How Can I Develop a Book of Business to Make Myself More Valuable?

Having a book of business as a lateral partner is very important. And if you don’t have a business, you should have a very detailed marketing plan about how to develop one. But, the two things you can do if you don’t have a book of business, whether it’s at your current firm or at a fresh-start new firm is develop a specialization. You don’t have to have 80% of your clients in a certain area but if you have two industries that you like a lot, have a couple of clients in: become an expert. Be a member of every trade association, be on committees, speak- really get involved in that specialization. Over time, that will become some business. The second thing you can do, and probably the easiest, is use your existing contacts. Every one of your clients has multiple attorneys for different things, insurance people for different types of insurance, various types of advisors. You may know a lot of them already, and if not, you can get to them very easily through your clients. Get together with them on a very regular basis. If you have two, three or four breakfast, lunches or coffee a week with people like that, and get to know them and share your areas of expertise, there is no question- you will develop business over time. It takes a lot of work, but it does work. Give us a call- we are here to help.