Rainmaking Recommendation #271: Rainmakers are Psychic!

For 20 years of working solely with lawyers to teach them client and business development, I have said this phrase so many times that if I were paid a nickel for each of these times, I would have a whole host of nickels. That phrase is:

It’s not about you; it’s about them. 

You have to understand that clients do not care about you or what you are going through. They care about what they are going through. They have an issue you can resolve, and they want it done quickly. 

But, what they really want is for you to anticipate what the problems that could affect them are before it does. So, they want you to identify potential issues and offer solutions before they know they have a problem.

How do you do this? Jokingly, I say you have to become precognitive. You have to be able to see the future before it even occurs. No, you don’t have to try to become psychic; you have to become a futurist of sorts.

• Become an industry and subject matter expert: Who is your ideal client? Do you want to clone them?0(0%) You need to become an industry expert and understand what the ideal client is dealing with at all times. 

• Look back to see forward:  History tends to repeat itself. Oh, not exactly, but enough where there are similarities that can be observed. For example, we, as humans, have been talking about “fake news0(0%)” since the 13^th century BC.   

Whether you believe in the ability to be precognizant or not, we can forecast (maybe not precisely) the future by using the historical data we have collected. This is one of the reasons that data has become such an essential topic in the world lately.

Using the past information to see what may be coming down the pike the in future in the industry in which your ideal clients are situated, you can help anticipate what may be a headache to them in the future and help them avoid that issue.

This should be nothing new for an attorney. Of course, we look to precedents to help us solve our matters, but we also try to argue when precedent should be abandoned and a new rule of law needs to be promulgated.

As you have become or are working to become an industry expert, you will get to know past issues that may create future concerns. 

Clients want not someone who is not just reactive to their issues, although that is what you do as a lawyer, but someone who proactively protects them from potential problems – and that is what you do as a Rainmaker.