Like scientists, lawyers often leave it up to their audiences to figure out what they meant.  A lawyer’s failure to communicate is especially dangerous when talking to prospective clients – whether through the media or in person during meetings or pitches for new business.  Most prospective clients — especially these days — will walk away rather than do the work of figuring out what the lawyer meant!

The key for lawyers who want to communicate better with clients and prospective clients is to analyze their audience before speaking.  A lawyer who communicates well answers three questions before speaking:

1. What single thing will grab the attention of this audience?
2. What words communicate best with this audience?
3. What story or example can I use that this audience will identify with and immediately understand?

In this economy, lawyers cannot afford to speak from a self-centered perspective:  What client wants to hire a lawyer who doesn’t bother to talk to them from a business perspective? Who would want a lawyer who talks about a new law or new regulation —  but does not make clear IMMEDIATELY what the impact will likely be for the client’s business?

In the past, when law firms had a lot of power, lawyers sometimes got away with not communicating clearly.  I think we can all agree — those days are over.

Marsha Redmon, mredmon [at] marsha [dot] com

Long road to competencies!

Most law firm competency based compensation systems include business development and communication skills for associates and young partners.

How is your law firm putting a comprehensive competency based business development and communications curriculum into place quickly?

Marsha Redmon Communications’ Business Development and Communications Curriculum(customized to fit your firm’s competency system) covers those communication and client development skills that most competency based systems require.

Cost Effective: The curriculum is designed so that most courses may be taught live in all offices at once, so that multiple courses (customized for each level) may be delivered cost effectively.  Some intensive skill building courses are delivered in person by our consultants.

Course Design: This business development and communications curriculum has four key areas:

1. Business development through skill- and relationship-building
2. Communicating effectively in every situation
3. Raising your profile in order to develop business
4. Optional: Client service “your way” — a  highly customized workshop that is based on a firm’s particular culture of client service

The curriculum offers two levels of courses:  core and skill-building.  Each area has one core course that provides fundamentals and an overview of key learning.  Various hands-on skill-building workshops are offered in each track to focus lawyers on applying the knowledge and getting comfortable with the skills needed to excel at business development and communications – at each level in a firm’s competency system.

Extra Options: Distance Learning Courses: Marsha Redmon Communications offers additional business development and communications courses in a distance learning (on demand) setting.  Accessing the courses is easy.  Participants take courses online individually – at a time that is convenient for each of them.

Online course offerings include:

• Using Webinars to Get Business Now
• Looking Like a Team in Presentations & Pitches
• Staying in Touch to Get Business
• Listening Skills for Lawyers

We are happy to create other on demand courses upon request.

To talk about our unique way of delivering a cost-effective and complete business development and communication curriculum customized to match your competency based system– contact us at info [at] marsha [dot] com.

Grab Your Audience

You have about 20-40 seconds to convince your audience you’re worth listening to — can you do it?  If you start out by talking about yourself, you’ve lost them already.

1. Start by talking about the audience - of course.  What’s the one thing they are most concerned about? What can you say that will cause some of the audience to nod their heads “yes” and agree with you?
2. Planning your speech or presentation is key. It takes time and hard work to figure out what is most important to your audience and to organize your thoughts.
3. Use a little drama. Don’t rush in and start talking fast.  Look at the audience, smile, breathe, pause, then make a nice impactful statement. Pause again. There. Now you’ve made a nice first impression.  Oh yes, stand up straight!
4. Tell a story or example that illustrates the main point of your speech. This is especially helpful when your topic is complex.  An illustration will help everyone understand what you’re talking about — before they get confused and stop listening.
5. Tell the audience members why they should listen.  As clearly and as specifically as possible, tell them the likely impact on them of what you’re saying.  For example, “This new regulation means small insurers will have to begin financial controls reporting that can cost upwards of $1 million per year, per insurer.”  Now you have their attention!

Marsha Redmon

Lawyers can use the media to get clients by providing business-oriented trend stories to reporters. Here is our Top-5 List to help get you noticed by the press:

1–Choose Your Audience: Narrow your focus so you can be specific and relevant to your core audience. Generalities are neither helpful nor memorable.  Narrowing your audience will — counter-intuitively — broaden your appeal.

2–Identify Hot Topics: Knowing what is developing in an area of business, regulation, or industry is valuable information. Of course, no one KNOWS what will happen, they predict trends based upon educated guesses informed by facts. That’s all anyone expects.  Go ahead — appoint yourself  a “trend-spotter”  in your area of practice!

3–Write Out Your Quotes Beforehand: The best way to get the quote you want is to literally write it down before the interview. Most interviews of lawyers are done by phone, so you can look at what you have written during the interview.  Limit the other things you say – so other points you make don’t inadvertently become your “quote.”

4–What Makes a Lawyer Quotable?  Quotes are short and pithy.  Lawyers who get quoted speak in short sentences — not whole paragraphs!  Use visual  or descriptive language.  Don’t get too detailed.  By the way — legal jargon is NEVER quotable.

5–Tell Stories to Demonstrate Your Expertise: Some lawyers bore clients with “war” stories that put the focus on themselves rather than giving the client useful information. The key distinction is this — stories are relevant when you tell the client right up front WHY the story is similar to their situation or otherwise useful to them.

 Let’s Do Lunch — Business Development Your Way

How many potential clients have you taken to lunch – and never gotten around to talking about business?

Have you tried and rejected the “hard sell” business development model because you just can’t see yourself that way?

Sustainable business development happens when you can be genuine and authentic – while stepping out of your comfort zone a little.

We teach a realistic approach to business development for busy lawyers.  In this practical session, you’ll learn what you can do now for more effective, targeted business development that flows from your natural style.  Using the example of a business lunch, find out what works and “what not to do” to get business. 

Topics include:  

• Making the switch: shifting the conversation to business
• Two crucial skills that make all the difference
• Choosing the right targets
• How to ask for the business
• Staying in touch without being annoying
• Fitting business development into your life

This workshop can be conducted with small or large groups, for partners or associates or both.  We also do a women-only program. 

Over lunch, naturally!

Do competency based compensation systems require firms to begin to train every single associate – in even the smallest offices?

How will firms do that MUCH MORE training efficiently and cost-effectively?

How will firms create THAT MUCH MORE new training that is tied to their new competency based systems?

Marsha Redmon Communications trains lawyers in multiple offices cost-effectively. We create customized communications and business development workshops to match each firm’s competency model. 

Contact us for more information – info [at] marsha [dot] com

1.  Associates can begin building these business development skills now with their peers:

• Learn how to ask good questions to get others talking about their company’s business challenges
• Learn to speak succinctly with a keen focus on what your audience is interested in
• Begin telling stories that highlight their firm’s expertise in a relevant way

2. Associates need to develop relationships early with their peers in house and at law firms — and learn how to stay in touch in meaningful ways. Some of those relationships will continue and deepen and eventually lead to business.

3. Learn by doing– ask to get involved (and eventually go along) on prospective client meetings and pitches with partners.  Seeing first hand how lawyers in your firm get business will go a long way in teaching you how you can get business too.

4. Try to develop deep expertise in a narrow area of law or an industry — or both.  Deep expertise is valued by clients and it allows you to see trends and business needs that others might miss.

5. Start identifying emerging business needs for clients your practice group serves (or would like to serve).  For example, look at a group or industry being targeted now for enforcement and anticipate which industry might be next and why.  This will give you good practice at identifying the valuable “heads up” type of warning clients love to get from their lawyers.

Marsha Redmon