There's no shortage of information about the best practices that lawyers should employ for developing new business. A quick internet search will flood your screen with tips like "know your market", "start small", "communicate your expertise", "be authentic", and "focus on relationships". Generic principles like these are wholly unhelpful for busy lawyers, who are wise enough to know that they need to do something and are creative enough to imagine the things they could do. The primary obstacle that lawyers face isn't their imagination or know-how — the main barrier is confidence. Now, it's important to distinguish that this does not mean self-confidence — attorneys are not necessarily hesitant to build relationships because they lack confidence in themselves. Rather, attorneys falter with business development because they lack confidence in a system or process that requires them to divert time and energy away from other priorities, such as billable matters.

That lack of confidence comes from the reality that business development is neither linear nor predictable. There are a myriad of factors that go into building relationships, as each potential client has different motivations, pressures, and perspectives — just as individual lawyers do. An effective business development strategy is centered around adaptation and leverage. The strategy must be flexible enough to deploy regardless of personality style or industry, and it must leverage the strengths, interests, and curiosities of the individual lawyer. At Liftsail Marketing, our strategies don't result in creating a bland pipeline with empty or disingenuous outreach at each stage. Our custom business development strategies are built around innovations that you can use to develop new business and grow your practice in your own signature way.