I don't want to scare you...

I've been teaching lawyers how to win new work since the early days of my legal career. So, when I stopped practising, it seemed obvious that my target market would be lawyers and legal businesses. That industry knowledge and expertise has served me incredibly well because I've sat on the same side of the desk as lawyers and I understand the different responsibilities they have to juggle.

When I began posting on LinkedIn in late-2020, I initially targeted lawyers and law firms. However, I realised the platform's diverse professional services audience presented a broader opportunity to share my knowledge and experiences. With around two and a half million people in these industries, I felt compelled to help a wider range of professionals.

So that's what I did: instead of targeting my posts at lawyers, my posts referred to ‘professionals’ or ‘professional services’.

What happened next was not surprising at all, as it’s what I have spent my entire career encouraging lawyers to do:

My posts got very few views, reactions, or comments. And the reason was clear: by trying to speak to everybody, I was speaking to nobody. No one within professional services considers themselves just a professional; they are a lawyer, an accountant, an investment banker, a wealth manager, and so on.

I had broken my own golden rule: niching down gives you the ability to hone your offering, be very targeted with who you want to speak to, and shows you as being an expert who understands what your target audience is going through and what they need to do to get better results.

Whenever I start working with a lawyer and we have this conversation, I can see the fear in their eyes:

“By niching down, won't I be cutting out a huge portion of the market?”

Yet, every time a client then niches down, it has a huge impact on their business.

Here are just 4 of the many reasons why:

1. Deep Industry Knowledge

Lawyers who work with a broad spectrum of clients from a range of different industries simply can't learn enough about any one of them to have the kind of impact that makes them a trusted advisor and gives them a seat at the strategic table. Lawyers with deep industry knowledge know where to look to learn and can provide market insights regularly. They can also speak the language of their clients, understanding specific jargon and being able to provide information that clients can easily relate to and act on.

2. Establishing Authority and Trust

Trusted advisors with deep industry knowledge can easily establish authority and trust by providing options as well as advice on the best way forward. Years of experience tell the client that they can trust their legal advisor to help them get better outcomes. This creates the foundation for long-term relationships where the client feels their lawyer is part of their strategic team.

3. Tailored Advice

With extensive industry knowledge comes tailored advice. Your experiences within your chosen industry will allow you to tailor your advice not just relevant to the industry, but to the specific client’s individual circumstances. Clients need this and they want this. And by being able to provide this level of tailored advice, your win rate goes through the roof.

4. Innovation and Adaptation

By understanding your target industry, you're up-to-speed with current insights that show you know what's going on, and you're able to hone in on innovations and how clients in those industries may need to adapt in the long term. This creates a huge advantage for your clients and a real differentiator for you as their advisor.

Niching down can feel scary, but a rainmaker who builds a consistent pipeline of opportunities has no reason to be afraid. Their targeting is focused; their extensive knowledge differentiates them as an authority who can be trusted to give relevant advice; and they are able to more easily keep up with what is happening in the industry and pass on those insights. All this and more helps establish strong relationships, where clients see you as a strategic partner and their first port of call when the big decisions are being made.

And despite me tailoring all my content and marketing to lawyers, some of my biggest clients are in other professions. It has never stopped me from speaking to and winning work from accountants, investment bankers, economists, and more. The same goes for my clients who niche down.

If you want your win rate to go up, maybe it’s time to think about niching down.

That's it for now.

Here's to making it rain!

Unlock your rainmaking potential

The BD Breakthrough Blueprint? is available to buy NOW!

My digital education course gives you the tools you'll need to become a 21st century rainmaker and trusted advisor.

Here's what The BD Breakthrough Blueprint?? can help you achieve:

• Win more work from better clients;
• Become a more confident rainmaker;
• Develop a focused BD mindset;
• Build a larger pipeline of prospective clients;
• Change the narrative with referrers and intermediaries;
• Organic business growth as the foundation for the future;
• Fast-track your career to partnership or owning your own legal business;
• And so much more.

All this for only ￡495.

And it starts with you clicking the link and buying your copy: https://legalbalanceinstitute.thinkific.com/

Start this exciting journey now and make 2024 the year you become a rainmaker.

Fancy a free e-book about lawyers?

What about a free e-book called ‘Bullsh*t & Bollo*ks Excuses’?

All those lawyer conversations I’ve posted about over the years.

All in one place.

You’ll laugh.

You’ll cry.

You’ll despair.

You’ll feel great that you’ve never said some of this… or have you?

Here it is, for your reading pleasure - just click this link.