Episode 44-Getting the Most from Networking Meetings and Troikas

In this episode, I speak with Steve Fretzin, a premier business coach, trainer, and speaker on business development.  Steve focuses on the legal industry but comes with experience in other industries as well.  Steve and I discuss the importance of networking in building a professional services practice, how you can get more out of your networking meetings, and how to do this in a time of social distancing. The ability to generate work has never been more important for lawyers and other professionals. We are in a recession right now and adapting to the demands of the marketplace is critical.  But knowing what services your clients want is only a starting point.  A good business plan requires a healthy mix of marketing (or reputation building activities) and business development (or relationship building activities).  For lawyers and other professionals, it is the second leg, the relationship building, that is more challenging to master. Attorneys come out of law school knowing something about a broad cross section of legal subjects.  Law school graduates enter the workforce knowing how and do legal research and write briefs.  While clinics and internships help aspiring lawyers to start learning how to do deals, litigate cases, or counsel clients, most lawyers enter practice with limited knowledge of how to build and manage a law practice.   In particular, as lawyers begin their careers, they often know little about building business relationships. On this podcast, we’ve talked many times about the tremendous importance of relationship building whether to set the stage for a future job move or whether it is to generate clients and cultivate referral sources.  In this episode, we focus on the networking meeting and its close cousin, the troika which is a networking format that Steve and I participate in through our business networking group ProVisors. Steve Fretzin has been coaching and training professionals on business growth for over 20 years. His focus for the past 13 has been working with lawyers to dramatically grow their law practices. In addition to being a regular contributor for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Steve has written three books on legal growth. His most recent endeavor is his podcast show BE THAT LAWYER, where he interviews rainmakers, marketing gurus and legal industry insiders to provide tips and insights for his attorney audience.  He lives in Chicago. Other Networking Resources Is Your Networking Working Ways to Leverage Your Network 8 Do’s and Don’ts of Dating—and Networking Etiquette 11 Ways to Reciprocate in Networking Starting Business Conversations at Networking Functions and Beyond Be Interested; Be Interesting Overcoming Fear of Networking Using Affinity to Build Business Relationships-a Podcast w/Stephen Seckler Documenting Your Networking 47 Inexpensive ways to Build Business Relationships Building Business Relationships 101-Where to Begin Generating Leads Making Selling Easier for Lawyers-Transcript from Legal Toolkit Podcast