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I took this photo of Oregon Trail ruts near Guernsey, Wyoming. On this section of the trail, appropriately known as Deep Rut Hill, the route deviated away from the river and went over sandstone hills. The wagons spread out to minimize dust across much of the trail, but thousands of wagons followed precisely the same path in this area. The result? Ruts that are up to five feet deep.
When I visited this spot, I imagined what the scene must have been: mile after mile of emigrants traveling one after another. And imagine the view — unless you were lucky enough to be in the lead, all you’d see for several miles would be the wagon in front of you. Pretty dull, no?
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You’ve put in your dues. You’ve worked hard to become the accomplished lawyer you are now, and you have all manner of credentials that demonstrate your expertise. You’ve worked with a variety of organizations and individuals, you’ve written articles and book chapters, and you may even have served a turn teaching.
How can you leverage all of that activity to build relationships so you can bring in more business? The answers to that question are as varied as the number of people who might ask. The four ideas I share here will form the springboard for what you decide to do.
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Last week, I visited the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming. This multimedia-focused tourist/educational center presented stories about the emigrant trails that passed through Wyoming: the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and the Mormon Trail. The primary focus was on life on the trails, of course, but the exhibit started with an examination of why the emigrants left home.
Some left in search of adventure, some for the promise of great fortune, and some for the hope of freedom. Whatever the pull, it had to be strong, because success on the trail was by no means certain. Most travelers walked the entire 2000ish mile journey, and graves littered the route. (Read the rest of the entry…)
Last week, I talked with a client who was distressed at having to pay about $1,000 for some equipment necessary for making a presentation to a group of her ideal clients. After listening for a few minutes and confirming my expectation that she’d be able to use the equipment over and over for similar presentations, I suggested that she think of the financial outlay as an investment rather than a cost.
“What’s the difference,” she sighed, “call it cost or investment, that money is just plain gone.” I understand the pain of having to pay a hefty unexpected expense, but you have to recognize the distinction between a cost and an investment in the business context.
(Read the rest of the entry…)
The Go-Giver (Bob Burg and John David Mann)
and
The Referral of a Lifetime (Tim Templeton)
I’ve never reviewed two books in a single review before, but these two are such neat parallels in both style and message that I just can’t resist the temptation. The message of both of these short, quick reads is simple: if you genuinely care about other people and helping them to succeed, your business will grow well and authentically. (Read the rest of the entry…)
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that some lawyers are making mistakes that will undermine their efforts. These mistakes go beyond the five foundational business development efforts decsribed in The Reluctant Rainmaker that are so insidious. These are short-sighted decisions that may seem smart in the short-run but will cause great damage over time.
Marketing Don’t #1: “It’s all about me” newsletters. A lawyer I don’t know subscribed me to his mailing list, using two of my email addresses. That’s bad form (and probably illegal) in itself. Absent a business relationship, all newsletter subscribers should be subscribers by their request. (And just in case anyone reading this article is worried, the offending lawyer does not subscribe to my newsletter. I checked.)
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Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman
Nobody likes to lose. With our self-selection to be competitive and to be risk-averse, lawyers perhaps tolerate loss even less than others. According to the Brafman brothers, authors of Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, the more meaningful a potential loss is, the further we will go to avoid that loss, and the more likely it becomes that we’ll be swept into an irrational decision.
This irrational tendency is well illustrated by the story of a wealthy stockholder who held the great majority of his assets in a single stock. His financial advisor recommended selling a set percentage of the stock every month “to take the emotion out of the decision” and to create increasing diversification, but the stockholder declined. He did sell about 10% of the stock at $47, but he held as the stock dipped to $42, having decided that he would sell when it hit $47 again. Of course, it slipped lower — to $38, and the stockholder decided he would sell when it hit $44. Alas, the stock continued to drop until it ended at 12 cents per share, and the once-wealthy stockholder had lost nearly his entire investment.
(Read the rest of the entry…)
April Showers Bring May Flowers
Becoming an effective networker is mission critical to growing and sustaining your practice. Business development is not typically a “quick fix” activity; you can’t expect to meet someone today and get new business from that person tomorrow. (Exceptions do, of course, exist — but don’t count on them when the survival of your practice is at stake.) You must build relationships with your clients, with potential clients, and with referral sources since the majority of your business will likely come from those sources.
Beyond maintaining and growing existing relationships, you’ll also want to expand your circle of contacts. Your business development plan will help you to identify where your ideal clients and referral sources gather, and that in turn will tell you which meetings and gatherings to attend. As you look at invitations you receive or announcements of meetings, ask yourself whether the kind of people you want to meet will likely be there. You must identify the groups that are most likely to include the people you want to meet, and you need to be prepared to start conversations and then to develop and maintain the relationships over time.
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Take Control of The Wine List
Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach®
Imagine this — You are seated at an upscale restaurant with one of your best clients and then handed a wine list thicker than a college textbook. You want to pick out the “perfect” wine to impress your client but everything looks like it is written in a foreign language. After only a few minutes the server asks if you have made your selection so you decide to order the most familiar thing on the menu. You are not sure your selection will coordinate with your meals and it costs more than your boss will tolerate for a client dinner. By the time the bottle arrives you have broken out in a cold sweat and are ready to take a big gulp! The good news is that understanding the three main ways wine lists are organized is the first step to preventing this from ever happening to you.
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September 01, 2010 
