Oh, the power of a personal note. It need not be elaborate–just a few phrases handwritten on a nice note card and dropped in the mail. What an easy yet high-impact tool for making a good impression and keeping connections strong. Because very few people write personal notes nowadays, doing so will help you stand out from the crowd.
A few days ago I returned from the spring meeting of the International Law Section of the ABA. I ran into old friends and acquaintances, some of whom I had last seen six or more months ago. Many of these acquaintances had heard from me via a personal note or an email since we last saw each other. Who appreciatively mentioned my correspondence? The people who had received personal, hand written notes from me. Overwhelmingly so. Those personal notes made a big impression.
Taking the time to jot a few lines on a note card and mail it to a client, colleague or new contact makes an impact. Although doing so takes little time, it requires more time than a common email. And so, writing a note shows that you value the person enough to take the time and care to give that individual some personal attention.
For an even bigger impression, write with a fountain pen and use good quality card stock like Crane’s. Some people won’t notice the difference, but those who value nice quality writing paper and instruments will be impressed.
Personal attention like this also makes a big positive impact across miles and cultures. Because you can’t see your contact face to face, a hand written note provides a critical personal touch. Sophisticated international businessmen and women will appreciate the gesture, regardless of culture.
If you have an interesting article to forward to your contact, do so and attach a hand written note–not a typed one prepared by your secretary. It’s a great rainmaking tool.
If you move to a new job at a law firm and your new employer sends out a formal announcement about your joining, include a short personal note inside the announcements that go to your contacts. Most of those announcements look very similar. Distinguish yours with a note. My friend Lance Schuler did this when he recently became a partner at Andrews & Kurth, and his personal gesture has always stuck–very favorably–in my memory.
So…write on!
A few weeks ago Barry Barnett, a Susman Godfrey partner, invited me to train the firm’s Dallas-based lawyers about Rainmaking Basics in a Global Economy. I’ve known Barry for almost two decades. Besides being incredibly bright, he’s also quite funny.
Barry uses this humor to great advantage in his Barnett’s Notes on Commercial Litigation (winner of the 2006 Advocatus Diaboli Grand Prize) and his Blawgletter: Business Trial Law with a Sense of Humor. His often iconoclastic humor lets him address touchy subjects–like the firing of Don Imus (who he aptly renamed Don Slimus) and the troubles of Alberto Gonzales–without risk of offending…too much.
An advantage of this approach? Readers (including potential clients and referral sources) enjoy–and actually read–his blog and newsletter. His posts have even captured the attention of the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog.
The witty Blawgletter and Barnett’s Notes also help to “brand” Barry as a likable person and a very clever thinker–just the kind of guy you would want representing you in a lawsuit. They also strengthen Susman Godfrey’s brand as a firm that hires original thinkers and encourages autonomy. Not every law firm would allow one of its lawyers to make a name for himself in such a non-traditional way.
Because Barry peppers his posts with links to his firm’s website, he also improves the site’s ever-important search engine optimization. (For more lawyer blogger success stories, check out Kevin O’Keefe’s regular blog category on this topic: http://kevin.lexblog.com/lawyer-blog-success-stories/)
Ending on a personal note, this blogger was happy to read that Barry and his colleagues “raved” about the Rainmaking Basics in a Global Economy training. Thanks Barry!
One of he things I most enjoyed about my seven plus years working in the international practice group of Baker Botts LLP was working on transactions based all over the world. I was lucky to work on a wide variety of projects for many large clients with vast international operations. This varied client base–which included a major international retail chain, energy company and beverage company–exposed me to trademark laws in India and Italy, corporate laws in Costa Rica and China, and tax issues in Taiwan and Tanzania, to name a few. In my early years, I became a good generalist international lawyer.
But when an international lawyer has been a generalist, how should the lawyer market himself or herself effectively during a job search?
Sometimes the lawyer finds another legal position at a firm or in house which also calls for highly varied experience. Other times, the lawyer must be more strategic in his or her search and self-promotion.
If you have such a background and are facing interviews, be sure and research heavily the potential employer’s particular industry, culture and job description. Comb your past generalist experience for matters you have handled in that field with similar legal issues. Highlight those similarities during you interview and in your resume. Although you can’t (and should not) hide the fact that you have a broad legal background, you also want to reassure the potential employer that you have the requisite experience needed for the job. Sometimes this fact can be lost if the relevant experience is buried on a resume among details of a very varied background.
You should also explain how your generalist background will particularly help your future employer: your broad background gives you a more sophisticated global perspective, which is increasingly critical in a Flat World.
Just last week I was coaching an experienced international lawyer through the interview process. His varied background had given him a cornucopia of experience, but he was struggling to get job leads. We practiced what he would say in various networking scenarios, drawing from his past to emphasize relevant skils as appropriate in different situations. Since learning to emphasize certain aspects of his experience, he has gotten more scheduled interviews and offers of job leads.
Always be authentic and tell the truth, especially in interview situations. However, be certain to extract and highlight your relevant experience (by industry, geographic location, legal issue and the like). After all, you are simply helping the employer to realize your attributes and to envision you as the best candidate for the position.
Imagine that a client wants to hire you–and will likely pay you a lot of money for your work. Can you articulate a clear and compelling response if the client asks, “What can you do for my business if I hire you?”
Simple, right? Wrong.
Last week I moderated a panel discussion for The Philanthropy Roundtable in New Orleans. Various New Orleans-based non-profits, volunteers, businessmen and the like described the incredible devastation and rebuilding challenges that still plague the city. Funders from charitable foundations across the country listened in rapt attention.
However, on several occasions during the two-day event, funders actually had to ask, “What can we do for you specificaly? How much money do you need, and for which specific programs?”
And, with one exception, the funders received no clear answers–just general comments about the devastation being pervasive and the need being great. In other words, a golden opportunity to get big contributions from big donors was lost.
One speaker stood out. She responded that she needed $40 million for a four phase study on sewage treatment and related cypress grove development; that $10 million had been pledged; and that her project still needed $30 million more. She’s likely to get some funding because she was able to articulate clearly what the funders would get for their money.
Similarly, law firm clients want to understand what they will get for their money. At today’s rates, clients know that they will be paying a lot for legal services. But, what can you as their lawyer specifically provide them for their money? Further, what can you provide that another lawyer can’t?
There are many critical client development skills, but one is this: being able to clearly and compellingly explain the benefit that your client will receive by hiring you. A lawyer’s explanation should not be general, like ”excellent customer service” or “top quality legal work.” Those qualities go without saying. Rather, explain what distinguishes your service from others’. Which client needs can you satisfy better than your competition and why?
For example, you might say something like, “If we work together, your company will benefit from my specific expertise with registering Argentine company ADRs on the NYSE. I recently represented Company X during their listing process. Your company’s transaction sounds like it would be similar/different because…”
Answering those kinds of client concerns–and explaining the benefit to the client of working with you–will set you apart from the pack, and help rope in business.
Have you ever met someone briefly–perhaps at a big conference–and then received an impersonal form letter and brochure about that person’s business? Perhaps the packet of information was of little interest (at best), or completely irrelevant to you and your law practice (at worst).
Was this person’s follow-up effective? No.
Does this kind of impersonal follow- up ”networking” happen a lot? Yes.
Many lawyers are also guilty of this exact kind of marketing and networking: delivering impersonal letters and firm brochures to random people that they meet. It’s not effective, and it’s a waste of expensive firm marketing materials. In fact, it often sends the opposite message: the lawyer didn’t care enough to spend time personalizing the response.
So, what would be more effective?
First, when you meet someone, try to be genuinely interested in that person. Try to gather some information about that person–not only their job title, but also the scope of their professional duties. Inquire about their activities, both professional and extra curricular. If you don’t have a good memory for those details, go to another room when your conversation ends and make a few notes.
Then, try to follow up with your new contact in a meaningful manner. If this person genuinly would like to know more about your firm, then do send them a law firm brochure. However, try to include additional information relevant to them, like articles pertinent to their legal issues or business.
Be sure and personalize your cover letter by referencing some of the details that you learned. For example, you might add a sentence like, “I particularly enjoyed learning about your volunteer work for the International Red Cross because…”
Also, reference your connections with this person. For example, if you discovered that you both attended the same school or share a set of friends, refer to that common bond.
In addition, offer to connect them to a person, good or service that might help them. This is particularly effective if it will NOT necessarily benefit you. Doing so builds trust and rapport. Helping other people (regardless of whether they are potential clients) in this way will set you apart from “self-interested networkers”.
Finally, it’s especially critical to customize your follow-up with clients from other cultures. As I have noted often, relationships are highly prized in many foreign cultures–and are often a prerequisite to doing business. Just mailing a thick brochure doesn’t do much to develop that relationship. In contrast, following up with a potential client in a culturally meaningfully and appropriate way that builds a relationship can reap rewards.
Caveat: because business relationships in many foreign cultures are more formal than in the US, make sure that your follow-up isn’t overly familiar. Do some homework first on what level of formality would be comfortable and culturally appropriate.
