While it may be easier to simply watch money roll in, if that’s all you’re doing, then you are missing out on a significant opportunity! We have seen law firms find great success by tracking their revenue. Those who have an understanding of where their revenue is coming from have an upper hand for multiple reasons:
a) They can more easily predict and plan for the future
b) They can see and make note of business development efforts that worked and why/why not
c) They can alter ongoing efforts as needed in order to shape a different outcome
d) They can monitor industry, client and geographic trends to gain a fuller economic picture that supports strategic and targeted efforts into one industry, sector or region over another.
For example, you may note that revenue from your energy sector clients has steadily risen in the past five years. We encourage you to dive deeper. What energy sector businesses are you not yet serving? How might you reach them? Is the energy sector in your region thriving as whole? If so, it makes sense to devote more time in cultivating these prospective clients. Alternatively, maybe energy revenues have taken a nosedive. That may be good indication that you should invest your more of your resources in other industries.
Numbers do not lie. Watch, read, analyze and use them to make smart business development decisions.