more of their business more often — how do you go about it?
Someone may think we are exceptionally kind, funny and compassionate, but may not be assured we can accomplish a client's goal, in which case they will be hesitant to refer business to us. So, how do we begin to inspire trust and confidence in the first meeting?
While General Counsel are becoming involved in more areas of the business, especially as a result of COVID, their core responsibility remains enterprise risk. The conversation at a recent general counsel panel at the Southern California Marketing Partners Forum examined the evolution of the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel roles, especially in light of increasingly lean staffs and support and the ways in which outside counsel may be well-positioned to help bring more resources, more support, and more collaboration to the relationship.
People refer business to those they like and trust, and both are equally important. Someone may believe we are the best at what we do, but if they don't really like us, they are not going to refer business to us. So, how do we begin to inspire trust and confidence in the first meeting?
While General Counsel are becoming involved in more areas of the business, especially as a result of COVID, their core responsibility remains enterprise risk.
While the law firm model has historically rewarded inefficiencies, recent trends show that model is reaching its expiration date.
Looking forward, firms appear to be counting on rate increases to maintain profitability, but there are signs that clients are likely to be more resistant to further rate hikes as payments slow down and realization was in decline at the end of 2022.
