Sales forces for law firms will be the next big step for law firms, presuming they follow the path of the major accounting firms. And law firms appear to be going down this path. The largest law firms have more than 1,000 lawyers, and employ marketers, ad agencies and public relations firms. Andersen has 4,100 partners, hundreds of marketers plus 150 business developers. Booth described how Andersen's business developers work.
Business developers have industry expertise, and they focus on prospects.
Business developers must seek entry points into the world's largest corporations and develop new relationships. Technical experts and business developers hunt in pairs. They are given individual and group incentives to work together as a team. They come from a sales competency and they know how to manage the sales process. Once the firm has defined its strategic targets, the business developers will identify and expand quality relationships with corporations.