A recently released survey by LexisNexis® reported on an increased level of RFP activity by law firms of various sizes. (See Summary here).  The results surprised me somewhat for a couple of reasons.

Some results:

• Close to half the 359 survey participants (41%) couldn’t tell how many RFPs they dealt with on a monthly basis (undoubtedly due in part to the lawyer-Lone Ranger syndrome);
• The rest of the respondents reported  they handled an average of 5 to 16 proposals per month (with larger firms a bit higher) and 68% reporting less than 10 per month;
• 42 percent reported an increase in RFP activity over the previous year;
• The process consumes a LOT of resources over the year in responding to RFPs; and
• Most shocking, only 58% of firms bothered to track wins and losses.

But what was most surprising to me is that RFPs are increasing, rather than decreasing.  Presumably, some of the proposal requests come from clients (which unfortunately was my experience in-house).  Which raises the question – WHY?

In the case of clients, it tells me that the firm needs to do a lot better at client relations work in the area of relationships, providing value and communicating more effectively.  You shouldn’t have to compete in this manner, if you are doing your attorney-client overall job properly.

So, avoid client RFPs by doing a more effective job in your dealings with your clients in the first place.

Thanks to RFPAttorney|The Blog for drawing attention to the survey.