In drought conditions the term ‘rainmaking’ was commonly used by the American Indians who used magical powers to bring the rain to nourish the crops and feed the people - not unlike the current drought conditions that legal firms are experiencing in new instructions. Today a rainmaker is a person who brings revenue into a legal practice with your clients’ and customers’ cash being the rain.

In the highly competitive world of legal services it is essential for law firms to adapt a rainmaking training programme for all staff who are in direct communication with clients and potential customers. These do not have to be fee earners - in fact, recognising different skills in your teams will be essential to develop your business. In the more successful practices every employee must somehow be involved in the identifying, attracting, obtaining and retaining clients and customers.

One of the key questions we should ask is: 'Why should this customer or client do business with our practice?' The common mistake is that the answer fits the law firm’s agenda rather than the customer’s or client’s. Instead the customer experience should be exceptional.

Training front-line staff to answer that essential question by calculating what economic benefits your service gives your customer and by calculating the consequences of not purchasing your service is an essential rainmaking tool. The retailer John Lewis provides a classic example of exceptional customer service and demonstrates increased profitability even in a recession.

We can then adopt the first commandment: 'Treat each customer or client as you would treat yourself.' Do you like being overcharged, badly served, placed on endless hold, not have your telephone calls returned, ignored and not thanked? A good client is demanding - they expect more from you and will pay a premium for exceptional service. Continuing the theme, how much money is spent on marketing your firm, yet with little emphasis placed on converting those expensive enquiries into actual instructions? There is a skill and there are techniques that will demonstrate to your staff the importance and value of every enquiry and will teach appreciation of the importance in converting these into new business.

If you are a commercial practice and are targeting businesses remember that 90% of your meetings will be lost before you meet your prospect! Because lawyers often do not research their prospect and their industry before they meet, ‘plan every meeting’ is the second commandment in the rainmaker’s bible.

The more research you do about the business and its industry the greater the the impression of knowledge and that you genuinely want to work with this business. A pilot never misses a single checkpoint on their pre-flight check - likewise we should be well prepared for every meeting, without exception. Creating a value proposition for commercial clients is an essential if you are to win their business. For example you might utilise insurance products and become in-house counsel for your clients so they are encouraged to telephone you without charge. For the right client this could include unlimited meetings.

A legal expenses policy could be included in your proposition and, on condition you have researched your prospect, you should know whether they will buy from you because of fear or gain.

Your customers and clients will always have concerns or issues that need to be satisfied before they will purchase your services. These concerns are often price, affordability, your delivery and a myriad of other issues. Concerns are not always voiced by the prospect but must be dealt with before they will purchase from you. For example, if your prospect was to tell you that your time estimate for the production of their new employment contracts is too long, you might respond by asking when the client would like the employment contracts delivered and confirm that they would like to proceed providing that you can deliver the contracts by that date.

The third commandment therefore is 'to unearth objections whether they are spoken or not'. By asking the question, 'is there anything else that concerns you?', issues can be resolved before asking for the instruction. The importance of client referral is often ignored and many law firms avoid the term 'sales' and forget to 'cross-sell' their services. Rainmaking is essentially selling and thinking about the next opportunity that will set your firm apart from the competition.

Finding ways of asking for referrals is an essential tool in any rainmaker’s armoury - by bundling legal services you can always be looking for the next opportunity with your client or customer. The fourth commandment has to be to ‘build a referral machine within your practice’ - asking clients to recommend you to others is an essential part of building your practice.

The fifth commandment has to be 'to treat each person you meet as a potential client’. Your next instruction could come from unexpected places so remind staff never to demonstrate frustration with reception staff or other non-decision makers - they could well influence future buying decisions.

Ignoring body language can result in opportunities simply evaporating. If a potential client leans forward to show interest in what you are saying it demonstrates a buying signal. These come in a variety of ways without this interest being communicated other than by body language - therefore commandment six has to be ‘learn to understand buying signals’.

Most of us have used baby sitters at some stage in our lives: they get a job, do it and get paid. It is an example we can all learn from - whatever the issues with the children you always tell the parents on their return that there were no problems. This is the seventh commandment in rainmaking - ‘do not burden your client with any problems you incurred in doing the job’ - they don’t care! You deliver your completed work on time and within the agreed cost estimate and they will repeatedly instruct you with more work and may even recommend you to others.

The use of the business card is often ignored as a rainmaking tool but should be part of every rainmaker’s toolkit. Your business card should be functional and easy to read and not have every service you offer printed on it. Two successful examples of this are the young aspiring partner who distributed more cards than his colleagues by saying 'here’s my card, if you or your company require any professional advice that will benefit your business then give me a call and I will ensure our best people work for you' and the criminal lawyer who gave her card to everyone she met! Her card went to taxi drivers, pub landlords and their staff, waiters or anyone she came in contact with, as she said: 'Here’s my card, if you ever need help, or anyone you know needs help, please telephone me. I will help you.'

The eighth commandment of rainmaking therefore is to ‘ensure you always carry and distribute your practical business card at every opportunity.’ The transfer fees paid for top football strikers is staggering but why do football clubs spend such sums on one individual? Yes, they have talent but it’s what they do that counts - 99 out of 100 shots on goal may not go in but they keep trying. Similarly the rainmaker has to keep taking those shots and not let in negative thoughts such as 'I’ll never get to meet with that managing director; we are too small for that company to work with us.'

If you do not try then you will never score that goal; therefore the ninth commandment has to be to ‘be persistent’ - if you do not keep trying to win new business then you have failed before you start. The tenth and final commandment has to be ‘to place a value on why your prospect should buy legal services from you’. Trying to compete on price should not be part of your objectives - the brands will win every time therefore you have to differentiate your service from your competition.

Your clients and customers will buy from you if they understand the value of your service and will pay a premium if you can demonstrate true added value.

Here are 10 simple things you can do today to win new business:

1. Write a handwritten note to a prospective client2. Select and forward an article of interest, possibly by email3. Ask a satisfied client for referrals4. Send a thank you gift to someone who has sent you a referral5. Give one of your business cards to a person who has influence6. Write a letter to a magazine that your clients read7. Add 10 new prospects to your database8. Leave a compelling voice mail for a prospect9. Make an appointment to see a prospective client10. Telephone a client you haven’t spoke to for two years

Viv Williams, chief executive of 360 Legal Group