Rainmakers And Trailblazers - Legal Monitor

Sample PageC H A P TER 22. Marketing fundamentals as they apply tolaw firm business developmentWhat type of legal marketerare you?campaign. Others consider it as managing thesales process. We’ll deal with these terms ina moment.Lawyers come in all shapes and sizes. This is justas well as clients come in all shapes and sizestoo. And lawyers have different strengths andTrail Check Point: What sort of businessweaknesses when it comes to business develop-developer are you? If there are some typesment – there isn’t a “one size fits all”. And that’sof activities you don’t like then we needoften where the problem starts – lawyers try toto find other activities you can do. Thinkadopt the business development approach they seeabout how those around you work andtheir seniors or peers using. And sometimes it justwhether you want to operate in a similardoesn’t fit. Sometimes it doesn’t fit their strengths,way or whether you’d like to adopt aweaknesses and preferences. Sometimes it doesn’tdifferent approach.fit their market.So you need to know a little about yourown personal strengths and weaknesses and alsoabout the sorts of marketing and selling activitiesWhat are the fundamental marketingconcepts you need to know?you are most comfortable with. And, of course,what will work most effectively with the marketsI won’t bother you with too much theory. But thereand clients you are seeking – whether wealthyare three frameworks you may find helpful to putindividuals, in-house lawyers or somethingthe rest of the book in context.completely different.The first helps you develop a strategicapproach to your activity. Rather than justKnow your strengths andpreferences – what’s your style?jumping in and starting to do things like talks,articles, networking and meetings – investing insome advertising and dabbling in social mediaLet’s take a look at some of the traditional andalong the way – you need a plan. No – don’t stopmodern “models” of lawyer marketing we mightreading! It will be painless and productive. It’s asee around us (see Figure 2.1, p6). Think aboutfour stage process:whether you recognise these types in your firm andwhether you feel you are familiar with one typerather than another, and also consider what your(target) clients would feel most comfortable with.What you see is that each approach has itstrengths – but also its weaknesses. Ideally, youneed to identify activities that both suit yourmarket and clients as well as your own style, andwork in tandem with others in your team so youhave an integrated approach – managing a process1. Where are you now? (do some analysis andset benchmarks)2. Where do you want to be? (set somegoals that will guide you and allow you tomeasure progress and results)3. How will we get there? (what is the overallapproach that you are going to take?)4. What do we need to do? (what activities doyou need to undertake to reach your goals)of raising profile, making connections, deepeningrelationships and generating work.Well, that’s the goal. Some refer to it as aThe second answers the question: What isbusiness development? Is marketing different toRA I N MA KE R S A N D TR A IL B L A ZE R S 2014 5

Sample PageC H A P TER 33. Prepare yourselfOK, LET’S get started. First, do some analysisYou might also think about your personality.of yourself and the market. This may take someSome firms provide psychometrics and assess-time – there are few firms who can providements, such as NEO Personality Inventory oraccess to all the information you need in the firstMyers Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI), and supportinstance. Be patient. Make a start. You’ll get there.with programmes such as Neuro-Linguistic Pro-But please be aware of the potential danger ofgramming (NLP). There are blogs about these and“paralysis through analysis”. As lawyers you areother methods if you are interested (see the list inused to having all the information before makingAppendix 2, p125). Understanding yourself – anda decision. But often in marketing and selling youhow you react and respond to situations comparedwill be working with imperfect data. There willto those with different types – can help a lot inbe gaps. Sometimes huge gaps, so you will havebusiness development. The ability to adapt yourto learn to make do with what you can easily getstyle in response to others is a key skill and willhold of.aid rapport building.Know yourself – strengthsand weaknessesmake formal assessments, one of the most usefulWhile I am a psychologist who is qualified tomethods I learnt was at an early sales course. It’scalled the 3D approach and uses simple facialConsider your own strengths and weaknessesexpressions (which admittedly are the most easyin the context of business development. Take ato mask) to help you decide whether someone islook at the list of business development skills independent (smiley, likes to get on with people,Appendix 1 (p123). Indicate where you are strongenjoys informal chatting), detached (neutral,and where you think your skills and abilities arepossibly cool expressions, prefers to focus on theweaker. It may guide you towards a particulartask at hand) or dominant (more likely to frown,route. You may be working alone – but more likelylikes to control proceedings and take the lead).you will be part of a team. If so, then involve yourcolleagues in this analysis and planning process.Marketing is always easier and more effectiveTrail Check Point: Analyse your businessif you share the workload and assign activitiesdevelopment strengths and weaknesses.according to the strengths and aptitudes of theWe can’t all be good at everything, butvarious team members.everyone is good at something. IdentifyDon’t be dismayed if you have mostlyyour areas for development. Know whatweaknesses against these skills – reading this bookyou are working with and we’ll find aand the other resources (see Appendix 2, p125)method of rainmaking that will suit you.will speed you through the learning process. Andyou can use the matrix to measure your progressand improvement.Some firms have business developmentKnow yourself – what are you tryingto achieve?competencies built into their developmentand appraisal process. Here’s an extract of anA critical question before you start marketing andexample for you to take a look at (see Figureselling is “What am I trying to achieve?’ Yes, it3.1, p12). Better still, ask your Human Resourcessounds obvious. You want more clients, more workteam if they have something similar for yourand more money. And promotion to partnership orfirm.the board. But you’ll need to be more specific thanRA I N MA KE R S A N D TR A IL B L A ZE R S 2014 11

Sample PageC H A P TER 44. Deepen existing relationshipsALL OF the evidence suggests the fastest andthe views of in-house counsel and write occa-most efficient way to make progress is to worksional blogs on what they say (search my blog forwith the relationships you have already estab-“Client feedback” or see the list in the Appendix oflished. A bird in the hand and all that.Resources, p125). The legal press also run regularSo, before we go off on initiatives to raise yourreviews and there are all manner of commercialprofile or forge new relationships you must makeorganisations that provide this kind of informationsure current ones are secure and you have doneas well.everything possible to nurture and develop these.Your view on service excellence probably con-Yes, there is a bit more kudos in bagging acentrates on legal expertise and speed of response.new client. It’s rare in a team meeting for there toMany clients, however, comment on softer issues,be congratulations for a lawyer who has managedsuch as personality (particularly in terms of fit withto retain and extend an existing client relationship.their organisational culture), empathy with theirBut remember, 80% of any business’s incomegoals and needs, commerciality and those trickyand profit comes from 20% of its clients (andwords “added value”.referrers). This is particularly important for commercial clients and commercial legal services.Think about growing your practice as a bucket.Many lawyers I speak to think about “addedvalue” within the narrow confines of trainingevents, seminars and legal updates. Clients pointYou already have some clients, referrers andout things that are somewhat above and beyondcontacts in that bucket. To fill the bucket, ensurethis – I’ve heard examples of weekend responses,it isn’t leaky - keep your existing clients and thenproviding contacts to non-legal sources, helpingadd new ones - otherwise the level will remain thewith staff shortages in administrative areas,same.coming up with innovative business ideas,collaborative systems development, resolvingDeliver service excellenceinternal political issues and even helping clients’clients with legal issues.Please don’t be offended that I raise this issue – noBut start at the basics. Consider how easydoubt your professional pride suggests you alwaysyou are to get hold of, think about how quicklydeliver service excellence. However, your view ofyou respond to emails and calls, understand howservice excellence and that of your clients may bewell those in the legal and administrative teamsout of kilter.are aware of your key clients and current status soI have interviewed many, many clients overthey can help when you are unavailable. Considerthe years – commercial and not-for-profit organisa-how clients react to your pricing, billing and credittions, in-house lawyers and private individuals –control operations. Look at information you makeand their view of service excellence is often quiteavailable to your clients online.different to those of their professional advisers.There is lots of external research around thatYou should also think about your generalattitude. Do you really understand the pressuresprovides some insight. For example, the Financialyour clients are under and the daily issues theyTimes and the Managing Partners’ Forum producesgrapple with? How in tune are you with what theyan annual report (see Resources, p125) thatare doing now and in the future beyond the area incompares the views of commercial organisationswhich you advise them?with those of their advisers in the legal, account-If you make assumptions about how theancy, property and consultancy sectors. It makesservice you provide is received and perceived, thensurprising reading. I also regularly make a note ofperhaps it would be good to do some research toRA I N MA KE R S A N D TR A IL B L A ZE R S 2014 25

Sample PageC H A P TER 55. Raise your profileNOW THIS is a big topic. It covers traditionalThat’s brand me! As I mentioned above, if youmethods, such as speaking at conferences, articleswork in a large or Magic Circle firm, be careful toin the press and networking at your own andpromote yourself in a way that is consistent withthird-party events, as well as digital marketing andthe overall brand philosophy and plan (consultsocial media. Apologies if you are a social mediayour marketing team about this). At the other endnaysayer – I’ve written numerous blogs to try toof the scale, if you are with a smaller firm that hasexplain why lawyers should use it in marketing,a low brand profile then you need to think aboutselling and relationship management. You’ll justraising your own profile in tandem with that ofhave to skip those bits if you are doing a Kingthe firm.Canute to stop the tide. I am sure you will return tothem later!Moving back to our business developmentA word about reputation. Reputation is thesum of all the historical experiences the market ora client has of you. It’s in the past. However, brandprocess (marketing, selling and relationshipis a promise for the future and you can plan andmanagement) you must undertake the steps aboveshape it. There’s a section about brands in Part IIregarding identifying your target market sectorsof this book (p98) if you are interested.and knowing what service(s) or message you wishAnyway. Back to your aims and strategy thatto promote. Remember, the purpose of raising yourwe started developing in the earlier sections. Whatprofile is to alert the right people to your expertiseis your brand? What is it that sets you apart fromand encourage contact with the right sort of peoplecompetitors? What do you want to be famous for?so you can progress to the selling process.It could be your legal expertise (although you willIn social media terms we talk about “inboundneed to pick a very specific area of expertise if youmarketing” – putting valuable content orare to stand out), it could be your experience in acomments out there that people will find in searchparticular sector (e.g. biotech companies, ownerengines – and then contact you. It’s a pull strategymanaged manufacturing companies, internationaland much more comfortable than a push strategybanks, wealthy individuals with overseas proper-(sending people newsletters and mailers) forties etc) or it could be to do with a particular issuelawyers and less intrusive for clients and contacts.(e.g. green property development, governance inThere are some differences here dependingthe not-for-profit sector, regeneration in a particu-on whether you are an established lawyer withan existing reputation that you need to build onlar area etc).The issues based approach is interesting as itor change or a relatively new lawyer who needsis often part of a thought leadership campaign.to start building awareness from scratch. TheThought leadership can be a firm-wide strategy,majority of readers should be somewhere indriven by a particular legal team or “owned” bythe middle – with some reputation they want toa particular lawyer. It is a tried and tested way todevelop further or refine.promote professional services – take a look at themarketing section in Part II (p95) as typically it isCreate “Brand Me”an initiative that involves more than one lawyer.While “brand me” is a relatively new term in thewith your chosen target market. Before you startsocial media age, the concept has been around inactivities to raise your profile, list the key topicslaw firms for a long time. Clients will often sayyou want to talk about (whether in traditionalthey choose their advisers based on the individualarticles, speeches or blogs). Think about the keylawyer’s reputation rather than that of the firm.words you will need. And consider what wordsNaturally, your brand must have resonanceRA I N MA KE R S A N D TR A IL B L A ZE R S 2014 35

Sample PageC H A P TER 66. Make connectionsYOU SHOULD be pleased with yourself – youOften there is a divide between departmentshave made great progress in setting a strongserving commercial organisations and those whosefoundation for effective marketing and businessclients are mostly consumers. However, whateverdevelopment. You have done a great deal ofyour culture you need to build your internalresearch and analysis, set yourself some objec-relationships in order to facilitate cross-selling totives, organised your information about all ofclients of other parts of the firm. This is internalyour clients, referrers and contacts, and producedmarketing – establishing internal relationshipsan outline plan and campaign so your variousso you can reach the clients and contacts of otherprofile raising and lead-generation activities arelawyers in the firm and leveraging them as ascheduled. Well done!communication channel.As we progress through the book we mayrevisit some of those things to refine or evenNurture internal relationshipschange them. That’s OK. Planning is always aniterative process – you learn what works well forInternal marketing is an often overlooked part ofyou and what is not worth pursuing. You mayyour marketing strategy and that’s a real shame.discover you have cast your net too wide and needYour fellow partners and lawyers are potentiallyto focus in a little. You might decide your initialgreat ambassadors for you and they are a con-strategy and ideas aren’t quite right and go back tovenient channel to all of their clients, contactsthe drawing board. It’s OK. You are learning andand referrers. Some lawyers generate the lion’syou are allowed to change your mind. It is better toshare of their work from their internal referrers.learn and change your mind than to plough on withSometimes we refer to these lawyers as beingthe wrong approach.in service departments – most of their work isI mentioned above the sales pipeline concept.generated from servicing the needs of the clientsAnd one of your early priorities is to expand yourof other departments. Often this is done in acontact base – to fuel your pipeline – and the firstreactive way, you wait for another lawyer to referpriority is to focus on existing clients. Obviously,their clients when the need arises. However, youyou want to extend relationships and business withcan boost your business development if you takeyour own existing clients, but another importantan active approach to promoting your abilities andaudience are the existing clients of your firm whoskills to other lawyers in your firm.do not currently use your services.In strategic terms, it is always quicker andBut you need to recognise that “pleaseintroduce me to your clients” just isn’t going to doeasier to win work from those organisations thatit. There are all sorts of reasons why lawyers don’thave an existing relationship with your firm. Werefer their clients to others in the firm – the reasonsall know the concept of cross-selling. But inI have heard, include:reality it is quite hard for all sorts of reasons. Somefirms have a culture of sharing client relationships,whereas in others partners can be quite protectiveof them. In some firms, different legal departments “I don’t want to risk upsetting the relationship” (inertia, insecurity, protectionism); “My contact is not the person responsibleoperate in silos whereas in others – for example,for legal services in that area” (may bewhere there are cross-departmental sector or majortrue, in which case you need them to helpclient teams where they are used to multi-disciplinary teams – there is more integration. The size ofyou find out who is); “My client is too busy to be introduced toyour firm and the nature of your clients will alsoother lawyers” (may be true or protection-have an impact.ism, could be a wrong assumption);RA I N MA KE R S A N D TR A IL B L A ZE R S 2014 49

Sample PageC H A P TER 77. Generate new businessBasic selling skillsThis and similar approaches encourage youto ask questions that promote broad or divergentWe have already covered many of the basic sellingthinking. It may be uncomfortable as the clientskills. There are some more in the competency listmay start talking about issues that are way outsideyou completed at the beginning of the book. Spaceyour area of expertise. However, it does get themis limited here so I am going to select some of theto open up. Once they have explained the situationmost useful skills to consider.or the facts – and there may be more than onesituation you need to do this for – you shouldFind the pain/needsprobe to find out about the underlying challengeor problem. This is where selling becomes likeYou can’t sell something when there is noconsulting – the client is describing an issue – orclear need for what you are promoting. So asome pain – and you are trying to understandlot of the advice above about networking andthe real problem. It’s possible the client outlineskeeping in touch with people is in order toa number of issues so you need to find which isbuild trust so the client will talk to you aboutmost important. A client is unlikely to engagetheir organisation and reveal – directly orseriously with you on one issue if there is anotherinadvertently - where they have problems,more urgent or important one that is keeping themopportunities and issues.awake at night.And you find out about their problems byThen comes the tricky bit. Remember theasking questions. This sounds obvious but therematerial about value propositions above? Nowis significant research into how you ask differentyou have to help the client consider the value andtypes of questions at various stages of thebenefit in resolving the situation. What will theysales cycle in order to move towards a success-gain if the problem is addressed? It may be theful outcome. We all know about the differencereduction of worry, saving money, minimising riskbetween open and closed questions. In fact, thereor gaining some personal or business advantage.are industries built around people (some of whomYou will need to ask further questions to see whatare psychologists) who have researched thisthe client – from his or her perspective – will gainquestioning approach – like SPIN from Huthwaitefrom a solution.International or Strategic Selling from MillerHere we are focusing on the benefits of yourHeiman. There are even neat methods mentionedsolution rather than the features. For example,in High Street bookshops such as SHAPE“We have completed several major transactionsfrom Dugdale & Lambert. The relevant booksrecently on the acquisitio

Index 133. RAINMAKERS AND TRAILBLAZERS 2014 3 THERE USED to be a time – not very long ago, when if you were really, really good at your area . culture and legal market very well. Others are akin to snake oil merchants. Please save yourself time and effort and tears by being rigorous in your selection. I hope to equip you to sort the wheat