Daily Business Development Habits All Lawyers Should Implement

Let’s face it. Business development takes time. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as you might assume. Implementing a strong business development strategy will not only help you connect with the right people to meet potential clients, it will also help your firm prevent slower periods that are inevitable as you scale. Here are a few daily business development habits all lawyers should implement to ensure the development of a healthy pipeline.

Manage Your Schedule

Managing your schedule is step one when crafting a successful business development strategy. While you might be scratching your head thinking there’s simply no time to work on daily business development tasks, it may be time to start tracking your time. Did you really spend two hours drawing up a document for your client, or were you actually watching cat videos on YouTube? Or more realistically, were you spending your time on administrative busywork someone else could do? By figuring out exactly what your firm spends time on each day, you can make informed decisions on what daily practices you can stand to cut back on to make room for business development.

Smokeball Activity Intelligence is a first-of-its-kind activity tracking and business intelligence reporting tool that allows your small law firm to understand how each employee spends their time on each matter and task, down to the nitty gritty details. By gaining insight into how you’re spending your time and where you could carve out extra hours, you’ll be better prepared to add daily business development habits into your routine.

Understand the Importance (And Unimportance) of Meetings

According to Fast Company, up to 30 percent of office time is spent in internal meetings. As most lawyers know all too well, many meetings waste time that your small law firm simply doesn’t have. Develop a strategy at your firm to decide which meetings are necessary, which ones can be combined and which ones can be cut entirely.

On the flip side, the power of frequent breaks and quiet work time should not be underestimated. Simply by going outside and stepping away from the daily hustle and bustle of law firm life can give you a burst of energy you need to power through your day. Coffee meetings can also serve as a useful business development tool that your firm can use to catapult its success. Rather than taking every coffee break alone, try setting up informal meetings with contacts in your field who may have leads on potential clients. You never know when a simple coffee break might turn into your next big opportunity.

Business development is key to the long term success of your small law firm. To learn more about Smokeball Activity Intelligence and help save your firm time, click here.