In a recent conversation with Elise Holtzman, founder and CEO of The Lawyer’s Edge, Steve Fretzin tackled one of the most persistent myths in the legal profession: that rainmaking is something you’re either born with or you’re not.
What Elise laid out was the opposite. Business development is a learnable skill, and like any skill worth having, it requires the right mindset, a repeatable process, and the willingness to build a team that helps you scale beyond what you can do alone.
New Challenges Mean You’re Succeeding
One of the most freeing ideas from the episode was the reframe Elise offered around the challenges that come with growth.
Most lawyers hit a wall at some point and read it as a sign they’re doing something wrong, or that they’re not built for this.
The Three Ps
Steve brought his own framework into the conversation to complement Elise’s “three pillars.”
Here, Steve shares his the “three Ps” of business development.
How Real Rainmakers Scale
The third thread from the episode was one of the most practical: what happens when you’ve built a strong book of business and you want it to grow further without doing everything yourself?
Elise described the concept of sponsorship, a more intentional and mutual form of mentorship.
From Random Acts of Marketing to a Real Strategy
The through line across this entire episode is the shift from scattered effort to focused, scalable rainmaking. Hope is not a strategy. Showing up to the same conferences and waiting for the phone to ring is not a strategy. What works is clarity on who you’re trying to reach, visibility in the right places, a process you can actually follow, and a team that grows alongside you.
Business development done right doesn’t feel like selling. It feels like building something that compounds, and it’s available to any lawyer willing to treat it like the learnable skill it is.
View the full podcast here:
Steve Fretzin is a five-time bestselling author, host of the BE THAT LAWYER and Future Rainmakers podcasts, and a business development coach who works exclusively with attorneys. For more than 18 years, he has helped lawyers build strong books of business without selling, pitching, or chasing, using his proven Sales-Free Selling™ approach. His clients consistently become top rainmakers and credit his coaching and systems for driving meaningful, measurable growth. Steve can be reached directly at [email protected], or through his website at www.bethatlawyer.com. Connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevefretzin. His ALL NEW BE THAT LAWYER Community is changing how lawyers develop the skills never taught in law school. Learn more at www.bethatlawyer.com/community.
