Why Clients Arent Hiring You And Why Your Firm Is Not Hiring Me

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Why Clients Aren’t Hiring You and Why Your Firm is Not Hiring Me When I practiced law I often wondered why the client who had hired me to get them out of a tough jam at great expense, had not hired me to help them avoid getting into the jam at far less expense. Today, I wonder why law firms do not hire me, or anyone else to do client development coaching for their lawyers to make sure they get it. Some time ago, I found the answer to my questions in a Fast Company article by Dan and Chip Heath titled:  Turning Vitamins Into Aspirin: Consumers and the “Felt Need” As the Heaths point out: If entrepreneurs want to succeed, as venture capitalists like to say, they’d better be selling aspirin rather than vitamins. Vitamins are nice; they’re healthy. But aspirin cures your pain; it’s not a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. I know that when I practiced law, clients were more willing to pay for the “must haves’ than they were to pay for the “nice-to-haves.” The same is true in my current work with lawyers and law firms. Sad as it may seem, many law firms view developing the next generation of rainmakers as a “nice-to-have” rather than a “must have.” I guess they assume their baby boomer lawyers will never retire. Likewise, when the economy is tough, law firms cut training and development of their lawyers because it goes from a “must have” to a “nice to have.” Thus, even though developing the next generation of outstanding lawyer rainmakers is “nice-to-have” not a “must-have” for the near future. One irony in all this: My best construction law clients were the ones who hired me to do “nice-to-have” legal work and now my best law firms and the best lawyers for whom I work hire me to help with “nice-to-have” goals. One other irony: The primary way I got hired for “must have” work was by creating content to help clients avoid the “must have” problem. I have a question for you. What will happen to your law firm when the vast majority of baby boomers retire? Have you developed the next generation of rainmakers? I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.