Description
Author: Bruce D. Sunstein
ISBN: 978-1-915529-40-4 (hardback)
Published January, 2025 by Ideas for Leaders Publishing
102 pages;
Standard Price: $19.99
Description:
In an age of social media and digital outreach, it is easy to forget that durable business is still built on personal relationships. This is especially true in the legal and consulting professions. Clients rarely engage an adviser because they were asked for their business. They engage one because a relationship has created a context in which entrusting work to that person makes sense.
Yet for many professionals networking remains an uncomfortable activity, associated with hard selling, awkward receptions and unanswered emails. Without a clear and repeatable approach it is easily neglected in the press of client work. That leaves practices dependent on chance and exposed when current projects come to an end.
Bruce D. Sunstein founded the Sunstein LLP law firm more than forty years ago and is now a partner of Merchant & Gould PC. He is a patent attorney with five decades of experience. He has built his practice on the principle that respect for the client is the foundation of lasting business development. That respect shows in listening, curiosity, generosity, follow-up and persistence.
This concise and practical guide sets out a systematic approach to building and nurturing a professional network. It covers organizing contacts into tiers, the art of active listening and being comfortable with silence, qualifying prospects, handling rejection and managing the whole arc of the client relationship. Sunstein draws on stories from his own practice and on sources as varied as Quaker meetings and Miracle on 34th Street. The book is a trove of wisdom for those starting out on their careers and a valuable reminder for those already well into their professional journey.
