Turns out that UPS also delivers business lessons. Recently Corporate Counsel magazine talked to Norman Brothers, the General Counsel of UPS, to find out how his company hires lawyers (link: reg required). The discussion offers three valuable lessons in client acquisition and development:
1. Don't Take the Work For Granted
You might think that #48 on the Fortune 500 list would use the same lawyers over and over. After all, there’s tremendous value in the institutional knowledge that comes with decade-long relationships. But that can also lead firms on the list to become complacent, taking clients and work for granted. To combat this, UPS requires all firms, including those already on their panel, to submit RFPs for new work. This gives newcomers a chance to land legal assignments from the company. And it gives traditional firms added incentive to show UPS how 
much they know about their business. Over and over again.
2. “Bet-The-Company” Work Comes Later
"In order for us to feel comfortable with a firm handling a large matter, we have to have some relationship with them on the small matters,” says Brothers. More to the point: unless you blow their socks off on the mundane – good work, good results, good price – you’re never going to get a chance to show your client that they can bet the company on you. If the name of the game is value, then the size of the matter doesn’t matter: you either produce value for your client or you cost them money.
3. Preparation Is Everything
You already know that if you don’t bring your A-game to the pitch, you’re not going to get the work. But “bringing your A-game” isn’t limited to knowing the judge or having handled hundreds of similar lawsuits or worked on the year’s biggest acquisition. According to Brothers, some firms haven’t even read UPS’ annual reports when they walk into their offices. Those firms can’t know the big picture of UPS’ business and legal challenges. And more often than not, they can’t get to Round Two of the pitch.
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Additional takeaways?
First and foremost, stop thinking that your success as a lawyer is tied exclusively to your technical skills. That doesn’t mean that being a good attorney isn’t important. Nothing could be further from the truth. What it means, however, is that because there are a lot of excellent attorneys out there, you have to provide exemplary client service to stand out. More to the point: careers are built – and destroyed – on relationships, and lawyers who succeed are those who know how to nurture and grow those relationships, in addition to providing great legal advice.
Do everything you can to understand the challenges [your clients] face so that your solutions are in line with their goals and objectives.
Secondly, find a way to make managing client relationships part of your standard operating practices. Start asking your client what they think about the delivery of service, document their answers, and fix those things they don’t like (even if you don’t agree). Conduct end of matter interviews. Fly across the country so you can meet the GC of your biggest client and her staff. Read news about their company, their industry, their market. Do everything you can to understand the challenges they face so that your solutions are in line with their goals and objectives.
Finally, you have to eliminate complacency from your practice. Taking a client for granted will ultimately lead to the loss of that client, either because they feel the need to “see what else is out there,” or because one of the in-house team meets a new lawyer who pays more attention to them, or even just because they feel like you no longer go that extra mile the way you once did. Focus your attention instead on making each and every client feel good, feel important, feel like they’re the only important client you have.
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