MAKE TIME FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Does This Sound Familiar?

You’re a solo practitioner or partner in a small law firm that has been fortunate enough to develop a solid base of billable business. In an economy that is still soft and increasingly competitive, you’re working 60-70 hours per week just to maintain the same revenue and income levels you had five years ago. You can’t afford to hire an associate (or another associate) and you don’t trust temp or per diem attorneys. You have to dedicate several hours every week and every month to administrative matters – payroll, accounts payable, billing, taxes, etc.

You try to spend as much time as you can with existing clients, referring attorneys and other sources of business. You make a few phone calls when you can; perhaps you can manage an occasional lunch or dinner when you aren’t swamped preparing documents or getting ready for a trial. But you don't really have the time and you're always falling behind.

Somewhere in there you squeeze out a little time to spend with your spouse and kids. You're always tired - physically and emotionally. On those rare occasions when you do get away on vacation, you can’t relax because you need to be in constant contact with the office.

Amid all of this, when do you have time for business development? The chances are you probably don’t. And that could end up being tragic. A law firm that lacks a strategic plan for growing its practice, does not invest in its own growth and does not spend adequate time each and every month on developing its business is in jeopardy of eventually finding itself struggling or failing.

Develop a Strategic Business Plan 

The failure to plan is a plan for failure. Every small business has a strategic plan. A small law firm is no different. You’ve probably put together a financial plan so you can retire comfortably, pay for college, etc. Do you also have a business plan for how you’re going to generate the income to fund that plan?

You need to step back on a regular basis to reflect on where you want to go and how you are doing toward realizing that goal. Formulate a growth plan that articulates your long-term goals and the steps you need to take to achieve those goals. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, but it needs to be detailed enough to serve as a constant reminder of where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Make sure it’s optimistic but realistic. 

Quantify your objectives in terms of revenue, billable hours, number of cases, etc. Establish time markers – where you want to be in one year, five years, ten years. Write it down. Keep it in your desk drawer or on your computer or smart phone. Look at it periodically to remind yourself of your professional objectives and to gauge whether you are still on track. If necessary, adjust it as circumstances dictate over the years.

Get Organized

The key to being effective and efficient is organization and good time management. If you’re a litigator, you probably use a case management program, but you probably don’t use anything to help you organize your schedule and time allocation. Take a look at contact management programs, like ACT or Onconact. They are amazingly powerful and can help you not only to manage your schedule, but to set up reminders and ticklers, and keep track of business leads.

Set a Budget

In an article a few years ago, the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section advised:

Solo practitioners and small firms probably should spend up to 5% of revenues in marketing, advertising, business development, and promotion to achieve a profile and brand-name recognition to influence clients. Advertisements can be either “image-oriented” for name recognition or “direct response.” The practice you are seeking to develop will determine which type of advertising should be used. Generally speaking, business services are not sold effectively by direct response advertising, whereas some personal services such as personal injury plaintiff representation, bankruptcy, domestic relations are.

[http://apps.americanbar.org/lpm/lpt/articles/fin02041.html]

Interestingly, the ABA article recommends that small firms and solos should be allocating approximately 5% of revenue to their marketing budgets. This is consistent with what large firms are spending, even though their marketing efforts are mainly focused on client maintenance and firm imaging. Do you have a marketing budget?  If you do, are you using it effectively?

Invest in Your Firm and Yourself

You’ve invested in phone systems, computers, software, offices and personnel in order to establish an image of professionalism and success, and to grow your practice. Have you invested in marketing yourself and your firm? You’ve probably built a website, but do you use it as a real business development tool? When was the last time you updated it or had a professional review its content, structure and web traffic results? (In this regard, you may want to take a look at our 2/16/2013 post.)

You may have a LinkedIn profile, but do you utilize it to develop your network and potential referral sources? Nearly every major corporate business in America has realized the importance of using Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to build relationships with existing customers and grow their customer bases. Have you? Every large law firm has professionally designed promotional literature; many maintain communication with their clients by utilizing periodic newsletters, either by mail or e mail. What are you doing?

Make Time for Business Development

You set aside time on a regular basis to manage your practice and attend to its administrative needs. You do billing, payroll and accounts payable regularly. You make time to keep up on developments in your area of practice and get in your CLE credits. Are you also allocating time on a regular basis to maintaining and expanding your client base? Do you reach out more than infrequently to attorneys, business associates and other potential referring sources, or do you just call them when things slow down?

There is much you can and should be doing, both on the web and through traditional outlets, to market and grow your practice. You don't need to spend a lot of money, but you do need to make a meaningful commitment to business development and allocate time and dollars to marketing.
 
We realize that actually finding the time for marketing and business development is easier said than done. Do it yourself solutions can work, but like so many things, trying to get by on the cheap is usually self defeating. Having a fresh set of eyes looking at your practice, business model, goals, challenges and opportunities can be very beneficial. 

Whether you decide to go it alone or bring in professional help, however, you need to be committed to business development and engaged in the execution of your plan.

OMEGA LEGAL MARKETING is a dedicated, specialty marketing company serving only small law firms and solo practitioners in the metro New York City area. Much more than just a web design firm, we put together affordable, comprehensive marketing programs that enable our clients to stand out from the crowd and grow their practices. You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com