Is Rainmaking A Learned Skill Or A Natural Trait?

Larry Bodine summarized Dr. Larry Richard's presentation at the 2006 Marketing Partner Forum here.  Dr. Richard is the head of Hildebrandt's  Leadership & Organization Development Practice Group, which helps law firms and legal departments on people issues.  Since the early 1980’s, he has pioneered the application of psychology and other behavioral sciences to the improvement of leadership and management practices in the legal profession. Based on studies of numerous personality traits in lawyers as well as the general population, Dr. Richard has concluded that only 20% of lawyers are natural rainmakers.  As Larry Bodines summarizes, " an additional 55% of lawyers can learn to be rainmakers.  'They will make efforts to do marketing; so your goal should be to reduce their discomforts,' [Richard] said.  The remaining 25% are hopeless at marketing and should be ignored.  'The trick is to figure out who they are and not to waste time on them,' [Richard] said."

Dan Hull picked up on Larry Bodine's post here.  Dan takes issue with Dr. Richard's conclusions, writing:

My own sense (not a Hildebrandt study, of course) is that less than 20% of us--10% at most--can really put it together to be rainmakers. But I think that the remaining 90% can be taught to be marketing-oriented in very effective ways for both repeat and new business. Each lawyer can help and no lawyer should be given a pass. The discipline of getting everyone in the firm to be part of your marketing culture and making it stick is the hard part. Very few professional firms I know of have a client-focused or marketing culture. Even when they want it, they won't do "the work".

 

I was at Dr. Richard's presentation, and I have heard him present his data previously.  I also have had a chance to speak with him about it.  I agree with Dan's sentiment about "the remaining 90%" but have to say, respectfully of course, that I believe that he and Dr. Richard are speaking about slightly different things.  I suspect that when Dan refers to teaching lawyers to be "marketing-oriented", I suspect he is speaking about activities that go beyond what Larry Richard considers to be marketing.   For example, see this post from Marketing Catalyst discussing the difference between sales and marketing.  Dan's comments strike me as a discussion of marketing while Larry Richards appears more focused on sales.   Moreover, while I agree with Dan that no lawyer should be given a pass in creating a "client-focused" culture, there is a difference between having a client-focused culture and marketing that culture to prospects.

 

I encourage Dan and everyone else to find a chance to listen to Larry Richard speak.  He presents a huge volume of data in a very humorous way, but at the same time in a way that is compelling.  I, for one, find the data persuasive. 

Comments

[Dan Hull]

Thanks for picking up on my post, Pat, and for adding clarity to the discussion when it was needed. I think you are right on the money that Larry Richard (who I would love to meet and hear) was talking more about sales, where I was talking more about marketing.

As you suggest, we may be talking about 3 different things: (1) selling and closing--which only a minority can do without help/training, (2) creating a "client-focused culture" at our firms in which everyone is on board and (3) creating a "marketing culture", which also involves everyone.

Here's the rub for me--I don't see much difference between 2 (client-focused culture) and 3 (marketing culture) at all if you are doing it right. If you are serving your clients the right way, and want new business--either new stuff from existing clients OR through "buzz/word of mouth--a client-focused culture IS a marketing culture. You don't need to market a client-focused culture to prospects to pick up new work. If you really have a client-focused group, they will all help to market beacuse they are always thinking that way. A client-focused culture and a marketing culture spring from the same desire to keep impressing by doing great work.

Dan Hull