Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog : Law firm marketing, legal editor, legal marketing, attorney marketing, business development, marketing consultant, legal consultant, business development

In the 16 years I've been in law firm marketing, I've seen at least 25 scenarios where law firms need sales training.  Typically, it's the reason that a partner or marketing director calls me in the first place.  These situations are found in law firms of any size, any practice and any location. 

Take this 20-question quiz to see if any of them apply to you. If you check off 3 or more, you need sales training.

1. Most of our rainmakers are over age 65.
2. Few mid-level partners have opened a file on their own.
3. The firm recently lost a top 10 client.
4. Roughly 10% of our partners generate 80% of the new files.
5. Most partners are content to be "service partners" and only bill hours.
6. Lawyers resist developing new business, saying "I went to law school so I'd never have to sell," or something similar.
7. Our associates are not encouraged to generate new business
8. Business development does not come up in lawyer compensation reviews.
9. There is no incentive or bonus (besides an origination credit) for generating new business.
10. Few or no partners have individual business development plans in writing.
11. About half of the lawyers are willing to market, but they don't know where to begin or what to do.
12. We have an eat-what-you-kill compensation system.
13. Our lawyers belong to many organizations as members, but few of them are in a leadership position or on the board.
14. Cross-selling is a goal of the firm, but it doesn't seem to happen.
15. Our lawyers have referred a client to another firm for a matter, even though we have partners who could do the work.
16. Most of our lawyers are active in only bar associations and lawyer groups -- not in any organizations of clients.
17. The firm has no client teams, or else they are inactive.
18. The firm does not premeditatedly identify industries where it has experience with the aim of pursuing potential business clients in those industries.
19. Our lawyers decline to pursue a potential client, because they say another law firm already has all their their legal work.
20. We do a lot of marketing -- seminars, brochures, sports tickets, sponsorships, public relations and advertising -- but can't track any specific client to the initiatives.
21. We reimburse the business development expenses of partners, but few of them spend all of their account.
22. Business development time spent by lawyers is not tracked.
23. The firm has never broadcast a Webinar.
24. The firm has no blog.
25. Our lawyers meet to discuss business development, conduct research and make plans -- but don't act on them.

Sound familiar? If you saw your firm in 3 or more of these scenarios, it's time to train the lawyers how to sell legal services and to coach them to write personal business development plans.