A couple of weeks ago I spoke to a group of lawyers attending the Arkansas State Bar meeting. The title of my program was: “Securing, Retaining and Expanding Relationships with Clients.” Because my main focus was on professionalism and becoming more valuable to clients, the lawyers attending the program received CLE ethics credit.

To secure, retain and expand relationships with clients, you should begin with a short attitude check. What do I mean by attitude? Listen to how you talk to yourself.

Do you say: “Yes, but,” or do you say: “Sure how”

Do you say: “My problem is,” or do you say: My opportunity is”

Do you frequently say: “I need to” or do you say: “I want to”

Do you say: “I am too busy to…” or do you say: “I can…”

Do you think planning means less free time or do you think planning means less stress?

Are you focused on just pleasing others or are you focused on what is important to you?

Do you associate working too hard with success or do you think about what your success will bring you?

These are all attitude checks. To be both successful in your career and fulfilled in your life, it really helps to start with having a great attitude about your future.

If you would like to receive a copy of the handout materials from my presentation, contact Joyce at jflo@cordellparvin.com

Dave is a Pennsylvania lawyer I have been coaching for about 15 months. He is great for me to coach because he has a burning desire to always get better. He frequently forwards to me his thoughts and ideas for my comments. He recently sent me this email that I thought explained many things I have been trying to teach. So, I wanted to share it with you and offer a way to implement the thought.

I read something last night I thought you would like and appreciate. Before Stewart Cink’s victory last week, his golf coach told him: “Don’t confuse your goals with the reward.” It means that the goal is not victory, that is the reward. The goals are based on a one shot at a time approach: take the right approach on each shot; make each shot count; visualize each shot; be consistent on each shot; use the right swing thoughts, etc. Applied to what we do, this means that the goal is not to have a $2M book or to have financial security. Those are the rewards. Our goals are the small steps we need to accomplish everyday in order to get the consistent $2M book. It’s akin to a saying: Think big, but focus small.

I hope you are well. And thanks for all your help.

Even though I have not thought about it quite this way, I have used this idea in my own planning and goal setting. Each year I set a goal for the amount of business I wanted to bring in. That is the reward that Stewart Cink’s coach mentioned to him. It has always been important for me to have some kind of target like this. David Rock, who is an expert on goal setting says it is similar to an Olympic athlete wanting to win a gold medal. He says: “Imagine if the Olympics didn’t have any medals involved, or worse if there was no way of measuring who had won any of the events. I expect the world record times would be a little lower than they are now.”

So it is important to have a goal that would be the equivalent of an Olympic gold medal in your career. But, I did not stop there. After setting the goal, I made a list of all the activities I wanted to do that I hoped would lead me to my reward. I used my imagination and creativity to develop the list. Next, I set shorter-term goals (60-90 Days) based on the list. Finally, each week I write down what I want to accomplish that week and if I can I actually schedule my activities.

Lately I have been asked to review and comment on drafts of website bios. Since a great number of lawyers I am coaching are wondering about website bios, I thought I would share my thoughts. Keep in mind, I am not a website designer or a branding expert, but I have prepared many drafts of my own website bio when I was practicing law, I have read articles about the topic and I have looked at hundreds of lawyer website bios, so I will share with you my thoughts and how I see website bios changing in the future.

First, I have to offer a confession. Back in the old days, I hated the once a year ritual of updating my Martindale-Hubbell bio. I am not exactly sure, but I think I thought it was a waste of time. I was AV rated and I thought that was all clients cared about when they did research on a lawyer. Additionally, the potential clients in my target market knew me. When law firms first created websites in the 90s, many of us merely cut our Martindale-Hubbell bio and pasted it in the new law firm bio. I again looked at it as a waste of time.

I think website bios are now more important than ever. Clients are no longer local or loyal. They still tend to hire lawyers over law firms and they screen lawyers by their profile. I also think website bios are more important than ever for younger lawyers. In a 2001 survey of how buyers of legal services view websites, Greenfield Belser Ltd. learned that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed go online to locate outside counsel. They go directly to the firm websites and rely on search engines also. I bet the percentages are far greater in 2008 than they were seven years ago.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

Photos: I think they should be in color and not just mug shots. I also believe it is important to dress for success when your photo is taken. It is not a good idea to have the website photos taken after the cocktail party at the firm retreat. It is also not a good idea to use the photographer who does 1000 photos for the church directory or school.

Industry Expertise: In the 2001 survey, Greenfield Belser learned that two-thirds of the searches by buyers of legal services target specific industry expertise. So, if your practice lends itself to one or two industries it is important to identify those on your website bio.

Experience: Experience handling a particular type of matter is important. I believe that buyers of most legal services want to know whether the lawyer they are hiring has experience handling the particular type of matter for which they need help.

Articles/Presentations: I believe this is a particularly important area for young lawyers. I was once asked to do a presentation to a group of lawyers, many of whom handle insurance coverage cases. Like a potential client I went on line and did a search for insurance coverage and lawyers. None of the names of the lawyers attending the workshop came up in my search. I did find a lawyer who had three pages of articles and presentations on every aspect of insurance coverage. I have no idea if she is a great lawyer, but I know she must know this area of law very well to get published and asked to speak so often.

Downloads: If you have written articles or given presentations, make sure a potential client can download them. That way instead of “selling” you are “showing” your expertise. I recommend you consider having your presentation materials downloadable and even recommend you include video clips from a presentation, but only if a professional did the video.

What Makes You Unique: I believe the website bio is a place to identify what makes you unique and special. One of the best young lawyers who worked for me had grown up in his family’s construction business and had actually run a part of the business. Another associate in our firm had worked as an engineer for the state department of transportation. Those two lawyers had construction experience that our construction clients would value. An associate in my old firm spoke German fluently, having lived in Germany for two years. That might be something a German based company would value. A lawyer I am coaching was a manager of a McDonald’s restaurant before going to law school. Another lawyer I am coaching grew up in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently.

Future Website Bio Features: I am not sure whether any firm is doing it yet, but I predict that some day soon a potential client will be able to click on the website photo of the lawyer and watch a short video. Why is this an important change? To paraphrase a Seth Godin quote: “Our clients have way less time and way more choices.” They need ways to determine whether you are the kind of lawyer and person who they want to hire. The video is a way to get to know you. Check out http://www.mvsp.biz/ to get an idea of what I am talking about. Or, if you remember Sean Yazbeck who won “The Apprentice” during the fifth season, you might enjoy seeing some of the innovative use of video on his webpage. http://seanyazbeck.com.

Yesterday we did a Webinar for the lawyers I am coaching titled: “Voice of the Client.” The presenters were Charlie Miller, a transactional lawyer and deputy managing partner with Patton Boggs and Ronna Cross, a former practicing lawyer who is the Business Development Director with Patton Boggs. Charlie and Ronna are great friends of mine and I always feel like I learn something new from them when we are together. Yesterday was no exception. Here is a short summary of what they covered yesterday.

How to talk to existing or prospective clients?

1. Listening is much more effective than talking! Mouth Closed and Ears Open. The rule of thumb should be that you do 20% of the talking (and only when prompted) and 80% of the listening.

2. Your experience and expertise are not sustainable topics of conversation (or for that matter interesting).

3. The best topics for discussion are based on the strategic, operational and economic issues that your client’s or prospect’s team regularly discuss. This is where research and reading business publications pays off.

4. Here are the most common topics:

- Capital: funding for on-going operations, acquisitions & growth (this is particularly relevant given the current “credit crisis”).
- Products/Services: the what, when, where and how of commerce (customers, vendors, markets, distributors, intermediaries, etc.).
- Competition: differentiation, positioning and good ol’ gossip about them.
- Distribution: go-to-market-strategies and -schemes (direct, independent distributors, franchising, licensing, retail, wholesale and internet strategies).
- Talent: Recruitment, Training and Retention.
- External Relationships: “The intersection of business and government.”

5. Current Business, Political and Sports Topics for filler or as a warm-up. But these are not sustainable subjects either. And Political topics can be dangerous. Keep your comments in the middle of the aisle.

6. Don’t talk about specific transactions or adversary matters involving other clients. Clients and prospective clients will perceive that you are not a trusted confidante. In other words, if you are telling them inside or confidential information about other clients, they will assume you will tell other clients inside or confidential information about them.

Charlie told those on the webinar that he has a periodical reading list. It is specifically aimed at transactional lawyers but I think litigators would find it valuable also. If you are interested in getting a copy send Joyce an email jflo@cordellparvin.com

Last week I wrote about client development training and programs. I shared with you that while I feel lawyers learn a great deal from workshops I do at firm retreats and other events, I believe very few lawyers actually retain very much, and even fewer actually make changes. My belief is consistent with neuroscience research, which has documented that most people have the mental capacity to focus on only one new idea at a time and that it is important to allow moments of “insights.” One article worth reading is “Why Neuroscience Matters to Executives” by David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz. They point out that during the moment of insight, the brain undergoes neural connections that enhance mental resources and overcome resistance to change.

As a result of my experience and study, I have decided to teach client development in 50 weekly Webinar programs that lawyers can download and watch at their leisure. If you, or your firm, are interested in gaining the greatest benefit from this type of learning experience, keep a couple of things in mind. First, watch each program weekly. If you wait and watch several all at one time, you will lose the benefit of focusing on one new idea at a time. Second, get a colleague to also watch them so you can develop your own insights and brainstorm how you will use them. If you are interested in learning more about the Webinar programs for you or for your firm, contact Joyce at jflo@cordellparvin.com. Here is a preview of the topics I plan to cover:

Week 1: Client Development in a Nutshell
An introduction to client development
Four eras from just do good work to becoming remarkable in the eyes of your clients
Why it is challenging
How it is changing
What we will cover in the program

Week 2: Why Focusing on Client Development is Important - The real joy for most lawyers is when clients start looking to them to help solve their problems or achieve their goals, so helping clients solve problems and achieve their goals is fulfilling.

Week 3: My Story, If I can Do it So Can You - I will share with you what I did, why it worked and what did not work.

Week 4: What Junior Associates Should Focus On - The earlier to start to focus clients and their needs the better. While you are focusing on learning to become a great lawyer and doing your billable work there are a few things to do that will help you in the future.

Week 5: What Senior Associates Should Focus On - It is time to get more valuable in the eyes of your clients and potential clients. This session will provide ideas to accomplish that.

Week 6: Attributes of Successful Rainmakers - While we are all different, with some of us are extraverted and some introverted, there are certain attributes that most rainmakers seem to share

Week 7: Take Responsibility and Control of Your Successful Career - It is not about the firm or other outside forces, it is about you. I will discuss attitudes and approaches successful lawyers have and take.

Week 8: Time Management - While it is difficult to have balance in our life, I will provide techniques to plan time based on priorities in our career and life.

Week 9: Getting Things Done: What You Can Learn from David Allen’s book - Applying the Getting Things Done approach will help you save time by being better organized.

Week 10: Avoiding Client Development Mistakes - Mistakes I have made and seen others make and how to avoid them.

Week 11; How to start - Tools for your client development tool kit

Week 12: Why You Need a Plan and Written Goals - ”Most people aim at nothing and hit it with amazing accuracy.” When our time is our most precious asset, we will want to use it most wisely

Week 13: How to Prepare a Plan - There are a variety of types plans for lawyers. I will share with you examples and the strengths of each

Week 14: How to Prepare Effective Goals - Effective goals are more than SMART goals. I will show you how to set goals that will energize you to achieve them

Week 15: What Steps to Take to Actually Achieve Goals - Why do some people achieve their goals and others do not. I will share with you what works.

Week 16: Getting Through the Dip: Persistence and Patience - What to do when you are not getting results and when to change your approach

Week 17: How Are We Doing So Far and What to Do Now - This session will give you ideas on how you are doing so far. I invite participants to share their insights from what they have learned so far.

Week 18: Attributes of Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen - Each of us is unique in our own ways. While there are attributes all rainmakers share, there are approaches that work more effectively for certain types of lawyers. Taken from Malcom Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point” I will share with you what works best for connectors, for mavens and for salesmen and women.

Week 19: Introduction to Building Your Profile and Becoming a “Go to” Lawyer - In this day and time, It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you. This session we will discuss how to become visible to your target market

Week 20: A Brand Called You - Your firm may have a brand. I will show you how to create your own brand.

Week 21: Your Website Bio - Clients and potential clients actually review your website bio. What do they tell us? How website bios will change.

Week 22: How to Pick Topics for Articles - Topics that will actually appeal to your target market

Week 23: How to Write an Article that Will Get You Hired - Title, first paragraph, length and how to get it published

Week 24: How to Get Speaking Engagements - Don’t just ask. I will show you how to create something that will get you invited to speak.

Week 25: How to Prepare for a Speaking Engagement - Working the room before the room is assembled.

Week 26: Avoiding Death by PowerPoint - I will show you good and bad actual PowerPoint slides

Week 27: Presentation Skills: How to Connect with Your Audience - How to open, how to close, how to make your presentation interesting

Week 28: How to Follow Up After a Presentation - Follow up is important, but it is equally important not to follow up in a way that causes your target market to perceive you are “needy” or “greedy.”

Week 29: Networking 101 - Even if you hate networking you need to know how to do it.

Week 30: Developing Your Elevator Speech and Elevator Questions - What should you say when asked what you do? Better yet, what kind of questions should you ask to learn more about the person with whom you are speaking?

Week 31: How to Remember Names of People You Meet - Lawyers generally do a very poor job at this. I will share with you techniques to use

Week 32: How to Become More Focused on Your Contacts - Not every contact is equal and random lunches don’t work. How to focus on your most important contacts

Week 33: How to become more Valuable with Friends Who Already Have Lawyers or Law Firms - There are only a few ways to break through. I will share those ways with you.

Week 34: Think Like a Client - In law school we are taught to “Think like a lawyer.” That is fine except the work we are doing is for clients

Week 35: What Clients Want - I will share with you what clients say they want in surveys and what they want that they do not report in surveys.

Week 36: How Clients Decide - It is not just about expertise and experience or about hourly rates. It also differs based on whether it is a “bet the company” matter, real time trusted advisor advice or commodity work any lawyer can do.

Week 37: How Not to Sell - Paying Attention to What You Do Not like About How Others Sell You- I will share with you examples of selling that none of us would appreciate

Week 38: Beyond Selling Part 1 - Getting a Meeting and Preparing for a Potential Client Meeting-What to do to get the potential opportunity and how to get ready for the client meeting

Week 39: Beyond Selling Part 2 - What to do during the potential client meeting and how to follow up-How to begin the meeting, questions, listening, when to talk about you and your firm, what to do about firm marketing materials.

Week 40: Beyond Selling a Case Study - I will discuss an actual example I experienced I will also discuss answers to questions I received when I asked in-house executives and lawyers

Week 41: Charisma and Persuasion - Some of it is God given, but much of it can be learned. I will show you how

Week 42: Likeability, Building Trust and Rapport - All things else being equal, client representatives will do business with lawyers they know, like and trust. I will show you how to build this type of relationship

Week 43: Extraordinary Client Service - Surveys show that 75% of the Fortune 1000 General Counsel say they would fire their current law firms if they thought any would do any better on client service. What are they looking for and how can you provide it

Week 44: Expanding Relationships with Existing Clients - Now you have the client relationship. How can you expand and build the relationship without appearing to be selling them.

Week 45: Cross-Servicing Clients - Cross selling does not work because clients perceive we are focused on our own interest rather than theirs. I will show you how to cross service clients

Week 46: Stay in Touch Without Being a Pest - Out of site is out of mind. Yet, nothing is worse than to be perceived to be a pest. I will share with you ideas to stay in touch.

Week 47: Becoming Remarkable in the Eyes of Your Clients with Little Things - Develop: Ways you can make your client representative’s job easier.

Week 48: Building Your Team - You are pretty limited without a team. How to build the team.

Week 49: Supervision and Delegation for Success - Ideas on how to delegate and supervise your work

Week 50: Wrap Up: Client Development Principles and Practical Tips - I will be looking for participants to share with me their insights from the program and I will share those and insights from other groups with the entire group. I will also discuss “What to do next.”

Have you ever thought about why your lawyers are not transitioning from being associates whose main function is to get the work done to partners whose main function is to bring in business, build and expand relationships with clients and supervise the junior lawyers? When I was the partner in charge of attorney development at my old firm, I spoke at our new partner orientation each year. I began my presentation by asking: “How many of you have written goals and a written plan to achieve them?” The first year I asked this question, I was astonished when no hands were raised. Here I was addressing our very best young lawyers and not one of them had written goals and a plan.

I decided to try and better understand why. In the process of learning, I discovered I had greatly underestimated the challenge of getting lawyers to change and become more focused about client development. I bet your law firm leaders who are near my age have underestimated it as well. I also learned that the carrot and stick approach did not work and waiting until they are partners to begin client development training made it even more difficult. Recently scientists have done considerable research on the brain’s role in both learning and performance. They have found that we have both a “hard wired” part of our brain and a “working memory” part of our brain. For the learning and training we offer lawyers to be effective, we must seek to move it from the working memory part of the brain to the hard wired part of the brain.

In a nutshell, what does this scientific information mean? Your young lawyers are “hard wired” to get their hours. But, they are not hard wired on developing their profile as a “go-to” lawyer and building relationships with contacts and clients. Most firms wait until their lawyers become partners to begin their client development training. By then, it is more difficult than ever to get them to change. So, I encourage you to begin training your lawyers to develop client development habits as soon as they arrive at your law firm.

Second, the training you do for associates should be in bite sized pieces, not half day or full day workshops. Get them to focus on client development ideas and solutions, not on the problems they have to overcome to do client development. Let them come to their own answers. Studies have shown that when people experience an “ah ha” moment on their own there is a sudden adrenaline energy rush that is conducive to making changes. Finally, training by itself will not likely be successful. However, training with follow-up mentoring or coaching will way more likely be successful.

Here are my ideas on what each level of lawyer should be learning.

Junior Associates:

1. Dress for Success
2. Business Etiquette
3. How to Network
4. How to Remember Names
5. Active Listening Skills
6. Systematic Ways to Keep in Contact
7. What Clients Want and Expect
8. Taking Control of Your Career
9. How to Set Goals and Prepare a Development Plan
10. Using Non-Billable Time Wisely

1. Client Development Principles and Practical Tips
2. Building Profile: (a) Your Website Bio; (b) Writing Articles that Will Generate Business: (c) Presentations the Will Generate Business; (d) Joining Organizations and Associations; (e) How to Follow Up After an Event
3. Building Relationships with Clients: (a) How Clients Select; (b) What Clients Want; (c) Learning the Voice of the Client; (d) Thinking Like a Client; (e) How to ask questions; (f) Client Service; (g) Building Trust; (h) Building Rapport; (i) Personality Traits; (j) Following Up After Completing Project
4. RFPs and Client Pitches
5. Client Interviews

New Partners:

1. Coaching Program-Group and Individual: (a) Setting a Group Goal; (b) Developing Action Items to Achieve the Group Goal; (c) Accountability
2. How to Prepare a Business Development Plan: (a) Setting Business Development Goals; (b) Developing Action Items to Achieve the Goals; (c) Making Client Development Part of Habits
3. Connectors, Mavens or Salesmen and How Each Can Best Use Time
4. Riches in Niches-Becoming the “Go to” Lawyer
5. Building the Team
6. Cross Serving
7. Client Visits
8. Selling Skills
9. Becoming a Trusted Advisor
10. Client Development Mistakes to Avoid
11. Dealing with Difficult Clients

I am writing an article outlining my thoughts on this subject in more detail. If you are interested in reading the article when it is published, or if you would like links to articles on the scientific research I have read, drop me a note.

I have told this story about a financial advisor many times. It taught me what it feels like when someone is selling me.

Tom is a financial advisor I know here in Dallas. His wife and Nancy are friends and we have played golf as couples a few times. Tom is really, really a nice guy, but, in my view he has made many cardinal mistakes in trying to get my business.

A few years ago, Tom’s assistant called me and said: “Mr. Smith would like to know if you would like to play golf with his group on Saturday.” My first thought was: “If Mr. Smith really wanted me to join him, wouldn’t he have called me himself?” I decided Mr. Smith was having his assistant call a “prospect” list.

Fast forward to 2007. I no longer work downtown. I discover my office is in the same building as Mr. Smith’s and that he is most anxious for me to join him for lunch. I knew it would not be a social lunch between friends. Tom was looking for the opportunity to sell me his financial services. I immediately thought: “I can run, but now that we are in the same building, I can’t hide forever.”

Sure enough, in January of this year, Tom finally had me cornered. He and his son had joined Nancy and I during a round of golf. During the round he asked when I would next be in my office so I could join him for lunch. Knowing I could not say: “never,” I told him I would in be in office on Tuesday.

I went downstairs Tuesday at noon for what I anticipated would be a sales lunch. Because I teach lawyers how to interact with potential clients, I thought that at the worst I would see an experienced sales professional in action.

The lunch was very nice. We sat in Tom’s office where he had a flat screen TV tuned to a financial station and I thought that was very cool. I expected the small talk about golf and our spouses and waited to see how Tom would transition to business. Here is how he did it: “Let, me tell you about my company.” He proceeded to give me a bit of a history lesson and talked about how the company is full service and can handle all my financial services. The one advantage of having Tom tell me all this is I could eat rapidly and just keep nodding my head.

Finally Tom popped the big question: “Cordell, would you like to be able to put away more for retirement that would not be taxed?” That is like asking if I would like to have someone give me a million dollars. Knowing Tom expected me to say: “Yes, tell me how.” I, instead said: “Yes, and I have been talking that over with MY financial advisor.” I put the emphasis on the word MY purposely to let him know I already had someone with whom I was happy. Not to be deterred, Tom spent the next 15 minutes telling me what I already knew about Defined Benefit Plans for small businesses.

When I got home, I told Nancy that even though I made clear I did not need a new financial advisor, I knew I would receive an email from Tom…the follow up. Sure enough I got this email:

Cordell, please let me know if you want any assistance in designing a qualified retirement plan for you—many times we can maximize the benefits for the principal and minimizing the same for other employees. Most principals want to obtain at least 80% of contributions so that the IRS tax savings pays for the other employees. I’m available to assist you..Tom

(As an aside, just suppose Joyce, my loyal and trusty assistant happened to see this email and concluded I was trying to minimize her benefits. Had I been Tom, I think I would have inquired about Joyce during our meeting.)

So, what can we learn about selling legal services from my experience? Send me an email or post a comment with your thoughts and I will send you my Top 10 Selling Mistakes. If you think about how you would feel from what I have written above, I believe you uncover many of the Top 10 Selling Mistakes.

I am frequently asked by lawyers I am coaching for marketing tools for their tool kit. Here is my Top 25 list of tools I have shared with them:

1. Your plan - it is not the plan itself that is so important as the planning that goes into it. Time is a precious asset. Planning will help you use it wisely.

2. Google Alerts - you can set up a google alert for your clients (put names in quotes) and topics (for me highway construction, bridge construction, etc). I use Gmail to get them so my office email is not cluttered.

3. Monarch stationary and/or cards - use these for handwritten notes. I had both firm ones and personal ones.

4. Your website bio - clients look at this. Is your photo current and are you happy with it? Can a client download articles you have written or presentations you have given. Update often.

5. What your clients read - find out what they read and subscribe (e.g. All my construction clients read Engineering News Record).

6. “Getting Things Done” - a book by David Allen that will provide ideas for you to save time. (I actually saw wood on the top of my desk for the first time in 20 years.) You can go to David’s website www.davidco.com

7. “Trusted Advisor” and “Clients for Life” - two must read books. Unless we are lawyers who are like heart surgeons and handle only one matter for a client, we all want to be trusted advisors for clients for life. Consider making these two books a “book club” reading activity.

8. Accountability - pick someone in your firm to brainstorm with and to help make you more accountable (this is like having a fitness partner).

9. Youtube - I am able to find short videos done by authors of my favorite business books.

10. Blogs and Podcasts - these are the marketing tools for your generation. Great way to become more visible to your target market.

11. Your target market - I coined a phrase “if you market to everyone you market to no one”. One of the biggest changes in my legal career has been the move to more specialization. Seek to become the “go to” lawyer for a narrow market.

12. Sticky Messages (taken from the book: “Made to Stick”) - you will see me write about it dozens of times. Your clients do not care about what you do. Your ability to anticipate your clients’ problems, opportunities, internal changes and external changes before your competitors and even before your clients is a great predictor of success. (This is also a reason to narrow your market.

13. Presentations - using PowerPoint that does not put the audience to sleep. Go to any all day CLE with panels of lawyers and you will typically see lots of words and bullet points. There is nothing worse than a lawyer presenter reading lots of words or bullet points on a slide. Learn presentation skills and make your presentation different. Have your trusty assistant read “Beyond Bullet Points” by Cliff Atkinson and you go to his website http://www.beyondbullets.com/ and read short articles he has there.

14. Your elevator speech and your elevator questions - you will inevitably be asked what you do. Have several answers on the tip of your tongue. Don’t just say I am a litigator. It is also important for other lawyers in your firm to have a clear idea of what you do so they can think how you might help their clients. Have elevator questions ready because, being candid, people do not care about what you do and they love to tell you what they do.

15. Listening skills - this is the most important and most overlooked skill for us. Most lawyers are already thinking about how they will respond while their client or contact is talking. Learn to listen.

16. Remembering names - why are we so bad at it? (See 15 above). There are tricks you can practice and use.

17. Getting outside your comfort zone - the world’s greatest at anything practice things outside their comfort zone. That is how they get better.

18. Focus on your most important contacts in a systematic way. I use an excel spread sheet and rank my contacts three ways so I focus on the most important ones.

19. Follow up - many lawyers lose out on opportunities by not following up.

20. Holiday cards have become a modern day version of spam. Do something unexpected.

21. Never appear to be greedy or needy. Clients can see it in our eyes. Put the client or potential client first. Think of the long term relationship not just the matter. (See 7 above).

22. Use the 80-20 rule. Don’t talk about yourself or your firm until you are asked and even then tread lightly. Learn to ask questions and listen. You are well served if the client or potential client is talking 80% of the time.

23. Be patient and persistent - most lawyers give up if they do not get results right away. Do not get discouraged.

24. Do something no matter how small each day. One group I coached made a list of 35 potential things they could do each day. One lawyer I am coaching created his own list. If you are interested in either list, I will send you a copy.

25. Have fun - have an insatiable desire to learn and follow your passion. Those lawyers who have gotten the most from the coaching programs I have done have been those who have had the most fun doing it and the greatest desire to become better at client development.

I read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review October, 2006 issue: “The Tools of Cooperation and Change” by Clayton M. Christensen, Matt Marx and Howard H. Stevenson. The focus was on leaders using the right tools to encourage people to work together to get results based on the circumstances they face. I thought of law firm leaders as I was reading and decided I would share the authors’ points as if it was written for a law firm rather than a company.

The authors suggest that leaders who want to move their organizations in a new direction must first understand the degree to which law firm partners and associates agree in two dimensions: (1) What they want out of being a member or associate of the firm and (2) How to achieve what they want.

A couple of years ago my friend, Roger Hayse, made the same point to me. He showed me a chart he had done with a list of statements on the left and 1-5 on the right with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. His list included things like profits per partner, collegiality, holding firm members accountable, teamwork, client service, work-life balance and a variety of other topics. Roger told me that if the super majority of lawyers in a firm either strongly agreed with an item or strongly disagreed, that would be ok. But, if a good number strongly agreed and a like number strongly disagreed, that would make it very difficult to lead the firm.

The authors of the Harvard Business Review article would agree. They state that when people in an organization disagree on what they want and how to achieve it, the only tools that induce cooperation are “power tools, which are essentially coercion and fiat” Since lawyers are so autonomous, there is no way that tool would ever work for any extended period of time.

The authors believe that if people want the same thing but disagree on how to achieve it, “leadership” tools will be effective. If a firm’s lawyers agree on what they want, a charismatic law firm leader with a powerful vision of what the firm can accomplish that is clearly articulated, can move the firm’s lawyers to achieve it. Those leaders will motivate and energize the members of their firm.

Are there a super majority of lawyers in your firm who agree on what they want? If not, leading them will be extremely challenging.

Over the last week, I read two interesting articles about the legal profession. A friend of mine sent me a link to an article in the April issue of the Philadelphia Magazine. The article: “The Last Days of the Philadelphia Lawyer” talked about changes going on in the legal profession. The second article dated April 30, 2008 was from The American Lawyer and was titled: “Lessons of the Am Law 100: Is the Golden Age Over?” These two articles focused on the not so subtle changes our profession is facing and will continue to face over the next several years. In fact, many pundits have predicted that the days of the 200-400 lawyer regional firm are numbered.

Consider these shifts in the size and composition of our profession over the last several years:

Merger mania. In 1997, in the heat of the bull market, just 11 law firm mergers were completed. In 2007, as the economy was deteriorating there were over 50 law firm mergers.

Increased revenues per firm. According to Altman Weil, in 2006, Average revenue per lawyer in the law firms surveyed was up 4.3% to $419,826 in 2005 seven firms produced more than $1 billion in gross revenue.

More lawyers. In 1951, there were approximately 200,000 lawyers in the United States, 1 for roughly every 700 people in the nation. Skip forward to 2007 and the profession had grown to about 1,143,358 licensed lawyers representing 1 lawyer for roughly every 200 persons. At this rate we are not far from the day that there will be a one-to-one relationship between licensed lawyers and American citizens.

Size of law firms. In 1960, there were only 38 law firms in the entire country with more than 50 lawyers. By 1985 there were more than 500 firms of that size or bigger. Today, a 50-lawyer firm is considered a small firm. In most cities a firm that size is a relatively recent start-up, a merger candidate or a highly specialized boutique. Today’s largest law firms include thousands of lawyers. The average number of lawyers in the Am Law 100 is 781.

Increased Profit per Partner. Not too long ago, partners who claimed a $250,000-per-year share of profits, considered themselves well-off. But in today’s high-end, highly competitive world of business law, this would be a dangerous level of performance for a firm of any substantial size. Consider the PPP of the nation’s 100 largest law firms: In 2006, for the first time, a majority of America’s 100 top-grossing firms had profits per equity partner of $1 million or more.

Litigation. Because large law firms are so focused on increasing profits per partner, they no longer want the kind of work that provided opportunities for young lawyers to go to court. I can remember when I started, a group of associates met at the courthouse frequently as each of us had small insurance subrogation cases, or court appointed criminal defense cases to litigate. Now, I know litigation associates who become partners in their firms without ever trying a case. Needless to say that can be disheartening for a young lawyer who aspires to try cases.

Law firms are becoming bigger and richer, and young lawyers are earning more than ever before, which seems more cause for cheer than concern. So why is our money-hungry profession in crisis, why are our clients dissatisfied with the quality of our legal services and why are so many young lawyers disillusioned with our profession?

Law firms are growing – and closing – at record rates in the new millennium, and our entire profession is being turned upside down. Many law firm leaders fail to recognize the need to change the main focus from profits and billable hours to clients and the development of the firm’s young lawyers.

I am reminded of our 2004 Olympic basketball team – talented losers. Compare that team to the first U.S. “Dream Team” that included Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Those players never let their exceptional skills substitute for adherence to the game’s fundamentals. Jordan, who often seemed like a one-man, high-flying, point-making machine, never forgot his philosophy, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” And Bird was a player so dedicated to fundamentals that he always showed up for a game hours before anyone else – so he could dribble the ball and detect any flaws on the court.
Both men – and their teammates – recognized the power of focusing on the basket, not the scoreboard. The 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team included just as much talent, but took a third-place bronze medal because they were less focused than the Argentine and Italian teams on the basics of basketball.

Many law firm leaders who are focused on the scoreboard – The AM Law profits per partner – will ultimately lose in an economic downturn to those who understand the value of the fundamentals - training, motivating and retaining their best talent and providing exceptional service to their clients.