The Bottom Line
March 2003 VOL. 24, NO. 3
Statements or expressions of opinion or comments appearing herein are those of the editors or contributors, and not necessarily those of the association or section.
Contents
* How to get more business: 25 tips for marketing the small law firm
* Planning for major upheavals, and 'What did I do to deserve this?'
How to get more business: 25 tips for marketing the
small law firm
By Dr. John W. Olmstead, Jr., MBA
Gone are the days when attorneys simply practiced law. Today, they face increased competition, shrinking demand for services and increasing supply of professional talent, availability of service substitutes, and marketing of professional services. Marketing can no longer be ignored if small law practices are to survive in the future.
Obstacles to marketing
Based upon our observations drawn from working with client law firms over the past 18 years, we have concluded that marketing is poorly understood and ineffectively implemented in many small law firms. In addition, the following obstacles are at play:
Time. There is no time for marketing or any firm developmental activities. Production is king and non-billable activities such as marketing are discouraged.
Uneasiness with marketing. Attorneys are uncomfortable with marketing. This is primarily due to lack of understanding, training, and experience with the process.
Lack of marketing understanding. Many attorneys confuse marketing with advertising. Marketing is not advertising. Marketing activities can exist without any promotional components such as television advertisements, radio spots, tombstone magazine advertisements, or direct mail. Marketing is the broader process concerned with the development and delivery of legal services and is part of the firm's long-range planning process. It provides answers to the questions, 'what are we selling?' and 'to whom are we selling?' It involves maintaining relationships with existing clients as well as creating new relationships with prospective clients. In fact, a major objective of many successful marketing plans is to obtain additional business from existing clients.
Focus and accountability problems. Frequently, law firms experiment with marketing and engage in isolated promotional activities not integrated with the firm's business plan with the expectation of immediate results after the one-shot activity. The firm engages in fits-and-start activities that are completely unfocused, unrelated to an overall plan, unmeasured, inconsistent and often inappropriate.
Cultural issues. The typical culture of many law firms discourages investment in long-term developmental activities. The focus is on billable hours and production. Everything else is of secondary concern. The consensus governance model typical in law firms hinders change and timely decision-making at the firm level. In addition, effective marketing in law firms requires marketing at the firm, practice group, and individual attorney levels. This requires effective training, mentoring, follow-up, and accountability at each of these levels.
Reward and compensation systems. Most reward and compensation systems focus on short-term production and discourage participation in longer term (non-billable) firm investment activities or projects.
Food for thought
Marketing is not just about getting new clients. We have seen marketing plans that include the following objectives:
No-growth. The firm has a stable and profitable client base and the firm cannot service additional clients without adding more attorneys and staff. The firm implements a policy of not accepting any new clients. The firm still actively markets the practice to existing client base in an effort to enhance relationships with existing clients. Seminars are conducted, quarterly newsletters and monthly client alerts, annual client surveys, and annual firm-sponsored social functions.
Diversification. The firm has plenty of business now but is concerned about its dependency upon one client that represents 40 percent of total firm revenue. The firm initiates a plan designed to diversify client mix. Marketing activities include seminars for prospective (target clients), by-lined articles in targeted trade publications, newsletters mailed to referral sources and prospective clients, speaking at industry trade associations.
Growth. The firm needs more work. The firm represents institutional clients and believes that it can obtain more work from existing clients. A marketing plan is developed to identify unmet client needs and opportunities as well as cross-selling opportunities. A client survey is conducted. A new opportunity is identified, resulting in an ancillary business group being created within the firm to service these needs. Present client concerns about quality of service are identified and actions are taken to resolve client concerns. Client site visits are conducted. An internal cross-marketing program is adopted to help facilitate cross-referrals of work within the firm.
The above examples do not include any activities that are not consistent with professionalism. No advertising...no TV....no radio....no billboards. The majority of the activities listed involve maintenance activities designed to create or enhance existing client relationships.
Effectiveness of marketing tools in order of effectiveness
Numerous studies have been conducted concerning the effectiveness of various marketing tools. Other than personal injury or other similar commodity-type, consumer-orientated practices, here are a few of the most successful tools:
* Personal networking and relationship-building by individuals
* Solicit and respond to client feedback (Client Surveys)
* Seminars
* Marketing through client trade associations
* Newsletters and solid marketing collateral materials
* Speeches and by-lined articles.
Tips for implementing marketing in your firm
Tip #1: Without an effective marketing infrastructure, marketing at the firm, practice group or individual level, is virtually impossible. A few essentials:
* A business and marketing plan for the firm, practice groups, and individual attorneys.
* Someone assigned to coordinate the marketing activities of the firm. In a large firm, a marketing director and a team of marketing professionals are typically employed. In small firms, appoint a focal person such as the administrator, office manager, secretary or attorney to this function.
* A firm identity plan that is used consistently in all external communication should be used. Collateral marketing materials such as letterhead, business cards, Web sites, powerpoint presentations, brochures, newsletters, press releases, media kits, seminar handouts, etc. are valuable tools. This plan should be developed to differentiate and reflect the image of the firm.
* Quality collateral marketing materials.
* A content-driven Web site. The Web site should be database driven to facilitate easy updating.
* A contact database of clients, referral sources, target and prospective clients, media sources, etc.
* Content such as articles, case studies, recent verdicts, that demonstrate the unique capabilities of the firm.
Tip #2: Don't copycat. Brand yourself. Look for ways to differentiate yourself and your firm from your competitors. Become the only attorney that can do what you do. Make a decision--what do you want to be known and remembered for? Unique services, unique client groups, different service delivery strategy, personal style. Create a five-year plan for goal accomplishment.
Tip #3: Launch a program to obtain client feedback on client needs, opportunities, and quality of law firm services. A follow-up/problem resolution system must be part of the program.
Tip #4: Create the culture and environment. Marketing and client service needs to be incorporated into the culture of the firm. All attorneys and staff should have a role in marketing. Senior partners must walk the talk and consistently build and reinforce the marketing goals of the firm. Marketing goals and action plans should be formulated and team members held accountable. Over time, a marketing mindset will emerge.
Tip #5: Provide marketing training/coaching for attorneys and staff.
Tip #6: Improve time management skills of everyone in the firm.
Tip #7: Establish daily marketing goals and measure your personal marketing results on a daily basis. Analyze successes and failures.
Tip #8: Get out of the office. Visit a client's place of business once a month.
Tip #9: Write an article every other month.
Tip #10: Take a client to lunch once a week.
Tip #11: Improve your communication skills with both clients and office teammates.
Tip #12: Prepare and submit press releases monthly to clients, prospective clients, media and the general legal community.
Tip #13: Learn how to become "solutions orientated" and become a consultant to your clients as opposed to simply their attorney. Solutions may involve activities and services other than legal services. Think out-of-the-box and outside of typical frameworks in which you are comfortable.
Tip #14: Explore the feasibility of ancillary businesses.
Tip #15: Get your newsletter on track and on a consistent basis (at least quarterly). Send via e-mail.
Tip #16: Join a client's trade association and make contributions in the form of articles, speeches, conference attendance, etc. Learn the client's business from top to bottom.
Tip #17: Establish a marketing library to include general materials on marketing as well as specific publications related to your clients business.
Tip #18: Institute quarterly client service/marketing brainstorming sessions. Break the rules. Encourage all members in the firm to think out-of-the-box and innovate. Look for new ways to solve client problems. Look for new solutions. No topic should initially be considered out-of-bounds.
Tip #19: Consider using a client advisory council. Once a year hold a client advisory council forum in which the firm solicits feedback from clients.
Tip #20: Join a client's trade association and make contributions in the form of articles, speeches, conference attendance, etc. Learn the client's business from top to bottom.
Tip #21: Create a new client niche and market your unique experiences intensely. Strive to develop a national reputation in the niche.
Tip #22: Focus your marketing on no more than 2-3 key practice areas in which you can differentiate yourself.
Tip #23: Develop and practice the following leadership behaviors:
* Formulate and articulate a shared vision for the firm.
* Lead the fight for constructive organizational change.
* Empower and develop other attorneys and support personnel and enable them to accept responsibility and make decisions.
* Develop and foster an effective management team.
* Develop problem solving and multiple options thinking skills.
* Take intelligent risks.
* Make tough decisions.
* Establish both firm goals and performance goals for all attorneys and support personnel.
* Seek input from others.
* Coach and develop others.
* Confront and deal directly.
* Hold everyone in the firm accountable for actions and performance.
Tip #24: Conduct an annual firm retreat. Include both attorneys and staff. The first few items on the agenda should include a review of:
* Things that the firm did well and could have done better.
* Things done poorly.
* Things the firm should have done but did not do.
Tip #25: Do it now. Marketing and other developmental projects affect the future of your practice and are just as important as short-term production and billable hours. David Maister says it best: "Your billable time is your current income...your non-billable time is your future."
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John W. Olmstead, Jr., MBA, Ph.D. is a Certified Professional Consultant to Management and the president of Olmstead & Associates, Legal Management Consultants, based in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm provides practice management, marketing, and technology consulting services to law and other professional service firms to help change and reinvent their practices. Dr. Olmstead may be contacted via e-mail at jolmstead@olmsteadassoc. com. Additional articles and information is available at the firm's web site: www.olmsteadassoc.com
Planning for major upheavals, and 'What did I do to deserve this?'
By Thomas J. Brannan, Partner, the Centennial firm of McClure, McClure & Brannan
It has been suggested by our illustrious editor that articles should be written about real life law office experiences. In this particular instance, it seems that is asking me to live the life of the Boston Strangler--not pleasant, but...
Imagine you are a member of a centennial law firm. Four partners, each an individual, and yet, unlike many firms that have seen partners come and go, these gentlemen have been together for more than 25 years. In fact, two of them have been partners for more than 30 years. Not only are they business partners, but social friends. Sound idyllic? Well, it was! I guess, like life, there are inevitable ebbs and flows.
The youngest of the partners had, many years ago, when he was relatively new to the firm, assumed the dubious distinction of managing partner. No, not like a managing partner in a big law firm, but at least for this small firm, he took care of the problems and duties that the other three probably did not even know existed. And every one was happy.
But as I say, there are ebbs and flows. The county judge, who had served ably for more than 40 years, decided that there was more to life than sitting on the bench, so he retired. Problem number one: two of the four partners wanted to be Judge. Worse yet, both were of the same political persuasion. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin called me one day and asked what it was like to have two partners vying for the same position on the ballot. Frankly, I believe it was hard for the interviewer to accept the fact that fortunately the two candidates were of such character that there was still harmony, but there was. True, both wanted to win the primary, but the contest was clean, each spoke of their qualities and virtues, neither resorted to what I consider to be typical political chicanery. It is too bad there were not two positions available, for both had the temperament and intellect for the position. But, in an election for one position, there can be only one winner.
Merely winning the primary did not assure either candidate of the bench, for the winner still had to run against the candidate of the other political party, a well-seasoned, intelligent and capable state's attorney. As fall approached, the four partners obviously recognized that the partner that had won the primary might ultimately win the election. However, like the person that thinks bad things only happen to someone else, there was little preparation and forethought given to the reality of the transition that would have to be made if one of the partners did ascend to the bench.
I recall Election Day vividly. I told the partner who had won the primary, "I sure hoped you'd lose the general election." I might add, I went on to tell him that I had voted for him, but selfishly, I hoped he would lose because I did not want to lose him as a close friend and partner. But win he did. Then, the next morning reality struck--what in the devil are the three remaining partners to do? The partner that was going on the bench had a tremendous clientele, but had also been serving as the managing partner of the firm for many years.
Sad but true, only our departing colleague really knew what the managing partner had done. Oh sure, the rest of us knew that when we had partnership meetings, he would have lists of items our staff wanted considered, would have issues concerning the physical plant that needed attention or decision, and, at year end, would have figures and numbers for us to approve raises, salaries, and the next year's budget. But none of the other partners had been intimately involved in the foregoing, and little did we know what someone had to assume.
Not only was there a need for a transition in management, but concurrently, a tremendous workload needed to be shifted from four attorneys to three. Many years before, the firm had a senior partner retire. However, when he approached retirement, he did it methodically, and slowly. He eased himself out, transferring cases and clients over a number of years, so the day he walked out the front door, the load on those remaining did not change, nor was there any client who wondered, "Who will be taking over my case?" With the election on November 7, and a swearing in on December 2, 2002, the luxury of a leisurely transition was not available when he left for the bench.
But elevation to the bench occurs rarely, and the scenario for our firm may be atypical. So why an article about this? Consider, what if one of your partners goes on the bench, or worse yet, dies suddenly? It would be no different. The only luxury our firm had was the fact that the exiting partner did not drop dead, and he could participate, in a fashion, in an orderly transition. More importantly, he could impart knowledge about clients and cases that he had in his mind, that would have been difficult to glean from the files. And too, he could discuss with us the nuances of the responsibilities and problems he had dealt with as managing partner.
In hindsight, we were lucky, for there were several weeks to make the transition. And yet, a very well-managed firm would have had more depth so far as management is concerned, and in the same vein, more attention would have been given to detail concerning clients, client matters and files.
Are you guilty? I am! I have clients I am doing work for, together with files, and facts and circumstances, though known to me, not necessarily in written or memo form. True, "important" information is documented and in the file, but there is so much that we oftentimes have in our mind that would be of such great use or benefit to another if someone else has to pick up our file and represent that client, in the event we are not available. But how far does one go? We all know we should back up our computers, but how many backups are enough? After all, backups take time, cost money. One is more than enough...if it is a good backup and if it is not lost or destroyed. In the same vein, how much should we document and put in our files, only to assist another in the event we are not available? I do not believe there is an easy answer, but I think we would serve our clients and our firm well if we would look critically at our clients and files, and ask, "What if someone has to assume the responsibility of this case and this client tomorrow?" What information do I have that is not in the file that would facilitate another in assuming this matter and client?
And how much should we provide for contingencies and document so far as management is concerned? I do not believe small firms cannot enjoy the luxury of having layers of successor management in place, as one expects with a large company. But to cast the duties on one partner, and then to have another suddenly assume those responsibilities, creates an unfair burden. More importantly, the transition from one managing partner to another will certainly be less smooth and cohesive if done without regard to precedent. Each manager has his own style, and to ask lawyers and staff to accept a new manager, but also one with a different style and philosophy, places unnecessary strain on partners and staff.
I don't have the answers, I am still struggling, or juggling, depending upon how you look at it, for I am trying to fill the shoes of our former office manager, trying to keep everything in play. Frankly, even wondering what I did to deserve this. At the same time, my partners and I are picking up the matters and clients of our former partner, in many instances, in midstream, and trying to proceed with them while continuing to address the clients and matters we already had. I do not believe there is a simple solution to theses issues, but they are matters which attorneys, law firms and firm managers should consider. Like many decisions, many merely go by default, being considered and determined only when they have to be, and then without the benefit of forethought and planning.