This article is written by Ramanuj Mukherjee and Suman Chatterjee Team LawSikho.

Even after we wrote an entire encyclopedia of how to do business development during COVID (Part 1 & Part 2), some people are still saying it is too hard and they can’t do it, and that they are not getting any clients.

I understand that some of the strategies listed above might take some time to come to fruition.

What if you are in a hurry? What if you are looking for an easier way out?

No worries.

That’s why I am writing this email today.

I am going to tell you 3 simple things you can do today and get work immediately. Read on.

“I miss you”

Have you connected with your childhood buddies, your school or college mates recently? If not, this is the right time to do it. 

They love you. They know you. They trust you.

Maybe you are not in touch for a very long time. No harm. Get in touch now. They have more free time during lockdown to speak.

It is likely that they also need someone to prepare their tax statements, create their partnership deeds or write their wills. 

You can be the one helping them out in need. A camaraderie already exists with old friends. All you have to do is reach out to them and let them know that you are a “lawyer”. Tell them some exciting stories of the matters you do. Add them to Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter and then begin posting more about the kind of legal work you do.

They will notice.

They will refer. They will call you for advice.

Their childhood friend has finally donned the black coat and the band and wields the power to scream and shout in front of the judge (just kidding!). Why will they not take advantage of the same?

You can always charge them a preferential price.

Doubtful whether you can charge fees from your friends? Trust me, they know that you charge fees for your services. If they value their own profession, they would value yours too. There would be potential freeloaders. Help them out in small matters, but do not take up substantial responsibility without payment.

Btw, doing some free work for friends helps to spread your name. 

My tax returns are filed by one of my college besties who specialized in that niche. I don’t expect him to render his services for free at all. I always pay him his due.

Your friends will too.

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“I trust you”

Are you a member of Iskcon or a part of the Chinmaya Mission or maybe a certain church? Or perhaps, any other religious group that I do not know of? Have you got a few friends and acquaintances through that network? 

Or, let’s say, you take an active part in your local political party. 

You visit the weekend meetings, attend processions or hoist flags on the Independence Day. 

What about your party comrades? I am sure you have got a huge network through your political affiliation if you have any. 

Can that bring forth reliable and paying clients to you? Definitely. If you play your cards right.

But please understand that the approach is a little different in this case. These are not business clubs where people flock with a preset intent to gain “business”. These are like physical social media networks where the primary agenda is to discuss and further the original cause. The members are not there to discuss business, mind it. 

The approach should be to just let them know that you are a lawyer and be ready to help them with their problems. Educate them, help them with pertinent information and advice. 

You just cannot afford to come away as a money-seeking lawyer. You are a comrade first and a business owner second. If you take this approach to social, political and religious communities, you can get a lot of business from such networks!

If you belong to any such close-knit community or group, the members know you, trust you and feel safe to work with you on important matters. And guess what, they live a worldly life that involves a lot of legal formalities and complications.

They would seek the help of the lawyer they trust when they need help.

“I serve you”

Last but not least are those that sell their products and services to you. You are a consumer to them but the question is, why are they not a consumer to you? 

For example, the physician who looks after the well-being of your whole family, the accountant who does your taxes, both personal and corporate, the financial advisor who helps you with your money matters, etc. 

You know, all these people need a lawyer in their lives, from time to time, right? So, are you their lawyer? 

Yes? Great job. 

No? Why not! 

This is the best symbiotic relationship that you can get in to get instant access to a vast client pool without even trying. 

Just like if your friend falls sick and asks for a recommendation, you would refer your family physician. Similarly, if someone related to your family physician ever requires the services of a lawyer, your family physician would refer you to them.

How can you make that happen?

Word-of-mouth marketing at work! 

In this case, you have to be a little crafty about your promotion though. You can be a little forward about your profession. 

Since you are already engaged in a business relationship, there’s nothing wrong with you trying to reverse the roles a bit. 

However, don’t be too pushy about it. Don’t be that guy who talks about his latest antics in court while his blood pressure is being checked. 

Click Above

Or maybe that’s a great idea. I leave it to you.

Any idea how many wealthy individuals your life insurance agent knows and can connect you with? Probably a lot of them.

How many people can the banker that you bank with influence? People tend to trust bankers with important financial and legal matters.  They talk to their bankers about their problems. 

Will your banker recommend your name and pass on your phone number next time he comes across a wealthy client in distress over a property matter or some taxation issue?

Does the guy who cut your hair regularly in the local Salon know that you are a lawyer and damn awesome at that? If someone was discussing a legal problem in the salon while waiting for a haircut will he mention that they should probably have a chat with you?

This is a powerful thing. Do not underestimate the network effect of the people who are interacting with you every day.

“It’s so awkward. How do I start talking about my work to all these people?”

These three client pools are waiting for you to pounce on them this very moment. Just pick up the phone and start talking.

Start by asking about their well being, have a great conversation, and share what you are upto as well. Writing an article regarding what to do if your employer forces a pay cut on you? Talk about it. 

Add them on social media, and then start posting thoughtful posts about the problems many of them or their close ones may be facing.

Is it necessary that landlords have to forego rent during a lockdown?

What if I miss paying my loan EMIs in the upcoming months?

What if I have accumulated too much credit card debt?

What if I paid for a flat but possession is getting delayed? Can I get compensation for delay?

People have many legal questions right now. About COVID. About other things. Help them with credible, high-quality advice, for free, on social media, and people will begin to look upto you as an awesome lawyer. 

They will reach out when they have issues.

Got in touch with your existing clients?

While doing all these things do not forget to call your existing clients. 

It is most likely that they would have some legal work at the moment and they are sitting on it. They may even have undiagnosed legal problems or risks that are just about to materialize. 

They may not know enough about the importance of urgency of such issues.  

If you call them and start talking to them about their business, about their current situation, about what is going to come in the future, It is highly likely that such issues and problems will come up in discussions and come to the fore.

Additionally, if you keep your clients abreast of expected legal and policy developments, it is highly likely that your client will realise the necessity of some kind of legal services which may be required right now or may add to your future pipeline.

The easiest thing for you to do right now to generate a lot more work is to simply call up your past clients especially businesses and chat about what’s going on in their lives and businesses.

No need to believe us, just try out and see. 

The moment you start asking them about what’s going on in their business or in their life they will start telling you about umpteen problems and complications that have been developing over the last few weeks.

Force Majeure. Breach of contract. Domestic violence. Affairs gone sour during the lockdown. People being fired unjustly, or salary being held up without explanation or forced pay cuts being imposed.  

Startups coming up with new ideas to deal with the emergency and requiring help with various usual services.

Legal notice from counterparties. Notice from the Tax Department.  confusion over bank loans and finance agreements that need restructuring.  Lack of clarity about which contracts make get breached or set aside or frustrated due to ongoing crisis.

It is all happening right now. Nobody is sitting idle. 

People need legal help today as much as they needed it before. Probably a little more. 

But if you do not get in touch with your clients and start helping them now, If you do not start talking to them about what’s next, you might miss out on the action.

This is apart from all the money you could generate right now. 

Make a list of your most important clients and spend at least four to five hours a day calling them and having long conversations with them, especially if you are sitting idle without much work on your plate.

Thank me later.

Getting clients is one thing
…but can you do justice to them? 

I understand that the strategy I am suggesting may generate a lot of new kind of work that you have never done before or are not very familiar with.

Maybe you are a criminal lawyer.  you may say, and justifiably so, that in the current situation there is not much to do. The police is not really arresting or booking people. 

But have you considered that you might be able to help some businesses by doing some contract renegotiation work?  or maybe you can help a software company trying to sell products in Europe by assisting them with GDPR compliance. 

Sure, this requires you to learn new skill sets. But that is where we can help you.  We have training programs that can rapidly upskill you. 

Here are some areas of law where lots of work is been generated right now.  Even if we hit a nasty recession there are some areas of legal work that will do really well nonetheless.  We have written about that before over here.

I will not go into details here.

If you are interested to know about these upcoming legal opportunities, why not speak to our career counsellors by giving us a call on 011 4084 5203 or comment below with your phone number and stating, “I need help in my career.” We will get in touch with you.

If not anyone else, we are here, by your side.  We can overcome this uncertain economic environment together.

To your success.

P. S. LawSikho is running hour-long webinars every day. Want to learn how to improve your learning skills? Prepare an LLM application to a foreign university? Career opportunities in new, upcoming areas of law? Don’t miss these high-quality webinars with industry and academic experts. 

Comment below to this article stating “I want to watch webinars!” and we will personally send you the link to the webinar group on WhatsApp. From then onwards, you will receive instant webinar notifications on your mobile phone only.

P. P. S. All our premium courses are covered under an unwavering 30 days full money-back guarantee. 

After taking a course, if you feel like it is not working out for you, maybe you are not getting enough value out of it or it is not meeting your expectations, just get in touch with us. We will refund every rupee you paid for the course.

No questions asked, as long as the minimum requirements of the refund policy are fulfilled.

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