Leadership for Lawyers

Turning a Retreat into an Advance; A Guide for Creating a Killer Retreat

I always thought that the word "retreat" was a lousy moniker for what firms do to reconnect with colleagues, recharge their batteries and plot their next strategic moves.  Dictionary.com defines "retreat" as:

    1. the forced or strategic withdrawal of an army or an armed force before an enemy, or the withdrawing of a naval force from action.

    2. the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.

    3. a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy.

Instead, I'd like to see them referred to an "Advance".  The definition has a much more productive meaning:

    1.  to move or bring forward: The general advanced his troops to the new position.

    2.  to bring into consideration or notice; suggest; propose.

    3.  to improve; further: to advance one's interests.

As a former law firm CMO and consultant, I've planned dozens of retreats, from all-firm to partner retreats, practice and industry group retreats, associate retreats and marketing/business development team retreats.  Here's a guide for creating an effective and memorable "Advance."

1.  An "Advance" is a retreat with a purpose

Align your retreat objectives with one or more key firm goals for the year, such as increased business development, merger integration, client service focus, changing service delivery models, etc...  Create a theme for the event and tie all elements (keynote, breakouts, recreational activities, dinner...) to the theme. (click below for more...)

September/October Events

September brings a number of outstanding legal marketing events that you might be interested in attending:

LMA Legal Marketing Technology Conference
September 15, San Francisco CA

Great line up of legal marketing veterans and technology thought leaders for this three-track program on how to leverage technology in legal marketing. Information and registration at http://lmatechconference.com

LMA NW: Being the Leader You Would Want to Follow
September 14 (Seattle WA), September 15 (Portland OR)

I’ll be speaking at the LMA meetings in Seattle and Portland (a joint meeting with the Oregon Association of Legal Administrators) on leadership in law firms. Info here.

PM Forum Annual Conference
21 September; London UK

PM Forum’s annual conference focuses on living your brand promise and improving the client experience. http://www.pmforumeurope.com/events/conferences.aspx

LMA CME Conference
September 23, Los Angeles, CA

A full-day conference focused on attracting client’s attention in the new world of social and digital media. Details here.

Future of Law Conference
Oct 28-29, Chicago IL

The College of Law Practice Management holds its annual Futures Conference, featuring brilliant speakers on topics such as alternative fees, changing legal services models and practices without borders. http://www.colpm.org/pdf/2011%20Futures%20Conference%20Brochure%20web.2.pdf

I'll also be speaking to the LMA Chapters in Chicago, Detroit and Indianapolis in October. Check my website, www.leadershipforlawyers.com for more details.

Is a top level domain name worth $185,00?

David Snow of ALM polls legal marketers, CIOs and me about the value of TLDs for law firms in his article "How High a Price?"

A Lawyer in Uzbekistan? We’ve Got That

Joining a law firm network can bring you referrals, connect you with co-counsel around the world and even provide a legitimate reason for interesting and productive travel. Sound like it's for you and your firm? Could be. This morning, marketing guy Mark Beese explains the concept, the cost and the upside and downside of the whole law firm network thing.  Read my AttorneyatWork.com Daily Dispatch on law firm networks. More...

Marketing Individual Lawyers

Steve Bell of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice and John Hellerman of Hellerman Baretz Communications, working on the premise that clients hire lawyers, not firms, penned an insightful article on why it is good marketing to promote individual lawyers with a few great tips:

• Define what you offer (articulate your Value Proposition)
• Ask for referrals
• Engage in a personal PR campaign
• Speak in small group settings
• Become a point of contact, a connector
• Communicate what makes you successful (My clients would say....)
• Create powerful introductions (Verbal Business Card)
• Repurpose your efforts; recycle every talk, article, blog post, email news item for other purposes.
• Share content through blogs and social media.

 

Lawyers can Benefit from Coaching

Last month I spoke to the Legal Marketing Association Chapter in Denver on coaching lawyers, along with Bob Weiss of Alyn-Weiss Associates and Karen Samuel Jones, a parter at Perkins Coie.  Janet Ellen Raasch wrote a brief article on the panel discussion.  With Janet's permission, here's the article:

Just like athletes, Lawyers can benefit from (business development) coaching

by Janet Ellen Raasch

Professional athletes rely on their coaches – experienced individuals who help them hone their performance skills, create focused competition strategies and maintain a high level of motivation over the course of a career.

Similarly, a good coach can help any lawyer who is thrown into the competitive arena of business development.

Business development skills are rarely taught in law school.  If these do not come naturally to you, a coach can help.

Business development strategy is hard to formulate in the daily scramble to produce quality work for your clients.  If such focus does not come naturally to you, a coach can help.

The motivation to engage in business development activities runs hot and cold.  It may be sparked by a good article, speaker or training session, but can be difficult to maintain.  If you find it difficult to stay motivated, a coach can help. (more...)

A Recipe for Culture Change

Perhaps the greatest challenge to today's law firm leaders is how to change a firm's culture.  In this Strategy + Business article, "Eat Your Peas: A Recipe for Culture Change"  author Rutger von Post outlines the steps a leader needs to take to effect positive change, using Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution TV show as a model.  Oliver set out to change the eating habits in the most unhealthiest town in America.  Here's a summary:

1. Learn and understand the local culture:  The problem doesn't lie with an individual or statistic, rather it is part of the culture.  In your firm, what are the underlying assumptions, beliefs, values and behaviors that drive (or prevent) desired behavior?  Do attorneys avoid cross-marketing because they don't trust their partners?  Do they fail to share information and experience because they feel they need to protect their silo?   Ask attorneys one-on-one about why they do (or don't) engage in certain activities to understand the values and beliefs behind the culture.
2. Communicate a vision of a positive, future reality:  Leaders must repeatedly communicate what the future could be like if goals are met. 
3. Demonstrate success:  Start small and build on successes.  Oliver started with inspiring one family to eat their peas.  Lawyers are more skeptical than most, and a luke-warm success or early failure will doom your efforts to make change.  I encourage leaders to quietly  'beta-test' first, refine and build a series of successes before launching a big initiative.
4. Identify key influencers:  von Post characterizes three types of influencers that are critical to culture change:   (a) Culture Carriers  - well networked, respected and influential people who are seen as informal leaders and "keepers of traditions." (b) Authority Figures - Managing Partners, Department and Practice Group Leaders, Executive Committee members and others with formal management roles. (c) Pride Builders - " people who are respected as peers and are part of the groups where change is targeted.  They embrace new behaviors as early adopters, and influence others in turn."  Once you identify key influencers, meet with them one-on-one to find ways to win support.
5. Formal and informal change:  von Post puts it this way,

"Some elements — defining the aspiration, finding key influencers, targeting behavior — are analogous to the informal elements of any organizational change initiative. Oliver’s success in Huntington came in part from his uncanny ability to energize and motivate the citizens, build informal networks, and help individuals experiment with new healthy eating behaviors. But Oliver also deployed formal mechanisms — the same kind to which executives often turn when embarking on a transformation initiative in a corporate setting — such as redesigning reporting structures, setting goals, and communicating priorities to the whole organization. These top-down, rational activities are commonly seen as primary levers for aligning the organization in the same direction."

Check out the article, then consider your recipe for cultural change.

What is the "WHY" of Your Firm?

This post by Mary Abraham caught my eye about "The Purpose-Driven Organization".  She references this TED talk by Simon Sinek, author of "Start with Why".  Sinek claims that people buy not the "What" of a company or even the "How" of a company, but rather the "Why" of a company.  Most companies (and law firms) have a good grip on what they provide and how they provide it, but struggle with the "Why" of the entity's existence. 

Sinek "The goal is not to do business with people who need what you have.  The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe."  Watch the video:

 

When coaching lawyers - whether in a leadership or business development contact, I often ask them to articulate their vision, purpose and values.  I ask, "What is your cause?  Why are you doing this?  What good things will come from your effort?  What do you believe and how can you attract others who share your values and cause?"

Sinek:

"We follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them, but ourselves.  And it is those that start with WHY that have the ability to inspire those around them, or find others that inspire them."

What is the Why of your firm?  Of your practice?  What ideas and values do you stand for?  How do your clients and potential clients find out about your Why?

Attorney-at-Work: Daily Tips on Client Service, Technology and Lawyer Poetry

If you haven't signed up to receive a daily email by www.attorneyatwork.com, check it out today.  Daily posts are authored by prominent experts in law firm management, technology, marketing and others.  Recently, Jordan Furlong contributed this post:

"Get Your Lawyers to Write Poetry

Specifically, get them to write legal poetry.

Have your lawyers share, once a week, a single poetic expression of legal information. They must write a poem, as short or as long as they wish, that summarizes an important case in their area of practice or expresses practical legal advice for clients. Collect these poems for three months, then publish the collection with appropriate imagery as a small booklet or PDF file, giving copies to all your clients.

The poetic form can be anything the lawyers want.

It can be iambic pentameter:

“Class actions can’t proceed,” the high court found,
“Without an issue common to the class.”
They couldn’t find a unifying ground
Of bias, so they gave Wal-Mart a pass.

It can be a limerick:

A clever young Briton named Max
Thought he lived in a haven for tax.
But some new legislation
Brought much aggravation;
Our update here has all the facts.

It can be a haiku:

The breeze may be free
But you still need a license
For your wind turbine.

And it can be schoolyard doggerel:

If your will don’t have a witness
It’ll fail the test for fitness.

Yes, of course, this is kind of silly. But it’s also kind of fun. And it has a serious purpose: training lawyers to say what they need to say as concisely and effectively as they can. Poetry is condensed prose, expressed lightly and precisely, so that the underlying truth can be more effectively shared. Think your clients could benefit from some of that?"

Check out the archive, and sign up.

49 Sandler Tips on Youtube

Looking for a few quick business development tips?  Sandler Sales Training has posted 49 videos on their YouTube channel.  Most videos are two minutes in length.  Nearly all are applicable to professional service sales.

New FT/MPF Survey Shine Light on Client Expectations

The Financial Times and Marketing Partner Forum recently published two reports (download here - free registration required) of law firms and clients that gives us a glimpse into what clients expect in a post-crisis world.  Some highlights:

• Law firms struggle more than clients with globalization.  Clients rank "International Focus" as second to "Understanding of Industry" in importance when selecting a firm.   Only about 33% of law firms felt confident working with international, emerging markets.
• Clients are increasingly focused on a structured procurement process and on-going performance management.  Clients are looking for new ways to measure and evaluate law firms and their individual lawyers.
• Both firms and clients agree that there is sigificant pressure to move away from the billable hour and move towards other pricing models.  Project management skills and processes are being required by clients to improve efficiency among law firms.  For basic work, the most important criteria is competitive pricing, but it is more of a perceived issue by law firms than by clients.  Transparency of fee pricing was very important to clients. 
• For a healthy client-firm relationship, clients want more communication between their outside lawyers and the C-suite, especially with the CEO, Chairman, and practice leaders.  No surprise, clients want firms to (in rank order)  respond quickly, understand their business, instill trust, communicate frequently, be transparent and open, develop links between 'C-Suites' of firm and client, become embedded and anticipate needs.
• Turn-offs include (rank order) slow response, lack of transparency, inappropriate advice, a sales-oriented approach, lack of attention, inconsistent service and others.
• It appears that while firms are investing heavily in social media and digital media, clients rate those marketing techniques as least effective.  Reports on current legal trends are seen as most effective by clients.followed by seminars and events.
• Want to know how to measure client satisfaction?  Client say an informal meeting is the most effective, followed by a structured meeting with lead partner and a client survey.
• Less than 10% of firms claim that they are highly effective in 'measuring performance and client satisfaction".
• Clients look for their attorneys to be highly knowledgable about their business and industry, but firms "may be neglecting this". 

For lawyers and firms seeking to service corporate clients, it is worth scrolling through "A New Dawn: Lessons for Law Firm Management in the Post-crisis World" and "FT/MPF Roadshow: Putting clients at the heart of your management".

"Transparent Generation" should think twice about what they post

Steven Silvers, on his blog "Scatterbox", writes about how employers frequenly google job candidates as part of the screening process.   Millennials, who grew up using social media before they can write cursive, should think twice about posting their innermost thoughts, feelings and pictures from last week's party.  Silver writes,

"For nearly the last decade my personal thoughts and feelings have been registered on the internet," an intern candidate wrote to me recently. "I have to wonder, do I need to start avoiding message boards I've posted on for years for the sake of an organization I'll belong to?"

It depends on the content and context, of course. But what he and his generation are coming to realize is that their use of the Internet to socialize and explore their innermost selves has created a transparent, permanent record by which complete strangers are making decisions about their future"

I've been googling candidates to learn about their digital reputations for years.  Ten years ago, I did a search on a potential candidate.  Her personal web site appeared on the first page.  One click and I saw that she posted pictures of her latest sonogram.  She was pregnant and wanted to share her new joy with her family (and apparently everyone else, includng potential employers).  I ended up interviewing her and hiring her  - she was a great addition to the team.  But the lesson was clear - everything you post, and posted about you, frames the first impression you make to potenial employers and clients. 

Read Silver's post here. 

 

InnovAction Awards 2011

The College of Law Practice Management has announced that they are accepting nominations for the annual InnovAction Award Program.

This is a world-wide search for lawyers, law firms, law departments and others in the legal services field that have invented or successfully applied new business practices to the delivery of legal services. The goal of the InnovAction Awards is to demonstrate to the legal community what can be created when dedicated professionals with big ideas and strong convictions are determined to make a difference.

If you have developed a new and better way of serving clients, a breakthrough way to find new business, or a truly innovative way to value and sell your services, you deserve the recognition of lawyers and clients worldwide by receiving a 2011 InnovAction Award. In prior years, the InnovAction Awards recognized only unprecedented initiatives, but in today’s rapidly changing environment, that criterion no longer represents the realities of law practice management. Therefore, the 2011 Awards will focus on originality of ideas and approaches, positive market disruption, value to client or industry, and effectiveness of results.

Award entries will be judged on the basis of four primary criteria:

• Originality: is this a novel idea or approach, or a new twist on an existing idea or approach?

• Disruption: does this entry change an important element of the legal services process for the better, and marketplace expectations along with it?

• Value: is the client and/or legal industry better off because of this entry, in terms of the affordability, ease, relevance or effect of legal services?

• Effectiveness: has this entry delivered real, demonstrable or measurable benefits, for the provider, its clients, or the marketplace generally?

The presentation of the InnovAction awards will occur in October at the College’s Annual Meeting and Conference in Chicago, IL. For applications and more information go to www.innovactionaward.com.

2011 Legal Marketing Association Conference Tweet-up

Join young Skywalker, Princess Leia, Asoka and I for the 2011 LMA Conference Annual Tweet-up.  Details:

Who:  Anyone who has -or will - connect with other legal marketers via twitter or other social networks. 

What:  This is a chance to meet people "in real life." This is an informal and unofficial event.  Cash bar and inexpensive eats. 

When:  Monday, April 4th 6:45 - on (following LMA Welcome Reception).

Where:  Crew's Compass Lounge at the Yacht Club (the conference hotel).

Why:  Just to meet cool people.  No guarantee that Princess Leia will show (she has Senate Committee meeting that evening).

RSVP:  None needed - just show up.  Star Wars or Disney costume optional. 

See you there,
Mark
www.leadershipforlawyers.com
mark@leadershipforlawyers.com

 

 

Power of Gratitude

"All we are is a result of what we have thought" - Budda

Harrison Barnes penned a spot-on article on how we can change our circumstance by changing how we think, specifically, on being more grateful:

"In order to be happier, to do better in your current position, and to find new positions effectively, it is essential you learn to be grateful. Gratitude has to do with the sort of emotional energy on which you choose to focus. People who focus on negative emotions and are ungrateful will likely attract more unsatisfactory outcomes. Whether you feel you do not make enough money, resent others, or are dissatisfied with your work, negative emotions will not take you forward. In fact, these emotions will build upon themselves as they attract more of the same negativity over and over again."

Read the entire article on JobsJournal.com

Two tech stories with cultural implications

1. Law Technology News reports that law firm associates suffer from low morale because firms are spending less on technology upgrades and gadgets.  For some, it is a matter of high expectations, for others it is a matter of loss of productivity.  Some firms recognize that technology improvements are not just a function of hardware and software, but of cultural change,

"Michael Chung, Boies, Schiller's director of information technology, says that the firm is in the midst of a document management testing phase in two of its 12 offices and is trying to determine the best vendor for the rest of the firm's offices. But he says that revamping a document management system is easier said than done. "Installing the software is probably the easiest part," he says, noting that teaching work flow changes to attorneys swamped with casework takes time. "It's like asking them to change the way they practice law," he says."

As firms consider how to keep and engage attorneys - not just associates - they need to consider a wide range of technology and productivity factors.  Attorneys increasingly ask, "Can I be more productive, efficient, effective and happy at another firm?"  Their answers are reflected in the increased migration of laterals.

2.  Luis Suarez, blogger of www.elsua.net, gives advice on how to reduce the time we waste on email in this article.  To summarize, he recommends:

1.  Don't reply to everything.  Break the chain. 

2.  Analyze your in-box.  Find ways to reduce redundancy.  For example, if you are replying to inquiries with the same response 40 times a week, set up a blog and post a single complete answer, and refer people to the blog in the future.

3.  Tackle one area a week. Identify time-wasters like e-mail newsletters and alerts that you don't read, and unsubscribe, or send them to an Outlook folder to read when you have downtime.  Or, set up a RSS Feed reader to that type of information.

What are you doing to reduce your inbox?

 

Management Insights by a Master Storyteller

I first heard of Steve Denning when I read his book, "The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative", which led me to read his other books on leadership and storytelling.  Steve is coming out with a new book,Leader's Guide to Radical Management: Re-inventing the Workplace for the 21st Century,  which is based on his observations and ideas of how high performing teams work in organizations.   Some of the content is reflected in his new blog, which is chock-full of interesting stories, book reviews and insights on teamwork, engagement and what he calls "radical management".  Check it out here:  "The Leaders Guide to Radical Management".

Peter Schram, The Communicator

When speaking to the LMA Chapter in Toronto this spring, I met a very articulate, leadership-savvy PR guru named Peter Schram.  He is President of Communications Unlimited, a PR consultancy focues primarily on professional service firms.   He also writes a terrific blog on PR and Marketing called The Communicator.  This week's entry is terrific, focusing on helping thought leaders think:

"Here are a few best practices for the design and structure of a strong thought leadership program: 

• Be selective: Creating thought leadership is difficult business. It takes dedication, creative thought and long-term commitment. Unfortunately, in many organizations, ‘thought leaders’ are often nominated – not on their ability to think big thoughts – but rather based on the individual’s availability, profile and need for greater ‘learning experiences’. Consequently, professional communicators should treat their prospective thought leaders as job applicants, matching individual skills against a list of job requirements and writing samples in order to identify the best candidates.
• Formalize creativity: Once you’ve identified your best thought leaders, set a formal schedule for the team that puts the emphasis on collaboration and creativity, but also creates some rigour around deliverables, milestones and expectations. Sadly, thought leadership is often low on the priority list, so make sure that these deadlines and meetings are being kept, and that they are as effective as possible. 
     
• Grow thought leaders: Very few professional communicators are lucky enough to get a fully-formed thought leader right out of the box. Indeed, it usually takes training, reinforcement and plenty of hand-holding to turn a fledgling ‘ideas guy’ into a full-grown thought leader. Professional communicators should always keep an eye open for raw talent within their organization, and work to find projects that can help those candidates grow and acclimatize to the process. 
• Prime the pump: Ideas are usually generated incrementally. This means that the more ‘inspiration’ that a thought leader is exposed to, the more valuable and insightful their ‘Big Ideas’ will be. Professional communicators will find that by circulating related articles, news stories and competitor pieces, the quality of the insight found within their thought leadership will increase exponentially. "

Good stuff.  Subscribe.  Read more here.

Peter Schram, The Communicator

When speaking to the LMA Chapter in Toronto this spring, I met a very articulate, leadership-savvy PR guru named Peter Schram.  He is President of Communications Unlimited, a PR consultancy focues primarily on professional service firms.   He also writes a terrific blog on PR and Marketing called The Communicator.  This week's entry is terrific, focusing on helping thought leaders think:

"Here are a few best practices for the design and structure of a strong thought leadership program: 

• Be selective: Creating thought leadership is difficult business. It takes dedication, creative thought and long-term commitment. Unfortunately, in many organizations, ‘thought leaders’ are often nominated – not on their ability to think big thoughts – but rather based on the individual’s availability, profile and need for greater ‘learning experiences’. Consequently, professional communicators should treat their prospective thought leaders as job applicants, matching individual skills against a list of job requirements and writing samples in order to identify the best candidates.
• Formalize creativity: Once you’ve identified your best thought leaders, set a formal schedule for the team that puts the emphasis on collaboration and creativity, but also creates some rigour around deliverables, milestones and expectations. Sadly, thought leadership is often low on the priority list, so make sure that these deadlines and meetings are being kept, and that they are as effective as possible. 
     
• Grow thought leaders: Very few professional communicators are lucky enough to get a fully-formed thought leader right out of the box. Indeed, it usually takes training, reinforcement and plenty of hand-holding to turn a fledgling ‘ideas guy’ into a full-grown thought leader. Professional communicators should always keep an eye open for raw talent within their organization, and work to find projects that can help those candidates grow and acclimatize to the process. 
• Prime the pump: Ideas are usually generated incrementally. This means that the more ‘inspiration’ that a thought leader is exposed to, the more valuable and insightful their ‘Big Ideas’ will be. Professional communicators will find that by circulating related articles, news stories and competitor pieces, the quality of the insight found within their thought leadership will increase exponentially. "

Good stuff.  Subscribe.  Read more here.

New Handbook on Law Firm Competitive Intelligence

 Ann Lee Gibson's new book on Competitive Intelligence for law firms has just come out.  Published by the Ark Group,  Competitive Intelligence: Improving Law Firm Strategy and Decision-Making is a comprehensive guide to using CI to win work and develop strategy.  Dr. Gibson is THE authority on CI in law firms. 

The pre-release promotional email says,

"Competitive Intelligence: Improving Law Firm Strategy and Decision-Making will allow firms and CI departments/teams of all sizes and levels of sophistication to: 

- Understand what CI is, its benefits and limitations;
- Appreciate how law firm CI differs from that in other businesses (and therefore be able to counter skepticism among lawyers about deploying this discipline in the legal context);
- Understand the phases of the CI cycle, avoid the common pitfalls and identify opportunities for improvement;
- Relate the resulting intelligence to strategy and decision-making in the firm – after all, if you don’t do anything with the information, what’s the point in having it?
- Understand scenario planning, which can help firms to build future plans that are sufficiently flexible to accommodate future unknowns.

Featuring case studies, insight and contributions from a wide range of high-profile firms and respected industry experts, this report covers key topics including:

- An overview of CI as it is applied in current legal profession; 
- The common CI challenges and how to overcome them;
- Ethical considerations that must be satisfied when developing or using CI;
- Developing more useful intelligence for clients (law firm partners);
- Information gathering—the types and sources of information (both primary and secondary) available to CI practitioners;
- Organizing and preparing intelligence to make analysis easier and more revelatory; 
- The reliability of information and ethical considerations related to information collected from social media and human sources; 
- Ensuring analysis is correctly converted into intelligence;
- Effectively disseminating intelligence to decision makers;
- Improving CI processes and their influence on a firm’s decision-making processes;
- The evolution of law firm CI structures, functions, and staffing models;
- Imminent expansion areas for law firm CI;
- Utilizing CI to improve firm-wide and practice/industry group strategies;
- Collaboration between a CI and business intelligence (BI) units; 
- The identification, sources and use of human intelligence; and 
- The ethical techniques firms should use to elicit that intelligence."

For more information on the book, click here.  

To order the book with a $200 discount, call  +1 309 495 2853 and give the code ME-CI3.
 

Eight Ways Staff Can Participate in Business Development

 

While the burden of business development falls primarily on attorneys, staff members such as secretaries, administrative assistants, paralegals, technologists, librarians and directors can and should make significant contributions to the firm’s business development efforts.   Here are eight ways staff can make a difference.

 

1. Provide remarkable client service:  For many clients, an attorney’s secretary or assistant is their lifeline to the firm.  Attorneys rely on staff to help them be responsive to phone messages and email while they are busy with cases and deals.

 

Staff members, especially assistants, need to take the time to get to know their clients.  Have your attorney introduce you in person.  Get to know the client’s voice when they call.  Do some research on their business and the details of the matter.  Understand what is at stake for the client professionally and personally.  Learn their communication styles and preferences.  Develop a relationship with the client’s administrative assistant and other members of their team (especially the accounts payable folks). 

 

Remarkable client service is defined differently by each client.  Remarkable client service will open the doors to new and interesting work, and retain profitable clients.  Remarkable client service will drive referrals and word of mouth advertising. 

 

Look for ways to WOW your clients in an individual and person way. 

 

2. Create a Verbal Business Card (VBC):  A verbal business card is an effective way to introduce your firm to other people.  It is often used in social and professional networking situations.  Some people call it an elevator speech. 

 

How would you answer these questions at a cocktail party?  “So, where do you work?  What do you do?”

 

Many of us might answer in lawyerese, “I’m a litigation support specialist for a PI firm that handles med-mal cases.” 

 

What???? 

 

Visioncasting in Turbulent Times

These are tough times for law firm leaders.  Many firms have had one or more rounds of layoffs.  Attorneys are pressured to bill more hours and bring in more work.  Staff are being asked to do more work with fewer resources.   Attorneys and staff alike wonder if they'll still have a job next week, month or year.  Anxiety is high, even in the best of firms.  While there is a light at the end of the tunnel, some wonder if it is a freight train. 

Managing partners and firm leaders have a lot to think about now, including changing client expectations, fee pressures and increased convergence, not to mention internal issues of compensation, talent management and profitability.

Casting vision is probably one of the last things they are thinking about.  Sure, in good times, communicating a compelling vision of the future for an ever growing firm is standard, but today it seems risky, even fool-hardy. 

But attorneys and staff need vision more now than ever before.  People want to know how they are going to get out of this mess.  They want to know that the firm has a plan and is working hard on it.  They want to know  how they can  individually contribute to make the vision a reality.  They want to be part of creating the future of the firm.  They want to be part of the solution and have confidence that their contribution will be recognized, appreciated and remembered. 

Lawyer leaders need to articulate a clear and compelling vision of the future.  They need to describe, with confidence, what the firm will look like next year and beyond.  They need communicate how the firm will be different from others and why they will have a competitive advantage.  They need to outline the specific steps the firm will take to get there and the specific contributions and actions needed by every individual to realize the vision.  They need to identify the key metrics the firm will measure to track their progress, and promise to share them with the firm as they move forward.  The vision needs to forward-looking, positive and compelling, yet practical and realistic.

Survival is not a compelling vision.  Nor is maintaining status quo till the market gets better. 

A compelling vision is one that gives people a reason to come to work early on Monday morning and creates hope in the hallways.  A compelling vision inspires innovation and creativity.  A compelling vision motivates and doesn't discourage.  A compelling vision is transparent, open, honest and trustworthy.

Vision casting is a lot like fly casting - you have to cast over and over and over again before you get a bite.  Constantly communicating your vision and connecting individual and group contributions to the vision is critical for people to 'get it'.  Lawyer leaders need to continually connect the firm's vision to the firm's activities, goals and metrics. 

As  you enter this season of annual review and strategic planning, consider how you will communicate  your compelling vision. 

Legal Marketing Conference Announces Speakers for Denver 2010

I am pleased that the 2010 Legal Marketing Conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from March 10-12, 2010.  This year the program will be a bit different from previous conferences.  American Conference Institute (ACI) has been hired to develop and manage the conference.  Recently they announced (on LinkedIn.com) a very interesting faculty, including:

• Sarah Andeen, Legal Business Analyst, Greenberg Traurig
• Jeff Baron, Director, National Pursuit Team for New Business Development, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
• Steven B. Bell, Director of Sales, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC
• Harris E.Berenson, Esq., Assistant Vice President/Chief Counsel, Liberty Mutual Property
• Lindley J. Brenza, Partner, Barlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP
• Susan Brelus, Chief Development Officer, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.

What's in the Marketing Budget for 2010?

Greenfield Belser asked CMOs at Amlaw 200 firms what they are planning for next year.  Here's a summary.  Read the full article here. 

• The top two marketing/business development projects are investing in social media (92%) and investing in client loyalty interviews (92%)
• When asked what marketers plan on doing differently, they indicated that they will "Focus on business development efforts" (15.6%) and "Client Centered business development efforts" (12.5%).  Taken together, they represent the largest category of "innovation".  "New enhanced ways of marketing" (18.8%) and "Using Social Media" (12.4%) rounded out the top four.
• 50% of law firms are looking to redesign their website.  Belser suggests that firms, "Convey what you want the visitor to do, create a dialog and position the firm as important, confident and a leader in the field."
• Surprisingly, "Alternative Billing Arrangements" were on the bottom of the "To-Do List". 
• There seems to be a paradox between the 92% who say they are investing in client loyalty interviews but only 6% say that conducting client satisfaction interviews would be "radically different" next year.   Perhaps most of the Amlaw 200 think that they already have sufficient client visit programs.

Authors Burkey Belser and Sue Allison conclude:

"Fortunately, there is life after Lehman Brothers and the panics and declines across the market over the past year. Law firm marketers are making concrete plans for reaching out and cooking up new business, even though in some cases they have to do it with one hand tied behind their backs. (Read slashed budgets, decimated staffs and gun-shy partners.) Many firms and lawyers now seem to realize that their business development and sales efforts cannot be successful without strong support from marketing. And that’s a cause for hope among true believers in marketing."  -  Greenfield Belser

The Integration Imperative

Suzanne Lowe has recently published her new book, The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing and Business Development Silos - Once and For All - in Professional Service Firms.  In it, she featured a dozen case studies of how law firms, accounting firms and other professional service organizations have knitted together the marketing and business development functions.  Suzanne interviewed the staff and leadership of Holland & Hart about two years ago for the book, which resulted in one of the case studies.  A summary of the case study is the feature of her latest newsletter, which you can read here.  The case study focuses on how we (I was the CMO at the time) created an internal marketing agency, treated our lawyers like clients, and realigned our services to adjust to changing market conditions and the needs of the firm.  If you are considering restructuring your firm's marketing and business development functions, I encourage you to read her book. 

Four Strategies to Thrive in a Downturn

The Boston Consulting Group has four videos on "Winning in a Downturn, Accelerating in the Upturn" on the Wharton @Knowledge site.  The focus on (1) Generating Cash, (2) Finding Strategic Opportunities, (3) Managing in Turbulent Times and (4) Seeking New Sources of Growth. 

A few take-aways:

-  Leaders must listen (like never before) to employees, clients and the market to identify opportunities and possible land mines.

-  Leaders must focus on maintaining trust (like never before) to keep key talent and teams together.  People may stay with a troubled company in a difficult time when the job market is down, but when it picks up, they may bail for other opportunities.  Leaders must act with integrity and transparency.

-  Leaders must focus on improving morale (like never before) to keep people focused and motivated to perform.