Winning new clients has to be an ongoing process. Unless we constantly add to our client base we will see total numbers gradually tail off. This is a huge subject and we can only touch the surface of it here but I will focus on two areas that always are with us. Contributions welcome, as always!

Quotations have become normal these days. Conveyancing clients in particular will routinely phone round asking about prices and you must handle these calls in the right way. So select someone on your staff who is bubbly, friendly and reasonably self-confident and train them. It does not matter whether they are fee earning or support staff. They need to handle the call in a certain way and here are a few pointers. For want of a better word I will call your call handler the Quoter.Design and run a good system to collect all the information that comes up. Many case managament systems will do this for you and can then turn a quote seamlessly into a new file. Almost more importantly, they can also provide reports on a whole raft of vital information - competitors' prices, hit rates, and so on.Be friendly. Get the caller talking about what they are doing, when they might move, what they like about the new house and so on, anything as long as it gives your quoter the chance to make friends. We all prefer to deal with people we kow and like and your aim is that your quoter will be known and liked by the end of the call.Give enough time to this. We are talking of winning a new instruction worth perhaps several hundred pounds. It is not a waste of time and it is not taking anyone away from more pressing work. It IS important work in its own right.Find out what they liked and, above all, disliked, about the service they received the last time they moved and which firm they went to (making sure you are prepared for any dislikes if it was your firm). Use this to reassure them that you have excellent staff and systems in place that will make things much better this time.Use technology. If you use case management (see the page on IT) stress how effectively this improves the quality of the work you do. Even better, if you have the facility to email or text them whenever key stages have been completed, such as contract exchange, offer this. It will impress them.Stress how much responsibility is involved for the solicitor and what can go wrong if the work is not done well (without, naturally, implying that any other firm might not do it as well as you will.........!)Find out, if possible, what they have been quoted elswehere but don't be tempted merely to match or beat other quotes. We are selling your quality here. (I met staff with a national estate agency chain who had been told by head ofice to send all jobs possible to a city firm where they had a commercial arrangement for bulk that brought them more fees. But the staff hated this because service was so poor and they deliberately chose to recommend good local firms instead) You don't need a script but your quoter should follow a checklist - they will be gathering information and so will need a form either on screen or on paper. Again, case management has this.Try different techniques and measure the effect on the hit rate, so learning what works best. Try out different prices. I have several times persuaded firms to raise their prices and, given the right technique, you would be amazed at how few new instructionss are lost as a result. A client only needs to understand, as we all know already, that saving £50 when they are spending £200,000 may not be the wisest economy.

Finally, when your quoter has got onto good terms with the caller and has found out everything of relevance, give the price, ask whether that sounds reasonable for the responsibility involved, and ask for the order. In all selling activity in all different types of businesses this is the single biggest mistake made, often even by experienced sales staff. If your quoter can end the conversation along lines like these you will be amazed at how many jobs you will book.
"So, Mrs Smith, I have all the details and you have said that you think our fee is reasonable. Shall I get the ball rolling straight away? The more we can do now, the more we can avoid delays as we go through your move."
You have created a relationship, provided all the information the client needs, dealt with any objections and now given the client a good reason to instruct you today. The majority will simply agree.

As time goes by, review this work regularly. Involve your quoters and get them preparing regular reports, monitoring their success rates for different techniques. You want them to want success as much as you do.

Pitching is something that practically every lawyer does, many without realising it. Every time you discuss a possible new matter with a client, be it in general or specific terms, you are in practice pitching for new work. You are looking to win the instruction and to convince the client that you are their best choice.

Golden rules? Try these:

Do your homework. Although useful when dealing with private clients this is absolutely essential if you are talking to a business or other organisation. Before you meet find out all you can about what they do, how they do it, who they are, who owns them, what recent news there has been about them and, if possible, what particular legal problems they may face. This will mean that you can come across as really on the ball and it will give you a big advantage in their eyes.

Listen! Before you can do anything you must understand exactly what is wanted. It just might be that the client needs something that you don't do. Until you have absorbed all the details you cannot know this so don't be tempted to talk more than enough to get the client talking, concentrate on what you are hearing and encourage them with lots of open-ended questions. The analogy often used in sales training is "you have two ears and one mouth - use them in that ratio!"

Don't mention the cost before you have to. Make sure you understand everything you can before you talk money for two reasons. Firstly, if the work looks to be extensive and potentially costly for the client you will need, as always, to be able to discuss the usual costs:benefits:risks analysis. Without a good understanding of what is involved this will be impossible, but then you don't need me to tell you that - it's normal good practice.
But secondly there is another risk at the opposite end of this spectrum. A solicitor I know was asked by a local company what it would cost to collect a bad debt. Without asking anything about the background he indicated a fee of a few hundred pounds, assuming that it would be the usual kind of trading debt of a few thousand. When it turned out to be much bigger and more complicated he felt unable to increase his quote and this left the risk:benefit proposition for the firm looking very poor indeed.

Use the talents in your firm. You will inevitably have people who are naturally self-confident and able to approach prospects more easily. Use them.

Behave like other commercial organisations - Sell! If you have a few significant companies in your area and have the right specialisms in your firm there is absolutely nothing to stop you approaching them. After all, I bet no other firm has. They will, of course, already have lawyers but then they are completely used to people approaching them with new propositions - it is normal in business. Find out who to see (the FD, Company Secretary?), do your homework and get an appointment. You will be surprised how readily they will see you and you will be amazed how often they have something worthwhile to talk about.

When you talk with them you are simply asking how you might be able to help. Employment issues, perhaps for example compromise agreements? Litigation (or should we say dispute resolution!)? Contract drafting or advice? Property matters? There will be a whole range of possible issues and once your are talking with them you can so easily agree on some work that they need.

Call your existing clients. You haven't heard from ABC Ltd for a while? Ring them and just have a chat. Have something to talk about that justifies the call, such as "Are you aware of the new employment act that comes into force on October 1st? Would you like me to have a look at your current contracts as they might need revising?" You will be amazed at how often your contact says "You know, it's funny you have called. What do you think we should do about.........".

And finally, work on your culture. Encourage all your staff to be looking constantly for new business and new clients. Set up a reward scheme of some kind, discuss it often around the office, put it on the agenda for every meeting and generally encourage everyone to be looking for ideas that wil bring in new clients.

One last thought. Be a bit thick skinned. Sales people know that they will get rejections. They expect them and they accept them. If they can learn from them, so much the better but they know you can never hope to be the supplier that every contact chooses. Don't be put off, and don't let your people be put off, when you get knocked back. We can never hope to be right for everyone.