The fine art of closing.

• Author: Colman, Allan

Business development and new revenue generation proceed along an extended, often circuitous path. In its simplest form, the continuum leads from marketing to sales; from getting found to getting chosen. There are, however, many snares in the labyrinth, many areas where specialized training and expert understanding are required to keep the process on track to the goal line.

Marketing, to be sure, has no end of such specialized needs, from the collateral preparation that allows the firm to begin entering the market, to sophisticated market research that allows the firm to target specific buyer groups with laser-like precision. Trip up at any point and the process may derail.

Sales is likewise a multifaceted process in which, painfully enough, the most formidable moment occurs at the end. All the laborious effort to reach the goal line may be in vain if the seller has not mastered the art of actually asking for the business, or if the seller does not sufficiently understand the dynamics that will maximize the likelihood of a positive response.

The art is named "closing," and it is a fine art indeed. To use a sports metaphor--which may be commonplace but particularly pertinent here--the art of closing depends on what is called a "Red Zone" strategy.

The Red Zone refers to the final 20 yards a football team must cover to get to the goal line. Here is where the defense really stiffens. Here is where the offense must implement its most precisely customized plays to finally score.

The Red Zone offense requires the fullest understanding of the other side's instinctive tendencies, internal strengths and weaknesses, private concerns and past performances. Overall success is measured by how many times a team can score in the Red Zone compared to how many opportunities it gets to do so. Without a Red Zone strategy, the best-laid marketing plans go awry at the very moment of impact.

The Law Firm Team

In business development, as in athletic competition, you can't "close" in the Red Zone unless you have the wherewithal to get within 20 yards of the goal line. For law firms and other professional service entities, that wherewithal is called marketing. It is the foundation of the professional selling construct. It is supported by Web sites, collateral materials, speeches and presentations, press releases, bylined articles, etc. Without it, business development is all cold-calling.

Throughout the business development continuum, law firms often find a key...