More Tips for Business Development Coaching

At the Legal Marketing Association Virginias Chapter meeting in Richmond last August,  Deb Knupp and Megan McKeon were talking about business development coaching. Previous posts have discussed some of their presentation here and here.

One of the intriguing ideas that I wrote down was an action concept they called “Three INs.” The authentic business relationship between lawyer and contact/prospect generates three kinds of responses that facilitate a continuing conversation and a deepening understanding of one another:

• Invitations – these would be issued along the lines of the contact’s specific interests, might be educational, social or some other mutually enjoyable shared activity;
• Introductions – these would be among contacts to assist in building corollary business or social relationships that would benefit the contact’s career, life or happiness;
• Information – these would be highly customized for top prospects, perhaps regarding the specific business expertise of the contact or the lawyer, or for some other situation that reflects shared goals.

Deb and Megan also had some great suggestions for networking:

• Always keep your business cards where you can fetch them in two seconds (the 2-second rule);
• Approach individuals or groups of three to introduce yourself, where conversations are easier to start and participate in (the 1 or 3 rule);
• When waiting in a long line, make two friends by speaking to both the person in front of you and behind you;
• When you speak with someone new, make at least three minutes of conversation to be gracious, ten minutes to have a deeper discussion and fifteen minutes of conversation for a hot prospect, then move on (the 3-10-15 rule);
• Avoid lingering in conversations (or getting trapped in unproductive chats) by preparing to exit with finesse, step away for food or drink or have a ready reason (return a call, check for client email) to depart.

My thanks go to Deb Knupp of Akina Corporation and Megan McKeon of Katten Muchin Rosenman for their gifts.

What advice can you add for business networking? How would you overcome the natural reluctance to make an intentional process out of social conversations?