The 5 Most Important Tips For Client Development

Be sure to add these to your arsenal ASAP.

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Cordell Parvin is a Senior Director with Lateral Link based in the Dallas, Texas office. Prior to coaching and recruiting lawyers, Cordell built a national construction law practice at an Am Law 100 law firm. Cordell is a well-known speaker, writer and blogger on career development and client development. He has made presentations to law firms and bar associations throughout the US and Canada. Cordell has published four books on career and client development. You can subscribe to his blog at http://www.cordellblog.com/, connect with him on LinkedIn, join his Facebook Page, and follow him on Twitter.

Over the course of my career, I have learned many client development strategies that helped me attain my goals. Not even strategy is made equal, and these are five of the most important client development strategies you can add to your arsenal.

Client development is not about “marketing or selling.”

I once coached a lawyer who told me she didn’t want to be a saleswoman. I told her she didn’t have to sell anything

Client development is all about serving and caring for your clients. When you are selling, you think about what you need and want (origination credit). When you serve and care for your clients, you focus on them. As a result, you are a better listener and you search for a way to accomplish their objective, not yours. You understand the business context of the work you will be doing for the client.

Being a highly skilled lawyer is merely the price you pay to get in the game.

When I was a young lawyer, I was told to “do great work” and wait for the telephone to ring. I did what I thought was great work and the phone didn’t ring. When I took time to understand my clients’ business and started identifying potential legal issues and writing and speaking on them, the phone started ringing.

You have to build a reputation for doing high quality work. But it takes more. Your competitors are highly skilled also and they are building the same reputation for doing high quality work. So, what makes you different?

Client development not just about what you do.

Clients don’t care about what you do. They only care about how what you do helps them achieve their goals or avoid problems. When I began as a construction industry litigator, I was focused on litigation. I learned over time that most contractors never want to try a case. They want to resolve disputes as early as possible. That revelation changed my focus.

Strive to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Just suppose you were the best in your law firm at some aspect of law that clients need. Then, just suppose you became known as the best in your city and maybe later the best in the state. If your expertise is in an area that continues to be needed and one that you truly enjoy, you will likely get opportunities to serve clients and then you can build a long-lasting client relationship.

Once you have built that reputation, seek once again for ways to differentiate yourself or your firm from your competitors. You should focus on how you deliver your service. How can you be more responsive and more efficient?

Client development is about identifying and providing solutions to problems before the client realizes there is a problem.

When I joined my last law firm, I had all my files and books on moveable book cases in the hallway. I marched off to two days of orientation.

When I returned late Friday afternoon, I met a young man named Mason. He worked for our facilities management group. He said to me: “Mr. Parvin, I know you need everything organized so you can hit the ground running on Monday. If you would like, I would be happy to come in on Saturday and help you get organized.” I was blown away. Mason clearly understood the problem and offered a solution before I mentioned the problem.

I learned the same lesson later that year. I had invited executives from my largest client and their spouses to Dallas to a Cowboys football game. On the Monday preceding the game, I got a call from Jan in our marketing department. She said: “Cordell, how would you like for me to drive with you to Texas Stadium, show you which exit to get off the freeway, show you our assigned parking place, where to enter the stadium, which elevator to get on, where to get off the elevator and how to find the firm’s suite?” Jan did not say it, but she could have added: “I am willing to do this so you do not make a complete fool of yourself in front of your most important client.”

Once again, I learned the importance of identifying a problem and offering a solution. Just suppose Jan would have been able to show me all she did from my computer through a video or computer-generated animation. That would have saved at least an hour and would have been even more valuable.

Long story short, don’t try to be a salesman. It will turn your clients off. Focus on how what you do can help your clients. Find a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors and answer the question of why a potential client should select you. Finally, if you can identify a problem and offer a solution before your clients and potential clients know there is a potential problem, you will go a long way at accomplishing everything I have written above.


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