Sugarcrest recently announced the much anticipated online release of the Rainmaker Reality Check--an interactive tool designed to help lawyers assess their skills in each area of the client development and relationship management process.

Requiring less than 10 minutes to complete, The Rainmaker Reality Check is offered free-of-charge at www.sugarcrest.com/reality . After providing general contact information, lawyers are asked to respond to a series of questions covering such topics as strategic planning, marketing, reputation building, networking, essential sales skills and client service. Once the respondents answer the questions, they are immediately provided with a report that details their current performance in each of these areas and suggests where improvements can be made.

"The Rainmaker Reality Check is the best tool I’ve seen for quickly assessing an attorney’s rainmaking skills and developing a blueprint for rainmaking success," said Andrew Ness, Managing Partner at Thelen Reid & Priest’s Washington, DC office. "I'm having all of our attorneys take it."

Sugarcrest developed the Reality Check in response to the growing realization among lawyers that client development and relationship management skills are critical to their professional success. Two recent studies conducted in association with Of Counsel Magazine point to reasons behind this realization:

• 57% of Fortune 1000 companies plan to reduce their use of outside firms over the next five years;
• 70% of Fortune 1000 companies plan to reduce the number of firms on their approved lists over the next five years; and
• 81% say that cost is the driving factor behind these reductions.

In addition, law firms are facing increasing pressure from multidisciplinary practices (MDPs). These trends have sharpened the focus of firm management on an attorney’s ability to develop business and manage relationships for his or her firm.

Today, it is expected that every firm being considered for an engagement has more than enough competence to handle the prospective client’s legal matters. What separates the winners from the losers are the intangibles that stem more from marketing muscle than legal intellect.

Today, more than ever, it’s about your ability to conduct meaningful interviews of prospective clients, draft winning responses to RFPs, make successful client-focused presentations and demonstrate a firm commitment to client service and relationship management. It’s about getting your clients to see you more as a trusted partner than a commodity-peddling vendor.