"I went to law school so I'd never have to sell"

When I was in law school, I'd ask my classmates why they had chosen law. Many came right out and said it was because they never wanted to have to sell. Certainly, most were attracted by the intellectual stimulation, but the anti-sales motivation is now causing many lawyers grief. The contract has been broken because times have changed. It's too competitive in the profession now to have lawyers who are merely grinders and minders. They must be finders too.

Caroline Poynton, editor of Managing Partner magazine, hit the nail on the head in her white paper, "Strategic Marketing in the Legal Profession":

"In the future legal business, lawyers will not be able to profit off the back of technical expertise alone. They will increasingly have to become commercially-minded, business-development gurus who understand the profit imperatives of the modern age, and look to ways to secure firm-wide advantage through winning clients and nurturing existing relationships."

"This concept still horrifies many lawyers who did not join the profession to do 'sales.' Indeed, the thought of a lawyer acting as some kind of business entrepreneur appears like a juxtaposition; the quiet, independent expertise of the legal professional is wildly at odds with the go-getting determination of the corporate manager. And yet, in many firms it is a vision that is beginning to be realized, as corporate structures replace partnership models and lawyers find themselves learning techniques as seemingly outlandish as cross-selling."

The handwriting is no longer on the wall, it is chiseled into stone. It's time for the "library lawyers" to stop eating lunch at their desk, and find their way to a trade association meeting where clients congregate.

Comments

[Family Lawyer]

I have seen such a change in the way that law firms advertise and sell now that sometimes it scares me.

[Michlelangelo Celli]

Most of the corporations we work with are not partnerships. So because of the structure of partnerships - putting together effectives sales processes for legal firms presents an interesting challenge. What are some of the effective ways to market a law firm you have seen that go beyond word of mouth referrals, and predictably active the selling process?