Talk about scarcity.

Only 25.86% of attorneys in law firms enjoy engaging in business development. Another 8% say they have a strong interest in learning. Interest takes a nosedive from here.

We found 5 big influencers on attitudes towards engaging these BD enthusiasts, these include:

1. 1. Personal motivation — certain people enjoy the business development process. It’s s in their DNA.
   2. How the firm talks about business development — BD discussions vary from celebrations to silence except for performance reviews.
   3. Access to watching rainmakers in action — watching these masters in action is motivating and educational — and rainmakers admit to learning by including less experienced attorneys.
   4. Care and feeding of these rainmakers. Some rainmakers will tell you they succeed in spite of their firm while others get all the resources and support, they need. The outwardly supportive firms have more enthusiasts — it is a more inviting approach to most.
   5. Firms, where rainmakers encourage less skilled (and often more junior attorneys) to help, are also more engaged.

Firms celebrating business development have proportionately more BD enthusiasts than others. These firms spread the word widely about wins and pursuits and point to team wins.

Contrasting Firms With High Attorney BD Enthusiasm

The majority of attorneys tell us they are left on their own to develop their BD skills — they get minimal training and guidance. This is in stark contrast to the firms with more BD enthusiasts. It takes time and energy to create the environment fostering BD engagement — but well worth the investment.

Please join me in congratulating the following 44 firms for developing, keeping, and engaging the most BD-enthused attorneys:

Boosting the Number of BD Enthusiasts in Your Firm

Any firms wanting to boost BD efforts can start the process today. I recommend:

1. 1. Celebrating all major wins by practice and office — with names of the full team who supported the effort
   2. Discuss major wins at the start of firm meetings
   3. Encourage interested attorneys at all levels to get involved in pursuits
   4. Seek out and nurture attorneys with interest in BD
   5. Double down on BD training for the willing and interested while training the rest in client service

Law firms can find more BD enthusiasts by looking inside. They will make themselves known as you increase the BD’s visibility.

Few law firms have too many business developers — and the coming market suggests they will only need more. Start with your firm — and watch these efforts convert the BD interested to enthusiasts — increasing this strategic cohort by up to 1/3 in your firm.