Bringin' In the Rain: A Woman Lawyer's Guide to Business Development

By Sara Holtz

In Bringin' in the Rain, Sara Holtz taps into her extensive experience as a business development coach to lawyers to offer practical advice on the most effective and efficient ways to generate business. If you're uncertain about what you need to do to grow your book of business, you'll find the answers within these pages.

Sara Holtz has successfully coached hundreds of lawyers in the art of building a book of business, and now she shares her knowledge by offering concepts, tools, and action steps that you can implement. You'll learn how to focus your marketing efforts, engage in high-payoff activities, employ effective follow-up, build strong revenue-generating relationships, and more. All the information is presented in a way that lets you choose the approaches that work best for you.

Bringin' in the Rain is an essential guide for any woman lawyer who wants to be a rainmaker.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Holtz
• Release date: Dec 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9780981814063

Sara Holtz

As the founder and principal of ClientFocus, Sara Holtz coaches successful women lawyers to become rainmakers. Since 1995, she has worked with hundreds of women from the nation's leading law firms to help them grow their businesses. Her work includes Women Rainmakers Roundtables, Rainmaker Coaching programs for law firms, and keynote addresses -- all of which are designed to demystify the business development process and teach effective practice-building strategies. Ms. Holtz has been a lawyer in both private and in-house practice. She served as Vice President and General Counsel of Nestle Beverage Company and Division Counsel for the Clorox Company, and was the first woman chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel. The State Bar of California has honored her for outstanding leadership of the in-house community. She is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.

Book preview

BRINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

by

Sara Holtz

Smashwords Edition

* * * * *

Published on Smashwords by:

Sara Holtz

Bringin’ in the Rain

Copyright 2008 by Sara Holtz

ISBN: 978-0-9818140-6-3

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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To Pearl and Arthur Holtz and Ted and Billy Marsden—

from generation to generation

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Acknowledgments

To my long-time dear friend, Pam Laird, without whom this book would never have existed. She showed me how I, a reluctant writer, could make it happen. And along the way, she provided invaluable advice and support—from thorough critiques of the various drafts to tips on how to overcome writer’s block.

To all the women who have participated in ClientFocus’ Women Rainmakers Roundtables. You are too numerous to mention by name, but you have all played a critical role in making this book a reality. Not only are you my clients, but so many of you have become my close friends. I have learned so much from you. You may think of me as the teacher, but, in fact, most of what I know about business development I have learned from you—from your successes and your failures (which you have so candidly shared with me). Without your openness and intelligence, this would have been a very thin book, indeed.

To three guys who provided detailed, thoughtful comments on this book: Dave Marsden, my husband, who brought his keen marketing eye and experience to my work all these years and to this book in particular; Peter Zeughauser, my dear friend and former partner in ClientFocus, who has always been a huge supporter of my work and whose visionary perspective on the legal profession has shaped much of my thinking; Bob Latham, my client, whose writing flair I strive to emulate.

To my newsletter editor, Jessica Albon, who was the first person to suggest that my monthly columns could be more than just that, and who, for many years, has turned my lawyerly writing into more lively prose. To my book editor, Barbara McNichol, who has done the same with this book.

To the ClientFocus team—Danielle Donaldson, Lisa Towery, and Julia Stanley—without whose dedicated support I would never have had the time to write this book.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

ONE: FOCUS YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS

Develop A Clear Vision

Establish Your Annual Goals

Identify Your Ideal Client

Use The Pebble-In-The-Pond Approach

Determine Your Best Referral Sources

Concentrate On High-Potential New Clients

Invest In Your A List, Stay In Touch With Your B List

Create A Niche Practice

TWO: ENGAGE IN HIGH-PAYOFF ACTIVITIES

Realize There Is No Right Way To Market

Review What Has Worked For You

Tap Into Your Talents

Articulate Your Strengths

Leverage Your Strengths In Your Marketing Efforts

Nurture Your Existing Clients

Know Why You Haven’t Been Hired (And What To Do About It)

THREE: FOLLOW-UP

Be Consistent About Staying In Touch

Create A Grab Bag Of Ways To Maintain Contact

FOUR: BUILD STRONG RELATIONSHIPS

Learn About Your Client’s Business

Ask Questions

Find Alternatives To Golf-Course Connections

Don’t Be Afraid To Get Personal

Maximize Your Visibility

FIVE: ASK FOR BUSINESS

Uncover Your Client’s Needs

Always Agree On The Next Step

Ask Friends For Business

Request Referrals

Ask To Be Cross-Sold

SIX: MAKE TIME TO MARKET YOUR PRACTICE

Adopt A Marketing Mindset

Develop Good Habits

Invest Your Time In The Right Places

Be Clear On Your Motivation

Calculate The Value Of A New Client

Just Say No

SEVEN: CREATE A SYSTEM FOR YOUR MARKETING ACTIVITIES

Be Prepared

Have A Plan For How You Will Follow Up

Get The Most Out Of Networking Events

Make Conferences Work For You

Ensure That Speaking Engagements Pay Off

Turn Article-Writing Into Marketing Opportunities

Always Have An Interesting Answer To What’s New?

Take Advantage Of Magic Marketing Moments

Stock Your Marketing Toolbox

EIGHT: FORGE MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS

Hire A Professional Coach

Team Up With A Marketing Buddy

Seek Help From Others In Your Firm

NINE: SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

Be Patient

Don’t Take Rejection Personally

CONCLUSION

RESOURCES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Introduction

I want you to be a rainmaker. Why? Because rainmakers:

• Make more money

• Have more interesting practices

• Gain power within their firms

• Enjoy the security that comes with a solid client base

• Have more control of their life and their careers

When you have your own book of business, you don’t depend on others to ensure a steady, lucrative flow of work. You have more control over the clients with whom you work, how you work, and what matters.

What’s more, with your own book of business, you can choose to stop working with those difficult clients who make emergency calls on Friday afternoon or reward your excellent work by sitting on your bill for months. You don’t have to deal with that partner who needs an anger-management course or schedules out-of-town meetings on the day of your daughter’s piano recital. And when the ax is falling in your firm, having a portable book of business provides you with security and gives you options you might otherwise not have—just ask any headhunter.

Overall, having your own book of business gives you the clout within your firm to influence what practices are expanded, what behaviors are rewarded, and what policies are implemented. With it comes respect—both from the colleagues in your firm and the community at large.

If you’re an associate, most firms require that you demonstrate potential for bringing in business before you will be considered for partnership. In many firms, you must show you’ve already brought in new business.

WOMEN AND RAINMAKING

For too long, women have been reluctant to set being a rainmaker as a goal. Because they felt they didn’t have the time, hadn’t been anointed to inherit a retiring partner’s book of business, or didn’t have a booming voice that commanded attention, they believed they couldn’t hope to develop their own books of business.

My experience working with women lawyers has taught me otherwise. This is not to say that succeeding as a rainmaker is easy for women (or men). But following the strategies in this book will help you reap the rewards of having your own book of business.

Why accept business development advice from me? I have been helping hundreds of women lawyers from leading law firms become rainmakers since 1995. My practice works exclusively with lawyers, and the majority of my clients are women partners.

Prior to becoming a business development coach, I had a lengthy, successful career as both a lawyer and client. I have been Vice President and General Counsel of Nestlé Beverage Company, Division Counsel for the Clorox Company, and the first woman Chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel. Having graduated from Harvard Law School and having served as an associate at a major law firm, I understand the world in which women in private practice work.

Most important, my approach to business development (as explained in this book) has produced dramatic results. Many clients who came to me with no book of business now have multimillion-dollar portfolios. Others have reported increases of more than 400 percent in their business. What do these successful women lawyers have in common?

• A willingness to take action and build their client base, not just rest on their laurels as accomplished legal practitioners

• A commitment to make marketing a priority, not just an activity that falls to the bottom of their to-do lists

• A clear focus on the type of clients to whom they should be marketing

• A recognition that strong, personal relationships form the core of successful business development

• An acceptance that, without consistent follow-up, few marketing efforts will pay off

• A willingness to ask for business at the appropriate time

HOW TO GET STARTED

This book is built on the concept of action—taking concrete, specific steps that can make you a rainmaker. There’s a lot of information in these pages, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by thinking that there’s so much you need to do to put these strategies into play. Just keep in mind that overwhelm is the enemy of action, so take your time and work in stages.

Instead of setting out to do everything in this book, commit to doing something. Start with what seems natural and easy for you, and just do it. I suggest operating about 10 percent outside your comfort zone to see what results you can achieve. Also commit to stop doing things that are not producing results. When you discontinue them, you free up time and energy to try out one of the new strategies from the many detailed here.

WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THIS BOOK