Put on your business hat.

Law firms: What do your lawyers do first thing in the morning when they start work?

Do they fire up the computer, open the case management system, the time-recording system and make a cup of coffee?

I expect the answer to that last question is yes.

But and this is a BIG but, do they put their business hat on?

I bet the answer to that question is a resounding NO!

It goes without saying that you employ good lawyers, some may even be brilliant, top drawer in fact.

But that doesn’t make them great businesspeople, does it?

In fact, if you’re being totally honest, many of them are not that commercially aware at all, even at a basic level, are they?

Oh no siree.

It’s not really in their DNA.

It just doesn’t come naturally and, in some cases, frankly, they are downright uncomfortable with the whole sales process.

And why should it come naturally?

After all, they are lawyers, they studied the law, didn’t they? They didn’t study business, so how can you possibly expect them to be business-minded?

It’s just not fair.

It’s a totally different skill set. It makes perfect sense to me. 

There can even be a disconnect between how they get paid their salary and billing.

And, you dare not mention the word sales. They’re lawyers, they don’t even think they are in sales.

In fact, I know that they think that sales are dirty, uncouth, and frankly not something they really want to be involved with.

And yet they are, every single day.

It is part of their job; but the least favourite part. Yet if this is not done properly, what does the firm’s future look like?

Could it be rocky?

Money being poured down the drain every day adding up to hundreds of thousands over the year.

Just one of the things I do in my training and coaching is to help lawyers see the concept of sales from a different perspective.

I enable them to let go of the negative connotations in their mind and embrace the truth that since they offer a service and they have clients, they are in sales.

And it’s OK. It doesn’t make them bad people. They are providing a service and in exchange the client is paying them.

Now I am talking to you as if you are a law firm owner, so you may well be a lawyer too, and possibly even struggled with this yourself.

You may even still struggle despite being hugely experienced. It is a common place problem and it’s not just the preserve of lawyers, either.

All service-based businesses struggle with this to some extent or another.

Sure, there are a small percentage of lawyers who are good at both – the law and business but they are a minority in my experience.

The solution is to teach your lawyers how to put on their business hat. This way, everyone is a winner, the client, the business and the individual doing the lawyering.

Let me help you.