From surviving to thriving: business development in a post-pandemic era

When I look back to where we were in March 2020, I imagine most of us were in the same boat. In the most unprecedented of circumstances, we found ourselves having to learn new ways of operating remotely, adapting to an environment where our usual networks moved online, while finding new ways to support colleagues and teams.

But with the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us and the economy showing signs of recovery, it is time to start thinking positively about the future and how to make the most of opportunities to develop our businesses.

To achieve this, it is essential to dedicate time and resources to new business development and ensure it is considered as an integral part of your sales and marketing plan.

At FBC Manby Bowdler, we recently appointed a head of new business to drive the business development strategy for our firm and here, we share some of our learnings.

Setting objectives

Knowing where to focus your new business efforts can help accelerate the success of your strategy, so having a plan with clear objectives from the beginning is essential.

For some firms, new business objectives may be focused on finding clients for teams which are being underutilised, or growing a particularly successful area of the business which has established a reputation for excellence.

But opportunities for growth don’t always have to come from outside your walls.

When looking at establishing our key business development objectives, we chose to focus on increasing share of our clients’ legal spend. As such, our firm aims to nurture and strengthen the existing relationships we have with our customers, rather than putting our efforts into bringing on board new clients.

This is a particularly cost-effective way to increase revenues. Research shows acquiring a new customer can be anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Therefore, allocating all or part of your new business resources to existing customers can give an impressive return on investment.

Another area where we have looked to grow is through peer-to-peer business development opportunities. Hub.Legal is our department ‘next-door’ service for other law firms. The service essentially outsources our teams’ expertise to other firms which may not have specific legal expertise in house. Growing this outsourcing service is another way to expand our earning potential.

Forming a dedicated team

One of the mistakes often made when it comes to business development and attracting new clients is delegating the task to already busy members of the team. It is perhaps tacked onto a marketing role or given to partners or associates, as the more senior representatives of the firm.

However, driving new business development requires a dedicated team and resources.

The good news is your new business team doesn’t need to come from a legal background. Rather, they just need to have a good understanding of what we do in the legal industry and have the skills to sell it to potential clients.