Going for the Gold

There are those of us who love competition and those of us who prefer gaining new business because we are great lawyers.  As told many times, being a great lawyer will help KEEP business but clearly it takes much more to get new business.  We've been saying this since 1987 and yet, it's still new news to many.  But before we dismiss being a great lawyer out of hand completely, here's where being a great lawyer helps get new business:

Your bio:  write your bio for the reader not for you!  The visitor to your bio page on the website or the reader to the bio you hand out at meetings should gain an immediate awareness about the depth of your experience based on two sentence, bulleted tidbits about your successes.

Your results: create a mini ad about you that you will use during meetings with others.  Make it a one page overview that has logos from all your client companies; all the deals you've done or all the cases you've won.  For solos and small firm practitioners, create a one page fact sheet that showcases your skills.  These are far more interesting than lots of boring brochures that do not target a particular client's needs or showcase your specific successes.

Your clients: create a "Client Testimonials" sheet that has quotes from your clients about your work.  Your can either use their name and company (with their permission) or you can simply write under the testimonial "estate planning client;" or "CFO, technology company." 

Get the point?  Just good work won't alone get you clients; but look at all the ways you can leverage the relationships and experience to help drive new business.

Go for the Gold and grab some client and market share!