What is domestic business development?

Missing opportunities for domestic business development?

When most of us think about business growth, we think about building relationships with existing customers, finding new potential customers, asking for referrals (and hoping) and growing our network outside the company.

But there is another aspect of business development that many legal experts do not consider. “Internal trade growth was just as important in my experience as foreign trade growth,” said Julia Forbes, a partner of Fenwick and West.

What is domestic business development? For a collaborator, the most important characteristic is. Treat partners as your customers. In addition to your assignment, increase your visibility. And practice business development skills with your internal clients. In many cases you can work for your partner’s clients, gain more experience, and you can increase your visibility to their external clients.

How do you go about treating your company partners as customers? You can use the same techniques with an external client. Don’t just accept jobs; Be eager to work on their case. Try not to overreact. Every customer wants to know that you prioritize and appreciate their business.

Contact the supervisor’s attorney and let them know where they are with their case. Doing so will make them visible, up-to-date and reassure them of your commitment.

Keep their work simple. Senior lawyers want you to have a job that you do not have the time (or inclination) to do. Do it, and go as far as you can.

If you do not find a space shuttle, do not promise a moon. Manage your internal client’s promises so they don’t disappoint. Resist the urge to be unrealistic.

And do truly amazing work. The better you work, the more work and exposure you will have.

Summarizing her experience with internal customer development, Julia Forbes concludes: Those senior partners were part of the partnership, they were interested in my growth, and I had the opportunity to work with their clients. In the same way, when partners enter the home, they can become potential customers in the future. While all of these relationships do not come from traditional business development opportunities, they can be surprisingly important over time.

For more success stories, see “How I did it” question and answer on Law.com.

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