It‘s all in the (Business Development) mind

Some years ago we visited a wood sculptor in Bali, when asking him where his blueprints were or other material outlining his work he simply answered “It’s all in the mind”.

In today’s client driven environment all lawyers are required to engage in Business Development. In most lawyers opinion business development is something which needs to be done besides client work when they have some spare time. We all work predominantly on tasks where we feel confident, having acquired huge amounts of knowledge and experience, where we can show our superior intellect. I am pretty sure lawyers do feel that way about helping clients with law solutions meeting the clients’ expectations.

Business Development unfortunately doesn’t work that way. The good news is lawyers’ can still be successful in Business Development when the following framework is existing and the willingness to develop the necessary mindset is there.

First of all the internal environment needs to be first class, saying that systems and materials are in a condition that allows the lawyer an easy access and that the underlying processes are easy to use. The same applies to the strategy the law firm has formulated, which is understood by everyone and where each lawyer understands his own goals in executing and achieving the strategy.

Secondly working on the underlying assumptions for Business Development. The lawyers are not selling law advice to a customer like a retailer, instead the lawyer is representing a leading professional in the arts of law who is able to represent trust, confidence, empathy and the ability to derive client-valued solutions.

So a business development mindset is not about selling but it is about creating an environment where a client wants to buy legal advice from you and your law firm. It is about influencing with no bargaining power behind, not coming to a pitch desperate to sell your proposal, but showing clients how a value driven client solution could look alike and why you personally want to work together with the client solving his problems.

Summing up each lawyer has to develop an individual style towards business development flanked by a first class internal business development team and a strategy which sets the goals to be achieved. If the right business development mindset is there the corresponding behavior is a direct consequence – different thinking leads to different acting – and in the end to results, namely sustainable client relationships.