Client retention has always been at the top of all rainmakers’ business development tactics list. Many would say it is the most important and therefore, the SuperBowl. For several years, BTI’s annual survey of in-house counsel indicates that the most important qualification for their outside counsel is UNDERSTANDING THEIR BUSINESS. They describe it as rare in the marketplace. But actively using it to pursue cloient retention brings superior rewards.

BTI’s 2011 survey is no different, showing understanding of their business as well as client focus as the two highest ranking criteria for retaining outside counsel. If a long standing client, you should be offering advice and ideas on improving their business. If a prospect, make sure you know the environment and competition they work within.

Become their busines partner.

Client retention has always been at the top of all rainmakers’ business development tactics list. For several years, BTI’s annual survey of in-house counsel indicates that the most important qualification for their outside counsel is UNDERSTANDING THEIR BUSINESS. They describe it as rare in the marketplace. But actively pursuing client retention brings superior rewards.

BTI’s 2011 survey is no different, showing understanding of their business and client focus as the two highest ranking criteria for retaining their outside counsel. Yet, a dichotomy seems to exist. ALM Intelligence reported in the December, 2011 issue of Corporate Counsel, that the highest criteria corporate counsel look for in their outside firms and lawyers is firm specialization, followed by cost, responsiveness and history with the company. Nowhere does understanding their business appear.

This absence could be due to how the survey questions were worded, or if the response choices were limited, or the demographics of the companies surveyed differed wildly.

But if you have to make a choice, go with knowledge of a client or prospect’s business. If a long standing client, you should be offering advice and ideas on improving their busines. If a prospect, make sure you know the environment and competition they work within.

They would not be talking with you if they didn’t already know what your specialty is. But become their business partner.

This is the final chapter on law firm mergers and the importance of early involvement by marketing leadership. What can you do to mazimize the “rollout” which begins in earnest after the launch is over? It needs to identify what the marketplace really wants, and deliver it.

The launch is a press release. The rollout is the real meat and potatoes of merger marketing. It requires an in-depth knowledge of your own resources in terms of people and expertise. Those resources can be tough enough to identify at your own firm.

A merger requires an assiuous cataloging of what the two firms bring to the table. It should confirm the wisdom of the merger.

In this third chapter on law firm mergers and the importance of early involvement of marketing leadershipo, the next question is:

How do you show – not tell – the marketplace that your intellectual and professional platform is indeed broader and deeper? New sub-specializations can be defined and marketed. Articles on legal or client industry issues should be co-bylined by lawyers from both merging firms. Talk about mergers in general, using your own as one example. Even years later, partners from the two original firms can still share their experiences at conferences, meetings, etc. And by so doing implicitly remind the market that their own experience is an example of how it is done right.

Our last segment in this series, Maximizing the Rollout, will follow.

This is the second in our series on Law Firm Mergers and the importance of integrating the marketing leadership from both firms as early in the process as possible. Since clients and internal stakeholders will be the most impacted, how should a firm get more people to care?

Well, what do people care about? While marketing in a merger situation is not conceptually unique, it is exponentially more complicated because now you must refine the message and re-identify the messengers across multiple fronts. These fronts encompass the capabilities of the merging firms and the altogether new capabilities that the merged firm presents.

With this premise set, our next column will focus on how you show – not tell – the marketplace that your intellectual and professional platform is indeed broader and deeper.

With law firm mergers increasing 65% between 2010 and 2011 (according to the American Lawyer), it’s time to bring back our series on Law Firm Mergers.

We begin with why most underachieveing law firm mergers share one fundamental deficiency. Over the next several columns, I’ll identify a checklist to be used by the negotiating partners and marketing leadership.

The failure is to not work a practicable marketing strategy into the very soul of the merger – before it happens, while it happens and after it happens. Keep in mind that marketing is not just self-promotional activity but the process by which the institution actually defines itself. It is also used by others, such as in recruitment and business development to define the firm externally. Marketing likewise has an immediate impact on internal perceptions.

The first of the strategic questions from both firms’ marketing leadership should include:

1. Who is going to care about the merger? The answer, of course, is anyone directly affected by it, mainly clients and internal stakeholders. So marketing leadership must provide for direct and well-timed outreach to both constituencies, by phone whenever appropriate.

Stay tuned for more.

Whether it’s the Aztecs of yore or the renewed predictors of economic doom and gloom, is your firm ready to compete? Experience tells us that law firms can differentiate themselves from the pack and engage in successful business development if they:

* Build with recent clients and leads;
* Increase efficiency in pursuing and winning new engagements;
* Stimulate more internal collaboration;
* Advance client/prospect targeting;
* Build the firm and practice area profiles and recognition.

As business development consultants, we often see internal improvements leading to external results [ with little if any additional costs![

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” – G.K. Chesterton

We have been facing the Big Bad Wolf since 2008. Newer partners and senior associates with marketing and business development expectations have been facing obstacles not encountered in such a collective, concurrent state. In the beginning, Little Red Riding Hood feared the Wolf, yet beat him. Future innovators fear the unprecedented number of obstacles facing them, but they too can be beaten.

In recent times, there have been a number of surveys looking at the economy, client retention, and in-house counsel along with legal industry trends. Here are some of the most significant and surprising results:

• According to a recent Edelman survey, consumer trust in U.S. businesses has dropped an additional 8%, now only 5% above trust in Russia. This lack of trust hinders successful business development across all industries.
• According to an American Lawyer Media survey, 64% of in-house counsel anticipate increasingly competitive bidding. Law firms will have to improve legal sales techniques and go the extra mile to win new business.
• According to the same ALM survey, 57% of in-house counsel are looking to cut the number of law firms they work with inhibiting legal sales and making it tougher to close the deal.
• A 2010 Acritas survey indicated that, of those responding, only 22% hired at least one new firm.
• The ALM survey also revealed that 33% of in-house attorneys believe they will be receiving 20% of their legal advice for free in four years. In-house counsel are increasingly obtaining legal advice from online, non-law firm sources at low or no cost.
• In a 2011 ALM Legal Intelligence survey, 32% of new partners surveyed believe law firms will change drastically in the next 10 years. With that change, partners are recognizing the need for business development and legal sales training plus ongoing mentoring to ensure the stability and future of their firms.

Since 2008, law firms have been facing the extraordinarily tough market conditions that have been causing business development concerns and problems. The way to succeed is to get to the RED ZONE and utilize your business development and legal sales training.

The past year has proven tough for all types of businesses, including law firms. With increasing client workload in the face of a faltering economy, law firms need to concentrate on achieving solid, measurable results. Keeping up in 2011 requires cultivation and reinforcement of sales skills and closing techniques through tried & true tactics. In this series of blog posts, we will discuss six Closers Group recommendations for law firms that will help you withstand the test of time and will prove worthy of your time.


Today, it’s all about your clients:

1. Expand Client Efforts: Many firms make the mistake of never expanding their efforts with current clients. By asking clients how your firm is performing and what else they need, you can improve client retention and increase your business across and within practice groups. Many firms conduct client service surveys, but this is not in itself enough to win new business. According to one in-house counsel, firms rarely follow through after surveys or interviews–a huge missed opportunity.
2. Enhance Relationship Building: Building, maintaining, and cultivating client relationships is more important than ever in this market. Clients value relationships and relationships build trust, loyalty, and retention. Know the voice of the client: go where they go, read what they read, and know who they know. Ask them to participate in a conference, to co-author an article, and to speak to your younger attorneys—or consider inviting them to join you for a round of golf or going to the opera. Spend time building the relationship now and down the road, you’ll be able to ask for references and introductions.

Often we get by just doing the minimum required because we’re busy. But if you’re looking to grow in this economic climate, that approach doesn’t cut it anymore. Going above and beyond by following through and reaching out further will result in happy attorneys and happy clients. You may already be in the RED ZONE, but you still have to focus on closing the deal. In the next post of the series, we’ll discuss the importance of maintaining and building effective internal strategies that strengthen a law firm’s core –its employees.

In our previous post, we looked at a survey conducted at the ALM Marketing and Business Development Leadership Forum and talked about how the responses they received weren’t fully in line with our own experiences. And when it comes to law firm directories, our opinion again differs from the survey’s findings.


According to the survey, 80% of chief marketing officers said law firm directories played no role in their marketing efforts. However, I think that the findings here don’t seem to accurately represent the reality, and if you look at the results from the2011 BTI Survey, you’ll see that I’m not alone in my belief. Answers from the BTI Survey respondents showed that law firm directories can actually play an important role in a firm’s marketing efforts. The BTI Survey in-house respondents asserted that they use directories in the following ways:

• 81% use directories to identify outside counsel in an unfamiliar jurisdiction
• 70% use directories to identify outside counsel experts in an unfamiliar legal matter
• 77% use directories to validate the credentials of a referral
• 73% use directories to evaluate outside counsel qualifications
• 56% use directories to compare outside counsel qualifications to competitors
• 45% use directories to conduct periodic reviews of current outside counsel

Whether your law firm is the outside counsel or you’re looking for outside counsel, we’ve found that directories are a great resource. But which directory is the best? According to the BTI Survey, 71% of respondents used Martindale-Hubbell to find other lawyers, while a sprinkling of other respondents used resources such as LinkedIn, Chambers, and the ACC Value Index.


While there are a number of ways to find outside counsel, directories are a great tool that should not be disregarded by your CMO. You may find that you can get to the RED ZONE with a little help from directories. Ask around to see which directories clients and prospects use to get a good sampling.