Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012
Law Practice Management Tip
Connecting the silos in your law firm
A big marketing challenge for law firms is to figure out how to
speak with one voice. Unlike businesses where the products or
services are easily described, a law firm may offer a broad mix of
intangible services. So even a partnership with five attorneys
might have the expertise to handle over two dozen types of
matters.
In reality, however, there is no effective way for five lawyers
to communicate two dozen services to the legal marketplace. A
successful marketing strategy needs to be considerably more
focused. Rattling off 20 things when someone asks what you do is
simply not effective. It does little to differentiate you from any
other law firm; and it ensures that you will be completely
unmemorable.
A better strategy is to do some assessment and planning and
decide where you might get the most return on your marketing
investment. In other words ask yourselves:
- Which practice areas does the firm want to grow?
- Where do the partners believe they have the best opportunities
to generate new business (i.e. taking into account the realities of
the marketplace)?
- Given the relationships that partners have with potential
clients and referral sources, where are the best opportunities to
go prospecting?
Businesses in most other industries (including accounting firms
and other professional services providers), understand the
importance of taking the time to do this kind of planning
periodically.
Unfortunately, many law firm partnerships never take the time to
have these discussions. A lot of law firms operate more like an
association of service providers who share expenses. Each lawyer
stays in his or her own silo and not much is decided on a firm-wide
or even practice group level.
But a group of lawyers can market much more effectively as a
firm. By focusing on the "best opportunities" and by getting every
partner on the "same page", a firm can increase the likelihood that
its message is getting through the noise. And with the increased
competition in the legal marketplace and the explosion of email
marketing and social media in the past decade, this is no easy
feat.
So how does your firm measure up? Have you taken the time to
survey the partners in your firm and come up with a consensus about
where the firm should focus its marketing energies? Do you all
describe the firm in the same way? One place to start is to use a
marketing audit tool that appeared in Law Practice
Magazine several years ago. If that doesn't move the
conversation forward, then maybe it is time to get some outside
help.
Tip courtesy of Stephen Seckler, president, Seckler Legal
Consulting and Coaching.
Published August 30, 2012
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To learn more about the Law Practice Management
Section, which is complimentary for all MBA members,
contact LPM Section Chair Thomas J. Barbar or Vice
Chair Stephen
Seckler.