Editor’s note: The Law Society’s Continuing Professional Development Committee will be running two seminars on ‘Rainmaking for Lawyers’ on 23 and 30 November 2004 from 5.30 to 7.30pm. For more details please refer to eJus News Extra.

The guy’s so out of it he doesn’t even have the guts to ask a client for business. He’s just a great grinder and that’s all I use him for. I bring it in and he grinds it out. We’re a great team. Only I make five times as much.

George Chambers in Making Rain, An Adventure in Law, written by Jerry Sears

Billable hours are no longer a measure of success — this applies to any professional service, including the legal profession. Whether you like it or not, advancing in your career and growing your firm means that you have to make the transition from doing work to marketing and selling it. In other words, today’s measure of success is the amount of new business you bring into your firm, (ie what matters is not how much work you grind through, but rather how much rain you make). 

The legal business is getting more and more competitive; it has never been more important to bring in new clients. Unlike manufactured products, professional services cannot be tried out or looked at before the sale. Potential clients will have no idea how your services differ from those of other law firms. How well you market yourself or your firm could well be the deciding factor between success and obscurity.  

What does rainmaking do? Essentially, two things:  

• it generates leads; and

• it converts leads into new business.

Making It Rain

Attitude and beliefs

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for lawyers is that they have had no formal training in sales and marketing. As a result, most lack the confidence to do anything other than grind out the work that others bring in and maximise billable time. Worse, they are antagonistic towards marketing because they find it demeaning. So the first step towards becoming a rainmaker is a change of attitude.

As Winston Churchill once said:


Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

If you think selling is deplorable, it is. Shift your attitude and think of selling your service as helping people find solutions to their problems or adding value to people’s lives. It’s a self-fulfilling belief.  

In order to be a successful rainmaker, you need to let go of some of your old beliefs and embrace these new ones.

Who is your ideal client?

The next crucial step is to know who your ideal client is (eg family background, occupation, recreation, money) and where you can find her. If your target clients are companies rather individuals, it would make sense to find out who the decision makers are, what the company processes are and what opportunities there are for you.

Rainmaking ‘Iceberg’ system

The great client service and work that a rainmaker produces is just the tip of the iceberg (see diagram on page 35). What you don’t see, below the surface, is the work that goes into producing these great results — lead generation and lead conversion.

Lead Generation — Professional Gravity

Instead of cold calling, there are less dreadful and more effective ways to generate leads. Here are a few activities that, if done well, will result in prospects calling you rather than you calling them.

Networking — Helping people (ie Karma)

‘I hate networking’ is a common refrain amongst most professionals, who believe that networking is in poor taste. Once again, a shift in attitude is needed. Rather than just meeting people and making small talk, think of networking as putting friends and clients together for their mutual benefit. The key to successful networking is reciprocity — helping people. The results may not be immediate, but if you keep giving, at some point, you will be on the receiving end. This is also known as karma. 

As someone once said, ‘I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.’  

People who have had the most success at networking are those that think first about helping others rather than themselves. Those that they’ve helped, more often than not, return the favour. That is, they achieve ‘professional gravity’; clients are attracted to them.

Writing articles and getting them published

Potential clients want experts, but they know little about the legal profession. Who they decide to hire will depend very much on evidence, such as published articles. Published work gives the author name recognition and builds her stature. Between this and self-acclamation, the former carries far more weight. The same applies to making speeches and getting quoted in the media (see below).  

While articles should not be relied on to generate leads directly, adding your contact details at the end of the article will increase its lead-generating power.

Speaking events

Public speaking builds your reputation as an expert. Although the audience is smaller, people who attend your speeches tend to remember you more easily than readers of your articles. During a speech, you’re likely to connect better with the audience, greatly increasing your chances of following-up with them.  

It is crucial that you always prepare well for a speaking event; apart from excellent content, your speaking style has to be entertaining. Always remember to rehearse before the event, and if need be, attend professional training courses.  

Making speeches can be a powerful way of enhancing both your reputation and that of your firm’s; it can also be very effective in generating leads, if you pick the right events (and audience), engage the audience and follow up diligently.

Getting quoted in the media 

Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.  Andy Warhol

If you needed professional investment advice, would you be more likely to ring up someone randomly picked from the Yellow Pages, or would you ring up someone who’s just been quoted in the media? Most will select the latter. Being quoted in the media is another great way to enhance your reputation as an expert and generate leads. Further, people who call you after reading or hearing your quote are already pre-qualified. It is much easier to sell your services to them than if you had to make a cold call.  

How does one get quoted in the media? Here are a few key steps:  

1. develop good relationships with the
media;

2. find a good story:           

   • is it current, urgent or controversial?

   • can you tie it to a bigger trend?

   • can you tie it to a celebrity?

   • can you take the opposite opinion?

3. speak in ‘sound bites’:
   eg instead of saying, ‘Do you know what happens if you die without a will?’, a great sound bite could be,'Do you want a bunch of strangers taking care of your family after you’re gone?’.

Tip: Leveraging Your Time with the Same Content

Writing articles takes up plenty of time. With just a little more work, you can achieve a lot more results. Use the same content from your articles for speeches, seminars and media quotes. It’s a simple strategy that can reap you great results.

Convert Leads Into New Business

You have done the hard work and now have plenty of leads to follow up on, which is a fantastic situation to be in. How do you convert those leads into new business? It boils down to relationship building.

Having good relationships with a network of people places you in a very good position to refer and receive new business. When the need for legal advice or service arises within your network of contacts, more often than not, you will be the first person people will think of calling. 

How do you build good relationships?

Similarity

You will find that it is easiest to build relationships with people who are like you, who like you and whom you like. So for starters, target such people from the leads you have generated.

Interaction

It is important to frequently interact with these people. It helps if you have something in common, like golf, for instance. Staying visible will keep you at the top of their 
minds when the need for your service arises.

Listen

It can’t be emphasised enough how important listening is. Asking good questions and listening demonstrates your interest and elicits information, which could either help you help this person or lead directly to a business opportunity.

Put Clients First

After all the work you have put into winning clients, don’t overlook an equally important aspect of rainmaking — client retention. This is achieved through delivering excellent work and providing first-class client service. Treat each client not as you would treat yourself, but how they want to be treated. Not only will you build up client loyalty, you will start getting referrals from clients — even more new business.

Monsoon Rains

Rainmaking requires hard work and patience, as the results are not immediate, but if you keep at it and are focused, you’ll reap the fruits of your labour ... and when it rains, it pours. Start creating your own monsoon.  

Paul Stefansson
ipac Financial Planning
E-mail: paul.stefansson@ipac.com.sg