Jenny Powell is the head of the Business Development Team at Setfords. Here, she reflects on the importance of business development for Setfords consultants, as well as her team’s success.

An Award-Winning Team

In June 2019, Jenny Powell became head of the Setfords Business Development team. This team focuses on handling enquiries from potential clients and maintaining communication with all Setfords consultants. Their efforts result in the generation of thousands of leads each month, amounting to millions of pounds in business annually across our network of 600+ consultants nationwide. Their hard work has not gone unnoticed, as Jenny explains:

“In March 2020, our dedication was duly rewarded. We proudly received the LexisNexis award for Business Development, standing out among five firms shortlisted for this prestigious award.”

Building Relationships

When clients contact Setfords for legal advice, it’s often their first interaction with a law firm. Law firms can have a reputation for being impersonal. Setfords stands apart with its friendly and empathetic approach. The team provides a welcoming and friendly voice on the other end of the line, coupled with extensive expertise to assist potential clients during their time of need. Jenny adds:

“To our team, talking with potential new clients is not merely about answering a call and passing it on to a consultant. Building relationships lies at the heart of everything we do. We understand that everybody will need legal advice at some point in their life, and we want to ensure they have a great experience with Setfords.”

Our Consultants

When lawyers first join Setfords, the Business Development team gets to know them to find out where they are based and fully understand their area of expertise. This knowledge is then used to allocate leads and enquiries to the lawyer best suited to carry out the work, ultimately resulting in a better service for clients who value this tailored approach.

The team also assist consultants with the cross-referral of work and setting up teams across the business. For example, they recently introduced a consultant solicitor practising UK corporate insolvency from her home in Canada to Setfords corporate team in the UK to help her generate work and build supportive relationships with UK consultants in the same practice area. Jenny says:

“We excel at driving business to our consultants and feel a great sense of achievement when our consultants thank us for our work. In January 2024, our team referred over £1 million worth of new business enquiries to our network of lawyers.”

The Business Development team sets itself apart from competitors because of the passion for their work and for Setfords itself:

“Setfords is a great place to work because we feel like a family where everyone is genuinely valued. In turn, we care about all our consultants and want to see them succeed with our support behind them.”

Starting at Setfords as a Consultant

Lawyers who join Setfords are experienced, successful individuals and often have a good client following. Still, many appreciate the offer of supplementary business generated by the team, particularly when they first joined us. On this, Jenny says:

“It’s great to be able to offer this support and to see so many lawyers thriving. Our flexible system allows them to pick and choose when they want to receive work, so it helps them for their work around their lives.”

As Setfords lawyers have no set targets, there is little risk of them being overworked as they control the work they undertake. This allows them to provide a dedicated service to every client. With our award-winning 150+ support team and industry-leading platform technology, every consultant is equipped to provide a smooth and committed service to clients.

“At Setfords, we believe that happy and supported lawyers lead to happy clients, and we see this reflected in the many positive reviews our lawyers receive on Trustpilot. Our rating is currently 4.9/5, with thousands of client reviews. Despite being a top 100 UK law firm, Setfords still feels like a family firm for its employees and lawyers. Consultants might be apprehensive when they first join, but we ensure that they never feel alone. We’ve established an exceptional support structure encompassing management, marketing, wellbeing, accounts, administration, and beyond, all eager to provide assistance.’

Some final words from Jenny:

“Take the leap! You won’t regret it.”