Acquisition = retention = expansion
Stop.
See that equation in the title up there?
Read it again.
“Acquisition equals retention, equals expansion.”
Memorise it.
If you need to write it down, say it out loud, or take a screenshot; go ahead.
Okay. Got it?
I want you to forget for a moment everything you’ve learned about legal business development.
Forget the legal marketing models, the complex metrics, the jargon-filled pitches from experts.
Now read that equation one more time.
Have you worked out what this equation is?
At NEXL, we believe these 3 words sum up the entirety of the legal BD discipline.
They are the 3 words that all of our team – from our CEO, to our full-stack engineers, to our customer success specialists – know off by heart.
We swear by this simple equation.
Why?
Because we have discovered after years of experience that this is the simplest recipe for growing a law firm.
And as a Client Revenue Platform, NEXL’s survival depends on being able to grow your law firm.
Acquisition – a recipe, not an art
Now, I’m going to make you a promise.
That’s as technical as this article gets.
That’s right – if you can understand that equation (don’t worry if it’s not 100% clear right now) we are certain that you’ll get maximum value out of this article (as many others have).
I’m also going to make you another promise.
I promise you’ll leave this article knowing exactly what to do today, this week and this month to acquire your next client.
It’s a repeatable set of steps that any BD professional or lawyer can follow.
Even Gordon Ramsay, the famous TV chef, could do it.
He’d probably be very good at acquiring clients for a firm.
That’s because acquisition is a recipe.
We’re going to break down acquisition into three steps, which we like to think of as the ‘acquisition recipe’.
First, you pick a recipe (you create your ideal client profile).
Second, you gather ingredients (you find target accounts).
Third, you prepare or cook the ingredients, turning them into something more valuable (you nurture and convert).
Step 1 – pick the recipe / identify ideal client profile
Before you go out to acquire your next client, you need to work out what kind of client you want.
If you’re not finding it easy to imagine that future client, don’t worry.
Pick a client you already have.
A client that you enjoy working with at some level.
Now, ask yourself the following questions.
How often do you do work for them?
How much do they pay you?
What kind of work do they give you?
Have you worked with them for a long time or a short time?
And are they highly loyal, or will they switch quickly?
This is a simplified version of the process.
But it’s still effective.
And it shows you what step 1 is all about: working out what you need.
By asking these questions you’ll quickly know whether you want more or less of that type of client.
And as a BD professional or lawyer with limited time and energy:
Knowing what you want is a very important thing.
So how do you get this information?
That depends.
Maybe you have a spreadsheet.
Or you might have a client logbook or ledger.
Or maybe you know off the top of your head.
In our experience though, not everyone does.
If that sounds like you, the best place to start is your accounts.
If you have accounting software like Quickbooks, Xero or MYOB – get your accountant to run a report on each client.
That will show you the fees part.
It might involve a bit of forensic work though, especially if you’ve had a client relationship for several years / matters.
The other answers are going to take a little bit longer.
You’ll have to manually review old files (if you still have them).
Or at least read the last emails you sent.
This might take a while.
For many of us, the idea fills us with dread.
If that sounds a lot of time and effort, don’t worry.
We have a better way.
NEXL’s Strategy Client Reporting and Relationship Insights feature makes identifying your ideal client profile easier than it has ever been.
NEXL collects this data for you – automatically – at the start of each matter.
It creates powerful, detailed profiles for every client.
By collecting this data for you at the start of a matter, NEXL creates a detailed, searchable profile for each client.
And then it goes a step further.
It generates detailed graphics in real time.
You can instantly visualise fees charged, relationship length, industry sector and work type (to name a few).
This is all automatic and instant, by the way.
No need to ask the finance team.
No need to delegate hours of non-billable admin to a junior.
And no need to wait.
You just log into your browser, click on a client, and boom – it’s there.
It really is that simple.
24/7 access to beautiful, up to date relationship and financial insights on any client is very handy.
We think it looks fantastic (check out the screenshot below).
And you can try it with your own clients for free.
Use [code for attribution] to unlock a 21-day free trial of NEXL including full access to powerful Relationship Insights.