Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to breathe new life into your practice – new or existing – for a successful 2010.  Drink lots of water, eat fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly, and develop good marketing habits early. It’s simple, really; just activate some basic business development strategies now and reap the rewards.  

Consider your sources of work. Files can come from down the hall or from across the street (or some claim it can fall from the clear blue sky).  And because you’ll likely share an elevator each morning with a potential “client”, let’s consider your “internal” market first. 

1. If you’re an associate, most work will initially come from within the firm. Develop a reputation as a keener: someone who demonstrates reliability, initiative, resourcefulness and independence. Get on committees, attend firm functions, arrive at meetings punctually and prepared and always meet (or beat) deadlines. 

2. Get a mentor.  Attach yourself to a (willing) partner.  Choose someone who has plenty of work that’s of interest to you, is well-connected and respected throughout the firm.  Ask to be included on a non-billable basis in client meetings, lunches, signings, court appearances – as a keener you can add value. 

3. Get to know all the partners.  Lunch, meet, interview.  Ask questions and target each as a potential source of work.  Ask if they need help and only turn down work if you can’t possibly meet the deadline. 

4. Maintain regular contact with the leaders of your firm. Stay in regular touch with your managing partner, practice group leaders, and marketing partner. Do so with a healthy degree of respect for their time and you will advance your position among this influential group. 

5. The staff and administration can also propel you to success. The librarian, as one example, is often on the pulse of active files and is a great person to get on-side. 

Now that you’re en route to developing a positive reputation inside the firm, take your marketing to the street. 

6. Join an organization of interest; one that can lead to work. Read this twice: this is a long term endeavor. Good face to face rapport will ensure future mailings, e-mails, and phone calls will have more impact. 

7. Get curious about clients’ industries – skim just one or two of their publications, attend conferences, meetings and talk to the players (even if you have to unglue yourself from a wall to introduce yourself), and you will naturally fall into the fold. Soon you will be a contributor. 

8. Write a lot. Distill recent decisions, rework an opinion memorandum, co-author an article with a partner and get published on your firm’s website, in trade publications and online sources. 

9. Stash your business cards everywhere so you always have some on hand. Collect cards and value them. Create a database – even Outlook, Maximizer or Excel will do. Use the convenience of a database to keep in touch through events, newsletters, holiday cards, lunch, phone calls, etc.  

10. Develop five-star client service habits.  If you were a client, how would you want your lawyer to handle your matter? Engage your assistant’s help and together create an impressive client service experience model that is activated for every client. 

Before you know it, you’ll need to make note of the transactions, closings and decisions that you’ve worked on.  Your work history is akin to your inventory, so to speak – keep a running index so you can trot it out when a client asks if “you’ve worked on this sort of thing before.” 

Limit your trans fats, get plenty of sleep and you’re well on your way to a productive 2010.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Business tips, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.