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 Member N.A.L.S.C.  |
~ March 2005
I make a living in sales! I describe myself as an attorney recruiter who conducts searches on behalf of law firms and corporate legal departments. Boiled down, that means I confidentially contact attorneys and present opportunities to them they may or may not find more attractive than their current options. Conversely, I present my considerable skills to potential clients with the objective of being hired to conduct an attorney search. I have reached that point by making it my business to know as many influential attorneys as possible with the knowledge that people do business with people they know or to whom they are introduced. That is selling!
I would propose that every successful attorney “sells” what he or she does. That would apply to rainmakers and non-rainmakers, all associates, in-house attorneys, and all attorneys who work for the government. Please let me repeat: every successful attorney sells what he or she does.
It’s interesting how many attorneys tell me that they work hard but will overtly refuse to “sell” their services, objecting that to do so would be unprofessional. In a previous “Ipse Dixit” study I did with rainmakers it was discovered that only 52% of those polled strongly agreed that selling and closing skills were important in order to develop a significant client base. And these were the rainmakers!
In the dictionary we find several definitions for “sell” including:
When an attorney goes out to lunch with a client so the client can know her better – she is selling. When an attorney makes his case to a judge or jury – he is selling. When an attorney makes the argument to her partner for the inclusion of a clause in a contract – she is selling. When an attorney makes a presentation to his board of directors that something should be reconsidered – he is selling. When an attorney explains to a client that it would be in his best interest not to do something – she is selling. In fact, your ability to sell an idea, a proposal, or your services, be the sale internal or external, will ultimately have a major effect on your success as an attorney. Attorneys do sell and, in fact, many are quite good at it. The majority don’t like to admit they do it but a significant minority admits it quite readily. We have names for those people: Rainmaker, General Counsel, Managing Partner, District Attorney, and Practice Head to name a few.As always, if you have any questions about this or any other issues dealing with employment or recruiting (other than legal advice, of course) – or even if you just want my perspective on what’s going on in the legal community – feel free to e-mail or give me a call. |