Our knowledgeable and engaging business development experts offer business development training through online and in-person seminars designed to engage even the most skeptical audiences. Our programs can be tailored to various formats, including bespoke partner retreats or general firm-wide initiatives.
Our seminars can purchased a la carte, or bundled in any combination to meet your firm’s specific BD training needs.
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Business Development Fundamentals (Part 1)
It takes several years to develop a meaningful book of business. But when you lay the foundation early in your career, you gain a critical advantage over less ambitious competitors. This requires adopting a business-development mindset, developing meaningful expertise, and aligning with the right internal champions. Each of these components, when approached strategically, accelerate business development momentum so you can attract client opportunities as quickly as possible.
This first installment of a two-part program is specifically designed for early-stage professionals so they can:
Business Development Fundamentals (Part 2)
Building on the first installment, this program helps you establish credibility and momentum in the business community. With ample lead time, you can establish a strong foundation of professional relationships so that, by the time you are eligible for partnership, you are in a strong position to advance at the firm.
This program will demonstrate how you can:
How to Stay Connected to Clients in Today’s Evolving Business Landscape
In today’s rapidly changing economic environment, staying ahead of your clients’ needs is more challenging yet more critical than ever. With clients navigating their own uncertainties, they may become less responsive or explore cost-cutting alternatives. This program will equip you with modern strategies to maintain strong client connections, both virtually and in person.
We’ll delve into the precise number of interactions typically needed to secure new work and how to nurture client relationships over time, ensuring they grow and thrive.
Join us and discover:
Attract More Business through Your Professional Network
As professionals seek to build business development momentum, they often focus on industry affiliations, alumni relationships, the business community, and the firm’s client base. But it is challenging to stay top-of-mind with these many contacts when billable hours and other time-sensitive demands require so much attention.
They key is to apply time-efficient techniques that enable you to both serve your clients and grow your book of business. In this interactive program, we will share several such techniques that can be used to convert more of your professional relationships into business opportunities. You will discover:
Build and Implement a Business Development System
Industry surveys show that over 40% of business developers have no formal system for managing their key relationships. Struggling to adopt CRM, they try to manage ad-hoc lists of names and opportunities, and their outreach is often inconsistent and disorganized. In this interactive program, we will present a comprehensive system you can use to build simple, sustainable relationship pipelines that garner more business from your network and generate more revenue for your firm.
You will discover how to:
Navigate the Nuances of a Client Pitch
Clients appreciate a thoughtful, prepared, interactive pitch. It reflects well on the presenter and suggests that the services offered are high caliber. But many presenters spend too much of their pitch talking about themselves and fail to identify and thoroughly address their client’s concerns. Without a clear framework, and an understanding of the consultative model, an unsophisticated pitch leaves prospects unimpressed and competitors at an advantage.
In this interactive program, you will discover:
How to Negotiate with Fee-Sensitive Clients
There’s nothing worse than the awkward conversations that arise when a prospect or client expects to pay less than we feel we are worth. This program will impart the negotiation techniques that help you minimize friction with clients and realize the full value of your work.
You will learn how to:
Advance Business Opportunities with Friends Comfortably and Appropriately
Oftentimes the business potential in our personal relationships remains untapped because we do not know how to comfortably broach the topic of doing business together. The fact is your closest contacts will be far more likely to help you if you can initiate easy, no-pressure business conversations. In this program, you will discover communication techniques that allow you to explore professional opportunities naturally without jeopardizing your reputation or damaging your relationships.
In this program, you will learn how to:
Present an Engaging Webinar that Generates New Client Opportunities
Most webinars consist of presentations that fail to grab the audience’s attention or capture new business opportunities. In this interactive program, we will review presentation techniques that engage your audience and generate client interest.
You will discover how to:
How to Improve Cohesion at your Firm
In today’s diverse, hybrid environment, it can be challenging to communicate effectively across generations and workstyles. Without an understanding of what truly motivates the people on our teams and among our clientele, we become vulnerable to miscommunications and even flight risks. In this interactive program, you will discover the five modes of communication that motivate people in the workplace, and how they can be applied to foster a more cohesive team dynamic, and better productivity at your firm.
You will learn:
Effective Cross-Selling: Unlocking Revenue and Building Trust Among Partners
Cross-selling holds significant potential for revenue growth, offering a pathway to expand practices beyond the limitations of available hours. Yet, the true key to successful cross-selling lies in building trust among partners and strategically identifying opportunities within the firm.
In this program, we will explore how to overcome the barriers to cross-selling, particularly those rooted in trust issues, and how to develop actionable plans that partners can implement immediately.
Join us and discover:
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Are the seminars virtual or in-person?
The seminars are presented virtually, but can be modified to in-person venues for an additional fee plus T&E.
Who presents the seminars?
The seminars are presented by our founder, David Ackert, or if requested, by another business development expert from our coaching team.
How long is each seminar?
Seminars generally have a runtime of 45 minutes, with up to 15 minutes for Q&A.
Are the seminars interactive?
Yes, we build in opportunities for the audience to contribute their perspective through polling, chat, Q&A, and when appropriate, real time breakout sessions.
Can the seminars be tailored to our firm?
We are happy to accommodate omissions or make minor (cosmetic) changes to any of our agenda as part of the basic seminar fee but adding or significantly changing content incurs customization fees.
Are recordings and presentation slides provided?
We will provide presentation slides after the program, but you will be responsible for recordings hosted on your Zoom, Teams, Webex, etc.
Do discounts apply if we purchase more than one seminar?
Connect with our team, we’re happy to discuss pricing bundles based on your needs.
Managing Partner
“Ackert’s program helped us improve our value positioning and align our rates with market and client expectations. Their guidance was invaluable and greatly helped our lawyers in successfully communicating our pricing with our clients.”
Director of Marketing and Business Development
“Ackert’s negotiation trainings are full of practical advice, delivered to engage even the most skeptical audience. Our lawyers refer back to the takeaways throughout the year and regularly use their new insights at the negotiation table to benefit our firm.”
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