This article was originally published
in ALM | LAW.COM.
You’ve meticulously crafted your rainmaking roadmap, a strategic blueprint for business development success. But a roadmap is merely a guide, and won’t lead to new clients and a thriving practice by itself. It’s the consistent, purposeful action that transforms those plans into tangible results. Integrating business development into your daily routine requires intentionality and effective strategies. In this article, I offer practical insights and best practices to navigate the path from roadmap to rainmaking, ensuring your business development efforts are not just sporadic bursts of activity, but an integrated part of your daily success.
Follow This BD Rule of Thumb
You have a lot to do. Every single day. Deadlines, meetings, court appearances, calls, writing, billing. In other words, doing your job.
When you make that daily to-do list and see the amount you must get done, including immovable deadlines or commitments, business development can (and often does) fall to the bottom of that list. However, to continue being successful in private practice, you must make business development a priority.
Follow this rule of thumb: At a minimum, do one BD activity per day.
Start by setting aside a little bit of time every day to focus on your business development efforts. You know your daily rhythms best; so find the best time for you to set aside uninterrupted time to knock some things off of your business development plan of attack.
Mornings often work best, before you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the day.
Block this time off in your calendar, close your door, and don’t allow any interruptions. This is your sacred business development time.
Focus on Efforts with the Best ROI
Your time is your most valuable resource. After all, you bill your clients based on your time.
Your time is also a finite resource, which means you need to make every minute count as much as possible when it comes to business development activities.
In turn, this means focusing on activities with the highest potential and the most possible bang for the buck.
Choosing which of many alternative activities will have the best potential business ROI is not an exact science, and you may never know for sure whether you made the right call on a given day.
However, over time you can get clarity as to which efforts tend to be more fruitful and which yield marginal results. Adjust your plans and reshuffle your priorities accordingly.
In 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Steven Covey writes, “Put first things first.” In other words, focus on work that is less urgent, but more important to your long-term goals.
Apply that thinking to your business development efforts. Know where the highest potential is and focus on those prospects first.
You can always course correct and adjust so if you see that certain activities yield marginal results, redirect your efforts.
A Little Less Conversation, a Lot More Action
You have done a meticulous and thoughtful job utilizing the tools in your business development toolkit. You know exactly what you should be and need to be doing to be successful in developing the book of business you want.
All of the hard work, all of the enthusiasm, all of the vision you have put into your business development plan mean NOTHING if you don’t ACT.
But action has powerful enemies. Procrastination and inertia can team up to kill action. They are often joined by avoidance, dread, or excuses. Never underestimate the power of your brain to creatively sabotage your goals.
When you think about doing something, do it (or at least set a reminder to do it during your sacred business development time).
Pick 3-5 activities which you will DO; not think about doing, not prepare to do, but just DO. Be specific:
- Follow up with that potential referral source you met last week.
- Send an email to a potential client containing a link to that interesting news item you bookmarked yesterday.
- Write a blog post about that recent decision that came down last month.
- Work with your marketing folks to send a speaking engagement pitch letter to that industry group you’ve been targeting.
- Check in with that client who hasn’t had much work for you these past few months.
Focus first on your goals that are within your control. So, for example, with referrals, you can control how many of them you reach out to, how often you ask and how soon you call or follow up.
Leverage Your Resources—Both People and Technology
“If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.”
– Richard Branson, British entrepreneur
Make your life easier by delegating whenever possible. Some people have a hard time delegating, even if they have talented and responsible people to delegate to. These folks are often labeled “control freaks” or “micro-managers.” In reality, they could be called self-sabotaging masochists.
Look at all of the things on your business development plate. Really look at them. Then, knowing what your available resources and support are, ask yourself whether certain items are necessary for you to do.
- Calling that client to check in and say hi after a long quiet stretch? That’s all you.
- Preparing an initial draft proposal or assembling follow-up materials to send to a prospect? Can your assistant or a person in your marketing department (whose full-time job is to support your business development efforts) get started on these instead?
Your time is your most precious resource. If a given activity can be done as well (or perhaps even better) by someone else who you trust, why wouldn’t you jump at the chance to take that valuable time and use it to do something else that only you can do?
When you leverage your resources well, you can get more done for your clients and prospects and create more time to focus on business development and relationship building. And resources do not just include people; technology has come a long way to help you become more efficient.
Stay Organized
As Ferris Bueller famously said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Business moves pretty fast as well. That great conversation you had this morning with a prospect was followed by ten other calls, meetings, tasks, emails, and lunch. You could miss countless business development opportunities if you don’t stop, take some notes about the call, mark your calendar for a follow-up, or otherwise take a moment to keep all of your contacts, leads, and activities updated in a central place. Ideally, it’s your firm’s CRM software, or at a minimum, an Excel spreadsheet (like the LeadWise Pipeline Tracker) or your Outlook Contacts.
Keep on Keeping On
The path to rainmaking success is not a sprint; it’s a marathon fueled by perseverance and patience. There will be setbacks and challenges along the way. Remember, the skills that make you an exceptional lawyer are the same skills that will propel your business development efforts.
Keep refining your approach, stay adaptable, and never lose sight of your goals. The journey may be long, but the rewards—a thriving practice, fulfilling client relationships, and the autonomy to shape your professional destiny—are immeasurable. So, keep on keeping on. Your success awaits.
Onwards and upwards!
