Key Strategies for Women Attorneys

Empowering Women Attorneys: Unlocking Success Through Authentic Relationships and Strategic Business Development

Key Strategies for Women Attorneys Demystifying Business Development:

Empowering Women Attorneys: Unlocking Success Through Authentic Relationships and Strategic Business Development

December, 2023

Introduction About

As we wind down 2023, it’s that time of year when we take a moment to reflect and gear up for what’s next. As you think about your goals for 2024, we wanted to share some of the insights we gathered during our June WWT retreat during our panel on Demystifying Business Development: Key Strategies for Women Attorneys. The panel featured Carrie Webb Olson (Partner, IP), Patricia Durelli (Senior Associate, Corporate), and Amanda Loesch (Chief Marketing Officer). The panel was moderated by Erin Healy (Partner, Corporate). We hope that this piece will serve as a helpful guide to thinking about new goals, fresh starts, and all of the exciting opportunities that 2024 will bring!

Carrie Webb Olson Partner Boston

Patricia J. Durelli Senior Associate Hartford

Amanda Loesch Cheif Marketing Officer New Jersey

Erin Healy Partner New Jersey

Business development is a term that can evoke feelings of intimidation and uncertainty in all lawyers and especially for women lawyers who face unique challenges. During a recent women attorneys retreat, a business development panel shed light on this concept, emphasizing the importance of relationships, authenticity, and intentional efforts in building a successful business development strategy and highlighting opportunities to collaborate with one another to achieve success. This thought leadership piece delves into the key takeaways from the panel discussion, highlighting the essence of business development and providing actionable tactics for women attorneys to convert non-business relationships into potential clients. 1. Understanding Business Development The panel highlighted that business development, particularly for associate attorneys, can seem daunting. However, it’s essential to recognize that at its core, business development is all about relationships. Being intentional about building and nurturing connections with people both inside the firm and outside the firm is the foundation of this process. Many of us already possess a network of potential clients through personal and professional relationships, making it a natural starting point for business development. Action item: Identify five internal and five external contacts that could further your business development efforts through internal cross-selling, as a referral source, or as a potential source of new business. Document the list on the attached personal business development worksheet and calendar appointments to reach out to each person to schedule a casual meeting, coffee, or other activity. 2. Long-Term Perspective: Converting Non-Business Relationships A prevalent misconception is that business development results from a single event or effort. In reality, it’s a long-term endeavor that requires commitment and patience. Rather than seeking immediate results, women attorneys can benefit from intertwining personal, professional, and business development activities. Viewing these elements as interconnected makes the path to successful business development feel more attainable. Converting non-business relationships into clients can be achieved through genuine interest and meaningful connections. The panel emphasized the benefit of understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by contacts rather than focusing on self-promotion. Offering to help or connect others can be a powerful tactic, creating goodwill and fostering mutually beneficial relationships.

Leveraging platforms like LinkedIn can facilitate the process of letting people know about the value and solutions you can provide. Joining relevant online community and topic specific groups can also be effective. Action items: • From the list created above, identify three opportunities to create meaningful introductions within your network. Add these ideas to your personal business development worksheet, and calendar a date to make introductions and invite a group to get together. • From the list above, invite all 10 contacts to join your LinkedIn network. • Once you are connected on LinkedIn, identify one topic that may of interest to each person and that is relevant to your practice. Add this topic to your personal business development worksheet and create a calendar entry to create a post or share content on this topic to LinkedIn once a month. 3. Unique Challenges And Opportunities for Women The panel acknowledged that women attorneys face specific challenges when it comes to business development but also highlighted unique opportunities. The importance of authenticity emerged as a crucial aspect of success. Embracing unique approaches to relationship-building rather than trying to imitate male counterparts can be a powerful business development tactic. Business development should feel natural and true to one’s personality and communication style.

Leveraging firm initiatives such as WWT creates a unique opportunity for women attorneys to connect, support, and promote one another which can organically lead to increased collaboration and cross-

selling within the firm. Action items:

Consider your authentic style and what types of business development activities and tactics feel good to you. Begin to exercise your style on a colleague or potential client by selecting one of the activities below. Add this activity to your personal business development worksheet and create a calendar entry to complete this activity. • Find a relevant and helpful article and send to a client or perspective client. • Invite a colleague or client contact to lunch. • Ask a relationship partner or a client contact if you can schedule a client visit to meet with your client at their office. • Ask a colleague, client, prospect or referral source to partner with you to draft an article or speak at an event. • Identify an emerging legal or business issue and proactively reach out to a client to discuss and offer some solutions.

4. Time Management Balancing business development efforts with other professional and personal responsibilities can be a challenge for women attorneys. The panel advised setting aside dedicated time each week to work on building relationships and understanding firm capabilities. Even a few minutes a week can make a significant impact over time. Action items: • T hink about how you are using your time throughout the day. Are there things you are doing at work or at home that can be offloaded to someone else, or that may not be necessary? Identify three ways to carve out 10 minutes a day for business development activities. Add this to your personal business development worksheet. • Create a calendar entry for 10 minutes of business development each day of the work week. 5. Importance of Staying in Touch Maintaining connections with people is vital for successful business development. Research indicates that only about 10% of contacts are in the purchasing cycle at any given moment. Thus, staying visible and engaged with potential clients before they enter the buying cycle increases the likelihood of being considered for future work. While focused, targeted business development is important, it’s also important to make sure that you are in touch with larger groups of clients, prospective clients, and referral sources so that they fully appreciate you for your experience and thought leadership. Action items: • Review your top 10 clients and ensure that all relevant client contacts are added to the appropriate firm marketing lists. • Work with internal colleagues to create compelling thought leadership that demonstrates the breadth and depth of experience on a relevant topic. • Identify relevant alumni, business, legal, and trade events and consider how to leverage those events for business development purposes. • Carve out time to scan LinkedIn for your contacts who have changed jobs. When someone changes jobs, reach out to them and offer to help with their transition.

6. Approaching Client Meetings When the opportunity arises to meet with a potential client, the focus should be on understanding their needs and offering valuable solutions without expecting immediate returns. By investing in the relationship and demonstrating a genuine interest in their concerns, attorneys can build trust and credibility, which can eventually lead to new business. Action items: Review your top 10 clients. Of those 10, which clients do you know the least about? Select two of your top 10 clients and do the following: • Spend 15 minutes a week researching these clients. Look for news articles, read the culture pages of their website, and review investor presentations. • Follow these clients in LinkedIn and read their posts. • Consider setting up a news alert for a particular client, or industry to track real time updates. Questions about available news and media subscriptions can be directed to the library. Conclusion Business development for women attorneys is about forging authentic and intentional relationships, recognizing the interconnection between personal and professional networks, and creating connections and leveraging support from other women attorneys. By understanding the long-term nature of this process, investing time in understanding client needs, and maintaining meaningful connections with colleagues and potential clients, women attorneys can navigate the path to successful business development. Embracing unique perspectives and approaches and recognizing the unique opportunities will ultimately lead to a thriving practice and a network of satisfied clients.

Contact:

Andraya Brunau, Partner WWT Co-Chair ABrunau@daypitney.com Erin Healy, Partner WWT Co-Chair EHealy@daypitney.com

Amanda Loesch Chief Marketing Officer ALoesch@daypitney.com

Individual Attention. Innovative Solutions. Each Day. Every Day. Day Pitney.

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