By Larry Bodine, Esq., a business development advisor based in Glen Ellyn, IL, and Tucson, AZ. With the Apollo Business Development Program, he has helped law firms nationwide get new clients and generate millions of dollars of new revenue. He can be reached at 630.942.0977 and www.larrybodine.com.

Chuhak & Tecson, a full-service law firm in Chicago, launched an intensive program of business development training for 20 of its income partners in 2005. Within nine months, the group had brought in $1 million in new revenue, with one partner doubling his fees billed.

The 55-lawyer law firm prides itself on providing innovative and practical solutions to the complex issues and intricate transactions that materially affect their clients’ successes. A creative and growing law firm, Chuhak & Tecson has represented clients ranging from local establishments to national and international companies, and from local family owned businesses to publicly traded corporations.

Chuhak & Tecson lawyers work as a collaborative team of legal advisors who on an average have more than 20 years of practical experience each, and who share a genuine interest in client success. Since 1987, it has grown to become one of the 60 largest law firms in Illinois by serving as valued business partners with their clients.

The challenge

Beginning in spring of 2005, Chuhak & Tecson made a strategic decision to start a “Business Development For Partners” program, with a total budget of $24,000.  The initiative had become important with the impending retirement of key rainmakers at the firm, and the lack of new business from mid-level partners.

Challenges included:

• Skeptical and resentful partners.
• Lawyers with little selling acumen.
• Lack of a marketing culture at the firm.
• Nothing like this initiative had been attempted before.

In Fall 2005, the partners were assembled for a kick-off presentation, which included a marketing analysis of their firm, the typical law firm business development environment, how to pursue targets in a premeditated fashion, an overall business development strategy, use of an industry approach, identification of five industries where the firm has clients and creation of person business development plans. 

Criteria for selection

The program was spearheaded by the firm’s Marketing Director, Lily Joy. Chuhak & Tecson retained me to implement the program.  I thoroughly analyzed the firm’s finances, clientele, marketing initiatives and equity partner viewpoints.  Furthermore, he was the consultant who clearly demonstrated the ability to meet the following five goals:

1. Increase firm revenues by $1 million by training 20 partners.
2. Generate business more aggressively.
3. Focus on industry niches.
4. Increase revenue from current and new clients.
5. Maximize results from marketing efforts.

I was selected to advise Chuhak & Tecson because we made a specific effort to learn Chuhak & Tecson’s business and understand their marketing concerns.  The firm wanted to bring in more business and we told them what would work and what wouldn’t. As a result, Chuhak & Tecson got a custom-tailored solution.

My bottom line is to help professional firms to get more business and earn more revenue. Since 2000, his firm has assisted more than 60 law firms in developing:

• Strategic marketing plans.
• Tactics to execute the strategy.
• Individual marketing plans for professionals.
• Web site plans and overhauls.

Chuhak & Tecson’s Ms. Joy was thrilled with the accomplishments of 2005. She stated, “Your attention to my questions and concerns convinced me that I found a sound outside resource for the fledgling marketing operations at our firm.”

Larry Bodine Marketing takes a common-sense, nuts-and-bolts, practical approach to marketing, and concentrates on techniques that actually bring in new business. As a part of this practice, the consulting firm helps law firms revamp their Web sites, devise strategic marketing plans, train partners in business development and bid out marketing projects to save money.  Strategic Marketing Consultant Debbie Thompson joined the firm in 2006.  Accordingly, when law firms hire Larry Bodine Marketing, they get consultants who have 30+ years of combined marketing and sales experience, a professional researcher, and the ability to staff up easily to handle big assignments. 

Our solution

The partners were given a time-tested form devised by Larry Bodine Marketing to write down how they would devote 100 hours per year to business development. Each partner had a $1,000 marketing reimbursement fund to use. 

I made a kickoff presentation for all 20 partners to convey that “"Business Development for Partners" was a firm-wide effort supported by the owners to inspire eager attorneys, by showing them a strategy to follow and to ferret out objections from resistant attorneys.

The crux of the entire program was a one-hour training session that Ms. Joy and I held with each lawyer.  All participating attorneys brought their partially-completed plans to the session and received personal training to help them finalize their individual plans. Each lawyer was given:

• Training to find leads and overcome obstacles.
• Ideas for marketing tactics to pursue.
• Help picking targets based on the industries in which the firm had clients.

The written plans were built on each lawyer’s strengths and interests, gave management a written document to ensure results, and enabled Ms. Joy to follow-up persistently with each lawyer.  Attorneys liked the plans because they involved no cold calls and no uncomfortable situations.  A key reason the program succeeded is that Ms. Joy, firm management and I stayed in constant communication.

After only nine months passed, three of the partners had left the firm.  Some of the partners failed to participate.  Nevertheless, the partners who did participate brought in $1,000,000 in new revenue that the firm would otherwise not have had. Having spent only $24,000, the firm showed an ROI of 4000% and met its revenue goal.

Quotes from the partners

Partner Thomas Bennington doubled his billing (click for more information). When asked what he did to achieve his goal, he responded, “I began radio advertising, made myself essential to clients, followed up on various meetings with new contacts with follow-up calls and additional meetings. I demonstrated my abilities with the United Way, scouted and governmental organizations and followed-up with existing referral sources for additional referrals. This program focused me on marketing and gave me the ability to learn and try new things.”

When asked, what did you do differently? One partner stated, “I spent lots of time meeting people, maintaining contact, dining, golfing with repeat sources of business and potential new clients.”

Other partners attributed their success to persistence, and not giving up on a contact even after there were no immediate results. This program boosted their morale and made them focus on marketing, an activity they rarely did.

Working closely with the partners and Marketing Director, Chuhak & Tecson:

1. Increased revenue with a premeditated business development strategy. Rather than "dress up the lawyers as hunters and send them into the woods to shoot at anything that moves," we identified specific targets, the names of decision-makers to contact, directions on how to reach the decision-maker, and what words to use at a meeting with their target.
2. Created a marketing culture at a risk-averse law firm. Lawyers are skeptical, risk-averse and precedent-driven by nature. By insightfully making the most of their personality traits -- such as intelligence, competitiveness and diligence -- we trained them to deepen relationships by calling on people they already knew. No one had to make a cold call.
3. Engaged lawyers in business development, by overcoming their objections (such as: no time, too much work, not interested) and building plans around their strengths and activities they already enjoyed.
4. Educated lawyers in how to sell without being a "salesman." We taught them to sell by listening, to research the target and his/her company, and arrive with a set of questions designed to get the other person talking.
5. Prioritized the attorneys' targets: #1 current clients (the low-hanging fruit), #2 referral sources (the lawyers' allies) #3 carefully-chosen targets that fit the firm's strategy.

 “Thanks to your dedication of time, resources and energy into the set-up and launching of our Business Development For Partners program, we are well on our way to a great fiscal year! You went above and beyond to make us feel confident in our marketing decisions and best of all, you worked with us to stay within our tight budget constraints. You pushed us beyond the usual and customary, sending us out into the blogsphere with our first attorney authored blog”, stated Ms. Joy. “The program was a success and the attorneys at Chuhak & Tecson are continuing this program into the next fiscal year, anticipating additional revenue earnings.”