Sales in Professional Services - Why Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp Stacks Up 3 Breakfasts in Manhattan Restaurant for Bringing in New Business

Among freethinkers there is the saying: There are no wrong questions. 

However, when it comes to sales in professional services such as lawyering there is one question that is  plenty naive about prospecting for new business as well as closing. 

On Reddit Big Law a new lawyer who has not started the first job in Big Law seems to assume he/she is quite the clever strategic thinker. This lawyer posits that law firms should have a designated sales force for developing new business versus unleashing all that highly compensated senior legal talent to be out there pitching. Here is that thread.

This response is right on the money, literally. 

"Firms do have salespeople. But in a law firm setting the product is the lawyer—how can you sell without showing off the product?"

That applies to all professional services, including my former boutique in corporate ghostwriting and scriptwriting. 

Propsects for high-end professional services don't have the time to go through the interim step of intefacing with a professional sales rep. They want their issues addressed directly by the professional or professionals who will be doing the actual work or at least supervising it. 

Now and then, yes, I did hire marketing/sales types for assistance in putting my brand out there. But the actual selling - that I had to do. 

In the specialization I am expanding - intuitive career coaching - I make it my business to provide complimentary consultations. I am the product they want/need to sample.

Clear evidence of how sales proceeds in the top tiers of professional services is the anecdote which the Chairperson of elite law firm Paul Weiss Brad Karp provided for Insider. His signature in the world of big-time lawyering is that of the rainmaker. Karp explained one way that unfolds. He noted that he will actually stack up 3 consecutive breakfasts with prospects/those with readiness to buy at a Manhattan restaurant in a single AM. Each year he bags 20 new accounts. 

In addition, Karp is very "there" in person both in settings associated with law and what sociologist Mark Granovotter labeled "weak ties." Those off-the-traditional-grid relationships usually result in more professional opportunities than investing our time with the usual suspects. 

Committed to the potential in weak ties I network not with fellow coaches but with those whose professional or personal lives intersect with those struggling with work issues. I do that directly. Not through a professional sales rep. 

Your just-right professional fit. You can bypass the usual pain points. That includes Tarot readings, both spreads and one-card pulls. Complimentary consultation for coaching, job-search materials, and interviewing. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579. 



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