My friend, Tim Baran, who is the Technology Innovator Manager at ProBono Net, posted something on LinkedIn that really resonated with me:
“Time to shift our mindset from “when this is over” to “new normal for the foreseeable future” and adjust our routines and plans and approaches to living accordingly.”
I hate the phrase “new normal”. I think it is trite and overused.
Whenever there is a major event, a crisis if you will, the world changes and adapts to it. After 9/11 we acclimated to new security measures and scrutiny when we wanted to fly. After the Great Recession in 2008-2009, we had to adapt to new monetary procedures.
And, “new normal” also includes positive changes as well. I remember when lawyers and law firms wouldn’t even think about using email or, God forbid, have a website. The idea of any type of business development, marketing, and advertising was antithetical to what lawyers thought was professional. We should only do good work and business will come, was the prevailing belief. But, we have changed our thinking to understand that just good work is not enough. You need to let people know who you are, and how you can help them.
But as Tim wrote, we need to adjust our routines and plans and approaches. We’ve all been adjusting to our new situations for the past 5 weeks. Well, it’s time to adapt your business development.
There isn’t a marketing or business development tactic that you can do in real life that you cannot do online.
I have always said there are only three things you need to do to become a rainmaker:
- Create visibility and becoming known as an authority in the field of law that you practice – this is known as Marketing yourself and your services;
- Meet people – whether in person or virtually – who want or need your services or who know people who want or need your services – this is known as Networking; and
- Create Relationships in which you are the obvious choice to help them —and this is the Rainmaking part of the equation.
All of these tactics can be done online using social media, blogs, videos, and virtual meeting sites.
Until we can gather in an auditorium, webinars will replace seminars and conferences. Until we can go to networking events in real life, virtual networking can be done on social media sites. And, we can take people out to coffee again, or go to sporting events with potential clients, or play golf with referral sources, creating, deepening and maintaining relationships will have to be done via telephone, Skype, Zoom or any other virtual meeting site you can use (and by the way, not every meeting has to be conducted by video).
We will adapt to whatever this pandemic brings to our world. But let’s just stop calling it the “new normal” and let’s just call it life.
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