When managing partners reach into their toolboxes, the one tool that can provide the necessary guidance and direction for the firm is often overlooked. That tool is the retreat. A well-designed retreat allows for constructive planning and decision-making to reenergize latent business development activity, providing the necessary direction that many firms lack. As a result of the economic downturn, many firm and partner retreats have been cancelled. However, a revenue-focused retreat can turn what has been viewed as an expense into a sound investment.

By providing the proper infrastructure and conditions, leaders can harness the enormous talent and motivation that lives within each of their lawyers. The retreat not only provides interaction between lawyers, but can have a significant impact on the bottom line while setting direction and accountability for the future.

Creating a revenue-focused retreat requires a focus on the lawyers who must go out and get the clients and develop those one-to-one relationships. There are millions of dollars in new business waiting out there. The revenue-focused retreat can provide the strategy, direction and tools to increase top-line growth. The only remaining question is how?

The Plan: Do not repeat the same old mistakes. Old Mistake #1: Lack of preparation. Managing expectations, providing pertinent research and developing well-conceived agendas improve a retreats outcome.

Old Mistake #2: Poor design that does not support firm-wide goals. An exceptional design can motivate people to do exceptional things. Link everything to the firms strategy, and if you dont have one, use the retreat to build it.

Old Mistake #3: Insufficient post-retreat follow through. Success should be measured by what is accomplished long after the retreat is over.

Old Mistake #4: Too many talking heads. Many leaders use retreats to download information on a captive audience. Save speeches for topics that are strategically necessary.

Old Mistake #5: Overly negative messages. You may have had your worst year ever, but your partners already know that. What they need is a plan for climbing out of the hole and back to prosperity.

The retreat itself is only one piece in the overall process of getting exceptional results. A high-impact, revenue-focused retreat is a three-part harmony of preparation, the retreat and follow-up. The following will discuss important elements of each of these three key areas.

Preparing For a Revenue-Focused Retreat

The following are some steps you can take that will improve your chances for delivering an exceptional event:

Strategy #1: Conduct an internal survey. Get a reality check by surveying your partners in advance to understand present opportunities, obstacles and get their suggestions. Better yet, include associates, management, staff and clients in order to get a more comprehensive view.

Strategy #2: Provide market and client research. Many of the group discussions will require specific data in order to make sound decisions. Think through these sessions in advance and anticipate the information that will be needed.

Strategy #3: Senior leadership support. Firm leadership must stand firmly behind the retreat. Get them involved early in the process and get their buy-in and support or your best and brightest rainmakers will be reading the Wall Street Journal in the back of the room.

Strategy #4:Assembletherightteam.Addcreativeandstrategic thinkers to the retreat committee and definitely include your marketing and business development professionals. If you dont have any strategic thinkers, get some. Retreats often set the tone for business development all year.

Strategy #5: Create an outstanding agenda. A great retreat must have a great design. Define your objectives and outcomes to build a process that will drive success.

Strategy #6: Client focused. In the revenue-focused firm, its all about the clients, so the bulk of the retreats design should be focused on how to gain new clients and service existing ones. Internal planning should be addressed only to the extent it supports these goals.

Strategy #7: Creativity and fun. We are in a profession made up of brilliant people who generally work way too hard. Build in some fun and allow the right brain to take over for a while.

Strategy #8: Keep it interesting. Fully engage their minds and hearts. Make your programming relevant, inspiring and upbeat.

Conducting a Revenue-Focused Retreat

A revenue-focused retreat must get your lawyers interacting with each other and get them focused,energized and motivated to follow-through on their business generation commitments. The following are some factors to consider in the design and delivery of your program. Wheres my motivation? Use a collaborative approach during the retreat so that your lawyers are motivated to act on their ideas and discover how to work together to build a better future with increased revenue. Internal networking. Studies have shown that improving an organizations culture has a positive impact on its revenues. Do what you can to enhance relationships between your partners. This is especially important where firms have recently merged, acquired new offices, brought on laterals or have multiple locations.

Focus on your best marketing opportunities. There are millions of dollars in new business that is merely one conversation away from being your firms revenue. Get your partners engaged in intra-and inter-group dialogue that identifies the opportunities. Bring in the pros. If you think you are going to engage in some contentious discussions (such as compensation), consider using a professional facilitator. A poorly handled issue not only fails to get resolved, but may also severely damage relationships between your lawyers and the firm.

Learn from your clients. Marketing-focused lawyers constantly say they want to build closer relationships with their clients. Ask key clients to come to your retreat either as presenters or as team members.

Build the team. Retreats can be a forum where you roll up your sleeves and get some work done. If your firm is large, use smaller focus groups like client teams, industry groups and practice groups which are the right size to engage in specific strategic and tactical planning. Allow for them to have breakout time and to come back and report.

Accountability. During the retreat, you should develop clear action steps, establish accountability, build timelines and discuss the follow-up process in order to set the stage for sustained, ongoing activity and results. Post-Retreat Follow-up

Once the retreat is over, focusing on the commitments made during the retreat can be very challenging. Building in supportive processes and metrics will help assure that the outcomes envisioned during the retreat actually come to fruition. Tracking implementation. The reality in a law firm is that if it is not billable, it is not a priority. Keeping business development commitments alive takes work and it is not fair to entirely blame your lawyers when they cant keep it going. An effective tracking and reminder system that communicates the importance to the firm will assist in keeping commitments top-of-mind.

Business development training and coaching. In almost every other industry, leadersrecognizethatsellingisthelifeblood oftheirorganizationsandthereforeprovide significantly more training than the legal industry. It should be the responsibility of our leaders to give the support necessary to make lawyers more effective in their marketing and selling efforts. Celebrate successes. If properly communicated, marketing successes can be powerful learning experiences, morale lifters and momentum builders. As appropriate, revenue generators should let the firm know when goals that were set at the retreat are achieved.

Link a portion of compensation to legal search consultants marketing. Again, in almost every other industry, compensation is linked to sales performance. Show your lawyers that the road to increased compensation includes successfully engaging in marketing activities and they will do it. Be certain to be fair; not everyone contributes in the same way. Reward activities that are appropriate to the level of seniority and talents that each lawyer brings to the firm.

Measure success. Schedule monthly business development meetings and hold peoples feet to the fire by creating a system to track and report business development activity. So before you consider cancelling your next retreat, think again. Do you have a better way to develop a sound strategy to increase revenue quickly and set the tone for the future of your firm?

Kathleen A. Taddie, MA is a marketing and business development coach with David Freeman Consulting Group LLC, which is dedicated to increasing revenue in law firms by assisting leaders in the design and implementation of revenue-focused retreats, strategic planning, business development coaching and leadership programs to achieve higher levels of performance. Kathleen can be reached at 602-595-5807 or ktaddi/em>