2009 Year in Review - Business Development Trends in Law Firms©

Overall, in the global economy and within the legal industry, investment is no longer at a stand-still as it was earlier this year. But to keep their houses in order, many law firms have made and are continuing to make significant cut-backs, changes and upgrades in the manner and methods by which they are investing in business development. Some key trends in 2009 and into 2010:

1. The year-end collection process gets more challenging as firms experience reductions in the total percentage of receivables collected at 100% realization/standard rates.


2. Competition is at an all-time high, causing attorneys to change their thinking, mind-set and habits.


3. Upgrades to traditional marketing efforts/support -
   
   
   • Investments are tightening up in the traditionally most-utilized marketing tools.
   
   
   • Train-the-trainer, train-the-coach and train-the-leader programs are being commissioned for lawyers and staff.
   
   
   • Business/client development and/or "sales" pipelines are being employed to a greater degree.

To read the entire article, please visit: www.BusDevInc.com > Complimentary Resources > Trend Reports

Reflections on Facebook & Twitter for Lawyers

Facebook is one of many social networking site options, but it is not specifically designed for lawyers. It started as a site for college students to stay connected, thus its reputation as a "teeny bopper" site. Depending upon your law practice, Facebook may or may not be that useful. If one is a family lawyer, divorce lawyer, i.e. a lawyer who serves individuals, it could be a useful tool if used judiciously and correctly. The same may be true for lawyers who use Twitter and other mass market social networking sites.

Facebook is great to re-connect with old contacts-- those whom you may have fallen out of touch with and re-establishing contact may lead to mutually beneficial future relationships (i.e. future business). But, the majority of Facebook's active users are members of the younger generation, so it may be especially useful for younger Associates and Partners as a tool to re-connect and stay in touch with key people in many facets throughout their lives. But, today's most significant buyers of legal services are not even on Facebook, nor if they are, do they spend a lot of time using it.

The key for most lawyers is to manage the time spent on social networking sites carefully. Consider the fact that some lawyers who spend inordinate amounts of time every day on social networking sites are simply not very busy, may have too much time on their hands and as a consequence, any serious/sophisticated buyer may wonder just how good of a lawyer they really are. Common sense says that anyone spending a lot of time on social networking sites may not have enough clients, billable work to do. As a result, if they work in a law firm, they may be "on the bubble" and/or not very productive/profitable.

An article on this subject was written by Ann Urda of Law 360, and it should be published sometime next week.

Renowned Training Program Oct. 2 in NYC - "Mastering the 'Sales' Process for Lawyers©"

Check out the new client video testimonial raving about this program or read what in-house counsel say about this program. Pitch real-life client(s) and experience their candid and direct feedback. In-house counsel speakers on October 2 are Ross D. Vincenti, Vice President/Deputy General Counsel, Clearwire Corporation (formerly Sprint) and Amy Gallent, Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel & Chief of Staff, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Register soon, only a few spots remain. For more info, click here or email me at Julie@BusDevInc.com.

Evolving Diversity Policies in Law Firms

Most major law firms provide legal counsel to Fortune 500 companies. Most Fortune 500 companies have strong diversity policies in place and many try hard to utilize/hire diverse outside counsel to meet the objectives of that policy. Outside counsel are required to provide annual reports to relevant clients regarding their firm's diversity. However, many outside law firms remain unsatisfied with their internal/firm diversity numbers/statistics. All over the country I hear "Our firm is just not as diverse as we would like, so we are hesitant to pitch it or even bring it up with clients/prospects". But, there is more to diversity than just analyzing a firm's partnership composition and/or employee base. Some firms have realized they can gain an advantage by implementing a supplier diversity policy of their own - to name a few: Warner Norcross & Judd, Weil Gotshal, Sonnenschein, Saul Ewing, among others. So at the end of the year, even if they have not hired more minority partners or employees they can still report to clients an increase of X% in their use of diverse vendors, suppliers, expert witnesses, sales training and coaching specialists, etc.(DISCLAIMER - I have a not-so-hidden agenda since our company is a Certified Women Owned Business, and could be included in any such diversity statistic by a firm that uses our services). If outside vendors and suppliers to law firms are comparably qualified with similar track records, hiring a diverse/minority company/entity/professional could help the law firm "look better" to its clients. Food for thought.

Coaching Mistake to Avoid

Hiring several different coaches for interested lawyers in any one, single firm may not be a good idea. In my professional experience, many firms that have had or use multiple external coaches end up with a time management and support process problem for their internal mkt/bus dev staff which can cause great inconsistencies, extra work and dilute results. Much of what constitutes effective and efficient new business development turns on organized, focused and efficient internal and external approach, method, systems, processes and procedures. External (and internal) coaches vary dramatically in what they offer - some deliver mainly basic motivation and "fluff", while others deliver a more comprehensive, organized and measureable system and pipeline for the long term. Certainly, various approaches abound, but in my professional opinion, it is critical for every firm to use all resources wisely to fuel maximum growth in the immediate and long term.

Get New Business in the Door

With WIP (work in process) down anywhere from approximately 10% to 30% in most law firms since last year, now is the time to ensure that all partners are doing everything possible to fuel RIP (relationships in process). Too many lawyers who have hundreds of mainly social relationships are not sure how to convert them into business relationships; do not make every appropriate effort to expand and solidify existing relationships; and/or do not have an efficient method, routine, process or system for doing so. The knowledge, skill and art of client development are not just challenges for new partners. Seasoned experienced partners also get great benefits from attending and participating in a proven business development training and coaching program that focuses on tailored system and process of generating a consistent pipeline of new business.

As many firms re-direct their marketing investments toward emphasizing the one-to-one "sales" process, they are also restructuring and re-focusing their in-house marketing/business development departments to best support these efforts. However, it may no longer be enough to rely solely on internal marketing support. The best internal marketers understand their own limits, but not all external business development trainers, coaches, consultants are equally qualified to help. Some get better, more substantive results than others. That's why "Mastering the 'Sales' Process for Lawyers©" is the program of choice to offer proven outside assistance that augments marketing's contribution to the bottom line. For example, recently, one AmLaw 100 firm sent out a detailed, written RFP to over 15 possible business development trainers/coaches for a group of partners interested in becoming better rainmakers. The firm used an intensive, blind review and selection process to compare trainer/coaches on the basis of experience, credibility, approach, deliverables, features, reporting, benefits, fit, fees, past results and references and then narrowed it down to three finalists. After more due diligence analysis of the finalists, the firm selected our training and coaching program entitled "Mastering the 'Sales' Process for Lawyers©." This program was launched recently, earning excellent evaluations and measurable early results with more to come. To see references, please visit: What Clients Say About Us.

Marketing Departments Are Being Re-Structured

In the past 6 months, many Am Law 100 and 200 firms are carefully re-examining the performance, deliverables and results from their existing marketing departments. That is why there have been so many layoffs of CMOs and other marketing staffers (many unreported). If the current department is not a net revenue producer (at least marginally), it's been cut, re-vamped or may be soon. The days of big budget-big spend on big ticket, non contact marketing items are largely over because most firms need to limit spending in this economy in order to keep PPP up. Firms have also realized that many traditional marketing investments do not really help bring new business in the door. Certainly there is a need to reinforce the brand with key non contact, marketing tools like cutting edge websites and select speaking and writing. But because the vast majority of business is generated one-to-one or in small groups between lawyers and client/prospects - some firms are re-vamping their departments more toward the British model, where every expenditure and effort is driven mainly by the old-school, "gentlemanly" question of "what value does this add directly to my existing or prospective client relationship(s)?" and "what mechanisms/technology/tracking/reporting do we as a firm need to put in place to help increase the results from our greatest areas of investment?", then building the marketing/client services department around the answers to those questions.