Client Development Stop Selling And Start Helping

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Client Development: Stop Selling and Start Helping I hate to be sold anything and I know clients do not want to be sold. Many marketing consultants treat client development and marketing as if it were selling a product or service. Perhaps that approach is based on their experiences outside of the legal field. When lawyers hear that approach they cringe each thinking about the cold calls they have received from boiler room stockbrokers. Your clients are like you. They cringe at that thought of being sold anything by a lawyer. They know when they are about to receive a sales pitch from a lawyer and they resent it (and that lawyer.) If you are like me, cold calls are very difficult. How can you avoid it?  Give something away without any expectation of getting anything in return.   I did that throughout my career. Back several years ago the federal regulations on a topic of particular interest to the highway construction industry changed. Before the ink was dry on the revised regulations, I had written a summary in simple non-legal language with bullet points on what to do and what not to do. I sent my summary to as many potential clients as possible, as well as contractor associations who published my summary and suggestions in their newsletters. You might say that was a cold call, but I looked at it as simply trying to help them understand something that was vague and confusing.  I did not include a firm brochure or any other sales materials. All I did was put my contact information on the cover sheet of the memorandum underneath the title.   What is changing in your client’s world that you can identify, educate and expect nothing in return?     I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.