My favorite law professor once told me that she always knew firm life was not for her, as she was a terrible saleswoman. As a second year law student determined to pursue a career in private practice, her comment did not faze me. For several years after joining Venable, I similarly gave her comment little thought. Indeed, it was only when I was approaching mid-level associate status and beginning to broaden my focus from drafting motions and legal research memoranda to developing my own client base that I began to truly appreciate the significance of her comment.
However, understanding that I needed to market myself in order to continue to have a successful career in private practice was still a far cry from actually marketing myself.
Some lawyers are natural salespersons. Bravo! Gold star! (You can stop reading now.) And then there are the rest of us. You know who you are. As a child, you would rather babysit or cut the grass than set up a lemonade stand. As an adult, you would rather just sponsor yourself than have to ask friends to donate money towards whatever charitable event you have signed yourself up for. Fortunately, even for the rest of us, there is still hope.
The first step is to erase from your mind the “salesperson scenario” that causes you to break out in a cold sweat. You will not be wearing an ill-fitting suit, carrying a black suitcase, and knocking on some random person’s door in a vain effort to convince them to buy some poorly-made and over-priced product that they don’t need and you wouldn’t even buy yourself.
By the time your career has progressed to the point where you are ready to start looking for your own clients, you should have a valuable product that clients need and which you can be proud to sell – your own knowledge and expertise. Take confidence in your ability and clients will take confidence in you.
If you find that you have confidence in your knowledge, but not in your ability to communicate that expertise, encourage your firm to set up a public speaking course for associates.
Similarly, if you find yourself questioning what “added value” you can bring to the client’s table, take a step back and concentrate first on developing your expertise. Finding a niche, whether within your own firm or the industry at large, is a good place to start. Reading extensively about that subject will give you the background to “talk the talk.” Then, use that existing body of knowledge to write about emerging issues and identify future areas of interest to clients.
Once you’ve got a product that you are proud of, the question becomes how to introduce it to the right audience. If you can, let that audience come to you. Timely articles are a good way to get invited to participate in discussion panels and CLEs. Many savvy clients who have identified an emerging legal issue within their own corporation will attend a CLE or panel discussion in an effort to identify the “leaders” in the area, and then later approach them about legal representation.
If you haven’t yet reached the point in your career where the audience will come to you, you will need to identify the audience and go to them. Work with your firm’s marketing department to send your articles and client alerts to an appropriate audience. Track the statistics as to who is opening your articles and conduct a targeted follow-up.
Of course, identifying the right person within the company to make contact with and then convincing them that they should hire you will likely be the most challenging part. For most of us non-natural born salespeople, while we have the skills and have done the homework, words like “awkward” and “embarrassing” still come to mind when it actually comes time to ask a potential client for work. A successful rainmaker at our firm reminded me in a very matter-of-fact manner, however, that unless you ask for business you will never get any business. This, of course, is true. So, not only should you bite the bullet and ask, but you should increase your odds by identifying and asking as many clients as you can. One article I read recently suggested identifying five new clients a month. Most of us probably don’t even identify five new clients a year, which means we have room for improvement.
When identifying prospective clients, why not start with the low hanging fruit? If you have friends, friends of friends, friends of family members, or (best of all) a family member in a position to hire you – ask them to give you a chance. (Re-watch Michael J. Fox’s “I can do anything, if you’ll just give me the chance” speech in The Secret of my Success if you find yourself lacking in inspiration). Even if they aren’t ultimately receptive, it will provide you with an opportunity to practice your pitch to a friendly audience.
Don’t forget to market yourself internally as well. The only way a colleague will know to call you or put you in touch with a client or potential client is if you have successfully marketed yourself within your own firm. The same goes for inter-firm marketing. Many big cases require the assistance of more than one law firm, so developing bonds with equivalent associates at other firms can lay the groundwork for a symbiotic future referral network.
Equally important is keeping your expectations realistic, particularly in this down economy. Good client relationships are cultivated over months, if not years. Introducing yourself, exposing clients to your area of expertise, and then keeping in touch – particularly during downtimes – help foster a sense of trust and confidence that will put your name in the forefront when it eventually does come time for a client to address a new or novel legal question in your area of expertise.
Amy J. McMaster is an associate in the environmental department at Venable in Washington. Her practice focuses on both criminal defense and civil regulatory compliance.
