Business Development

Firms grow by becoming known for something, in a market they have chosen. That takes a few people doing visible work consistently, alongside everything else they are paid for.

Partner growth plans

I work with partners one at a time, on a plan that starts from the fee target and works backwards. Three routes, with a figure against each.

Existing clients. The quickest route to fees is clients who already trust the firm. A strategic review meeting booked. An introduction to a colleague in another service line. A client nobody has spoken to in a year, reconnected before somebody else does it.

Sector visibility. One or two sectors, chosen deliberately. Visibility spread across five is noticed in none of them. The actions are small and specific. A post, an event, a couple of referrer relationships worth building properly.

Internal influence. Bringing a junior to a client meeting. Supporting a colleague’s work so it travels further. Saying at the partner meeting what has been working, so others come with you.

Then three things for the next ten days, each with a value against it. Partners believe a plan when something happens inside a fortnight.

Deciding where to be known

Most firms already have more concentration than they realise. Look at three years of records and a pattern usually appears. A sector the firm keeps acting for, in a market small enough that being known in it is achievable.

The work from there is making that experience visible. Writing, speaking, research the firm can publish, the associations and events the sector already runs. None of it has to be invented, because the clients and the knowledge are already in the building.

Who actually does it

Partners are not interchangeable here. Some will build relationships and enjoy it. Some are better left billing, and the firm should want them to. Some hold the place together internally and contribute that way.

Asking every partner to behave the same way produces very little. Naming the roles honestly produces more.

Keeping it going

I chair the business development meetings. Short, regular, and the same questions each time.

Behind them sits a pipeline the firm can actually read. Prospects generated. What converted, what is still live, what was lost. Recurring fees separated from one off work, because they are worth different things to a firm.

A plan with no meeting behind it lasts about six weeks.

Where to start

The Market Development Plan sets out eight questions covering people, clients and markets. Two hours with your partners, and the firm leaves with three priorities, each with an owner and a date. It is free, with no form to fill in.

If you would rather talk it through first, half an hour is usually enough to tell whether there is something here for your firm.