Respectful competitors help each other – See Mike O’Horo’s DEZURVE. It solves an important problem for law firms. It eliminates the waste of their business development training/coaching dollars by lawyers who aren’t serious about learning and developing business development skills. They estimate that waste at 80%, which is staggering!!!
Go directly to www.dezurve.com for a 30 second video. It’s a convincer!
ZOMBIES, STAMPEEDING HORSES, & the KING OF PRUSSIA
Business Development Leadership – Part I.
By Allan Colman
Marketing the Law Firm, March, 2016
If you were hoping I would define leadership for you, I can’t. What we will cover includes zombies, stampeding horses and a former King of Prussia and how they fit in with the 6 primary elements of exceptional leadership.
In our book, the Crazy Impact of Leadership, Rick Justus points out that the most often overlooked leadership task is leaving a legacy for the organization – an impact for the future. And he calls it “crazy” because most leadership programs and texts forget this key contribution of a real leader. In fact, Steve Jobs described his goal, when Apple began, as building “insane new products.”
Now why can’t I define leadership for you? I keep going to the well looking for a definition from the experts and here’s what I’ve found.
It sounded great until the blog page ended with a large advertisement:
“POTTY TRAIN YOUR DOG IN 6 DAYS.” – I won’t give you the author’s name.
“MAKE IT A STRONG HAPPY TEAM”
Another called for “Freedom Based Leadership”. Reading the definition makes it sound like herding cats.
Is it any wonder I can’t define leadership? But I can relate to you the components of exceptional leadership and how to leave your own Crazy Impact. Through my work as a chief executive, speaker and advisor to managing partners, agency administrators, etc., here are the 6 skills that are each crucially linked in order to make an impact. They are:
AND
The analogy most fitting is that of an orchestra leader. “To be successful they must turn their backs on the audience.” (James Crook) Think about attending a symphony orchestra performance, the experience of bringing a diverse group of instruments together. Such a performance can serve as a reminder of how amazing things can result when various elements work together for one outcome.
But there is something bigger than you can take from the experience – an understanding of the importance of a strong leader. Consider this, while an orchestra’s conductor does not play an instrument, she or he is arguably the most important member of the symphony. After all, the conductor is responsible for ensuring that each player knows his or her part and for delivering a polished presentation to the audience.
Some professionals feel out of tune in their efforts to make decisions and have them implemented. It is crucial to remember, however, that leadership is an highly focused activity that must be internally orchestrated.
You must decide which advice to take, determine which of the available tools and strategies will work, assign implementation tasks, hold people accountable, weigh the risks, and consider the impact on a future legacy. These are the exceptional leadership tasks future posts will cover in detail.
But not to leave you guessing, Tom Ziglar refers to employees as “Zombies.” We will put them all in context next time.
Allan Colman, Managing Partner of the Closers Group, is a speaker, author, business strategist and leadership advisor. Reach him at www.closersgroup.com//acolman@closersgroup.com
In our business development advisories and workshops, we provide an alternative to this Russian Proverb, “If you chase 2 rabbits, you will not catch either one.”‘
You must know:
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The next series of “dos” from the 55 Words for new business development include:
“Never park in front of a bar” is one of the “55 Wise Words” for successful marketing. You are urged to go deep to understand the message. This is the first in a series which will contain several of the wise words. We use them with our marketing and business development advisory and success training, especially with 4-6 year Associates.
Stay tuned for more!!
The most overlooked client development resource is YOUR CLIENTS.
Wish them a happy holiday!
Continuing with the reasons attorneys don’t market, let’s review numbers 7,6, and 5.
7. I need to focus on billable hours-
6. I am too smart for this !!!!!
5. The revenue will come in from existing clients, because I do excellent work !
10. I don’t want to pester people
9. I’m very busy
8. I need to complete my time sheets
Stay tuned for more ————–
The Big Bad Wolf has been knocking at law firm doors for several years while lawyers are overlooking the six ways to accelerate new revenue. But let’s remember that Little Red Riding Hood feared the wolf at first. Then she walloped him. Future rainmakers can also kick the wolf of decreasing revenue by following some tried and true strategies.
The complete article appeared in Orange County Lawyer Magazine, July 2017 (Vol. 59 No.7) p.48.
You can download it.
In this ever-changing environment, as more pressure is placed on attorneys at all levels to grow new business, there is a lack of experience in searching for new clients, prospects and suspects. As well, in-house counsel have been forced by their boards and executives to get tougher and more demanding, and rightly so. More than one has stated that law firms have generally assumed that long-term relationships do not require additionally highlighted service levels.
It is here that Little Red Riding Hood can do some serious clawing. New opportunities are being created every day simply because competitors are falling down on the client-retention-job. Now, today, at this very moment are the times to market by overcoming client resistance and offering an innovative carrot or two.[rs_space height=”20px”][rs_buttons btn_icon=”yes” icon=”fa fa-download” btn_size=”btn-medium” btn_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fallancolman.com%2Fwp2016%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F08%2FOC-Lawyer-July-2017-Little-Red-Riding-Hood-Reprint.pdf|title:Download%20Article|target:%20_blank|” btn_text=”Download Article” border_color=”#dddddd” text_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#81d742″ border_color_hover=”#81d742″ text_color_hover=”#81d742″ background_color_hover=”#ffffff”][rs_space height=”50px”]
New Business Development Myth #4, Client’s want you to do most of the talking! Nothing could be more “untrue.” Keep your resume to yourself and let the potential client do the talking. Adopt the old IBM 60/40 sales training rule — keep them talking 60% of the time and spend the remaining 40% asking good questions based on your pre-meeting research.
Pay attention to the prospect/client’s verbal cues, and refine your pitch accordingly.