The lawyers who become rainmakers are not necessarily the ones who spend the most time on business development. They are the ones who keep doing it when everyone else gets busy. Here are five business development habits for lawyers designed to survive even your busiest weeks.
Ask lawyers why they don’t do more business development, and one answer shows up again and again: “I’m too busy.” Usually, they are. Client work expands, deadlines appear, emergencies happen, and billable hour targets do not politely step aside because someone decided this was the week to focus on business development.
That is exactly why so many traditional BD plans break down. They assume lawyers will find time they simply do not have. A better approach is to build a small number of habits that can survive even the busiest weeks. Not a heroic burst of activity. Not a 37-item law firm marketing plan. Just a few repeatable actions that keep business development moving.
Five Weekly Business Development Habits for Lawyers
My philosophy has always been simple: do a little more, and do a little better. Here are five weekly habits that can help lawyers do exactly that and steadily grow their book of business.
1. Build Your Brand
Once a week, take an action that reinforces your personal brand and positions you as the first person people think of when they need your particular expertise. That does not mean becoming a social media celebrity. It means becoming known for something: an industry, a practice area, a legal issue, a type of client, a business problem, or a point of view.
Too many lawyers are highly capable and almost completely interchangeable in the minds of the people who might hire them. If someone asks, “Why this lawyer?” there should be an answer. Your weekly brand-building action could be as simple as posting a useful observation on LinkedIn, sharing an article with a short point of view, writing an internal note about a development in your area, volunteering to speak, or developing a checklist clients might find useful. Each one is a small, practical act of thought leadership.
The goal is not volume. It is repetition. It is consistency. Over time, those small signals create a perception, and perception matters.
2. Strengthen One Relationship
Client development is a relationship game, so every week, move one important relationship forward. That could mean reaching out to a client, prospect, referral source, former colleague, law school classmate, industry contact, or lawyer elsewhere in your own firm.
It does not have to be complicated. Invite someone to coffee. Set up a short call. Reconnect with a former client. Ask a colleague in another practice group what they are working on. Follow up with someone you met at a conference or networking event. Ask a trusted contact in your referral network to introduce you to someone you should know.
The critical word is “move.” A name sitting in your CRM is not a relationship. A LinkedIn connection is not a relationship. Someone you have not spoken with in three years is probably not much of a relationship either.
This is also where many lawyers get stuck. “They’re too busy.” “I don’t have a reason to call.” “I don’t want to look salesy.” Fine. Do not sell. Be curious. Ask what they are seeing, what is changing, what is keeping them busy, and what is coming next. One good conversation can do more for your business development than 50 passive online connections.
3. Deliver One “Wow” Experience
Business development is not only about getting new clients. It is also about client retention: becoming harder to replace with the clients you already have.
Every week, look for one opportunity to deliver a level of client service that makes a client think, “That was really good.” Better yet, make them think, “I wish all my outside lawyers did that.”
That might mean responding faster than expected, anticipating a problem before the client raises it, sending an idea that helps the client’s business, making a valuable introduction, sharing a checklist, pointing out a risk they have not yet considered, or giving them something useful without attaching a bill to it.
Most “wow” service does not come from grand gestures. It comes from doing ordinary things unusually well: being responsive, being proactive, knowing the client’s business, making things easier, following through, and looking around corners.
There is another benefit. When you consistently deliver more value, conversations about additional work and cross-selling become easier because you have already demonstrated that you are invested in the relationship. You are not just asking for more. You are earning the right to ask.
4. Stay Top of Mind
It is not your client’s job to remember you. That is your job.
Every week, give at least one important person a useful reason to think about you. The important word is “useful.” “Just checking in” is rarely useful. Instead, send an article or client alert with a short note explaining why you thought of them. Congratulate them on company news. Make an introduction. Invite them to something. Comment on something they posted. Share a development in their industry. Offer a program, presentation, checklist, or resource.
This habit is different from strengthening a relationship. You may have a smaller group of people with whom you are actively deepening relationships. But there may be dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of others who simply need periodic reminders that you exist and that you know something useful.
New matters and referrals often go to the lawyer who happens to be top-of-mind when the need appears. Your job is to increase the odds that the lawyer is you.
5. Guarantee Implementation
This is the habit that makes the other four possible, because none of this matters if it does not happen.
Lawyers usually do not need another seminar telling them that relationships matter. They know. They do not need to be convinced that staying in touch with clients is a good idea. They know that too. The real problem is implementation.
Business development gets crowded out by the urgent, so stop relying on memory, mood, or available time. Build a system. Put a recurring block on your calendar. Use an accountability partner. Create a small group. Have your assistant help manage follow-up. Use your marketing or BD team. Track your commitments. Pick a day of the week and a time of day when business development happens whether you feel like it or not.
And the block does not need to be huge. Thirty focused minutes may be enough to touch all four of the other habits: strengthen one relationship, send one top-of-mind note, do one thing that builds your brand, and identify one way to wow a client.
Consistency Beats Intensity
Billable pressure is not going away. So any business development strategy that depends on lawyers suddenly discovering large amounts of spare time is built on a weak foundation. The better approach is to create a rhythm that survives busy weeks.
Small actions, repeated consistently, week after week and year after year. That rhythm is what drives long-term practice growth.
Remember: The lawyers who become rainmakers are not always the ones who spend the most time on business development. They are the ones who keep doing it when everyone else gets busy.
Related reading: 30-Day Business Development Plan
Image © iStockPhoto.com.
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