How Law Firms Can Grow More Business From Existing Clients
Law firms spend considerable time and money pursuing new clients, but some of their most promising business development opportunities may already exist within their current relationships.
A firm may have worked with a company for years on litigation matters without being involved in its corporate transactions. Another client may regularly turn to the firm for employment advice but use different counsel for real estate or regulatory matters.
In many cases, the firm already has a relationship, an understanding of the client's business and a track record of providing legal services. The opportunity is to build on that foundation.
But expanding existing relationships requires more than periodically asking clients whether they have additional legal needs. Firms need to understand how their clients' businesses are changing and where those changes may create opportunities to provide additional support.
Understand More Than the Matters You're Handling
Lawyers often know a great deal about the legal matters they're working on, but they may have a more limited understanding of other developments affecting the client's business.
A company might be acquiring a competitor, expanding into another state, entering a new industry or appointing a new senior executive.
Those developments may have implications for areas of law that fall outside the relationship partner's practice.
For example, a company opening a new manufacturing facility may need assistance with real estate, employment, environmental or regulatory matters.
A business preparing for an acquisition may need corporate counsel as well as support with employee benefits, intellectual property or integration issues.
Understanding these developments helps law firms identify opportunities to offer relevant advice and introduce additional capabilities.
Monitor Client Developments Consistently
One of the difficulties with existing client growth is that important developments don't always coincide with scheduled client meetings.
A company may announce an acquisition or leadership change months after its last formal relationship review.
If no one is monitoring that activity, the firm may learn about the development only after the client has already engaged another adviser.
BD teams can help by establishing a process for monitoring priority clients and sharing relevant developments with relationship partners.
Gatsby Aware helps firms track company activity, including developments that may create opportunities for outreach or further research.
The value comes from connecting the information to the client's business and the firm's capabilities.
For example, an acquisition announcement might prompt a discussion with the relationship partner about whether the client needs assistance with the transaction or related integration work.
Look for Opportunities Across Practices
Cross-practice business development is often discussed as a priority, but making it happen consistently can be difficult.
Lawyers may be focused on their own practices and unaware of the full range of services their colleagues provide. They may also lack visibility into developments at clients served by other groups.
Company intelligence can help create more informed conversations across practices.
Imagine that a firm's commercial litigation team represents a growing technology company. The company recently completed a financing round and announced plans to expand internationally.
Those developments may be relevant to corporate, employment, intellectual property or regulatory lawyers.
A BD professional who identifies that activity can bring the information to the relationship partner and help facilitate a discussion about whether the client might benefit from additional support.
The outreach is more useful when it begins with an actual business development at the company and a thoughtful assessment of its potential legal implications.
Make Key Client Meetings More Substantive
Many firms have formal key client programs that include relationship reviews, planning meetings and discussions about growth opportunities.
Those meetings are most productive when participants have current information about the client's business.
Before a client team meeting, BD professionals can gather research on the company's recent transactions, investments, leadership changes, expansion activity and other developments.
Gatsby Intel can support this preparation by bringing company research together in a format that helps lawyers and BD teams understand the organization.
That information can inform discussions about the client's priorities, potential legal needs and opportunities for collaboration across practices.
It can also help relationship partners prepare more thoughtful questions for their next client conversation.
Give Relationship Partners Reasons to Reconnect
Strong client relationships require attention even when there isn't an active matter.
But lawyers sometimes struggle to find natural reasons to reach out between engagements.
Relevant company developments can provide those opportunities.
A lawyer might congratulate a client on a new executive appointment, ask about an announced expansion or share a relevant observation following a significant acquisition. The outreach can be brief and personal, especially when the lawyer already knows the contact well.
BD teams can support this activity by identifying developments, providing context and helping lawyers determine when a conversation may be appropriate.
Over time, those interactions can help the firm maintain a better understanding of the client's evolving needs.
Coordinate Client Intelligence Across the Firm
Existing client growth often involves several lawyers, practices and offices.
Without coordination, different teams may research the same company independently or miss information that could be useful to another group.
A shared approach to client intelligence can help BD teams identify developments, connect them to relevant practices and bring opportunities to the attention of relationship partners.
Gatsby Aware can support ongoing monitoring, while Gatsby Intel can provide additional research when a client team wants to understand a company or development in more detail.
The information is most useful when it's accompanied by thoughtful coordination and follow-through.
Build Client Growth Into Ongoing Relationship Management
Expanding existing client relationships takes sustained attention.
Firms benefit from regularly reviewing what's happening in their clients' businesses, understanding where additional legal needs may arise and helping lawyers have informed conversations about those developments.
That work also requires judgment. Not every announcement creates a business development opportunity, and not every opportunity warrants immediate outreach.
The firms that approach client growth thoughtfully are better positioned to recognize when they can provide additional value.
For BD professionals, timely company intelligence can make that process more informed, more coordinated and easier to maintain across a large client base.