I received a lot of nice feedback and tweets from my post Tuesday: 15 Thoughtful Things You Can Do For Clients When You Are Busy. Thanks for letting me know that post was helpful.

I was practicing putting last week when I looked over and saw a young teenage girl practicing. When I saw her green golf bag, I thought she was a member of the Prosper High School Eagles Girls Golf Team. (I’m now following the team on their Twitter page.)

I was really impressed by her deliberate practice on her putting. She was working on putts of about 10 feet and reading each one, lining it up and putting. (I’m always too impatient for that kind of focused practice.)

Back to my story: When I looked at the girl’s team golf bag, I think I saw Class of 2021. When I did the math on my fingers later, I realized if what I saw was correct she was not even in high school yet.

So, here is a young teenage girl focused like a laser beam on improving her putting. I was impressed.

I remember just like it was yesterday, standing at the top of the Dallas Magnolia Hotel, December 31, 1999, wondering if the Y2K problem would totally mess up our law firm’s computers.

What’s the point? Time passes so very quickly. So, as you approach 2017, I have a self-assessment for you to evaluate how you are doing on client development.

Business Section of Paper

  1. Do you set goals for client development each year and have a plan to achieve them?
  2. Do you plan time each week for client development activities?
  3. Are you focused about your contacts with clients, potential clients or people who can refer business to you?
  4. Do you regularly visit/meet with clients just to find out what is going on in their business?
  5. When you see an article, book or seminar that may be of interest to clients, do you forward/send it to them?
  6. When you finish a project do you follow up and seek feedback on your performance?
  7. Do you ask questions and listen well when visiting with clients?
  8. Do you read your clients’ trade publications?
  9. Do you know your clients’ industry, business and strategy?
  10. Do you know your client representatives personally, including names of their family members, their assistant’s name, their interests outside of work and their values?

Between the US Thanksgiving and New Years day I was rarely busy with legal work, and at some point I got bored watching bowl games that didn’t matter. So, I spent time preparing for the next year. I recommend you prepare now.