Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. Many law firms are asking attorneys to be rainmakers and expecting them to bring in clients and close more business, but they are not equipping attorneys with the deal-sealing success tools or providing them with a clear and defined process to do so.

Most departments in law firms have a shared language and follow a standard process. Everyone in accounting talks the same analytical language and uses the same procedures. Individuals in marketing use similar communication language and methods that generate firm visibility. In human resources, client intake and support, operations, or
any other department, everyone agrees on a dependable process by which the work gets done.

For some reason, in most law firms, sales and lead conversion typically don’t have a documented process that attorneys understand and agree to follow. Attorneys are on their own, or it is assumed that they know what it takes to successfully convert a potential client into a paying client.

This leads to a team of attorneys who have nothing in common in their approach, and it is the primary reason why ideal clients leave without hiring your firm. Rolling the dice with every lead is a costly and fixable mistake.

Since new clients are the lifeblood of every practice, why not do all that you can to create the most positive outcome and win more business?

Think about how you learned the process of client conversion. Most likely you sat in on a few consultations with a senior attorney and were taught to simply do what she does. The do what I do, watch me, I’ve been doing this for decades model of closing legal business is a recipe for disaster and one of the main reasons why firms are struggling to win business.

The colossal mistake made here is that they allow attorneys to duplicate what works for someone else and cling to the ways that worked for them in the past.

Just because I shoot a few dozen astounding rounds of golf doesn’t mean that I could get a job at a golf course and teach everybody how to play. I would be teaching the skills that I know and what works for me. Plus, I have some bad golf habits and behaviors that work for me, my body type, and my particular proficiency.

These seasoned attorneys not only teach what they know about closing business that works, they teach their bad habits as well. These well- intentioned attorneys unknowingly continue to pass down old-school, stale, and traditional conversion methods that used to work but now are no longer aligned with today's savvy legal consumer.
Attorneys are not taught sales skills in law school and should not be teaching others how to sell legal services. There is too much at stake to keep passing around unproductive skills that are decades old.

How many tens of thousands of dollars are you leaving on the table because your attorneys are not clear on the exact path to take to turn a potential client into a happy paying client?

Selling skills are the vehicle for reaching the next level in your firm. More and more law firms are going outside the legal industry and hiring consultants who are better equipped to train attorneys in the current and up-to-date process of sales and lead conversion.

When your attorneys become effective at attracting and retaining more clients, you will sell all the legal services your firm can handle.

The issue related to low lead conversion rates will never vanish on its own. It dissolves when you equip attorneys with innovative rainmaking skills that make them stand out, pull ahead of the pack, gain more referrals, and win more business.

Your potential clients have already changed. Now it’s time to challenge yourself to change. This is a time of great opportunity. Will you seize it?