In this episode, I share with you the biggest business development mistake that lawyers make …and three tips on how to avoid it! Alay Yajnik: [00:00:01] In this episode, I talk about the number one mistake that lawyers make while in business development meetings, it costs them clients and it costs them revenue. We also talk about three things that you can do to avoid that mistake from happening. Coming up next on Lawyer Business Advantage. Welcome to Lawyer Business Advantage, your source for biz dev tips, wisdom and inspiration. I’m your host, Alay Yajnik. We’re unleashing your inner rainmaker in 3…2…1…. Alay Yajnik: [00:00:49] My name is Alay Yajnik and I’m a business development coach and trainer for Lawyer Business Advantage. Now, I don’t believe in the mystical art of rainmaking. I believe that there is a rainmaker inside all of us, including you. The reason this podcast exists is to help you unleash your inner rainmaker through inspiring true stories, best practices and tips. Today, we’re gonna go through some tips. I’m going to share with you today the number one mistake that I see lawyers make over and over and over again during biz dev meetings and how to avoid it. You see, making this mistake cost lawyers more clients and more income than anything else that they’re doing in their practice. But here’s the good news: Just by avoiding this mistake, lawyers dramatically increase their chances of signing the client. And the mistake is super-easy to avoid. Alay Yajnik: [00:01:39] Here’s the mistake when it comes time to ask a potential client for their business. This is otherwise known as “closing the client.” The lawyer completely botches the ask. Or worse, they never actually ask for the business. They just let the moment float right by the potential client. The P.C. says, you know, “I want to think about it.” And then they’re gone. Probably never to return. The thing about it is this situation is totally avoidable. You never need to be in this situation again if you follow these three tips. Alay Yajnik: [00:02:12] OK, here’s tip number one: Memorize the ask. Look, you’re going to be asking them for the business. So memorize the words you’ll use to ask for the business. That way it happens automatically. And it just rolls right off your tongue. If you need to, you can even write it down in your notepad so you can refer to it during the client meeting. And bonus points, by the way, if you have your standard fee agreement ready for their review. Alay Yajnik: [00:02:38] Now, I know what you’re going to say. You can’t do that because you have to customize your standard fee agreement for your client, et cetera, et cetera. I know. But here’s the thing: You can always update it later for their signature. But going through the standard fee agreement with them while they’re there -while they’re meeting with you- dramatically will increase your chances of closing the client. Alay Yajnik: [00:02:58] So let’s get back to closing. My favorite way to ask for the business is using two sentences. Sentence number one: “Do you have any questions?” Look, if they say yes, then you answer the questions and then ask that again: if they have any more questions. When they say “no,” when you finally answered all the questions and they say, “No, I don’t have any questions,” Then I respond with sentence number two, which is, “OK. The next step is for us to review the fee agreement and collect the deposit.” And then we do and then we do just that. This is called the Assumptive Close. It’s really classy. It’s low pressure, but it’s incredibly powerful because we never asked for the business directly. We just assume they’re going to move ahead.
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