Trevor Faure to Lawyers: Do Business Development in a Smarter Way

To survive and thrive in today’s legal marketplace, the most successful lawyers marry the practice of law with the business of law. That means learning the art of business development. And, this means knowing the client’s industry frictions enough to provide true business solution insights that are cost effective.

If you’re a lawyer trying to develop business from the General Counsel of major corporations, chances are you’re going about it all wrong according to GC Trevor Faure.

Let me unpack for you… Trevor is the Global Leader and Partner, Legal Services for Ernst & Young. During his 25-year career, Trevor has served in Europe, Middle East and Africa as VP/General Counsel of Tyco International, Legal Director of Dell Computer and Senior Counsel for Apple Computer. According to Faure, lawyers seeking a large corporation’s business should keep abreast of all developments in that corporation’s industry, and deliver a “very precise message to that GC” which anticipates legal challenges that the business will face. In an 8-minute interview with Bloomberg Law‘s Lee Pacchia, Faure lays out the four things that large corporation GCs look for from the law firms they retain:

1. Professional telepathy
2. Professional prescience
3. Exceptional client service
4. Cost efficiency

Faure is giving you the “blue print” for doing business with him. Here’s the video:http://www.youtube.com/embed/SvG7LE1MCyQ?feature=oembed&start=1

So, how do you develop telepathic abilities? How do you gain the foresight to know what actions or events will occur?

To in-house lawyers, “client focus” means “understanding the client’s business” — which is a much more practical and cost-conscious worldview.     —Professor David Wilkins

Start thinking about social media as an “intelligent listening” tool for understanding the client’s company and industry.  Knowing what you don’t know guides you to deeper situational insights about the industry issues, hassles, frictions, trends, or regulatory snafus. This helps you understand a client’s business. And, use social media tools thoughtfully, deliberately and strategically. The 2013 In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey conducted by Greentarget, InsideCounsel and Zeughauser Group establishes that NOT using social media is a mistake. Consider these survey takeaways:

• LinkedIn is the “go to” network for in-house counsel. 67% of GCs have used LinkedIn for professional reasons during the past day or week.
• Law blogs gain eyeballs and credibility. 53% of GCs believe quality blogs influence hiring decisions.

For leveraging LinkedIn, make sure to read Cordell Parvin’s blog post: How would I use LinkedIn? Before you consider blogging, read industry or client blogs. Read your competitor’s blogs. Get a feel for things. Blogging requires passion and authority. You either have it or you don’t. If you decide you’re ready to blog then benchmark off of Adam Greaves.He’s a a best-of-breed blogger and is a great example of staying in sync with GCs. He co-founded a multi-author blog called Bribery Library in 2011. Here’s some excerpts from his post discussing the UK Bribery Act:In a recent survey by accountants Ernst & Young, it is reported in HR Magazine they found that around half of British employers are failing to vet their suppliers for compliance with the Bribery Act.

These survey results become more helpful to GCs because of the way Greaves weaves in context:This is surprising to anticorruption practitioners, taking into account that the Bribery Act provides strict liability for the acts or omissions of associated parties, including suppliers, in the situation where adequate procedures were not in place. One of those adequate procedures would be to vet your suppliers adequately.Greaves then cites other revealing and troubling statistics from the Ernst & Young report concluding:[T]here really is no alternative for British business other than putting in place a robust compliance programme so that the company is best protected against rogue employees or others associated with the company.

This is a great example of intelligent listening on Greaves’ part. Greave’s thoughtful post shows that he wants to be a partner to GCs. His blog demonstrates powerful passion and authority in a niche and that authenticity helps create business development opportunities for Greaves. Learn from him. This is how you develop business with a GC.

Successful business development is about building relationships. And building a relationship – like growing a tree – takes time.     —Eric Fletcher

And, remember, LinkedIn, Blogging and Twitter are listening channels that help you develop and gain professional telepathy and prescience necessary to elevate your relationship with GC’s to a partner level where your interests and the GC’s interests are aligned. By the way, I was “listening loudly” on my business development channel when I found this tweet from an Irishman in Belfast named Brian John Spencer:

That’s how I was initially exposed to Faure’s Bloomberg Law interview.  Thanks, Brian and Twitter. How do you develop your business? How do you create your situational awareness? Please engage with me so I can include your perspectives in my next post on business development.