1. Serial Needs = Serial Leads

Rainmakers are skilled in finding and attracting clients with ongoing higher-value needs. They know developing clients with a continuing lead flow generates substantially more business than those with episodic needs.

Strong relationships with these marquee clients is a primary reason why Kirkland and Ropes & Gray are so successful in Private Equity — one of the ultimate client groups with serial needs.

These clients aren’t always the largest — any size company can have ongoing needs — the trick is to focus on the continuing nature of the work. You likely have a few of these clients in your current client base.

You can also research the velocity of new litigation, M&A, and regulatory issue at each client. Industry spending patterns also give you insight. Financial Services are the top legal spenders with ongoing needs — followed by big Pharma, Tech, Telecom Health Care, and Food.

2. Never Fill the Silence

Every high-quality business development meeting has a moment of silence. You just got through sharing an idea or approach and your client may have debated some of the points. And then comes the silence.

It is not the awkward staring at you from across the table silence — it’s the client thinking through the discussion silence. There is nothing awkward about it. Rainmakers have trained themselves to resist the urge to fill the silence. You want your client to process your ideas in real time. It shows they are engaged and have learned something.

Filling the silence stops client processing in its tracks and cuts off their engagement. Most clients will continue the dialogue after they have finished processing — or you can read the non-verbal cues to know when to ask the all-important question: What do you think?

3. Always There — Even When They Are Not

Rich, meaningful voice communication — during and in between matters — are the unsung heroes of making yourself feel present to your clients. One deep conversation creates a connection lasting from months to years. These conversations also give license to engage in informal email communications — including check-ins, sharing news, offering thoughts on new developments, and maybe a few personal items.

Your presence in a client’s life is core to developing a stream of business from a single client. The attorneys who are client-life adjacent to clients get the RFPs. The attorneys with presence get the phone calls and queries for help — and don’t go out for bid.

Rainmakers will tell you a smaller number of clients where you are deeply present end up generating a flow of inbound leads from client referrals — almost as good as a client with serial needs.

1. Deadlines

They are everywhere and unavoidable. Deadlines are part of the fabric of legal practice and are the top issue keeping 23.4% of associates up at night. Associates point to simultaneous, manufactured, and moving deadlines — all of which serve as a source of insomnia.

2. Career Growth

It could be a partnership or lateral move — but 19.6% of associates lose sleep over their career trajectory. These associates see the path to partnership getting longer and slower — and want growth. They are looking ahead in their careers and express concern over making sure it goes right for them — and they want to feel like they have control.

3. Doing a Great Job

At 17.2%, rivaling career growth, these associates see nothing but high expectations and want to meet them. Their work reflects themselves — and a ticket to advancement. They also see a range of expectations across the partners for whom they work — and worry about how to do an excellent job for all.

4. Billable Hours

It is in their faces. It drives bonuses. And the cost of failure is high. It keeps 14% of associates up at night as they may not see exactly where the billable hours will come from.

5. Work/Life Balance

With a tilt more towards work than life — 11.3% of associates are looking for a better balance.

6. Economy/Recession

Only 4.7% of law firm associates are losing sleep over the economy. Most are busy and see the demand for their talent — and remain confident they will land on their feet.