1. Google Yourself – Take 10-15 minutes to Google yourself and/or your firm. Make sure to review all results up to five pages, not just the first page of Google results. Do the same on Bing and/or other relevant search engines. If you see any information you would like removed, take time to contact the relevant party.

2. Don’t Just Send Holiday Cards/Gifts – Take the time to personally call or meet with (in person) each of your top clients and referral sources (both internal and external) around the holiday(s) most relevant to them, and send them a sincere, personalized holiday greeting (preferably handwritten).

3. Schedule Private, Year-End/New Year Conversations – If you do not already have a habit of doing so, be sure to schedule time to proactively reach out to each of your key clients and referral sources (both externally and internally) between early November and mid-January each year to set up a time to ask:

• How did you/the firm do for them/their clients this year? 
• Is there anything you/your firm could be doing to serve them differently/better?
• What are their plans in 2019 for new products, services, offices, acquisitions, employees, inventions, etc.?

4. Review All Requests for Proposal (RFPs), Requests for Qualifications/Information (RFQ/Is), and Other Proposals for New Work You Responded To –  

• Calculate your win-rate.
• Determine whether you should reach out to and/or stay in touch with select contacts even if you lost.
• With the proliferation of RFPs and bidding contests initiated by clients, consider what projects or services you provide that could be offered and delivered using a fixed/flat fee. Work with your firm’s leaders, project managers, billing staff, and/or business development staff to refine.

5. Take a Professional Inventory of Work You Did in 2018 – Take 10-15 minutes to reflect on the year, review the clients you worked with/billed most, and one-off or unique cases.

• Ask yourself: what services/advice did I provide this past year that may be needed by other clients or prospective clients?
• Write down your top three to five transactions, cases, matters that you were most proud of/got the best results from/want to do more of in the future. Write out: client; industry; (if public) case name/jurisdiction; case/matter type/practice area; key claims/allegations/technology involved/issues; client’s main objectives/goals; summary of disposition/outcomes/results. 
• Check in with your firm’s Marketing/Business Development Department to ask whether the above information should be made generic (remove all client-specific information as appropriate) and added to your website bio; your LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts; and/or any matter/case inventories your law firm maintains.

6. Review Your Website Bio and LinkedIn Profile – Consider what should be updated, corrected, added from the above, and any other relevant information from your 2018 work, accomplishments and activities.

7. Prepare to Promote and Sell in 2019 What You Did in 2018 -

• Reflect on the few cases/deals/matters you worked on in 2018 (as described above). Consider exactly what you did and for whom (by type of client, industry, size, location, etc.). 
• Work with your firm’s leaders, partners and/or marketing/business development specialists to identify other firm clients or internal lawyers who may meet those criteria, have a similar need, or may benefit by becoming aware of the service. 
• Add this info into your 2019 Plan (see 9. and 10. below) and create a schedule in your Outlook to communicate accordingly over the course of 2019.

8. Re-Use, Re-Cycle, Re-Purpose – Ask yourself:

• What did I write, speak, present, blog on in 2018? 
• Do I have any already created content related to the cases/matters I would like more of in 2019? 
• How can an existing article, blog post, presentation, checklist, etc. be re-purposed, re-used or otherwise leveraged? Perhaps turn a PowerPoint presentation into a blog or social media post, or series of posts; or convert a podcast into a webinar or client alerts, etc.? 
• Add the above into your 2019 Plan (see 9. and 10. below); ask for assistance from your business development coach as needed.

​9. Review Your 2018 Business Plan – For no one else but yourself, and to fuel your future success, objectively and critically review your 2018 Business Plan (if you have one).

• Ask for help from a trusted colleague or an internal or external marketing/business development coach, as desired.
• Assess how you performed versus what was contained in your 2018 Plan. 
  • Did you meet your billable/nonbillable/collection targets? 
  • Did you complete each activity listed in your plan? If so, what results were gained (as measured by revenue from new or more work sent to you by existing clients or referral sources, new work from new clients, expanded positioning on a board, industry group, charitable entity, etc.). 
  • What was not done?
  • What developed that was not planned for (unplanned, unanticipated requests and opportunities can often be lucrative).
• Make note of what you want to improve/upgrade/do better in 2019. Use this information to:

10. Craft a Simple 2019 Business Plan – No need for a lengthy, multiple-page plan, one page is enough! 

Do this for yourself and your own professional development and career growth (not because you were told to or it is required). Include:

• Billable and non-billable hour targets with detail
• Key existing clients you plan to nurture and grow, what you plan to do, and when
• Key existing referral sources; new clients/referral sources to target, what you plan to do, and when
• Prospective clients (existing clients of other firm lawyers, or brand-new clients), what you plan to do, and when
• Industry/community/charitable/pro bono efforts you plan to be involved in, what, and when
• Speaking and writing opportunities, what, and when
• Conference attendance, which and when 

Be sure to tie the above activities and dates into your Outlook schedule so they pop up automatically ahead of time (to be sure you have time to prepare) to remind you what you would like to accomplish in 2019.

11. Make Sure Relevant Auto-Alerts Are Set for Your Key Clients, Prospective Clients and Referral Sources – Ask your firm’s librarian or marketing/business development staff what subscriptions your firm has that allow for auto-alerts to be set and sent to you any time (or once a week) one or all your key clients, prospects, or referral sources is mentioned/written about. Many law firms subscribe to: Manzama, JDSupra, Westlaw, LexisNexis, Bloomberg BNA, and others. Also, be sure auto-alerts are set for all publicly available sources, such as Google and EDGAR.

12. Upgrade Your Use of Outlook to Support Your Business/Client Development Plans – If you do not already proactively create and set recurring Outlook meetings/appointments with yourself to remind yourself to prepare for and get your planned business/client development activities done, do so! If you do not know how to, ask tech support to assist you. At a minimum, create quarterly meetings with yourself and attach your 2019 Plan into it, so that is pops up to remind you to implement your plans, and of upcoming deadlines/events.

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[Julie Savarino is one of the world’s leading client service and development coaches for lawyers. Her new book, Master Level Business and Client Development Activity Checklists for Lawyers, will be published on Amazon soon. Connect with Julie on LinkedIn, follow her on Twitter, or email Julie@BusDevInc.com.]