Partners trusted on the work can learn to originate it.
Client Growth Training takes a cohort of partners through nine to twelve months of practice and coaching on their own clients and their own targets. Each partner writes a growth plan in the first month and works it with a coach every month after.
16 to 20 partners, selected with practice and office leadership
Nine to twelve months. Three parts and a closing session
1:1 implementation coaching from the first month
A shared dashboard, and written readouts at the midpoint and the end
Firms do not need more training.
Partners already know they should widen relationships and bring colleagues into client conversations. What is usually missing is a system that puts the work on a calendar, gives it an owner and shows leadership what moved. We do not run a workshop and leave.
A named plan, not a philosophy
Named clients, named targets, dates and an owner. Written in the first month and worked every month after.
Practice before it counts
Client conversations are rehearsed with a coach before the partner holds them live, and debriefed after.
Something leadership can read
A shared dashboard of activity and pipeline, and written readouts at the midpoint and the end.
Start by asking the client. Then build the firm's response.
Client Listening
In person over two days. Partners learn to run client conversations that surface priorities and concerns, then practice them in mock sessions with a BPG consultant as the client. Each growth plan names 8 to 12 clients and referral sources.
Firm Response
In person over two days. Partners turn client feedback into a firm response. They build the right team across practices and offices and present it in a mock proposal.
Key Client Growth
Virtual. Partners pick the clients with room to grow and build a plan for each, starting with whitespace next to work the firm already does.
Review and Next Year
Virtual. Partners review wins and lessons, then set goals for the next twelve months. Each chooses a colleague to meet with monthly.
Monthly implementation coaching
The plan is worked one target at a time. Each conversation is rehearsed with the coach before it is held live, then debriefed and logged to the dashboard.
What we measure, and when.
In writing
- A growth plan for each partner
- A shared pipeline dashboard the firm can see at any time
- A written readout at the midpoint
- A final readout with a recommendation to renew, expand or stop
What we measure first
- Plans built and worked
- Client meetings held
- Colleagues brought into client conversations
- Openings created on named targets
What follows
- Matters originated by these partners
- Revenue sourced across practices
- Share of a client's work
- Clients retained through transitions
One significant new matter at partner rates covers the cohort.
Each design choice traces to published research. Citations are available on request.
Delivered from both sides of the client relationship.
Leadership sees activity and pipeline. What is said inside a coaching session stays between the coach and the partner.
Craig Budner
CEO & Co-FounderNearly four decades in BigLaw, as a rainmaker and as the leader of a global growth platform. Lead trainer and coach across the program.
Anna Tichborne
COOFormer general counsel and COO. She has hired and managed outside counsel from the client's chair. Co-trainer and coach.
The trust and connection Craig builds allow relationships to deepen, expand and endure over decades, which is an exceptionally valuable lesson for firms focused on long-term client growth.
Former CEO and Chief Legal Officer of a large multinational corporation, and a client of Craig Budner for more than three decades