A few days after a fruitful guided fishing trip with my son, I told the story of our bounty to my friend Rafi Arbel of Market JD, who works with law firms on their marketing. I explained how we spent the morning fishing on the Chain O’ Lakes flipping docks for crappies, bluegills, and perch. For the uninitiated, flipping docks requires precision. You fire a small bait and bobber into tight shadows under docks to get to where the fish are most likely to lie in waiting. When you hit the mark, it feels sensational. When you miss, you end up snagged on the dock or having to recast, which can get frustrating.
Rafi stopped me mid story and asked why we hired a guide. Why not just take my son out on our own. The answer came easily. We do not have a boat, but even if we did, that is not why we brought in a professional. A good guide changes the entire outcome. They know where the fish are and what bait or lures have the greatest probability for success. They position the boat to give you the perfect angle and move on quickly you when the spot cools off. At the end of the trip, they even fillet and clean the fish so you leave with dinner in the cooler.
A lack of guidance on the water is incredibly similar to the challenges lawyers face with business development and personal branding. Most lawyers are on the “water” every week with no clear plan, no real process, and without an experienced guide who truly knows the lake. Lawyers regularly tell themselves they can figure it out because they are smart, capable, and used to solving complex problems. Yet intelligence does not replace experience, and working harder does not replace a proven system.
If you break down what a skilled guide does, you end up with the same three fundamentals that define effective legal business development coaching.
First, planning the trip.
Lawyers often jump straight into activity without ever defining where they want to go or how they plan to get there. A solid plan clarifies the targets, the strategy, and the tools needed along the way. This includes building or refining a marketing plan, tightening your LinkedIn profile, sharpening your infomercial, identifying the targets you should meet with, and understanding where your greatest opportunities actually sit. Most lawyers cannot see this because it’s hard to read the label from inside the bottle. An experienced coach provides that external view and turns good intentions into an actionable results-driven direction.
Second, following a real process.
Fishing requires more than a boat and bait. It requires a system for reading the water, interpreting conditions, and adjusting to what is happening beneath the surface. Business development works in much the same way. Without a proven process, lawyers drift into random acts of marketing and hope something eventually sticks. An industry-focused coach brings a tested framework that guides who to meet, how to qualify opportunities, how to lead effective business conversations, and how to turn relationships into real work. Not every coach has a system. Some simply react to your ideas. But the best coaches, like the best guides, provide you with methods and language you can follow every time.
Third, feedback and evaluation.
A fishing guide does not sit still when nothing is biting. They change tactics. They move locations and constantly evaluate what is working and what is not. Lawyers need the same level of course correction. An effective coach reviews what you are doing, identifies where you are drifting off the mark, and suggests adjustments so you get back on track. This is where long-term success is built. A fun question to ask yourself , “Do I have three years of experience in business development or do I have one year, three times?” Think about that for a moment. Without feedback, lawyers can spend hundreds of hours a year on business development with little to show for it, simply because no one is helping them adjust in real time.
The broader point is not merely about the value of coaching. It is about efficiency, focus and clarity. Lawyers can and do go it alone, hoping they figure it out. Or they can work with someone who already knows the water, knows the patterns, and knows how to accelerate progress.
Fishing with a guide is not about catching one fish. It is about learning the system, so every future trip is more productive. Business development works the same way. When lawyers get the right plan, the right process, and the right feedback, the results come faster and with far less struggle.
If you want to explore how this applies to your practice, I am always open to a conversation. You can reach me at steve@fretzin.com or visit bethatlawyer.com.
A guide makes all the difference on the water. The right coach makes the same difference in your career. The difference is that one leads to fun and a great meal, for you it leads to control, freedom, and independence as a lawyer.
Steve Fretzin is a bestselling author, host of the “Be That Lawyer” podcast, and business development coach exclusively for attorneys. Steve has committed his career to helping lawyers learn key growth skills not currently taught in law school. His clients soon become top rainmakers and credit Steve’s program and coaching for their success. He can be reached directly by email at steve@fretzin.com. Or you can easily find him on his website at www.fretzin.com or LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevefretzin.
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