​Tips for Business Development

 by Eugene Meehan, QC, Advocacy Club Presenter

The premise of these tips is that, if you do like everyone else, you are/become everyone else. You are Somebody. You should not aspire to be average. Not vanilla. 

Tip #1: Who Are You?

Often, you get asked the question “So, what do you do?” Here are some tips how to deal with that to present your best profile.
•    You have at the tip of your tongue a standard “elevator speech”, a few stock sentences that place you where you want to be.
•    Do not say “I’m an associate at ABC Law Firm”. This shows a lack of imagination, or that your firm is so great you are blessed by association.
•    When someone asks me, “So, what do you do?” I say “I help people – clients and lawyers – win at the Supreme Court. I protect their interests.”
•    When you can express what you do in terms of the client service/objective, you create a niche for yourself.  
The bottom line? Most clients don’t hire law firms. They hire an individual lawyer. People hire people. You want them to hire you.

Tip #2: The Protocol for Using Business Cards 

Here are some tips for using business cards with new contacts:

• Ask for their business card first. 
• Look at it when they give it to you.
• Say something to them about their card.
• If they do not have one with them, ask if you could send an email with your mailing address to remind them to send you one – to “keep in your top right-hand drawer”.
• Follow up with a hand-written note – because (practically) no one else does – again, don’t be vanilla – be you.

This technique will establish your profile as top of mind for your new contact, at least for a little while.

​Eugene’s email: emeehan@supremeadvocacy.ca