Top 5 Spots Where Lawyers Close the Deal

Wait, you didn't think this post was about something else did you? We're talking business deals here, people. C'mon now focus. You've likely heard that the golf course is the best place to close a business deal. You take a prospective client or partner out to the course, play a round of golf and close the deal over drinks or lunch afterwards.

But this can't be the only place to close a deal, can it? What about attorneys who don't play golf? Surely, they must be closing some deals elsewhere.

We took to some informal polling and came up with our top 5 places to close a deal:

1. The golf course. This one is inevitable and it has to make number one on this list since most rainmakers can't reiterate the power of business golf enough.

2. Box seats at sporting events. Many big companies and firms have box seats at sporting venues. These box seats are also where deals are made. Like a golf course, the relaxed setting of a sporting event gives the parties a chance to get to know one and other and gives rainmakers a chance to do their thing.

3. Lobbies and lounges of fancy hotels. Specifically, if a party to the deal is an out of towner, then people wine and dine at the hotel's bar or restaurant, for simple convenience.

4. Private clubs or country clubs. Also referred to as "gentlemen's clubs" (no, not that kind), these places are private places where affluent people gather. These places can have gyms, cigar lounges, fancy dining, conference rooms and even banquet halls. Families gather there on weekends but during the weekdays, you're bound to see rainmakers on business lunches or at networking seminars.

5. Coffee shops. This may seem simple and understated but deals do go down at local coffee shops. In fact, some rainmakers swear by bakeries to make lunch deals.

The one resounding answer from power networkers and rainmakers was this: The location isn't as important as the quality of the relationship you are trying to build.

"The process can happen in any setting...what matters is how you take it from there," says Ellen Keiley, Business Development Specialist at K&L Gates and author of several articles on business networking.

These venues might give you a chance to get to know the other party more, but if you can't nurture that relationship, you can kiss that deal goodbye.

Related Resources:

• A Drink by Drink Guide to Success at Legal Networking Events (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Networking Tips for Lawyers (FindLaw)
• Client Acquisition (FindLaw)
• Law Firm Marketing: What Are Friends For, Anyway? (FindLaw)