Both Marketing And Client Service Are Staff Functions
In commenting on my last post about involving staff in marketing, Dan Hull over on What About Clients? blog goes one step further. He reminds us that all employees and shareholders must take both marketing and client service seriously. Actually, they are inseparable. Both are critical to a firm’s long term health.
He again emphasized how every person in his a law firm must realize that clients are the main event, which is Rule 3 of his famous 12 Rules of Client Service. The rules are contained in his firm’s Practice Guide, which is now required reading for everyone at the firm.
Here again are Dan’s twelve rules:
- Represent only clients you like.
- The client is the main event.
- Make sure everyone in your firm knows the client is the main event.
- Deliver legal work that changes the way clients think about lawyers.
- Over-communicate: bombard, copy and confirm.
- When you work, you are marketing.
- Know the client.
- Think like the client--help control costs.
- Be there for clients--24/7.
- Be accurate, thorough and timely--but not perfect.
- Treat each co-worker like he or she is your best client.
- Have fun.
Marketing and client service are not just for the lawyers. They are for everyone. As Dan puts it at his firm “buy into it or leave.”
Staff as Part of Marketing - Continued
As I mentioned in my last post about making the non-marketing staff a part of the firm’s business development efforts, Stacy West Clark’s article on that point gives some suggestions on how to accomplish that with at least two groups of staffers.
But first, the lawyer’s role. Educate those who work for you as to:
- How you want clients treated and informed (getting to know them, phone procedures, what to say when you are unavailable, and reaching out to key clients),
- Tracking Google alerts for info about specific clients,
- Remembering important client facts and dates (wedding date, birthdays, etc.),
- Scheduling marketing activities,
- Keeping mailing lists up to date, and
- Encouraging questions about cases, referrals sources and the like.
Legal assistant’s role:
Carrying out all of the above per your lawyers’ instructions. Additionally, be proactive in asking your lawyers about marketing goals, important cases; and staying abreast of the firm’s web site, your attorneys’ bios, and important information about existing clients and referral sources, and most importantly, developing (professional) friendships with clients.
Receptionist's role:
I facetiously said in one of my earlier posts, and have suggested in my speeches for years, that tellers should be the highest paid people in banks, since they have the most direct contact with the money people (customers). Likewise, a law firm receptionist should be the highest paid staff person, because he/she has the most contact with clients (by phone) and with visitors of all kinds. As such, the receptionist can have a profound influence on how the firm is perceived. Put another way, a receptionist person can have an extremely positive or negative impact on the firm’s brand. I can (and do) tell horror stories in this area.
Just some of the important attributes of a good receptionist include:
- Professional attire and grooming,
- Enthusiastic and warm in answering the phone and greeting visitors,
- Remembering and addressing clients by name, and
- Caring about the firm’s clients and showing it.
All staff members can play an important role in a firm’s business development efforts. Just think of the many ways they come in contact with clients and the world outside the firm. Each is an opportunity to advance the firm’s brand or to damage it.
For some of my other posts on staff involvement in marketing....
Continue Reading Questions & comments 1Staff is Part of Your Marketing Effort - Whether You or They Know it or Not
It continues to amaze me how few law firms engage their non-marketing staff in the firm’s business development efforts. The funny part is that these staff members are involved in marketing your firm in one way or another, if they deal with clients, potential clients or the public at-large. These contacts, whether intended or not, can end up being for the good or bad of the law firm.
So, why not train and focus these staff encounters for the best possible results? It’s not that difficult.
My friend Stacy West Clark has a terrific article on empowering your staff to help increase client business in The Legal Intelligencer and on Law.com’s Small Firm Business online. In fact, there is so much good stuff there that, for the sake of brevity, I’m going to cover the article in two posts.
Today, I’ll cover her initial advice, and next time how the lawyers, their assistants and even the receptionist can contribute to the firm’s marketing.
Her opening paragraph is one of the more succinct recipes for great client relationship building I have heard:
“The components of great service include understanding the client’s business, being incredibly responsive, communicative and accessible and looking for opportunities to make the client’s life and business world better.”
Stacy then points out that the lawyers do not have to do this alone. The team includes your “secretary, messenger, file clerk, receptionist, human resources manager, office manager, librarian,” et al.
And she states:
“The sooner you empower your staff to deliver outstanding client service, the sooner your revenues will grow. Staff who are involved in and educated about the marketing effort have higher morale and lower turnover and treat clients better.”
Amen!
Next time: Stacy’s ideas for starters on how to get staff members involved.
Marketing for Law Firms - Hiring a Marketing Person and a Trend
4. “When should a law firm hire a dedicated marketing person?”
The day they open their law office. And the size of the firm doesn’t matter. Of course, it doesn’t have to be a full time, in-house person in every case. It could be an outsourced position or consultant. The important thing is that the firm be serious about getting professional marketing help.
As to when a law firm should hire an in-house staff person should be based on the firm’s needs and economics. Historically, there was a time when it seemed to be based on the size of the firm, and firms with less than 100 lawyers rarely had an in-house person. Now, there are firms with fewer than 30 lawyers that have a dedicated marketing person on staff. That decision should be based on when a staff position or positions make more economic sense than using outside help.
5. “What are some of the latest (viable) trends you’re seeing in legal marketing?”
I’ve never been one to believe in the “marketing idea of the week/month/year” mentality. And “trends” often are just that, the latest fad. Having said that, I see blogging as a viable trend in obtaining legal work. In essence, though, it is just a new vehicle for some of the more traditional means of developing business; that is, writing articles, making speeches, etc., all of which are ways of demonstrating one’s expertise and establishing credibility so clients will hire you.
Questions & comments 0Don't Forget About Internal Marketing
Some firms apparently don’t even put associate bios up on the site for fear that headhunters will scoop them up. Since recruiters have many sources to call upon to get their names, why would a firm want to send a communication like “you aren’t really important enough to be up on our (usually static and boring) web site in the first place.” What kind of a terrible message does that send to such valuable internal assets?
I have talked before about making your staff part of the marketing team, but what got me thinking about it today was a discussion that has been going on for the last couple of days over on the Legal Marketing Association’s listserv. Some of the comments included:
- One 50-lawyer California puts everyone on web site – bios for all lawyers and senior staff, and pictures of everyone who works for the firm under their job category;
- A marketer from a smaller firm stated: “I like the sites that feature ‘Our People’ – that’s your human capital…Clients do like to ‘see’ your people;”
- And from my good friend Ross Fishman who works with a lot of law firm associates: “Although I did not ask them specifically about this biography issue, it is my clear inference from the conversations that this disparate treatment would be viewed VERY negatively;” and
- Another recounted her earlier experience in (non-legal) sales where a boss told her that if she ever got a better offer than what the company “can do for you, and the situation is better as well” he wouldn’t blame her for taking it.
If your firm is doing all the right internal marketing things to make it the best possible place to work, you won’t have to worry about such things. In any event, they'll talk care of themselves, but I can guarantee that your turnover will go way down. And that is a cost savings that will go straight to the bottom line.
Networking as a Team
The idea is that you “team up” to introduce each other (whether another lawyer, other professional, referral source, client, friend, whomever) to people you don’t know. My friend Miriam Lawrence at Automatic Referrals has a post about getting a “networking buddy.” It's a good read, as she refers to advice she picked up from professional speaker and coach Patricia Fripp.
The scenario goes something like this:
- Your teammate is talking with someone and you walk up (or vice versa);
- He/she immediately turns and asks the person whether they know you, and proceeds to give you an introduction that highlights your many legal talents, as well as what a terrific person you are, etc. etc. (presumably there is a lot of truth in all this);
- Keeping in mind that one of your goals is to meet as many potential clients or referral sources as you can, one or both of you should move on to other people after a respectable period of time, and after asking for a business card so you can follow up later;
- Take turns repeating the process as many times as you can during the event.
If you look at it as a game rather than drudgery, networking can actually be fun. Remember, it is easier for someone else to sing your praises than for you to do so yourself.
Partnering with LegalBizDev
Although the “S” word is not bantered about by a lot of law firms, just as the “M” word was a no-no in the not too distant past, firms that do “get it” have certainly recognized the need to prepare their lawyers to be more effective at closing the deal. Lawyers, after all, have always been selling (I’m sorry – “persuading” prospects and clients to retain their firm), whether at the country club while golfing or dining, making presentations, writing or speaking, entertaining in general, and, of course, the old standby – while networking at tons of events.
Okay, we’ve established that “sales” isn’t new in the legal world, but why am I teaming up with LegalBizDev? Under the mantle of “marketing” coaching I have been providing many of the tools commonly associated with sales, I just didn’t call it that. It turns out that my approach is similar to what Jim is doing. Only his is better, and he has done much more of it than me. I was so impressed with Jim’s credentials, experience, and most of all the success of his program that I was flattered when he asked me to team up with him. His approach has been so successful, for example, in the brief span of a couple of months the results were so impressive in one prominent Boston law firm, that the firm has nearly doubled the number of the attorneys participating in his second program.
Jim is a Harvard-educated Ph.D., who has spent the last 20 years providing sales training to corporations, including American Express, Bank of New York, Bank of America, TD Waterhouse, State Street, TIAA-CREF, and Telamon Insurance. He now provides this business development training to law firms. He is the author of seven books (including The Law Firm Business Development Workbook and Legal Business Development: A Step By Step Guide) and he is a fellow blogger at Legal Business Development. You can learn more about Jim on his web site.
If you want to learn more about the specifics of LegalBizDev Network programs…
Continue Reading Questions & comments 0
"Word-of-mouth" and "Referral" Marketing are Different
Whether you believe this is playing with semantics or not, Miriam has several excellent points worth taking to heart.
First, even if 20% of your clients are “raving fans” (who think of you often and are proactively referring others to your firm), 80% are spending their time thinking about THEIR business, THEIR problems, THEIR mortgage; they are not thinking about you or your business.
Secondly, you need to be proactive toward your referral sources by sending them e-newsletters (with their permission of course) that they can forward on to others, and asking them to not “keep you a secret.” Of course, you can do a lot more with your referral sources than that, including:
- Networking,
- Entertaining,
- Sending articles, or other items of interest,
- Referring others to them, and otherwise
- Keeping in constant contact with them.
Questions & comments 1
Do You Have A Coach?
It is common knowledge that the retention rate following training is very low. (See the Cone of Learning by educator Edgar Dale). So, why wouldn’t law firms want to protect their training investment by providing ongoing coaching?
According to Ed Poll in a post this week, “Coaching is cornerstone of professional development.” He quotes from an article in the March 2006 edition of “The Lawyers Competitive Edge” (sorry
“Studies show that coaching after training increases the value (return on investment) by four times(!), integrating and sustaining newly learned skills. Good ongoing coaching is missing in most firms and needs to be 'the next big thing.'”
I’m not at all sure it is the “next big thing,” but I won’t say it shouldn’t be. I believe a good coach can:
- Help provide focus and direction (and redirection)
- Help to plan an approach or strategy
- Reinforce and bolster your marketing ideas
- Be a source of new ideas or approaches
- Keep you on track and motivated
- Help sell your ideas to management
- Can be a friendly nag (or PITA)
Marketing Committees Revisited
As I have said before, I am NOT a fan of law firm marketing committees. Marketing partner or marketing mentor of some sort…yes, but not a committee.
However…. after reading Bruce Allen's recent post on the value of marketing committees, I have to agree there are exceptions to every opinion. Bruce makes an excellent case of how a marketing committee can work and make meaningful contributions. He explains that his committee:
*Assists in-house marketer understand the firm's culture, while at the same time help promote the marketing initiatives within the firm,
*Head of committee is a well-respected and politically savvy partner,
*Members of committee are aggressive about and for marketing, and
*Respectfully challenges the marketing staff (or an outside consultant) to make the case for recommended actions, rather than being offensively negative ("that won't work" or "what a dumb idea", etc.) in its approach.
I haven't changed my mind about marketing committees in general, but it is refreshing to hear that it can work for someone like Bruce, who has to have a ton more patience, good looks, and smarts than I do.
My only caution or warning is that that unless your committee contains the elements highlighted above, my suggestion is that you not create a marketing committee within your firm. And if you already have one, and it doesn't contain these ingredients, get rid of it.
Oh yeah, as I said before, I feel strongly about this.
Questions & comments 0Need Marketing Prospects? Check Your Rolodex.
Your rolodex (or equivalent) contains many potential sources of new legal work. If you're like most people your contacts include clients, former clients, referral sources, potential clients, family, friends, classmates, etc. All can help you obtain new matters.
An article suggesting you "Roll Your Rolodex for New Clients" by Olivia Fox Cabane of Spitfire Communications appeared in Legal Times and Small Firm Business. A few of her ideas include: (and a comment from me, of course)
*Sort your contacts into categories (most contact management software will help here, if you haven't done so already),
*Get rid of names of people you don't recognize (careful with this one, as you may be having a "senior" moment; and you don't want to wake up at 3:00 a.m. remembering who the contact was, but now don't know how to reach them),
*Remember the "80/20" Rule in developing your Hot List of contacts (I have discussed the Pareto Rule before if you want to refresh), and
*After reviewing your contact list(s), plan your approach and purpose/goal in contacting them (contact two or three per week to schedule a meeting, lunch, or just send several some information they may be interested in).
Remember, I have talked about involving your staff in your legal marketing efforts in the past (here and here). This is a good way for your secretary/assistant to help - particularly as it relates to reviewing your "rolodex" and helping to categorize for you those she/he knows - but, there is no substitute for your personally going through your list, and planning how and why you will be contacting them.
Questions & comments 0Does Your Firm Have a Marketing Committee? Too Bad!
At two law firms where I was an in-house marketer, I had the dubious honor of having a marketing committee to work with. One was okay, since it really only served an advisory role, while the other was a total disaster. Could hardly agree on anything, and certainly provided little useful input. Some meetings were ego battles, and little was ever accomplished. During the interview for my last in-house position, I asked whether the firm had a marketing committee. I was informed they did not, but had considered forming one. I said I would not take the job if they did.
Don't get me wrong, I feel strongly about this!
Today I ran across Chris Houchens' Shotgun Marketing Blog where he has a post about why marketing by committee is a bad idea. As he questions why you wouldn't have a office supply committee (to decide on what color pens to order), accounting committee (to decide how to post debits and credits), or a human resources committee (to decide who gets hired or fired), his point is clear.
Neither he nor I suggest that your marketers operate in a vacuum, quite the opposite. Hire good people who are knowledgeable, and who will seek out their clients' (lawyers') input. Then, let them do their job.
Questions & comments 1Marketing Should Involve Everyone in a Law Firm
In too many firms, not everyone has bought into being part of the marketing team. You don't necessarily want every lawyer writing articles or making speeches. Some may not be very good at it, but they can still be part of the team and contribute in other ways. And I have posted before about making the staff part of the team, so I won't belabor that point. What is important though is that everyone understands that marketing is the responsibility of everyone at the firm.
John Jantsch has a post emphasizing how marketing is everyone's job. As he so aptly puts it:
"The funny thing is, anyone in your organization who comes into contact with a customer or potential customer in the name of your business is performing a marketing function - so why not teach them to perform it well?"
Why not indeed? Such training shouldn't end with how clients should be treated, or how everyone should dress and behave. Your firm should ensure that everyone down to the file clerk understands the type of work the firm does, and the type of clients it prefers. Better yet if they understand the firm's marketing plan (you do have one don't you?), or at least the firm's goals and objectives in a general sense. Semi-annual or annual meetings to include all lawyers and staff is a good idea. On these occasions, the managing partner or chairperson can set out the vision for the firm while conducting a pep rally for the troops. I've seen this work very effectively. Not only does it make everyone feel part of the law firm, but can actually translate into everyone accepting responsibility for being part of the marketing team.
Questions & comments 0Empower Your Staff
Not only should you make your staff part of the marketing team, you should empower them in ways that can increase their effectiveness in assisting clients and improving the image (brand) of your law firm.
Joseph's Marketing Blog talks about the power of empowerment in a recent post and a couple of points are worthy of consideration in the legal marketing environment.
Clients are no different than Joseph's "customers". Clients want immediate answers or at least helpful information when they want it. Depending on the size of your office, allow the staff (receptionist, secretary, paralegal) to act and speak on your behalf within certain parameters. At least your secretary should be so empowered. Yes, I know, that means giving up a certain degree of control. But that is what empowerment is all about.
The best way to empower staff is to make sure they feel appreciated and know that they play a vital role in the ongoing health of the law firm. Then, train your staff to be helpful rather than mere functionaries when clients call. There is nothing worse than passing a caller off to someone else or to voicemail without so much as a word, and it doesn't improve the firm's image much when your staff doesn't inquire as to whether they could help in some way.
An example of empowerment might include allowing a staff person to tell a caller that you will call them back before the end of the day, or otherwise respond to certain requests from clients. This assumes communication between the lawyer and staff as to what those parameters are. So, give some thought to other ways you can empower your staff to help your clients. Remember, the ultimate goal is to make clients happy.
Questions & comments 0Do Law Schools Have a Duty to Prepare Solos for Survival?
About a dozen years ago, I spoke to 3L's at a prestigious Midwest law school who were planning to go solo when they graduated. I offered some advice, based on my experience as a solo, on setting up their practice. Additionally, I gave them advice on how to start marketing their practice, since unlike their classmates who were going to larger firms, the work was not going to magically appear on their desks.
That experience got me thinking about how inadequate law school training is in preparing solos and small firm attorneys for the business side of law. Over the years I have argued that law schools have done a horrible job for the approximately 40%-44% of solos (the figure for the class I spoke to) in preparing them for the real world of running and marketing a law practice. In fact, I would proffer they have an obligation to do so. Moreover, it's as if law schools are saying, "thanks for your $100k, good luck, go get 'em."
I know a few schools have made small attempts to help by holding clinical skills-type classes or seminars occasionally. That has hardly made a dent in the problem.
This all came back to me when I saw the article by Susan Cartier-Liebel entitled "Law School Learning Leaves Solos in Cold" which appeared in Small Firm Business yesterday. Susan, who teaches such a course at Quinnipiac University School of Law, asks the question "if more than half of all lawyers in private practice are solos (Susan cites 51%, and 72% in firms of 4 or fewer people), why don't law schools teach how to hang a shingle?"
Why not? indeed! And professors, why not throw in a little effective, tasteful, ethical marketing training while you are at it, so those lawyers can keep the doors open long enough to pay back their loans.
Questions & comments 2How Does Your Staff Value Your Lawyers?
Dave Swanner's recent post on South Carolina Trial Law Blog about the three most important values he places on hiring employees could equally apply to how lawyers are valued by staff. His three values are loyalty, communication and hard work; and he puts them ahead of intelligence when it comes to hiring an employee. He has a very good point.
I am sure there are other values one could think of, but his three got me to thinking, don't staff look for the same things in their law firms. The way staff is treated in some law firms is a disgrace and the reason for high turnover in those firms. Why should a staff person not expect to be treated with respect? And when some lawyers fail in that regard, is the law firm showing loyalty to the staff by not admonishing the perpetrator. Communication or the lack of it is often another cause for unhappy staff members. Finally, some lawyers don't work as hard as they may claim, and others work hard but are inefficient in managing their work flow. Both lead to last minute demands on staff that may require staying late and the staff person's family suffering in the process.
Oh, I knew you were going to ask what that has to do with marketing. As a very savvy rainmaker (in one of my in-house positions) often said "marketing has everything to do with everything a lawyer and a law firm does." Simply put, an unhappy staff can have a killing effect out there in the marketplace. Reputations have a habit of becoming public knowledge. And, I would argue that there are clients that do not want to deal with a law firm that mistreats their staff.
Questions & comments 0Contract Blogging for Profit
John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing has an interesting post relating to contract blogging as a revenue source.
That reminded me of my belief that we will see small law firms contracting with bloggers to keep the firm's or practice group's blog current, especially when they are too busy to maintain it themselves. I have one small firm client that is considering using yours truly for that very purpose.
Practice Group Management For Small Firms
There is a very good article on practice group management by Patrick McKenna of the The Edge Group that was reported on Adam Smith, Esq.. Bruce reports how the train has left the station when it comes to practice groups, and apparently there is no turning back.
McKenna addresses the many advantages of practice group management and points out that the biggest benefits that come from well structured and run practice groups are more and better clients. He used an example of a real estate practice group, but did not emphasize that it is an industry (rather than a subject we took in law school). However, he did indicate that practice groups should be structured across traditional practice areas to meet the needs of a client and industry segment. This brings me to the point of why I too favor practice groups, but have seen too many large firms continue to form their groups based on legal disciplines. Your practice groups should be multi-disciplinary in nature. For example, in the health care area, a group should consist of lawyers with expertise in administrative law, employment, environmental, business entities, contracts, real estate, tax, estate planning, litigation, and so forth. In other words, structure your practice groups to meet the needs of a client segment whatever your firm's size.
Continue Reading Questions & comments 0How Staff Can Help Market Your Firm
Most firms overlook the potential that exists within their staff to help with the firm's marketing efforts. Your non-legal staff can assist in marketing your firm by:
*Reviewing rolodex to identify contacts for lawyer to reach out to
*Reminding lawyer to communicate with clients and referral sources
*Drafting Press Releases
*Drafting letters to clients and referral sources
*Returning phone calls for lawyer
*Tracking how work comes to firm - to identify areas to focus on
*Scanning newspapers, etc. - for info of interest to or about clients, and other contacts
*Trying to help client rather than just take message
Your staff can be a real asset to the firm's marketing effort if you encourage and empower them.
Questions & comments 0Law Firm Marketing Budgets? You Want How Much?
A percentage of gross revenues is not what a marketing budget should be based on. The percentage approach - whether 1%, 2%, 4% or even more - was popular with a number of consultants and some in-house marketers for years. Comparisons to the accounting or architectural industries should not be used as the guide, as in "accounting firms spend X% of revenues on marketing, etc." This approach is wrong on a couple of fronts.
It isn't very original, and is the lazy person's approach to budgeting for marketing. It doesn't require any planning, which in turn means it is likely to be wasted and/or misdirected. I have been a proponent of zero-based budgeting, that requires thoughtful planning to arrive at what the firm, practice group or individual wants to undertake in order to reach the desired goals. Unfortunately, too many firms do not use such an approach.
