What can you do to help make sure your star recruits don’t misfire?

First, apologies for the sporting references in this edition of BD Tips Wednesday.

Last weekend marked the end of the English Premier League season 2025-2026 and, surprisingly or unsurprisingly depending on your loyalties, West Ham United were one of the three teams relegated.

What caught my attention though wasn’t the result. It was the economics behind the result.

According to recent reporting (including in the Financial Times), since 2021 West Ham’s net transfer spend has exceeded £318 million. That places them among Europe’s biggest net transfer spenders during this period — despite selling their star player Declan Rice to cross town rivals Arsenal for a sizeable fee.

Think about that for a moment.

A club with a 62,000-seat stadium, one of the strongest supporter bases in England, and transfer spending north of £300 million in less than five years has been relegated from the world’s richest football competition.

Meanwhile, a club with a significantly smaller budget — AFC Bournemouth — came within touching distance of qualifying for European Championship League football.

How does this happen?

You would think the answer has to be down to a combination of two things: (2) Bad lateral recruitment; and/or (2) Bad management (on which point, several managers of West Ham have been released from their contract over the past two years).

And that got me thinking about professional services firms. Because law firms, accounting firms and other professional services firms have been on a similar gouge of lateral recruiting – often offering sizeable guaranteed incomes (in Australia the guaranteed amounts have been as high as $7M but overseas these numbers have been swamped), with no guarantee of income being given (i.e., results).

So what can you do to help make sure your star recruits don’t misfire?

The first 12 months matter more than the recruitment process

Most firms spend enormous amounts of time and money on recruitment, followed by almost no time onboarding and integrating the lateral into the team. A strong onboarding plan for senior lateral hires should answer practical questions such as:

• What skill gap is this lateral plugging?

• Who are the internal relationship builders?

• Which partners are responsible for introductions?

• Which existing clients create the best cross-selling opportunities?

• What support will business development be providing and is there an integration plan in place?

• How will momentum be measured in the first 90, 180 and 365 days?

• How will success be measured?

• What internal blockers might slow momentum?

Because if a senior lateral sits waiting for work to emerge organically, momentum disappears quickly. Confidence drops. Relationships with clients you are hoping to bring over will stall.

And eventually both sides will quietly admit: “This hasn’t worked.”

Beware the transfer fee mentality

Football clubs often assume expensive recruits will automatically change results. Professional services firms often think the same way.

Higher salary + Better title + Big Press Release = Problem solved.

Except growth rarely works like that. Because a lateral hire is not a growth strategy; it is part of a firm-wide growth strategy for previously identified shortfall areas.

In fact, pay the lateral too much and the existing partners might delight in seeing them fail.

The better question

When a star recruit underperforms, firms often ask:

“Did we hire the wrong person?”

When more often than not the better question is:

“Did we give the person the right conditions and support to succeed?”

Because occasionally the issue is not the lateral recruit but the support system around them.

West Ham will probably spend next season asking how so much investment delivered so little return. To avoid having to ask the same question, professional services firms should be asking themselves what due diligence have we done to ensure this lateral integrates with our firm and what support structure are we putting in place to help them achieve success?

And the answer to that will not come from the recruitment agent. It’ll come from the business development person you have in the room when you first discuss the need to hire the lateral…

Takeaway

Star performers rarely succeed alone. The rainmaker with the enviable client list will have exceptional internal support, strong cross-referral pathways, a trusted delivery team, or simply a brand that opened doors more easily.

If you hire the star individual, without the rest of the support structure, even exceptional people will struggle.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

The “Give First” Rule Of Business Development

There’s a quiet truth about business development that many professionals struggle to accept:

Rainmakers, who consistently win work, often appear to chase work the least.

This is not because they are passive or indifferent to growth. Nor is it because they are somehow naturally gifted networkers. More often, they have learned a principle that quietly underpins strong professional relationships:

give value before you ask for value in return.

In this BD Tips Wednesday post, I look at why consistently investing in relationships – more often than not for nothing – is the business development tool you have.

Business Development Starts Earlier Than Most People Think

Most lawyers still think of business development as a sequence of activities tied to winning work: networking events, proposal meetings, lunches and pitches.

Yet most clients do not experience relationships this way. They rarely appoint advisers because of a single impressive meeting. They work with people they trust, remember and value. In short, people they like working with.

Most importantly though, clients choose advisers who have already demonstrated an understanding of their world.

Here’s the crux: trust isn’t something you buy over coffee. It often develops through smaller interactions over time. It may be a helpful article shared after hearing about an industry challenge. A quick phone call to help someone think through an issue. A useful introduction between two contacts who should know each other. Sometimes, it is simply remembering what matters to a client and checking in when something relevant arises.

These moments may seem small, but they compound. Over time, they shape perception and position someone as a trusted adviser rather than simply another service provider.

Giving First Does Not Mean Working for Free

At this point, you may ask:

Does “giving first” simply mean giving away expertise without being paid?

No, not at all.

The “Give First” rule is not about endless unpaid advice or blurring commercial boundaries. It is about creating value without attaching an immediate expectation of return. There is an important distinction between providing value, and giving away your services indefinitely.

Often, value comes in forms that cost little but matter greatly to clients. It may be sharing insight into a market trend, asking thoughtful questions that help clarify a problem, introducing someone to a useful connection or pointing a client in the right direction before an issue escalates.

In many cases, the most valuable thing a lawyer can provide is perspective.

Clients remember the people who helped them make sense of a problem; particularly before it became urgent.

Why the “Give First” Rule Works

Professional services businesses ultimately operate on trust. Clients are rarely buying time alone; they are buying judgement, confidence and reduced risk.

Before engaging a lawyer, most clients ask themselves a simple question:

Do I trust this person to help me solve an important problem?

Giving first helps answer that question long before a formal proposal is ever requested.

First, it makes you memorable. Many professionals disappear between matters, only resurfacing when they need work or have something to sell. By contrast, those who remain visible through relevant and useful interactions stay front of mind.

Second, it demonstrates capability before the pitch. Every helpful conversation, thoughtful observation or useful introduction becomes subtle proof of how you think and how you show up for clients.

Finally, generosity tends to create momentum in relationships. This is not about manipulation or keeping score. It is human nature. People naturally remember those who have been helpful, and when an opportunity arises, whether a referral, a panel appointment or a strategic matter, trusted relationships often come to mind first.

Three Practical Ways to Apply It

The good news is that adopting a “Give First” mindset does not require a complete overhaul of your business development approach.

Start by becoming more intentional about relevance. Instead of generic check-ins, send clients or referrers something genuinely useful: an article, market insight or observation tied to an issue they are likely facing.

Second, make introductions generously. Lawyers who consistently connect people build strong reputations as trusted relationship-builders, often without realising the long-term value this creates.

Finally, ask better questions. Rather than opening with “How’s business?”, ask what challenges clients expect in the next 12 months or what is becoming harder for their team. Better questions lead to better conversations, and better conversations create stronger relationships.

Takeaway: Stop Chasing. Start Helping.

Rainmakers who build strong books of business are rarely the most aggressive marketers. More often, they are the people who consistently show up, stay curious and make themselves useful long before an opportunity emerges.

The “Give First” rule is not about generosity for its own sake. It is about recognising that trust compounds over time. When an important problem eventually lands on a client’s desk, they rarely start searching from scratch.

Instead, they call the person who has already been helpful.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Business Development Is A Confidence Game

Many lawyers assume they have a business development problem when what they have is a confidence problem.

Most law firms employ highly capable subject matter expert lawyers with deep expertise and insight, strong client outcomes and years of experience. Yet many still struggle with inconsistent pipelines, overreliance on referrals and rainmakers, fee pressure, and a lack of new matters.

Why is this?

In this BD Tips Wednesday post, I suggest it’s because business development is not a selling game — it’s a confidence game.

Capability Does Not Automatically Create Confidence

A common assumption in professional services is that expertise naturally leads to work. Tell me if this sounds familiar:

Do good work → clients recognise value → more work follows.

Sounds logical.

But markets are not logical and rarely reward the most technically capable adviser. Otherwise, everyone who went to Harvard would be a rainmaker (trust me, they’re not!).

What markets do reward are lawyers who are:

• visible

• easy to engage

• responsive

• commercially aware

• confident communicating value

There is very little subject matter expertise in any of that.

But this creates a frustrating dynamic for many lawyers: ➡️ Strong technical practitioners assume business development happens organically, while commercially confident competitors (who are often not as technically strong) steadily strengthen relationships, are more responsive, ask better questions, stay visible, and steal all the thunder.

The Confidence Gap

Low confidence in business development rarely announces itself directly. Instead, it quietly shows up in behavours that many firm leaders overlook. It appears when lawyers:

• hesitate to follow up after meetings

• avoid asking for introductions or referrals

• feel uncomfortable discussing fees

• discount too quickly

• avoid commercial conversations

• assume good work alone will generate future matters

Confidence Is Built, Not Found

One of the biggest misconceptions about business development is the belief that confidence arrives first. It doesn’t.

Confidence is typically:

• After the awkward networking event

• After the follow-up call

• After the uncomfortable pricing conversation

• After asking for the meeting

• After hearing “no” more times than you would like to and realising the world doesn’t end.

The lawyer who appears naturally good at business development is often the lawyer who has kept showing up enough to become part of the furniture.

Confidence is not a personality trait. It’s a skill. And like every skill, it improves through repetition and training.

Takeaway: Clients Buy Confidence

Clients are not simply buying your technical expertise; they’re buying the confidence you bring to the matter. Confidence that:

• you understand their issue

• you have solved similar problems before

• you will guide them through uncertainty

• you understand commercial realities

• you will help them make good decisions

Technical ability matters, but confidence is where trust is created.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

The Problem Isn’t The Ask. It's The Way You Ask

Most professionals treat referrals like a transaction:

“Hey, do you know anyone who needs this?”

And that is where it falls flat.

Referrals don’t happen at the end of a job, they happen at the peak of value. Right after:

• You’ve solved a problem

• Delivered a great outcome

• Made the client’s life easier

That’s when your client is already thinking: “That was great.” You’re not interrupting. You’re simply continuing the conversation.

That’s why, for this BD Tips Wednesday post, I’m taking a look at ‘How to Ask for Referrals Without Sounding Awkward’.

Shift From “Can You Refer Me?” to “Who Else Is Dealing With This?”

The best referral conversations don’t feel like requests, they feel like insight. Instead of asking for people, ask about problems:

• “Who else in your network is dealing with this right now?”

• “Are you seeing this come up in other teams or organisations?”

• “Is this something your peers are talking about as well?”

This does two things:

1. It keeps the focus on the client’s world (not your pipeline), and

2. It makes the referral feel like a natural extension of the work you’ve just done.

Make It Easy To Say Yes

Awkwardness often comes from vagueness. If your client has to think too hard, they won’t act. Give them something specific:

• “We’ve been helping a few clients with X, happy to have a quick chat with anyone else facing the same issue.”

• “If someone comes to mind, feel free to connect us - no pressure at all.”

Low friction. No pressure. Clear context.

Use The “Permission-Based” Close

This is where most people get stuck, they either push too hard or don’t ask at all. Instead try:

“Would you be comfortable introducing me if someone comes to mind?”

It works because:

• It respects the relationship

• It gives them control

• It removes the pressure of an immediate answer

You’re not asking them to do something now. You’re opening the door for them to help when it feels right.

The Real Lever: Consistency, Not Courage

Most professionals wait for the “perfect moment.” Rainmakers build it into their process: every matter; every project; every positive outcome.

Because referrals aren’t a one-off tactic, they’re a system.

Takeaway

Try this in your next client conversation:

“We’ve been seeing this come up a lot lately are others in your network dealing with something similar?”

Then stop talking. Let them think. Let them connect the dots.

Because that’s where the best referrals come from.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Do You Know When Your Client’s End Of Financial Year Is?

If you are in the UK, you’ve probably just gone through your End of Financial Year process. If you’re in Australia, this process is likely to be kicking off now. And if you’re in the US, you have a way to go before you need to start worrying about this process.

If you’re now thinking: “What in the world has this go to do with business development?” then this BD Tips Wednesday post is for you!

Understanding When Clients Actually Buy Services

There’s a myth in professional services that business development is about always being “on.” Always networking. Always pitching. Always following up.

The reality is, the market doesn’t buy that way. Clients don’t procure legal, consulting or advisory services on a smooth, continuous timeline. They buy in bursts, shaped by their immediate needs, internal budgets, reporting cycles and pressure points.

If you’re not aware and aligned with those needs and timelines, then you are missing a trick in your business development arsenal.

The Financial Year as a Buying System

For most businesses, the financial year doesn’t just represent an accounting construct, it acts as a budget decision-making framework. Budgets are set. Spend is allocated. Priorities are locked in. And, importantly, approvals become easier if the expense is “budgeted for”.

For your business development planning, this typically creates four distinct buying windows:

1. Pre-Budget Planning

This is where future work is shaped. Clients are identifying risks, scoping projects and building the internal case for spend in the next financial year. Legal risk reviews, panel planning, major projects and advisory support often originate here; even if procurement happens later.

Firms that engage at this stage aren’t “selling.” They’re helping define the problem.

That distinction matters. If you’re involved early, you influence scope, pricing expectations and delivery model before the work is formalised.

2. New Budget Activation

This is one of the most active buying periods. Budgets have reset. There’s fresh capacity to spend. Internal stakeholders are under pressure to execute on newly approved initiatives.

This is when:

• Panels are utilised

• External advisors are engaged

• Projects move from concept to action

If you’re not visible at the start of the financial year, you’re often competing for leftovers later.

3. Mid-Year Adjustment

Everyone knows that feeling when reality sets in. Revenue isn’t were it was forecast to be. Projects stall because everyone is “too busy”. And those hard fought for budgets get reallocated to other projects.

This is the Mid-Year Adjustment, where responsive, relationship-driven rainmakers win work. Clients aren’t always running formal procurement processes here. They’re solving problems quickly. Known trusted advisors have significant insight advantage.

4. End-of-Year Pressure

Two competing forces collide:

• “Use it or lose it” spend: Some teams rush to deploy remaining budget before year-end

• Budget tightening: Others freeze discretionary spend in preparation for the next cycle

This creates a highly uneven market. Opportunities exist, but they’re often tactical rather than strategic. Firms that rely solely on this period to do their business development tend to experience inconsistent pipelines.

Why This Matters for Your Business Development Strategy

Most business development activity is poorly timed. Firms push hardest when they have capacity, they focus on what they sell, not when the clients are actually ready to buy.

That’s why you’ll see:

• Strong credentials ignored

• Late-stage pitches lost on price

• Capability statements that don’t land

Not because your offer is necessarily weak. It might not even be because the client doesn’t need what your selling. But because you have misaligned your sell with the client’s buying cycle.

Understanding what your client’s financial year calendar is shifts your approach here from reactive to strategic.

Takeaway

Clients don’t wake up and decide to buy services randomly. They buy when their internal environment allows them to.

If your business development strategy doesn’t reflect that reality, you’ll always feel like you’re chasing work.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

The Most Underused Business Development Tactic: Walk and Talk Meetings

For professional services firms, most business development related conversations happen in predictable settings: boardrooms, cafés or over video calls. They’re typically structured, often rushed, and framed by time constraints that subtly shape how people interact.‍ ‍

But some of the most effective business development conversations don’t happen sitting down at all. They happen when you are out walking.

The “walk and talk” meeting is one of the most underused tools in professional services. It strips away formality, changes the dynamic of the conversation and, done well, can lead to more open, honest and commercially meaningful discussions.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I take a look at creating the right conditions for better conversations – when you walk and talk.

Why Walking Changes the Conversation

There is something fundamentally different about walking side-by-side compared to sitting across a table. In a traditional sit-down meeting, the structure is clear:

• There is an agenda.

• There is a start and end.

• There is often an implicit expectation to “get through” topics.

This type of structure can be useful, and it certainly has its place in your business development arsenal; but it can also limit the quality of the interaction and conversations your having with clients and referrers.

When you walk with a client, referrer or prospect, the dynamic shifts. The conversation becomes less transactional and more natural. Without the pressure of eye contact across a table, people tend to speak more freely. There is less interruption, fewer formal pauses and more space for ideas to develop.

In business development, this matters.

Because the goal of business development is not just to exchange information, it’s to truly understand what is really going on behind the surface of a client’s needs. It’s about gaining the trust of the other person in the conversation. And there really is no more natural way of doing that than going for a walk with them!

Better Conversations Lead to Better Work

Most professionals assume that business development success comes from better proposals, sharper pricing or stronger credentials. The reality is those things matter far less than the quality of the conversations that happen before any proposal is written.

Walk and talk meetings create the right conditions for:

• Clients to share concerns they may not raise in formal settings.

• Early identification of risks, frustrations, or internal pressures.

• More candid discussion about budgets, expectations and constraints.

• A clearer understanding of what “success” actually looks like for the client.

• A more informal environment to talk through career moves or advancements.

These are the insights that help you win work.

By the time a formal request or proposal stage is reached, the firms that have had these deeper conversations are already ahead. They are not guessing what the client wants, they already know.

Removing the “Meeting Fatigue” Barrier

There is another, more practical reason why walk and talk meetings work. People are tired of meetings.

Calendars are full, attention is fragmented and another “catch-up” often feels like an obligation rather than an opportunity.

But suggesting a walk reframes the interaction. It feels:

• Less like a meeting

• More like a break in the day

• Easier to say “yes” to

For time-poor clients, that small shift can be the difference between a delayed conversation and one that happens this week. And in business development, timing really matters.

When to Use Walk and Talk Business Development Meetings

Not every conversation should happen on the move. But there are specific situations where walk and talk meetings are particularly effective. They work well when:

• You are building or strengthening a relationship (not pitching)

• The conversation is exploratory rather than transactional

• You want to understand broader business challenges, not just a single matter

• The client is someone you already have a level of rapport with

They are less effective when:

• You need to review detailed documents

• Multiple stakeholders are involved

• The discussion is highly technical or requires visual material

• The client prefers formal settings

Like any business development tool, it is about choosing the right approach for the objective.

How to Structure It (Without Over-Structuring It)

The mistake many professionals make is trying to turn a walk into a “mobile boardroom.” That defeats the purpose.

Instead, think of it as a lightly guided conversation. Have a direction, not an agenda. A simple structure might be:

• Start with something broad: “What’s been taking up most of your time lately?”

• Let the conversation flow naturally

• Ask follow-up questions that explore impact, not just facts

• Only introduce your perspective where it adds value

The goal is not to “cover topics.” The goal is to uncover insight.

A Different Kind of Visibility

One of the recurring challenges in professional services is what might be called the visibility gap: capable firms lose work not because they lack expertise, but because clients don’t clearly see their value early enough.‍ ‍

Walk and talk meetings are a practical way to close that gap. They create space for:‍ ‍

• Demonstrating how you think, not just what you do

• Positioning yourself as someone who understands the client’s broader context

• Building familiarity and trust outside of formal deliverables

This is the kind of visibility that matters.

Not visibility through marketing activity, but visibility through meaningful interaction.

Takeaway

‍Most lawyers and law firms are not short of business development things to do. They attend events, send updates and prepare proposals.

What they often lack are the kinds of conversations that actually shape client decisions.

Walk and talk meetings are a small shift, but one that can materially change the quality of those conversations.

Next time you are scheduling a catch-up with a client, consider a different approach. Don’t default to a meeting room. Suggest going for a walk.

Because sometimes, the most valuable business development conversations happen when you stop sitting across the table and start walking alongside your client.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

The Visibility Gap

Most lawyers I know don’t have a capability problem. Actually, quite the contrary: they are very good at what they do! What they do suffer from though is what I like to call a Visibility Gap. So for this BD Tips Wednesday post, I thought I would run through what this actually means, and how you can fix it.

What is a Visibility Gap?

A Visibility Gap is when capable lawyers and law firms lose work not because they don’t have the expertise to deliver on the project requirements, but because the purchaser cannot clearly see their value before a buying decision is made.

My 20+ years of tendering experience will tell you: That small distinction matters more than most lawyers realise. Because if what is losing you work isn’t your capability or ability, improving your delivery won’t fix the problem.

And yet, that’s exactly where most of the improvement effort will go.

The Gap Between Capability and Client Perception

Inside most firms the story is strong. You know the depth of your experience. You know the complexity of the work you’ve delivered. You know where you outperform your competitors.

But, unfortunately, the market doesn’t always see what you see. It sees fragments and from those fragments it forms a view. And here is the crux: That view is often far less impressive than we think it is!

That, in a frame, is the Visibility Gap: the space between what you are capable of doing and what the market understands you can do.

Why Good Lawyers Still Lose Work

There is a persistent belief that work is won at the point of need. But the reality is that those moments rarely decide the outcome. They just confirm it.

Long before a formal process begins, clients have already formed a view:

• Who they’ve seen before

• Who appears credible

• Who seems to understand their challenges

By the time your submission is being evaluated, you're not being assessed in isolation. You're being assessed in context, and that context is shaped by your visibility.

If you haven’t been seen, understood or remembered, you are already behind the 8-Ball.

The Hidden Risk of “We Do Good Work”

Most firms rely on this mantra:

If we do good work, it will lead to more work.

And at a small scale, it often does. But it rarely scales beyond your immediate network.

Good work creates retention. Visibility creates growth.

Without visibility, your reputation stays contained within existing clients. It doesn’t travel. It doesn’t compound. It doesn’t position you for opportunities you’re not already in.

Being Good vs Being Known for Being Good

This is where the Visibility Gap becomes commercial. Being good is not the same as being known for being good.

One is internal. The other drives revenue.

In competitive environments — panels, government work, institutional clients — this difference becomes even more pronounced. Familiarity influences how your capability is interpreted.

Two firms present similar experience. The one that feels more familiar, more visible, more understood often has the advantage over the other. Not because they are better, but because they are a known product.

What Real Visibility Looks Like

Effective visibility is about alignment and it looks like this:

• Consistently speaking to the problems your clients are actually dealing with

• Showing how you think, not just listing what you’ve done

• Being present before the opportunity appears

• Making it easy for someone to place you in their world

It’s not about self-promotion. It’s about reducing uncertainty for the buyer.

Takeaway

Is the market seeing us early enough?

When pursuing work, this is the question you constantly need to be asking yourself. Because lawyers very rarely lose work due to a lack of capability. After all, you won’t be asked to pitch if the client didn’t think you could do the job!

What sets rainmakers apart from the rest of the marker is an understanding that there is a gap between what they can do, and what the market thinks they do.

And until you close that gap, better work alone won’t translate into better growth.

Further Reading

• The importance of being seen as a Thought Leader

• Standing Out From The Crowd

• Why CVs Still Matter

• Legal Directories or Legal Awards?

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

The Friday Afternoon Business Development Review Routine

“If next week looks exactly like this week, will my pipeline be stronger or weaker?”

Most lawyers treat business development like a series of random acts:

• send a proposal here,

• grab a coffee there,

• maybe do a follow-up email if they remember.

Then Friday rolls around, they’ve won no new instructions and call it a week in the hope next week will be better.

That’s not business development, it’s a prayer.

So, for this BD Tips Wednesday post I’ll be taking a quick look your Friday afternoon business development review routine.

Start In The Real World

Before you plan anything, look at what happened this week. Not what you were meant to do, but what you actually did.

Ask yourself:

• Which conversations moved forward?

• Which opportunities progressed?

• Where did things stall?

• What did I avoid?

This is where most people get uncomfortable, because the gap between intention and execution becomes obvious very quickly.

But this is the most important part of the routine. Because business development is a lagging indicator, if your pipeline feels thin the problem usually started weeks (or months) ago.

Friday business development reviews is where you can catch this early.

Review Your Pipeline

Stop thinking like a technician and start thinking like someone running a business. Go opportunity by opportunity and ask yourself:

• What stage is this actually at?

• What is the next action item?

• Who owns that action?

• When will it happen?

If there’s no clear next step, it’s not an opportunity: it’s just a conversation you’re hoping turns into something.

Be honest here, most pipelines are inflated with “maybes” that will never really convert.

A strong business development review tightens the pipeline, not just updates it.

Check Relationship Depth

This is where most professionals completely miss the point of business development. You don’t win work because you were “busy”, you win work because you are trusted and relevant.

So ask yourself:

• Who did I meaningfully connect with this week?

• Where did I deepen a relationship?

• Where did I add value?

If your week was full of activity but light on meaningful conversations, that’s a warning sign. Next week shouldn’t be “more activity”, it should be better conversations.

Diagnose What’s Getting in the Way

Every stalled opportunity has a reason. A good Friday business development audit will help you identify:

• Is it a timing issue?

• A stakeholder issue?

• A value/pricing issue?

• Or have you simply not driven it forward?

Set 3 to 5 Business Development Priorities for Next Week

This is where the routine and consistency truly pays off. Most people enter Monday reacting. But from your Friday business development review you will be able to identify 3–5 priority moves that will actually shift your pipeline forwards.

For example:

• Re-engage a stalled client with a specific insights,

• Progress a proposal by clarifying scope (not just “checking in”),

• Introduce two contacts who should know each other,

• Have one strategic conversation with a key client.

Remember, if everything is a priority then nothing is!

Lock It Into Your Calendar (Or It Won’t Happen)

This is the simplest step, and the one most people skip. Take your 3 to 5 business development priorities for the week and schedule them into your Outlook calendar.

• When will you do them?

• How long will you need?

• What preparation is required?

If it’s not in your calendar, it’s just intention again.

End With One Simple Question

Before you finish, ask yourself:

“If next week looks exactly like this week, will my pipeline be stronger or weaker?”

If the answer is weaker, or even just “the same”, you already know something needs to change.

Takeaway

Rainmakers aren’t always the best lawyers in the room. What they do well is:

• Pay attention to their pipeline,

• Take ownership of movement,

• Adjust early, not late.

And regular, scheduled, Friday business development reviews is where that discipline shows up.

Further Reading

• What an Accountable BD System Looks Like

• Do Metrics Actually Matter?

• Timeblocking: Mastering your day

• The 15-Minute Business Development Checklist

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

With AI, Clients Won’t Buy Big: They’ll Buy Better

I have been in the legal industry since 1996. And for all of those 30 years, size has been treated as a proxy for value:

Big firm + Big team = Big fees

But that way of thinking is starting to wane. And AI is only going to accelerate this shift.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post, I'm taking a high-level look at what client access to better tools, faster information and more delivery options, will likely mean for law firm pricing as clients focus more on precision than scale.

In a new world order, the real drivers of price will be...

As AI becomes more and more imbedded in the delivery process of legal services, there are likely to be three main factors that will shape how much a firm can charge. No prizes for guessing this, but none of them are going to be determined by headcount!

1. Perceived expertise and relevance

Pricing power will come from being seen as the right choice, not the biggest one. A smaller firm with a strong reputation in a narrow area will be able to command more than a larger generalist competitor. A firm known for being subject matter experts will hold more pricing power in that niche than a national firm offering broad capability across dozens of practice areas trying to cross sell its services.

Why? Because proven expertise reduces risk. Clients will pay more for a provider who feels tailored to their problem than for one who simply looks impressive on paper.

2. Client experience and accessibility

Most clients have no idea what their legal problem is about. So they are not really buying legal advice. What they are buying is the confidence you provide that you have their backs.

• Human-touch responsiveness will matter.

• Plain English clarity will matter.

• Commerciality over legal precision will matter.

And so will direct access to the person actually leading the matter.

For many clients, a direct relationship with a senior lawyer who understands the context of their problem, communicates clearly and moves quickly will be worth far more than a prestige brand supported by layers of delegation.

With AI, a smoother, more transparent experience will create more value than a bigger team ever can.

3. Outcome certainty and risk management

Clients don't buy your time. The buy the outcomes you can provide. Without necessarily knowing it, they are looking to reduce risk.

They want:

• fewer surprises.

• clearer pathways.

• confidence around what is likely to happen, what it may cost and how the matter will be managed.

That is where real pricing power will sit in the future. Firms that can frame their offer around certainty, risk reduction and outcomes will always be in a stronger pricing position than firms still talking mainly about hours, effort and technical inputs.

Why niche firms will have pricing advantage

This is where AI is going to make things interesting. Niche firms are often far better placed to adapt their pricing model than larger ones. They are usually less constrained by legacy systems, internal politics and entrenched billing habits. They can move faster. They can test new approaches. They can price in ways that reflect how clients actually want to buy.

Subscription models, staged fees, fixed fees, retainers and outcome-linked pricing will be easier to implement in a smaller, more agile, niche environment. Unlike in large firms where Finance dictate the pricing terms, in niche firms the decision-maker is closer to the client, closer to the work and closer to the economics.

That matters.

Because, in a laggard industry like law, innovation (including pricing innovation) rarely fails because the market is not ready. It fails because the firm is not ready to let go of the old ways of doing things.

Takeaway

Being small will no longer mean being the cheaper option. Phrases like: "Top-tier experience at an affordable price" will be a thing of the past.

Firms that are able to command stronger fees will:

• define a clear niche.

• build trust-based relationships.

• communicate value in terms of outcomes, not effort.

• price around certainty, not just time.

In a market that has long confused scale with strength, AI is going to sharpen the distinction between the firms that are merely bigger, and the firms that are genuinely better.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Why Anticipating Your Client’s Next Problem Is Good Business Development

Most lawyers wait for the phone to ring. Rainmakers make the phone call.

In this edition of BD Tips Wednesday, I take a look at one of the simplest, but most underutilised, business development strategies available to lawyers: anticipating your client’s next problem.

The Shift: From Reactive to Strategic Business Development

Lawyers who build the strongest client relationships think differently. They are not just focused on solving the problem at-hand; they're already thinking about what comes next. This is the fundamental shift needed to succeed in business development: the move from being a reactive lawyer to a strategic rainmaker.

Most lawyers rightly pride themselves on their responsiveness. They deliver good work, turn things around quickly and keep clients informed throughout the matter. All of this is very important, but it is table-stakes in this day-and-age and is not what is differentiating you from the competition.

Lawyers who stand out from the competition are those who demonstrate foresight into their clients’ needs.

Problems Rarely Arrive Alone

Case in point: clients rarely experience legal issues in isolation. A contract dispute today, may lead to a restructuring tomorrow. A new company hire today may trigger employment risks in six months’ time.

When you begin to recognise patterns, something powerful happens. You stop seeing matters as standalone instructions and start to see them as part of a broader commercial journey.

This ability to strategically map what at first might appear to be unconnected events is an important milestone in your business development journey.

Seeing the Business, Not Just the Matter

When you start to look at your client relationships holistically, your perspective changes. Instead of asking:

“What has the client asked me to do?”

You start asking:

“Where is this client going?”

This is where real business development and growth opportunities live.

Because once you understand the trajectory of your client’s business - their growth plans, risk profile, industry pressures, bonus KPIs and internal constraints - you start to identify issues before they crystallise into urgent problems.

From Lawyer to Trusted Adviser

Trusted adviser, the Holy Grail! You are no longer just the lawyer who solves problems when they arise, you become the adviser who helps clients prepare for what is coming.

That distinction matters.

Any lawyer can respond to a brief. Very few lawyers consistently guide clients around corners they cannot see yet. Clients value this insight enormously because it reduces uncertainty and risk. It signals that you understand their commercial environment and not just the legal issue placed in front of you.

When you are able to anticipate your client’s next problem:

• You deepen trust without needing to “sell”

• You create natural pathways for future work

• You position yourself as integral to the client’s decision-making

• You reduce the risk of being replaced by a cheaper alternative.

In short, you move from being a service provider to a strategic asset.

Takeaway

Often, the most valuable sentence a lawyer can say to their client is:

“You may want to start thinking about this next…”

It's simple. But, when done right and in a non-sales way, it also signals foresight, commercial awareness and genuine investment in the client’s success.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Why CVs Still Matter

Like many, I’m just off the back of supporting lawyers on a run of tender responses. While 2026 has certainly started off well for me in that sense, what it has also highlighted is how woefully most lawyers approach the importance of their CVs – treating them almost as if they are an irrelevant burden. So if you are one of those lawyers who thinks clients don’t read CVs, then this BD Tips Wednesday post is for you!

The Wake-Up Call

Research from BTI Consulting’s The Mad Clientist shows that 37% of in-house corporate counsel actively review lawyers’ bios on their firm website on a weekly basis (as part of their normal workflow).

This is unsolicited. No tender in play. No capability statement being submitted. Just looking…

This behaviour reflects something we all instinctively know: Clients select individuals they like to work with.Before a meeting is scheduled, before a pitch deck is opened and before a referral is made, clients will do a quick piece of due diligence: They look you up.

And what they see shapes their expectations.

The Modern “CV” Is Not Just a Document

The traditional CV listing your employment history, qualifications, matters you have worked on and publications has evolved into something bigger. Today, likely as not a lawyer’s bio will exist in multiple places at once:

• The firm’s website

• Their LinkedIn profile

• In speaker profiles

• In conference bios

• As part of a tender submission

• In capability statements

• etc

Each of these is effectively a version of your professional CV. Together they form a narrative about who you are, what you do and why a client should trust you with their work.

If Clients Don’t Read CVs, Why Have One?

Here’s the thing, it’s not that clients don’t read CVs, it’s just they may not be reading your CV.

When a client reads a CV, they are not looking for a narrative of your entire legal career. What they are looking for is the answer to a small number of practical questions:

• Do you understand the type of problem I have?

• Have you dealt with it before?

• Do you work with clients like me?

• Will you make my life easier or harder?

If those questions are not answered quickly and clearly, the CV fails its most important purpose.

The Common Problems With Lawyer CVs

Across many firms, lawyer CVs suffer from the same structural weaknesses.

1. They are written like résumés, not client documents

Many bios simply list roles, qualifications and memberships. While these are important credentials, they do little to explain how the lawyer helps clients solve problems.

2. They focus on the lawyer, not the client

Lawyers often describe what they do in broad professional language: advising on regulatory matters, providing strategic advice, assisting with disputes.

Clients, however, want to see situations and outcomes.

3. They hide the interesting work

Ironically, some of the most impressive experience appears buried in long lists of matters or publications; or isn’t highlighted at all because it’s confidential!

A strong CV should highlight three or four meaningful examples of work, not dozens of generic bullet points.

4. They are rarely updated

In many firms, CVs are updated only when required for:

• a tender submission

• a promotion round

• a conference biography

But the lawyer may have developed significant new expertise in the meantime.

What a Strong Lawyer CV Should Do

A modern CV should function as a credibility document for potential clients. At its best, it should communicate four things quickly and clearly.

1. Your area of focus

Clients want specialists.

A strong opening statement should clearly articulate what you are known for, not just what practice group you sit in.

For example:

• “Advises technology companies on data governance and privacy risk.”

• “Acts for councils and government agencies on procurement disputes.”

• “Helps construction clients resolve complex project claims.”

Clarity beats complexity.

2. The types of clients you work with

Clients often choose lawyers who regularly work with organisations like theirs. Your CV should signal the industries, sectors or types of organisations you typically advise. This helps the reader quickly determine whether your experience is relevant.

3. Evidence of real work

Generic descriptions are easy to ignore. Specific examples create credibility. Instead of broad statements about expertise, highlight selected examples such as:

• advising on a significant transaction

• managing a complex dispute

• leading a regulatory investigation

• assisting a client through a crisis

These examples demonstrate practical experience rather than theoretical capability.

4. Signals of authority

Clients also look for signals that confirm your professional standing. These might include:

• speaking engagements

• publications

• industry involvement

• leadership roles

• recognition in directories

These signals help clients assess whether you are trusted by the market.

5. Be part of a team

If you are part of a bigger team, make sure that your CVs reflect this fact. So often we read “team” CVs and frankly it looks like you have never worked together before!

This is important because hiring an individual comes with risks that can be mitigated by hiring a team (sometimes also known as Being Hit By A Bus Replacement).

Takeaway: A Simple Rule for Lawyers

If a potential client spends 60 seconds looking at your profile, they should understand three things:

• What you do

• Who you do it for

• Why they should trust you

If those answers are clear, your CV is doing its job.

Further Reading

• The importance of being seen as a Thought Leader

• Legal Directories or Legal Awards?

• The Visibility Gap

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.e

Shared Experiences Build Stronger Client Relationships

Ask a law firm partner what business development they did last month, and a top answer will be “having coffee | lunch with a client”. While there is certainly a place for the strategic coffee and lunch meeting, more often than not they go nowhere.

So, in a market where it’s ever more difficult to stand-out from the competition, what can you be doing to be memorable?

As it would happen, that is the topic for this BD Tips Wednesday post: creating shared experiences with clients.

Why Experiences Matter More Than Meetings

Business development is wholly about building trust with your customer. And trust is almost never built through formal presentations across a boardroom table. As one of my clients said to me in the days when I used to pretend to be a lawyer: “trust is built in the trenches” - it's built through shared moments.

When clients and lawyers participate in small close-knit activities together, the dynamic changes. Hierarchies flatten. Conversations become more authentic. People reveal more about themselves and what's important to them.

This is where real relationships and trust begin.

Some Examples of Shared Experiences

• Pizza-Making Classes: Pizza-making is inherently collaborative. It involves creativity, teamwork, and shared outcomes. There is something powerful about creating something together from scratch. It naturally encourages conversation, humour and interaction. Unlike formal meetings, participants are relaxed. Barriers drop quickly. These environments often lead to the kinds of conversations where clients reveal real business challenges, future plans and concerns: all valuable insights that rarely emerge in structured settings.

• Escape Rooms: Escape rooms are very effective for building trust with clients as they simulate problem-solving under pressure. Clients get to see first-hand how you deal with pressure as participants must communicate clearly, think strategically and collaborate efficiently.

• Rock Climbing: Rock climbing introduces an element of trust that few other activities can provide. Climbers literally rely on others for safety and support. This creates immediate and meaningful trust connections.

Whichever you chose, clients often remember these experiences vividly and associate positive emotions with the experience.

Why These Activities Are Powerful Relationship Builders

The delivery of professional services is often intangible. Clients cannot easily evaluate quality until after the work is delivered.

Shared activities allow clients to observe how you work and your thought process up close. They get to see:

• How you and your team communicate

• How your team supports each other

• How your team handles challenges

This builds confidence in you and your team – and confidence is the pathway to trust.

Takeaway: Memorable Firms Win More Work

When technical capability is similar, clients often choose service providers they like working with and trust.

But at the end of the day, whether good or bad, memorable firms stay top-of-mind. Again, shared experiences – good or bad - create stories; and stories create recall.

So ask yourself: Do you want to be the firm that stays top of mind because

1. “that’s the firm that helped us escape the escape room”; or

2. “that’s the firm that sent us a 30-page generic capability statement.”

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

How Your Gardening Skills Can Help Develop Your Business Development Skills

Business development is often described as a funnel-game:

✔️ More meetings

✔️ More networking events

✔️ More LinkedIn posts

✔️ More proposals

And, hopefully, more prospects fall-out of the bottom of the funnel.

But, as anyone who has built a sustainable client-base (rainmaker) will be able to tell you: Business development isn’t about speed and taking short-cuts, it’s about cultivation.

So, for this BD Tips Wednesday post, I’m looking at why, if you want to become that rainmaker, you need to start in your garden!

1. You Can’t Force Growth

When you’re gardening and plant a seed, you don’t dig the seed up every morning to see if it has grown a little overnight. You:

• prepare the soil

• water consistently

• ensure it gets sufficient sunlight.

And then you wait.

Oddly enough, business development works exactly the same way. You

• meet someone (at an event)

• follow up thoughtfully

• share useful insights

• stay visible

But, in the same way as you cannot force a seed to grow, you cannot force trust. You cannot demand that a prospect give you an instruction just because you paid for the coffee that morning.

Lawyers who struggle with business development often try to force an issue that is naturally incremental. Just like gardening, business development requires the ingredient of "patience".

2. Soil Quality Matters More Than Seed Volume

In gardening, poor soil produces weak plants. In business development, poor foundations produce weak relationships.

If you:

• Deliver inconsistent service

• Fail to communicate clearly

• Bill unpredictably

• Overpromise and underdeliver

No amount of buying coffees will fix it. The best rainmakers understand that retention and reputation are the soil to successful business development.

3. Weeds Compete for Nutrients

As every garden attracts weeds, every unstructured business development strategy will get bogged down in the weeds.

Weeds in business development tend to look like:

• Networking without purpose

• Coffee meetings with no strategic alignment

• Clients who drain margin and energy

• Chasing tenders you should have declined

If you don’t remove what competes for nutrients, your best opportunities will starve.

The most effective rainmakers are ruthless about focus. They know which sectors matter. They know which relationships compound. They say “no” more often than "yes".

4. Seasons Exist

No garden produces all year-round at the same intensity.

• There are planting seasons.

• There are growth seasons.

• There are harvest seasons.

Wait, isn’t that a great summary of business development?

• There are periods where you invest heavily in visibility.

• There are periods where you nurture active opportunities.

• And there are seasons when work flows because of seeds planted [sometimes] years earlier.

Rainmakers know: If you only plant when you are hungry, you will starve.

5. Diversity Strengthens the Ecosystem

A monoculture garden is fragile. One pest will wipe it out.

Similarly, a business development strategy built on one:

• key client

• referrer

• sector

• government panel

is exposed.

In the legal services world - particularly if you operate with tender-based clients (like fin services or government) - over-reliance on a single revenue source is a huge structural risk!

Resilient business developers cultivate:

• Multiple referral channels

• Cross-sector relationships

• A mix of recurring retainer and project work

• Different pricing models

6. Growth Is Often Invisible

I’ve worked in business development for over 30 years. The one thing I have learnt is this:

‘Roots grow before shoots appear’.

In business development, credibility grows long before instructions arrive!

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

The Importance of Anticipating Common Client Objections

Most lawyers prepare extensively for their pitch, proposal or client meeting. They refine their capability statements, polish their pricing and rehearse their value proposition. Yet many are caught off guard by the most predictable part of the conversation: objections.

Objections are not barriers, they are signals. They indicate that the client is engaged, thinking critically and assessing risk. The rainmakers who consistently win work are not those who avoid objections, but those who anticipate them and are able to head them off before they are even raised or asked.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I thought I would take a quick look at 5 of the most common objections and how you can fend these off.

1. Pricing Concerns: The Most Predictable Objection

Pricing objections are almost never about the number itself. They are about uncertainty. Clients are worried about:

❌ Unexpected cost overruns

❌ Paying more than necessary

❌ Not receiving sufficient value

If you wait for the client to challenge your pricing, you're already on the defensive. Instead, address pricing proactively. Explain how your pricing works. Clarify what is included. Provide examples of outcomes and value delivered. Where possible, offer structured pricing models that provide predictability.

2. Timing Issues: The Fear of Delay

Clients often worry that engaging you will slow things down rather than accelerate progress. They may be thinking:

• How quickly can you start?

• Will this delay our internal timelines?

• Will we need to manage you closely?

You address timing objections by:

• Demonstrating readiness and structure

• Explaining your processes

• Outlining key milestones

• Showing that you have a clear plan for delivery.

When clients see that you operate with discipline and predictability, timing concerns diminish (although don't usually disappear altogether).

3. Quality Assurance: The Fear of Getting It Wrong

Many clients have had poor experiences with other service providers. They worry about rework, errors and inconsistency. Quality concerns are best addressed through evidence, not promises. This includes:

✔️ Relevant experience

✔️ Case studies and examples

✔️ Demonstrated processes

✔️ Clear review and quality control steps

Clients trust providers who can show, and not just claim, that they deliver high standards.

4. Competitor Comparisons: The Invisible Benchmark

Even when clients do not explicitly mention competitors, they are making comparisons. They are evaluating:

❓ Why choose you instead of someone else?

❓ What makes your approach different?

❓ What reduces the risk of choosing you?

If you do not articulate your differentiation, the client will default to safer or more familiar options. Anticipate this by clearly explaining your approach, your experience and your unique strengths.

Clients do not always choose the best provider. More often than not, they choose the provider they trust most to deliver the outcome they want or need.

5. Trust: The Objection Behind Every Objection

Most objections are not technical, they are emotional. Clients are asking themselves:

❓ Do I trust this person?

❓ Do they understand my situation?

❓ Will they follow through?

Trust is built through clarity, consistency and confidence.

When you anticipate objections, you demonstrate empathy. You show that you understand the client’s concerns before they have to voice them.

Takeaway: Anticipation Creates Confidence

The most effective rainmakers do not wait for objections; they design their conversations to address them naturally.

👉 They explain pricing clearly

👉 They communicate timelines confidently

👉 They demonstrate quality through evidence

👉 They articulate their differentiation

👉 They build trust through clarity

When objections are anticipated and addressed early, they rarely become barriers later. The client no longer feels they are taking a risk. They feel they are making a safe decision.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Having Strong Project Management Skills Will Enhance Your Business Development Performance

Strong business development performance is deeply linked to strong project management capabilities.

The above statement makes it sound like Smithy has finally lost the plot! So for this BD Tips Wednesday post, let me elaborate...

Business development is a process

In the world of busy professionals, business development is often a reactionary relationship-led process. You go to networking events, write the odd legal update, talk to referrals, etc. But rainmakers don't see it like that. To them, winning work consistently, pricing it confidently and delivering it profitably are not intuitive actions; rainmakers apply structure, discipline and repeatable processes to their business development.

To rainmakers, every business development opportunity follows a recognised workflow process:

✔️ Identifying the opportunity

✔️ Qualifying the client and scope

✔️ Developing the solution and value proposition

✔️ Preparing the proposal or pitch

✔️ Managing stakeholders and decision-makers

✔️ Closing, onboarding, and transitioning to delivery

This is not ad hoc, but a multi-step process that involves risk, resources, timelines and decisions.

Project management skills make business development repeatable and scalable

Strong project management capability teaches you how to:

• Break complex opportunities into clear decision stages, making earlier and more confident go / no-go calls

• Define scope and assumptions upfront, reducing pricing anxiety and preventing margin erosion before a matter even starts

• Allocate time and resources deliberately, so business development effort is spent on the right opportunities, not the loudest ones

• Set milestones, responsibilities, and decision points, keeping momentum through long sales cycles and multiple stakeholders

These skills shift business development from hopeful activity to intentional pipeline management, allowing you to scale beyond a handful of opportunistic pursuits without sacrificing quality, margin, or sanity.

Clients buy trust and confidence, not just capability

In-house counsel, management teams and procurement are not just assessing your lawyers' legal expertise, they also assess how well the work will be managed. Here, lawyers with strong project management capabilities can more clearly explain:

• How the matter will be structured

• How communication will work

• How changes and scope creep will be handled

• How timelines and responsibilities will be controlled

In turn, this builds the client's trust and confidence and becomes a differentiator between you and your competitors.

Process creates better business development assets

When business development and delivery are both process-driven, lawyers generate better inputs for future growth.

Well-managed engagements produce:

• Clear outcomes linked to original objectives

• Evidence of value delivered

• Consistent language for case studies and proposals

Business development becomes cumulative. Each project strengthens the next pursuit, rather than every opportunity starting from scratch.

Takeaway

Strong business development performance is deeply linked to strong project management capability because it:

• Turns business development into a disciplined, repeatable process rather than a series of ad-hoc, relationship-driven activities

• Improves scoping, pricing confidence and risk control early, before margin is lost and expectations drift

• Builds client trust and continuity from pitch to delivery, positioning you as a safe, commercial, and well-managed choice

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Conversations, Not Presentations: Where Business Development Really Happens

Most business development efforts follow a similar tired format:

👉 A polished deck

👉 A rehearsed pitch

👉 A “let me tell you about us” monologue

Afterwards, we tell ourselves it was a “good meeting” because the client seemed engaged and we covered everything we wanted to say. But weeks later, nothing has changed. No follow-up. No new work. No deeper relationship. No momentum. Just another presentation delivered into the void.

And that's because - surprise, surprise, presentations don’t build relationships - Conversations do!

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I'm going to run through a high-level overview of where business development really happens: In the conversations you have with your clients.

Presentations Feel Safe; Conversations Create Value

Presentations are a comfortable place for many professionals. They’re controlled and they let us stay in familiar territory and show how capable we are.

But they’re also one-way. A presentation broadcasts information.

Conversations are tough. For start, we have to engage with the other person and build a repour. But, conversation uncover insights that presentations never will. And that's because:

👉 clients don’t build trust in you because you have showed them 25 slides about your experience

👉 they build trust in you because they have felt heard, understood and respected. That only happens when the meeting is designed to learn, not perform.

In short: A presentation is about you; A conversation is about them.

The Real Shift: From Impressing to Understanding

As I have said several times on BD Tips Wednesday posts, real business development starts when you stop asking:

“How do I impress this client?”

…and start asking:

“How do I understand this client?”

Understanding goes far deeper than stated needs. It means being curious about:

• The internal pressure they’re under

• The risks they’re quietly managing

• The trade-offs they’re forced to make

• What “success” really looks like inside their organisation

• What internal KPIs they are being measured against

• Whether they like the person they are reporting too!

None of this shows up on a slide deck. It only comes out in conversation.

Why Conversations Change Your Positioning

Presentation-led meetings keep clients passive. They listen politely. They nod. They ask safe questions. Then they go home.

Conversation-led meetings make clients active. They think out loud. They test ideas. They reveal uncertainty. They explore risk.

That’s the moment your role shifts.

You stop being “a supplier”. You start becoming a thinking and trusted partner.

And that shift is where real business development leverage lives. Its not only where you sell, it's where you upsell and cross-sell.

Listening Is Not Soft, It’s Strategic.

The strongest business developers are rarely the loudest or most polished speakers in the room.

They are:

• Comfortable with silence

• Curious without being intrusive

• Patient enough to let the problem surface

• Confident enough not to rush to the solution

They don’t dominate the agenda. They adapt to what emerges.

That’s not passive behaviour. It’s deliberate positioning.

Listening signals confidence. It signals commercial intelligence. It signals that you’re not desperate to sell, which paradoxically makes clients more willing to engage and trust.

Conversations Create Momentum

Presentations create awareness. Conversations create movement.

When a client feels understood, they initiate next steps themselves. They follow up. They introduce colleagues. They ask for your perspective on adjacent issues.

The relationship starts moving without you pushing it.

That’s when business development stops feeling forced and starts feeling natural.

Takeaway: The Question That Actually Matters

So the real question isn’t:

“How good is your elevator pitch?”

It’s:

“How good is your listening?”

Because the best opportunities don’t come from what you present. They come from what you hear and - crucially - what you do with it.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Borrowed Business Development Wisdom From Japan

Over the summer holidays here in Australia I read a business related article that clumped together a number of different Japanese business concepts. I found the article refreshing and interesting, and thought I would share some of these concepts with you for this BD Tips Wednesday post.

Kaizen – Continuous improvement

Most business development plans fail because they aim for transformation instead of progress. In short, central to your business development plan this year should not be the need to get a new CRM, a new pitch deck or a new LinkedIn strategy.

What you do need is Kaizen, to get 1% better:

• One better client conversation

• One better follow-up habit

• One better question in a pitch

Small improvements, done consistently, compound quickly.

Shoshin – Beginner’s mind

One of the biggest risks for experienced professionals is to make assumptions. In business development terms, these include assuming you know:

• What the client wants

• How they buy

• Why they chose you last time

Approach each business development opportunity and conversation with the curiosity of a beginner's mind, not certainty of an old hand.

Ask more. Talk less. Listen harder.

Ikigai – Your reason for being

If your business development activity feels forced, there’s usually a misalignment in what you are trying to achieve and they way you are going about it.

In such a case, ask yourself:

1. Why this type of work?

2. Why these clients?

3. Why you?

When your business development activity aligns with what you’re good at, what you enjoy, what the market values, and what clients genuinely need momentum follows naturally.

Nemawashi – Preparing the ground

New business is very rarely won in the meeting. Its won doing the groundwork done before a proposal or meeting is ever requested.

If you’re going in cold and relying on the pitch alone to win you work, the chances are you’re already too late! The deal has already been done.

Oubaitori – Don’t compare

Stop watching competitors so closely that you lose confidence in your own positioning.

• You don’t need to be cheaper.

• You don’t need to be louder.

• You don’t need to be a copy.

Focus on being distinct.

Takeaway

I don't profess to be an expert in Japanese business concepts - far from it in fact, but business development is about:

1. deliberate

2. consistency

3. with intent

In my view, these Japanese business concepts sum this up perfectly!

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Don’t Try to Eat the Business Development Elephant in One Meal

We’ve all been there. You’re looking at next year’s business development and plan and the task list is massive. The pipeline is uncertain. The possible number of tenders keeps climbing.

You’re overwhelmed.

Here’s a truth: Business development fails not because the work is hard, but because people try to swallow the elephant all in one go.

Small Steps Win the Long Game

Firms that grow consistently aren’t operating with superhuman discipline. They’re just doing the right things, at the right times, in small, repeatable increments.

• You don’t need a full-day business development workshop every week: You need 15 minutes of pipeline review on a Monday.

• You don’t have to build 20 case studies in one go: You need to do one good case study each month that is aligned to your ideal client / target work.

• You don’t need to reconnect with 100 past clients in a week: Start with 3 conversations this week.

Momentum is built through tiny, deliberate actions - not grand gestures.

Why This Matters

As you plan ahead, your the natural instinct is to “go big.” But the most sustainable business development is built one bite at a time.

As we have said many times here on BD Tips Wednesday:

Showing up every day is far more productive than doing one BIG thing once a year.

The fix?

Break your business development goals down into small, consistent, high-leverage actions. Try:

🟦3 relationships per week, not 30.

🟪15 minutes of pipeline review,  not a 3-hour “business development strategy day.”

🟧1 improvement to your pricing/positioning, not a full reinvention of your go to market pricing offer.

🟩1 case study refreshed at a time, not a whole bid library overhaul.

🟨One conversation with an existing client, because retention beats acquisition every day of the week!

Consistency > Intensity

Remember: business development isn’t a sprint. It’s stacking small actions that compound quietly…

… until they don’t feel small anymore.

Takeaway

If this is to be your year of business development successes, start with one bite:

• Reach out to one client.

• Update one capability statement.

• Follow up one dormant lead.

• Get a peer review of one tender response.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Business Development Requires That You Be Informed

Most professionals think business development is about actions: send an email here, post on LinkedIn there, attend a few events every now and then. But the truth is, while these are crucial components of your business development strategy, they are not what dictates "success".

To be successful at business development you need a different superpower: Awareness. Because to grow your pipeline, you first need to be informed.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I thought I would do a whistle-stop tour of what it means to be aware and informed, and how this will help supercharge your business development efforts.

Know Your Clients Deeply

Being informed begins with understanding the people you serve. This means staying close to what’s happening in their world; not just their business, but their industry pressures, upcoming projects, regulatory changes and emerging challenges.

When you walk into a conversation with your client already aware of what’s going on in their world, you don’t need to “sell.” You simply connect what you offer to what they already care about.

This transforms your communication. Instead of generic check-ins, you send timely insights. Instead of hoping they remember you, you demonstrate relevance.

Informed advisers stand out because they see change before their clients do and help them navigate it.

Know Your Market and What’s Changing

Great business development stems from understanding the economic landscape. Industries shift. Procurement rules tighten. Competitors innovate. Technology reshapes expectations. Clients explore new models of buying and engagement.

When you pay attention to these signals, your business development efforts naturally become more strategic. You frame conversations differently. You position your offers more confidently. You anticipate needs before they are expressed.

In an environment where clients value foresight, simply being informed elevates your value.

Clarity Leads to Better Decisions

When you’re informed, everything becomes easier: choosing which opportunities to pursue, saying no to the wrong ones, prioritising the conversations that matter and directing your time toward the highest-value actions.

You start to make fewer reactive decisions and more proactive ones.

Crucially, your business development efforts stop being chaotic and start to become more strategic and focussed.

Being Informed Makes You More Valuable

Clients gravitate to people who help them see what’s ahead. When you consistently bring insight - market awareness, early warnings, relevant trends - you become more than a service provider. You become a trusted guide.

Informed professionals open more doors, build stronger relationships and convert opportunities with less friction.

Know the Signals Before They Become Opportunities

Being informed is ultimately about spotting the subtle cues others miss:

• the promotion of a key instructor,

• an organisational reshuffle,

• the shift in a client’s internal and external language,

• sudden silence where there used to be momentum.

These small signals often appear long before a formal opportunity does. When you learn to notice them, you place yourself ahead of the curve.

Most business development success isn’t won in the big moments; it’s won by noticing the quiet ones that nobody else is paying attention to!

Takeaway: The Bottom Line

You don’t need to simply “do more” business development. You need to know more so the actions you take are smart, timely and aligned with opportunity.

As my first partner said to me:

Read the financial press every day and pay attention to what’s going on in your clients’ world.

Because in business development, the professional who stays informed is the one who stays in demand.

Further Reading

• AI's Role in Procurement

• Competitor Intelligence Analysis

• Understanding Your Client's Why

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.

Slow Down To Get Better Business Development Results

Your business development results will improve the moment you slow down.

Sounds counter-intuitive to say you will get better business development results if you take a little time out to slow down and think things through. After all, aren’t all professionals supposed to be busy all the time? But when you think about it, how often do you hear partners (especially partners of smaller firms with less support resourcing) say:

“I know I should be doing more marketing and business development…but I’m just too busy today.”

Our instinct is to do more work and “find time” for business development between emailing clients and dropping the kids off at school. We then cross our fingers and toes and hope that the results will come in.

So for this BD Tips Wednesday post I’ll take a quick look at why your business development results will improve the moment you slow down.

Better conversations happen when you’re not in a hurry

When you're racing through your day, you rarely give a client or prospect the full attention they deserve. Slowing down gives you space to listen without distraction, ask more thoughtful questions and explore what the other person truly needs.

You’ll start to notice their hesitations, their priorities, their challenges and the opportunities. Importantly, you’ll have time to reflect before responding.

This depth of understanding is what helps build trust – and we know that trust is critical to the success of your business development endeavours as it’s what elevates you from a service provider to a trusted advisor.

The right opportunities present themselves when you hit the “pause” button

A fast-paced business development mindset pushes you to chase every opportunity. Any lead looks like a good lead when you’re in a rush. But when you slow down, you can evaluate an opportunity properly. You can see more clearly if it fits with your firm strategy. You can have an honest evaluation about whether the work is even going to be profitable. Crucially, you give yourself permission to say “no”.

Hitting the pause button on being busy will also help move you from being a price taker to the all-important price setter status.

Consistency comes from routine, not speed

Being busy means you're being reactive. And reactive business development is bad business development.

When you slow down, you create routines instead of relying on adrenaline. A simple 20-minute daily practice suddenly becomes achievable. You remember to reconnect. You take the time to personalise a message properly. You reflect on previous conversations and pick up threads you'd otherwise lose. You stop working from a sense of panic and start working from a sense of intention.

Slowing down reduces business development anxiety

The faster you go, the more overwhelmed you feel. Overwhelmed quickly becomes avoidance, and avoidance kills momentum.

When you slow down, the anxiety eases. You can separate what matters from what doesn’t. You can create a few simple priorities instead of twenty competing tasks. You can make space to prepare, reflect and plan - things that are impossible to do when you're sprinting.

Takeaway: How to slow down without losing productivity

Slowing down doesn’t mean doing less. It means doing fewer things with more intention. It means blocking a small amount of thinking time each day, choosing a manageable number of meaningful business development actions each week; and replacing generic “checking in” with moments of genuine value. It means taking a moment after each client interaction to reflect on what you learned and what the next step should be. It means ending the week with a brief review so you’re not starting Monday in a panic.

At the end of the day, you’ll also feel more in control once you stop trying to do everything at once.

Need Help With Your Business Development?

Get in touch if you want to talk about any of this. We also offer a very affordable BD Audit and Training package.