Five Ways to Become a Rainmaker in 2025
Being an exceptional lawyer at your firm or practice area is not always enough to develop business at the rate you or your partners would like—in fact, exceptional legal skills are just the beginning. Making it rain takes special and specific skills. But most lawyers went to law school, not business school. So, how can lawyers enhance or even learn the skills to develop business?
To excel, you will need to think and act like a rainmaker, which involves different approaches and behaviors than being a lawyer. Here are the five key ones:
Network with intention
Conferences are considered some of the best networking opportunities. Attending one can be a great opportunity for you to connect with other like-minded professionals. Yet it can be daunting to walk into a room full of people you don’t know, even when you are confident and accomplished. Try to become familiar with who is attending and think through potential conversation topics ahead of time. And don’t forget to exchange contact information and capture details about productive conversations you have. The key is in establishing real connections and making the experience more enjoyable for you and the people you are meeting. It is a basic concept that not everyone naturally feels comfortable with, and preparation and practice can help.
Step out of your comfort zone
When it comes to rainmaking, some think you must be a natural-born salesperson—you either have it or you don’t. Others think you will need to spend all your time cold-calling, schmoozing, or even behaving in unseemly ways. Fortunately, none of that is true—but unless you are one of those rare people for whom this does come naturally, becoming a rainmaker means you will have to step outside your comfort zone and approach prospects and clients in different, sometimes uncomfortable, ways. Developing these approaches and being prepared to use them makes a sizable difference.
Avoid random acts of lunch
When many people think of rainmaking, taking prospects out to lunch, coffee, or dinner is one of the first things that comes to mind. But these can quickly turn awkward without an objective or a plan for what to discuss with prospects. By writing down a few notes ahead of time, you will be more prepared and make better use of your time—and your prospect’s time. Knowledge leads to comfort, and having some idea about what your lunching partner may be challenged by, what kind of work they do, and what their own mission may be can turn awkward silences into easy and productive conversation.
Nail the elevator pitch
While it’s great to have an uninterrupted lunch or other one-on-one time, you won’t always have someone’s undivided attention or more than a few minutes to chat. It’s best to ask questions and be collaborative, but sometimes, the only opportunity is to tell them what you offer. By preparing for what to say when you meet an ideal client, you will be able to make the most of limited opportunities without coming across as a salesperson. Articulating your expertise and value clearly and succinctly is not easy, even for the best communicator. This is a skill—and one that marketing and business development professionals spend years honing.
Cross-sell effectively
Gaining new clients is hard. That’s why cross-selling is so important. With a collaborative multi-partner approach to client support, you and your firm can greatly increase client satisfaction, retention, and loyalty (and win the low-hanging fruit that is new business from existing, happy clients). Yet, it so rarely happens. By working intentionally with other partners and the business development team at your firm to develop a process and helping your partners understand where you can add real value, you can immediately become more of a rainmaker.
Rainmaking doesn’t just happen, even for attorneys who are naturally gifted at it. But by understanding what steps to take, preparing ahead of time, and working with others at the firm, you can become a better rainmaker in 2025!