July 13, 2006
Motivating Law Firm Rainmakers
For a blog site dedicated to ideas and techniques for the financial management of the law firm, a surprising number of my posts talk about marketing and sales (rainmaking, if you prefer). I do so for good reason. The surest way to increase partner income is by adding new profitable clients and matters.
There is always a lot of talk about what makes a good rainmaker. The July/August 2006 Harvard Business Review is a special issue dealing with sales. It includes a reported conversation with G. Clotaire Rapaille, a noted psychologist and anthropologist. Rapaille makes an observation that may surprise you. According to Rapaille, it is not the attorneys’ sales successes that drive them, but the value placed on the struggle.
If you follow Rapaille’s advice, you would celebrate the struggles of your rainmakers rather than their successes. His advice is to hold “meetings where you give a [rainmaker] the gold medal for rejection. It may sound ludicrous, but this is the way to get fire in the belly of your [rainmakers].” The point is, reward pursuit, not the just the “kills” of hunt. Celebrate the hunters to motivate those that have not yet joined in the hunting. By showing that you understand how hard it is, by celebrating the efforts including those that failed, you invite others to try. You can motivate existing rainmakers and encourage others to become rainmakers by creating a culture where it is not a failure to come home empty-handed if you hunted well.
Rapaille’s insight is well worth your consideration. The reluctant attorney may avoid rainmaking activities because of a perceived stigma associated with lack of success. Celebrating the effort fosters perseverance and, in the end, achieves greater results.
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Filed under Management, Marketing by Tom Collins