A guide to Law Firm Business Development

The need for business development is crucial to gain new clients. With new law firms establishing each year, spending on business development has become a significant factor in determining whether your law firm will stay afloat.

If you’re a lawyer looking to start your law firm or a proprietor of a law firm, this article is for you. After reading this article, you will have a good idea of what business development strategies look like for law firms and some practical tips on integrating them into your job as a lawyer and business owner.

What is a Law Firm's business development?

Business development for law firms means pursuing strategic opportunities to gain new business. This includes building new relationships, identifying new revenue streams and sales opportunities, and applying an intelligent marketing strategy.

The new business development strategy examples include cross-selling to existing clients, adding new practice areas to your firm, and geographic expansion.

Business development for lawyers is changing. The old strategies that worked for many years are no longer effective.

There has been an exciting change in pursuing business development. Before you’d go door-to-door, now you use digital marketing tools and social media channels for marketing your law firm. Although this swift change has been a boon for law firms, it has also invited a lot of cutthroat competition.

• The slogan ‘everything to everyone is numbered. Today, most clients favor specialist lawyers.
• It would be best if you combined both online and offline business development strategies.
• Professional competence is no longer enough. Your firm must develop a robust business development capability if it is to compete with successful law firms.

What does it mean for law firms?

It implies anything you do systematically that expands your firm’s revenue streams. It takes into account strategies to grow revenue from a big-picture perspective rather than one-time transactional decisions.

Business Development Tips

Here are a handful of business development tips for law firms.

Separate Business Development and Marketing

Although they both mean to generate sales and revenue, business development is quite different from marketing strategies. Marketing implies informing the clients through various strategies and mediums. Still, business development looks into the building and nurturing relationships with clients, encouraging referral sources, making strategic alliances with other firms and ventures, etc.

Many law firms have started separating the two. They have switched the business development responsibilities out of the hands of marketing personal into the hands of the particular business development managers.

• Instead of the sales-focus one-time transactions of marketing, you build multiple relationships and revenue streams that are more sustainable and will serve you in the end.
• Joining a professional network as a lawyer isn’t enough until it serves you bring you more business. To gain benefit from other professionals, you’d need a business development strategy that benefits both.
• With the personalization of marketing rising, you should move from generic marketing to relationship-centered practices. Specializing in single law practice and working with clients who can benefit from your expertise numerous times will help build a long relationship.

Business Development and Client Engagement

Unlike marketing and one-time transaction, you can use business development strategies to engage with clients and build a solid attorney-client relationship.

As you learn more about a prospect, your interaction with that prospect should be increasingly tailored and personal. Personalization is the key to impress customers.

For example, you can invite your clients to a special event organized by your like-minded prospects, run a special offer on service for all of your previous clients, or send them an item of value (not expensive).

If your clients are social media users and use email, then you can use this to gain an advantage. Send them helpful information, insights, new updates on the tax law, etc.

Create a niche

In this cut-throat competition, lawyers should realize that a more effective business development approach focuses on a narrower group. By narrower, we mean a niche.

Creating a niche means all your advertising and marketing funds will be used effectively to lure a specific group of people. Catering to a small group of people with similar needs becomes more effective than serving a diverse group.

From a practical perspective, it’s more efficient to invest your time and money in building client relations with a specific group of people.

Measure ROI

Many lawyers seem unable to figure the direct results of the business development plan.

· You’d need to tap on these measurements for a better return because they will reveal what works and what doesn’t.

· With a proper assessment, you’d know how successful your business development strategies were and what didn’t work.

· Law firms that keep track of data have a tremendous advantage over those that don’t. They are more agile and adapt to changes when needed.

Implement ‘Attention Leadership’

Switch your strategy from “getting attention” to “giving attention.”

· Almost every industry leader is changing their strategy from garnering more attention to customers’ needs.

· As law firm marketing/business development content has grown increasingly abundant and immediately available, attention becomes a limiting factor in consuming information by your prospects and connections.

· As a leader, you should start practicing ‘attention leadership’ where you invest in learning about catering to clients’ needs.

Look for new revenue opportunities.

Always look for new revenue opportunities.

• Adopt and implement a lead generation system to initiate a systematic approach.
• Generate contacts through content distribution in the proper channels, both offline and online.
• Exchange your knowledge, expertise, and ideas to people who are willing to pay you.
• Research on how other law firms generate revenue opportunities.

Tools to help with law firm business development

Email and calendar

Maintain every possible minor and significant event in your calendar and email reminders.

CRM

Adopt client relationship management (CRM) to manage client communications history, data, and sales automation.

Case Status

Use case status app helps to acquire client reviews.

Email marketing

Adopt email marketing to send newsletters to clients. Many people still use email; hence, email marketing can become one of your essential business development sources.

A law firm won’t succeed unless you have efficient ways to generate new prospective clients. Start investing in business development strategies to tap on new sales opportunities. Don’t be afraid to try a few different strategies. Remember: Business development is a long game of relationships and trust.

Get in touch with Mark Gray Law PLC., the premier law firm in Ankeny, for more business development insights.