Random Acts of Business Development, Part 4:Got the Gumboots, Met Some Cows and Got New Clients.

In Part 3 of this series (Random Acts of Business Development, Part 3: Got the Gumboots, Met Some Cows and Got New Clients) I talked about accepting or looking for challenges. The gauntlet had been thrown down for me to learn an entirely new area of law way outside my normal area of litigation practice. It involved new European regulations on milk quotas for dairy farmers. A cap was being imposed on how much they could produce. Some wanted to produce more, others, less. There was as a market for unwanted quota – but trading in quota was then forbidden. How to get around that? Another firm some miles away was considered pre-eminent in the field; they knew how to get around the regulations. Nobody in my firm did. We were losing clients to them despite their much higher hourly rates.

Would I creep away saying, ‘not in my area of practice’, or would I pick up the gauntlet? 

Run? Hell, no. I like challenges. I picked up the gauntlet, but how to get to grips with the regulations? It wasn’t just about learning what the regulations said, but the tricks and strategies so that a farmer could, effectively and perfectly legally, transfer unwanted quota to another farmer (for a price, of course).  

..... I learnt the trick…

There was nothing in the law books, so I went to seminars – some run by the other firm, some by land agents who managed large farming estates. I attended cattle auctions, chatted to farmers. Did some networking. I soon picked up the jargon, found out what concerned farmers the most (a crucial part of networking) and tapped the brains of some of my land-agent contacts. And that’s how I learnt the trick.

‘I faked it until I made it…’

I still had to learn about farming and the raising of cattle; the importance of the amount of cream in a farmer’s milk, what sort of breeds the best milk. I faked it until I made it.

But what to do with this new-found knowledge? Should I write articles? Certainly not – why give away the secret to other firms? We didn’t have the Internet then, so I contacted the local National Farmers Union and suggested that we run a seminar for farmers at which we could explain that, despite the regulations, it was possible for those who didn’t want quota to transfer it to those who did. I teamed up with a young and very keen land agent.

We didn’t have an email list because, well, we didn’t have email. We didn’t have much of an address list. But the NFU did – for the whole county – thousands of farmers. So, the seminar was arranged under the NFU umbrella. We thereby had the NFU ‘seal of approval’. We became ‘invited speakers’. We were stunned by the turnout – hundreds of farmers turned up. Was I nervous? Of course, but by then I knew my stuff.

In this way I became considered an authority on the regulations - not just by local farmers but crucially, by the NFU. I didn’t consider myself so, but, at least, I knew a damn sight more than most other lawyers in the immediate area.

The result? A heck of a lot more instructions farmers - not just local to my town but from the whole county. We had so many new clients, all seeking advice on the regulations, plus many more needing new wills, some requiring tax and litigation advice. My partners were very happy bunnies, indeed.

Then the NFU decided to set up a legal referral scheme for the whole county. Certain firms were invited to tender and lower hourly rates were expected. There were to be two firms appointed. Of several firms invited to tender, the ‘other firm’ was one of them. We felt that, although they were highly-regarded in the field, they could not possibly compete on price – and we were right. We became one of the two firms appointed for the whole region, and even more work flowed in.

‘I learnt something new and was able to exploit it…’

The moral of this tale: I took my senior partner’s advice. I was confronted with a challenge which, albeit reluctantly at first, I decided to accept. I learnt something new and was able to exploit it.

These days, we are bombarded with new laws and regulations. Some are relevant to our areas of practice and we have no choice but to learn about them. The Internet is a hive of information – and we, clients and potential clients go there. Although people still publish in journals, most potential clients will go online to learn about new laws. This is especially the case for in-house counsel. The lawyers who publish online first will have a head start.

There are some new areas which may not be in our basket, but which we could exploit.  Many lawyers shy away from anything which they do not consider to be firmly within their remit. Other lawyers seize the opportunities – they mug-up, they learn the new law and, critically, the implications for clients, and how clients should be reacting. They get well ahead of the game. They publish, they run seminars, do LinkedIn articles, publish on Slideshare, do videos and, thereby, become the ‘go-to’ people in that particular area of law.

So, the point is this: follow my former senior partner’s advice: ‘Never run from a challenge, and create challenges for yourself.’

This is especially good advice for associates wanting to make their mark and do some effective business development. Especially important, is the need for associates to make their mark within their own firms – to become the ‘go-to’ person on a particular area; to show their colleagues that they are proactive, business development-minded and ‘one to watch’. Remember, the meek do not inherit the earth.

Now, a question for associates: do you have a business-development plan – in any shape or form? If not, why not? It doesn’t have to be Blackadder’s sidekick’s ‘cunning plan’, but it should be a plan of some sort (although a ‘cunning plan’ is definitely to be preferred). I have trained many an associate on how to put together a workable BD plan. I know that they work.

And now a question for supervising lawyers who undertake appraisals – do your appraisals include discussions on business development? Do you encourage associates to do business development? Do you help them do this?

We can all make rain to a greater or lesser extent. If we don’t, the work may stop coming in. Don’t just leave it to others. Associates who don't make at least some rain, get left behind. The meek do not inherit the earth. A particularly good way of making rain is to become known as the go-to lawyer for new areas of law.

So, as I said in the first article in this series: ‘Set Fire to the Rain’: do some thinking – what is new that you can learn about? Then learn and spread the word – both internally and externally. Let people know that you are in the know.

Shout it from the rooftops.

You might want to look at my other articles:

Random Acts of Business Development, Part 1 Set Fire the Rain.

Random Acts of Business Development, Part 2: Let's Dance..

Random Acts of Business Development, Part 3: Buy Some Gumboots, Meet Some Cows and Get New Clients

And you might also be interested in this: 'How non-native English speakers can write sophisticated English - the Sherlock factor'

My email, should you need it: [email protected]