The Imprecise Art of the Rainmaker - Part 1
By Stephen Gold
I first put up my plate as a sole practitioner in 1981 (my wife was my trainee, which made for interesting pillow talk). In 2007, by which the time the firm numbered just under 500 people, we merged, and I became a partner in a firm of 2500. At every point on the journey, a paradox of professional advancement was clear: we achieve partnership and positions of seniority through our technical skills, in which we have been trained to within an inch of our lives. But once we have grappled and grunted to the summit, our ability to cling on is strongly affected by whether we possess rainmaking skills in which we have probably been thrown a few pathetic scraps of training at best.
When you think about it, “rainmaker” is a strange term. Why describe such a vital role with words resonant of voodoo and mystery? I think there are two reasons: first, business development is arduous, with results slow, unpredictable and hard to achieve. Second there are some people who seem to find rainmaking easier than others. They appear to have a “secret” which is inaccessible to the rest of us, a perception which rainmakers themselves, not usually short of an ego or three, do little to discourage.
Our understanding is not helped by the plethora of self-appointed gurus who offer conflicting (and often fatuous) advice on how to achieve business success. Take, for example, “Who Moved My Cheese?” to which the only rational answer is, “Who Gives a Flying Feta, Mate?”
I’ve called the series of pieces of which this is the first, “The Imprecise Art of the Rainmaker,” because there is no one “right” way of doing it. Successful rainmakers come in many shapes, sizes and personalities. Yet they share:
- a thorough knowledge of their markets, be they local, national, or international, which informs a strategy they have carefully thought through.
- an understanding of human behaviour, empathy with others and a genuine interest in their needs, which encourages long-term relationships of trust.
- a method which plays to their strengths, and which they refine constantly.
- an ability to communicate in a way which creates interest and inspires confidence.
- resilience and persistence in pursuit of their objectives. They know it will take time to achieve them, that there will be boulders along the road, and sometimes it will reach a dead end.
What this gives them is not a secret, but what has been called an “informed optimism” that business is there for the taking if they pursue it in the right manner.
In these most difficult of times, selling our services effectively is the biggest issue we face. I’ve been a “proper” lawyer, but throughout my career I have spent far more time prospecting for work and ensuring clients were happy with our service than giving advice. After years in the trenches, I am sure that the ability to sell and develop strong relationships with clients matters more to being a successful lawyer than doing the work. I know this will be anathema to those who regard themselves first and foremost as technical experts, for whom selling is “not what they came into the law to do”, but in today’s world, this mindset is not just wrong, but potentially fatal for their firms and careers.
I say this for two reasons; first, without the sale there is nothing; second, rainmaking is about much more than prospecting for new clients. It is fundamental to maintaining and developing the firm’s current relationships, which are always more important than new prospects, however enticing these may be. Good rainmakers understand this. They are vigilant at nurturing and protecting the firm’s connections, and are most likely to identify other opportunities for cross-selling additional services.
They see the big picture of a client’s business, and where the work the firm is doing fits into it. Where clients have more than one legal adviser, successful rainmakers will be attuned to how relationships with competitors are going, and how their firms can differentiate themselves to win a greater share. They will be attuned also to changes in the market which mean the firm needs to refine its strategy, or indeed rethink it completely. Classic examples are the rapid decline in clients’ acceptance of the chargeable hour, and the move to commoditisation in areas where that was previously thought impossible.
Rainmakers will be alert to problems clients may be having with the firm, and effective in ensuring they are fixed.
This is why, in the end, the number and quality of true rainmakers a firm creates will make or break it, and why their status normally reflects this.
Service or Skills: Which Matters Most?
It goes without saying that doing client work to a high standard is absolutely fundamental, but I’d like to make another suggestion which (though Paul Gilbert has said it many times) may be controversial: service will always be more important than expertise. You may be the exception, but few lawyers, however brilliant, will enjoy clients emoting, “Tristan, the timeless, mystical elegance of your collateral warranties in Schedule B will live with me forever. I salute you.” You will hear them say how they appreciate that they can always get you when they need you, that you’re prepared to work as long as it takes when the pressure is on, that you meet deadlines, that you communicate in plain English, and are unafraid to give advice, rather than just take instructions. They will appreciate you even more, if, instead of paying lip service to understanding their business, you take the time and trouble to understand their ambitions, the pressures on them, dynamics between their key people, what they especially value in their lawyers, and as important, what they dislike.
I am not suggesting that if you are a relationship maker with Clooney-esque levels of charisma, but your technical work is rubbish, that is a recipe for success. What I am saying is that most clients take technical competence for granted, and beyond a certain point even sophisticated clients find it difficult, or not worth the trouble, to distinguish the quality of one lawyer’s work from another, as long as they are sufficiently competent. The things that win clients and hold them tight are overwhelmingly service related. That is why modern service level agreements reference legal knowledge so seldom. It is a given. In this environment, law firms who concentrate their training on technical updates, but ignore effective communication, relationship skills and how to deliver great service, are doomed to be overtaken by their smarter competitors.
In future pieces in this series, I will be looking at specific rainmaking skills; for example, how to network successfully, manage time between business development and fee-earning and cross-sell. Individual achievement is impossible without the right level of firm support, and so I will be looking separately at how firms can best nurture their people, promote their development as rainmakers and equip them to make the desert bloom.
Stephen Gold
Stephen is delighted to discuss any questions or comments on this article. He can be reached at mailto:shg@lbcwisecounsel.com and/or 07968 484 232.