The Friday Afternoon Business Development Review Routine
Rainmakers do not leave business development to chance. Learn how a simple weekly review process can strengthen your pipeline, improve accountability and create consistent momentum.
“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
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
Rainmakers treat business development as a disciplined process, not a series of random activities. Discover how project management skills can improve pipeline management, pricing confidence and client trust.
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.