It’s game time. This article includes a few plays to consider adding to your playbook this season.

What and who should be considered when creating a sales pipeline?

One of the things that I recommend to my attorneys is just thinking through who they know and making a running list of current clients, prospects, and referral sources. It’s going to be your current clients and that includes the individuals that are actively sending you work, as well as those who are your champions within the organization. Sometimes folks just think about who’s directing the work in the immediate, but not necessarily who has been the person who said, ‘you need to go to Sam because he’s fantastic,’ or who may be a board member, or the CEO, or somebody else, so that’s important. Prospects are clearly someone that needs to be in that pipeline, and prospects in this case are who could send you work in the future. Attorneys shouldn’t forget the people that they went to law school with, the people that coach their kid’s soccer team, or an alum that recently went in-house. All of those folks are important.

“What’s at the heart of a marketing and business development plan? Data. It’s what we rely on to build out an ideal client profile, to identify market penetration by industry or geography, to understand which piece of thought leadership is trending, and much, much more. This post is meant to help you take a fresh look at the data you already have that can be used to build business - including current client data, marketing qualified leads and contact data.”

This article provides five ideas on how to leverage the platform to streamline your marketing and business development efforts, including research, generating first drafts, brainstorming content, creating jazzy headlines and repurposing content.

What do you love most about what you do?

“Demystifying marketing and business development for attorneys. It can seem like this nebulous thing to attorneys who go to school to learn about the practice of law and then all of the sudden have to generate business. Seeing that light bulb come on when the tactics start to make sense –even more so when there is a conversion of new business – is such a rewarding experience.”

Q: What is your motto?

A: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

In this session, we will share techniques to establish and deepen client relationships to grow business. In addition, they will offer insight on the importance of meaningful client relationships and what techniques can be used to deepen those relationships with business growth in mind.

This article provides tips on making the most of networking, including preparing, keeping your eyes up, listening intently, the importance of follow-up and more.

“It is safe to say that client service is one of the critical, few differentiators to be found in a crowded legal marketplace. Regardless of whether your firm has a functioning client team, marketing and business development professionals can drive initiatives to get closer to clients and grow relationships.”

How do you earn a seat at the table?

Get to know the firm’s power players and volunteer for projects where you’ll have the opportunity to interact with them. One piece of advice? Show up. Coming out of COVID, being present is more important than ever.

What are three key steps to improve, differentiate and position a law firm?

The first is to understand the firm's strengths and weaknesses. The second is to understand the work that is done and the lawyers that do it. Both points 1 and 2 can be achieved by sitting down with key stakeholders to find out more about what they do and what they think about the market as a whole. The third is to take advantage of that information to favorably position the firm. There are many options, but talking to attorneys will help define priorities.