Law firms are constantly looking for ways to save money and time and
reduce expenses. From over thirty years of law firm surveys, the five highest
annual cost centers for law firms’ marketing, business and client development
and communications expenses (MBDC), other than technology, are:
- Staff – including salaries, benefits, bonuses, etc.
- Individual Lawyer Travel & Entertainment – including non-billable “sales” and relationship retention/maintenance travel, separate from and over and above item 3 (next).
- Seminars, Events, Conferences – including those produced and co-sponsored by the firm/practice group, and firm lawyers attending, traveling to and speaking at conferences, seminars, association meetings and other events.
- RFP (Request for Proposal) Process – including all nonbillable time and expense invested in trying to win, getting on the short list and winning.
- Written Content – including all lawyer and staff nonbillable time spent writing articles, alerts, newsletters, seminar materials, other content, and production, publishing and printing costs.
Do You Know What Your Firm’s Highest Annual
MBDC Cost Centers Are?
If not, calculate them for the past year
or – better yet –
the last three to five years.
Then address the following:
1. What Can Be Consolidated or Combined?
For example, one major law firm identified their
largest annual expenses for the last five years as items 2 and 3 above. The
firm decided to undertake a focused effort to streamline these cost centers and
at the same time increase measurable results from these expenses. The firm
started by creating a formal inventory in writing by practice group (from data
input in the required annual attorney business/business development plans) of
all seminars, conferences, association meetings and events firm lawyers were
planning to attend or participate in, and then the firm took several other
strategic steps to consolidate who was going to what, what was required from
each attorney prior to the expense being approved by the firm, and what was
required as follow-up once the attorney returned. This effort has led to
considerable savings and new clients and work.
Most firms have similar areas of overlap and redundancy
which can be combined, consolidated or even eliminated, either by practice
group, office, client or internal support department. Several of the world’s
leading law firms have hired major consultancies such as McKinsey or Bain &
Company or others to conduct private, formal, firmwide cost-saving assessments,
which has led to the now popular shared-service model located in lower cost
centers now being used by many major law firms. But spending a lot of money on
a consultancy to reduce costs is not necessarily needed. For example, at least
three major law firms simply offer internal rewards and incentives for the best
cost-saving and/or innovative idea each month, while other firms carefully
track their annual expenses and consistently make formal efforts to make the
most from them.
2. What Can Be Eliminated, Reduced or Done in a Different Manner?
For example, while the expenses associated with law
firms’ Martindale-Hubbell listings have vanished, there has been a significant increase
in the time, costs and expenses associated with applying for and maintaining other
law firm directories, rankings and awards. Some, such as Chambers, Best Lawyers
and others, are bona fide and valuable, while many others are not. In fact, the
legal marketing community maintains a “spammy” list that contains the hundreds
of directories, rankings and awards that are not bona fide and are a waste of
attorney and law firm staff time and largely a waste of firm resources.
Another example is the increased use of online
resources, both free and paid. Many firms no longer hire dedicated proofreaders
for their MBDC departments and instead use quality online services for
proofreading. The same is true with regard to custom graphic design for social
media posts, banners, images and other content.
To help get work done during periods of intense
activity, some firms are using paid interns from local colleges and
universities, while others use temp agencies. With all outside services, firms
need to have confidentiality and data security processes and policies in place.
A significant current trend in BigLaw is to make
common processes more efficient and cost-effective by creating and using process
maps, which are simply step-by-step checklists in list and/or visual form
designed to streamline the time, communications and actions needed to get any
project, matter, case or engagement completed.
3. What Can Be Reused, Refined,
Refocused, Repurposed, Recycled and/or Renegotiated
Reuse, Refine,
Refocus – Almost all law firms and lawyers have existing content/material that
– if edited or updated slightly – could be reused or republished to different
markets or clients.
Repurpose,
Recycle – Related to the above, another vastly underutilized tactic is to
plan for repurposing before putting pen to paper. For example, a lawyer who will
be presenting a topic at an outside conference should plan ahead to record it
and/or refine the completed content to offer later as a webinar, article, social
media or blog post, etc.
Renegotiate
– A best practice for many law firms is to annually renegotiate all contracts
and agreements in major cost centers, such as technology, space rentals,
outside caterers, outside consulting and other outsourced services.
So, Where to Start?
How
To Save Measurable Money on Law Firm Marketing and Business Development
Expenses,
Costs and Time?
Most law firm marketing and business development
departments are currently understaffed, so to get measurable money saved or
measurable revenues generated, it is best for leaders to focus on one (or a very few) strategic area or
project where the time and effort spent will result in measurable savings for the
firm, group or department.
Pick one strategic cost center, i.e., one of the
highest cost centers, which – if upgraded and streamlined – will most impact
the firm’s bottom line. Schedule some time to create a simple, one-page project
plan with a reasonable timetable, and then implement it over time or hire a qualified outside resource to help do so.
About
the Author: Julie Savarino holds an MBA, a JD, and is a licensed
attorney. Over her 30+ year career, she has built a reputation as a leading
international, award-winning business and client development coach and
strategist for lawyers, law firms, and other professional services providers
and firms. She has successfully served
in-house in client and business development positions for the law firms of
Dickinson Wright and Butzel Long and for the accounting firm Grant Thornton.
Contact Julie at +1 (734) 668-7008, Julie@BusDevInc.com,
@JulieSavarino.
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