"Sales" is not a dirty word

I'm giving a presentation this evening for my local bar association on "Winning Strategies for Women Lawyers." The program focuses on the differences between how male and female lawyers communicate, how they network and bring in business, how they negotiate with clients and opposing counsel, and how they move up the ladder within their firm or organization. My presentation will focus on networking and rainmaking, but I'll have two additional panelists working with me.

Yesterday, while speaking to one of the other panelists in preparation for tonight's program, the issue of the word 'sales' was raised. Many lawyers still think 'sales' is a dirty word that is somehow beneath the venerated legal 'profession.' I still hear lawyers claim that the law is not a business because it is a profession. As Ben Glass, attorney and well-known legal marketer says, "Get over it."

There's no reason why law can't be a respected profession and a business at the same time. And in fact, it is. If you can't attract clients, serve them effectively and get paid appropriately for your efforts, you're out of business - and then your professionalism is going to waste.

Like it or not, a law firm IS a business, and almost everything you do on a daily basis involves selling and persuasion. If you're in the courtroom, you're selling your client's position to the judge and jury. If you're sitting at a partner's meeting, you're selling your ideas and your vision for the firm to your partners. If you're involved in a negotiation, you're trying to persuade others to get the deal done in a way that benefits your client. If you're meeting with a potential client, you're trying to persuade them that you're the right lawyer or law firm to help them with their problem.

As my friend and fellow presenter for tonight's program, Jane Myers, says, "if you don't understand that, as a lawyer, you're playing a role and you're selling all of the time, you just aren't going to make it." Both Jane and I agreed that we would have appreciated receiving this information (not to mention sales training) as young lawyers, but nobody talked about it. Don't make the same mistake - face the fact that, as a lawyer, (particularly in this economy), you must know how to ethically and effectively use sales techniques to propel your practice forward.

To attend tonight's program, register at the Suffolk County Bar Association's website.

Comments

[Lisa Solomon]

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Allison. In Winning on Appeal, Ruggero Aldisert says: "In substance . . . , to write effectively is to sell effectively. That is why I can comfortably think of judges and lawyers as salespeople, a function they do not always recognize and one that many would probably deny. In this sense, objections notwithstanding, lawyers and judges are salespeople. Being successful means selling your argument to your readers.”