A Webinar Not to Be Missed! "How to Create and Use a 'Sales' Pipeline for Lawyers©" Wednesday, September 18, 2013 from 12 Noon-2 pm EDT.

Lawyers interested in developing new business as effectively and efficiently as possible should join Jon Hulak, Director of Business Development, Mintz Levin; Bill Rowe, Director of Business Development, Thompson Coburn; and Julie Savarino, Managing Director, Business Development Inc. on this webinar to learn exactly how to go about creating and using a "sales" pipeline to get new business. This webinar will cover how to: create an effective "sales" pipeline for your law practice, assess/value your clients and contacts, analyze and consider practical examples of outreach strategies, create outreach and added-value communications, stay in touch (and when to do it), embed effective follow-up steps into your practice, and measure progress/results. To register now using PayPal, please click here.
Register now! The webinar registration fee for a “one location, one firm, one office, one view” use is $495.00 USD. This webinar will not be available for viewing after the fact, except to those who have registered. For those who registered for a webinar, but did not view/participate in the live webinar, a link to the webinar and handouts will be emailed afterwards and is also subject to “one location, one firm, one office, one view” use terms of purchase. Registration fees are non-refundable but are transferable within the same firm. These webinars are open to the public but Business Development Inc. retains the right to decline any registration at its own discretion. Once you register, you will receive logistics and log-in information by email. By registering you are agreeing to the purchase terms as stated above. Other webinars are commissioned privately for individual firms, offices, practice groups, industry and/or client teams.
To view other upcoming webinars, please click here.

Law Firms - Need More New Business?

If you and/or your law firm want to get more new business and/or provide lawyers with proven, easy-to-use resources that will upgrade sales/business development skills and ability to bring in new work, consider:

1. Rainmaker Coaching^™ - For individual lawyers and/or groups of lawyers, beyond simply talking about what needs to be done, but helping get it done. These highly recommended coaching services can be provided separately from or in conjunction with:
2. Rainmaker Coach^™ Custom Training Modules - On-line, tailored- for-your-firm, and CLE-compliant business/client development training programs. Using our proprietary, secure, on-line Training Center, we work with you to create customized training modules that are video-taped on-line and then used to start or upgrade your firm's own on-line library and/or mobile offerings. When housed on your firm's intranet or converted into podcasts, they provide training/professional development programs covering key business and client development subjects that can be re-viewed and re-used for years! To see a list of popular business and client development training modules, click here. To see what law firms and lawyers say about our training and coaching programs, click here.
3. Consider registering for one of our upcoming, highly rated, Live Webinars or purchase a Webinar on Demand.
4. For all lawyers and marketing staff, consider buying the highly-rated, award nominated Rainmaker Coach^™ app for iPhones® and iPads® .

For more information, please contact: Julie Savarino, E Julie@BusDevInc.com, T (734) 668-7008

New Checklists Now Available on Highly Rated Rainmaker Coach™ App for iPads and iPhones!

When the Rainmaker Coach™ app was launched in March 2013, there were three checklists available on the app as follows:

1. Attending a Conference/Seminar/Event? How to make the most of your time and effort
2. Having a New Business Development Meeting/Lunch? How to get the most from it
3. Speaking at a Conference/Seminar/Event? How to make the most from it

Now, there are three new checklists available on the Rainmaker Coach™ app:

1. Responding to an RFP/Proposal Opportunity? Steps to take to help you win the business
2. Pitching New Business? How to prepare for a pitch meeting to win, part 1
3. How to prepare for a pitch meeting to win, part 2

Future checklists include: (a new checklist is uploaded to the Rainmaker Coach™ app every couple of months – so, 6 to 7 new ones are added each year)

1. LinkedIn – How to make most of it to develop new business, parts 1 and 2
2. Speaking on a Webinar? How to do your very best and make the most of it
3. Elevator-Plane-Train Speeches – How to create and use one to maximize your business development opportunities

To buy a one-year subscription to the Rainmaker Coach™ app, visit the Apple iTunes®, App Store and search Rainmaker Coach or, click this link and then click the Apple icon.

Want to Increase Revenue? Five New, Not-to-Be-Missed Webinars

If you have not heard  Paul Smith, Partner and member of the Eversheds Executive Committee discuss how his firm has gained significant client share and market share in manufacturing, finance and trading industries, you are missing something! Register to attend this webinar: Innovative Client Service: How-To’s for Lawyers & Law Firms©, Wednesday, July 17, 2013 from 12 Noon-1:30 p.m. EDT to learn how Eversheds makes innovations pay off, what innovations add measurable value, how to initiate a discussion about innovative service(s), what pitfalls to avoid and what clients are looking for from award-winning lawyer and legal services innovator. Paul Smith has initiated, designed and implemented some of the most successful client service innovations within the legal industry. Paul put in place the Tyco convergence project in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where Tyco used its innovative "SMARTER" model to consolidate most of its outside legal services from more than 250 law firms across 37 jurisdictions to just one. He has also put in place other innovative service models for such clients as: FMC, Louis Dreyfus Commodities, John Deere, Edwards Life Sciences and Michelin. To register now using PayPal, please see click here.

Webinar - Staying Abreast of Clients’ Business and Industry Needs and Trends: Practical How-To’s From the Client and Expert Perspectives© - Friday, August 23, 2013 from 12 Noon-1:30 p.m. EDT. DESCRIPTION: Join Veronica Marsich,  General Counsel of Metro Health  and Julie Savarino  of Business Development Inc.  to learn how to keep abreast of clients’ and prospective clients’ business(es), industries, trends and needs, which is a skill and discipline essential to a successful law practice. Webinar attendees will learn practical tips that can be put to immediate and productive use. The webinar handout will include a comprehensive and thorough, step by step checklist attendees can use to efficiently and effectively stay abreast of their clients’ and prospective clients’ business, industry, trends and needs, which can be put to immediate use following the webinar. To register now using PayPal, please click here.

Webinar - How to Create and Use a "Sales" Pipeline for Lawyers© - Wednesday, September 18, 2013 from 12 Noon-2 p.m. EDT. DESCRIPTION: Lawyers interested in developing new business as effectively and efficiently as possible should join Jon Hulak, Director of Business Development, Mintz Levin ; Bill Rowe, Director of Business Development, Thompson Coburn ; and Julie Savarino, Managing Director, Business Development Inc. on this webinar to learn exactly how to go about creating and using a "sales" pipeline to get new business. This webinar will cover how to: create an effective "sales" pipeline for your law practice, assess/value your clients and contacts, analyze and consider practical examples of outreach strategies, create outreach and added-value communications, stay in touch (and when to do it), embed effective follow-up steps into your practice, and measure progress/results. To register now using PayPal, please click here.

Webinar - New Partners: Best Practices in Client and Business Development© – Wednesday, October 9, 2013 from 12 noon-1:30 pm EDT. DESCRIPTION:  All new Partners face a similar and significant challenge: how to develop a solid, significant and sustainable book of business. Expectations to measurably contribute to the firm’s bottom line are high as are standards to gain and maintain equity partner status.  Attend this webinar to learn best practices, tips and techniques from three of the country’s leading experts on developing new business for lawyers: Julie Savarino of Business Development Inc. Deborah Knupp of Akina and David Freeman of Freeman Consulting. Webinar topics include: what works for new partners to effectively develop new legal work, what doesn’t; the key elements of a successful business client development program; and how to ensure measureable and on-going success. To register now using PayPal, please click here.

BY POPULAR DEMAND - Law Firm Apps for Business and Client Development Webinar V2© – Webinar, Wednesday, November 13, 2013 from 12 Noon-1:30 EDT. DESCRIPTION: Following the rave reviews from our first “Law Firm App” webinar held in May, we are offering a brand new version in November with new speakers and content. Join cutting-edge speakers from Katten Muchin Rosenman, Crowe Horwath, Saturno Design and Concep to hear about some of the latest and greatest apps that law firm and other professional services firms created, launched and use, how to make smart app decisions, what’s working, what challenges and obstacles to watch out for, how to measure success and best practices. To register now using PayPal, please click here.

 

Register now! These webinars will not be available for viewing after the fact, except to those who have registered.  

Successful Lateral Integration for Law Firms

This article written by Julie Savarino of Business Development Inc. available for those with a subscription to Bloomberg on Bloomberg's Business Development Center at www.bloomberglaw.com

Or, for those without a subscription, the article is available at this link:
http://about.bloomberglaw.com/practitioner-contributions/successful-lateral-integration-for-law-firms

Law Firms Work to Increase Revenues by Creating Formal "Sales" Functions©

The information below is from the highly-rated webinar entitled "Law Firms Use of 'Sales' Functions, Models and Pipelines – What Works, What Doesn't©", presented on June 5, 2013 by Business Development Inc. using their custom, CLE compliant WebEx Learning Platform.

Approximately 20% of Am Law 200 law firms now have a dedicated "sales" function/department/effort operating internally within their firms. Most law firms' internal "sales" functions are structured firm-wide, then focused on developing new business either for specific practices, select clients/prospects, and/or designated geographic areas. Some firms' sales personnel are assigned to two or more practice areas/types and/or geographic areas. Some of the major law firms that currently have these bona fide, internal "sales" functions in place are: DLA Piper, Baker & McKenzie, Reed Smith, Mayer Brown, King & Spalding, Womble Carlyle, Steptoe & Johnson, Bingham McCutchen, Cooley, Littler Mendelson, Thompson Coburn, Bowman and Brooke, and Faegre Baker Daniels, among others.

Importantly, these "sales" functions/departments are different and usually distinct from the firm's existing marketing/business development departments, although the two functions/departments usually work closely together to coordinate leads, opportunities and follow-up efforts. Approximately 80% of all major law firms’ internal marketing/business development department personnel have already - for years - been offering some degree of "sales support" at varying levels. However, that support/assistance is mainly provided on a reactive, as-requested and/or opportunistic basis, such as to help with major opportunities and/or RFPs (requests for proposal).

Webinar attendees included representatives from many Am Law 200 firms and Canadian firms. One of the polling questions asked during the webinar was, "What is your firm’s number one greatest concern/issue/challenge re 'sales'?" The audience's number one response was "lawyers' lack of interest, time and/or sales skills," and the number two response was "lack of current 'sales' support staff members time and/or budget." These responses suggest that the current marketing/business development departments in firms have the capabilities to assist with "sales", but not the time or budget.

As a result, to date at least 20% of major law firms realized that because there was no organized, proactive "sales" support operating within their firms, it made economic sense to upgrade their "sales" approach, organization, coordination, time spent, deliverables and follow-up efforts to create efficiencies so they can improve ROI from the hundreds and thousands of hours that lawyers and law firms devote to new business development.

The formality and sophistication of these "sales" functions currently in place within approximately 20% of Am Law 200 law firms varies. There are three primary, bona fide "sales" models used within these firms, as follows:

1. Senior Partners are tasked to reduce or eliminate their billable hours and to concentrate on rainmaking and/or lateral recruiting.
2. Sales persons and/or staff in-house with experience in other professions have been hired/designated to “sell” for the firm, create an institutionalized "sales" process, provide dedicated "sales" support (accounting firm experience is most prevalent), and/or provide dedicated sales support/coaching.
3. Former in-house counsel and others have been hired as counsel and/or consultants focused on "sales".

It is important to review the ethical rules and rules of professional responsibility for each relevant state and jurisdiction.

For more information, please contact Julie Savarino, Julie@BusDevInc.com.

BDI's Current Webinar Series for Law Firms ­Very Popular and Highly Rated!

Two recent webinars entitled: "Law Firm Apps^©" and "Law Firms Use of Sales' Functions, Pipelines^©" were sold-out and attended by approximately 35% of Am Law 200 law firms and other law firms from all over the globe. Over 85% of attendees rated these two webinars as "excellent", saying: "great value"; "helpful and useful information conveyed"; "very well done"; among other comments and feedback.

Upcoming webinars include: "Mastering the RFP (Request for Proposal) Process for Lawyers^®" to be presented on Friday, June 14, 2013, from 12 noon - 1:00 p.m. EDT by Julie Savarino, Managing Director, Business Development Inc. and "How to be a Client Service Super Star ­ Part I^©" to be presented on Tuesday, June 19, 2013, 3 p.m. ­ 4:30 p.m. EDT by Bernard Taylor, Partner, a 2013 BTI Client Service All Star and former Chair of the Management Committee, Alston & Bird and Julie Savarino, Managing Director, Business Development Inc.

For more information or to register, please click here.