We begin a new series on why most underachieving 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 to deal with it.

The failure is to 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.

allan

Here are the type of questions to ask a client or client prospect which not only demonstrate your skill and understanding of their business, but draw out answers that will help you sell.

* Does in-house counsel have an organized, functioning early case assessment system?
* Are their business and operational units covered in this system?
* How is enterprise risk management and intellectual property protection handled?
* Are they prepared for the arduous demands of e-discovery?
* Do they need outside counsel to assist in litigation public relations or crisis management?
* Can you offer training programs in professional development for the legal department?
* Does your firm provide a shared technology system so you and clients can communicate
directly and easily?
* How will they expect you to “communicate” with them?
* How much of what you communicate with them needs to be formatted so it can be
forwarded to the CEO and Board of Directors?
* What is the best format to use and how often should they be sent?

The very fact that you are already concerned about these essential day-to-day considerations sends a very positive message about you at all stages of the selling process.

DISCUSSION OF DISCOVERY continues our series on winning communications with client prospects and clients. With research and media analysis completed, you are ready for the transition from talking to selling.

For starters, ask how the CEO and Board of Directors expect to be apprised of pending risks and prevention steps. Such questions can directly generate deliverables on your end if, for example, that CEO or Board has asked in-house counsel to provide a larger dose of prophylactic analysis of operational or business units.

If so, you’ve immediately found the critical sweet spot and possibly uncovered a future service area. At that point you can discuss related strategies that you’ve successfully implemented for other clients. If your question about preventive law does not resonate, you simply move on to the next question rather than bog down trying to sell something the company does not want to buy.

Next time, we’ll have a specific list of questions which will not only demonstrate your skill and understanding of their business, but draw out answers that will help you sell.

When the New York Giants won the Super Bowl, no one on the other side could argue that they should have won because they gave a really good effort. Because in the end, it’s all about who wins. Despite all the planning, huddling, offensive and defensive tactics you implement, you only win when you close in the Red Zone and start the engagement. However, all the little steps and big ones you’ve made along the way are what I call ‘invisible successes.’ Each victory leads you up the rung and into The Red Zone. Invisible successes, no matter how small, are not to be dismissed. They encourage. They build morale. They motivate. They galvanize.

After your law firm has developed tactics to generate new business and is driving ahead for what is to come, don’t drop the ball. Your business development strategy cannot exist in a vacuum. It must frequently be measured, massaged, managed and modified to remain effective.

Change starts from within. Use your entire organization as a barometer to measure new business generation initiatives.

Staff
Use your staff and your attorneys to gauge their perception of internal and external progress in business development, newly introduced sales and closing techniques, client outreach and the overall marketing campaign.

The Marketing Department
Keep the channel of communication flowing between attorneys and the marketing department. They cannot produce optimal results beached on an island on the opposite end of the building. Expect them to follow up on every significant outreach effort and provide you with frequent updates.

The Organization
Moving aside all bravado, how does your firm measure up against competitors? Bring out the yardstick and start measuring.

Incentives
Rewards for developing new business should be concrete and measurable. By adding up the rewards, you measure progress.

Continuing with our series on really getting to know your clients and your prospects, and assuming you do want to discover what makes them and their companies work, what’s next? You and your marketing support team must make time to organize, pursue and hopefully close opportunities if you do find out. Lawyers are excellent at talking, good at asking questions and only so-so at listening. Yet it is the latter two skill sets that are the ultimate determinants of ongoing success.

According to KLS/Gates “top of Mind” survey of senior in-house counsel, conducted in the summer of 2005, “communicating effectively” and “enjoyable attorneys” are two of the top three attributes for outside counsel selection.

For any lawyer who wants to “communicate effectively and enjoyably” the 60/40 rule that served IBM so splendidly for decades still applies. Client talks 60% of the time, you talk 40%. Demonstrate the knowledge you have obtained by asking strategic questions and getting them to discuss operational and management challenges.

Last year was a good year for law firms, especially those in employment law and litigation. Despite the sub-prime debacle, the legal industry as a whole had a respectable profit. The Recorder reported that law firm behemoths Morrison & Foerster and Orrick and Herrington and Sutcliffe each posted 16 percent increases in revenue, to $772 million and $894 million, respectively. Teams of new blood have come in to fill demand. Legal services expand around the globe. Good times, right? Not quite. Warren Buffet is famously quoted as saying, “Be fearful when everyone else is greedy, and greedy when everyone else is fearful.”

In the legal field, living like a grasshopper—enjoying the harvest without a care about possible lean times ahead—is a recipe for disaster. Now is the time for law firm marketing and business development measures to be in top shape. Like real estate, the legal field has its ups and downs, ebbs and flows. Don’t take a good run for granted. Use the momentum to solidify existing client relationships and create new ones.

It is also a good time to re-evaluate what strategies are in place by the marketing department. Look at what’s working and what isn’t. Are the attorneys the key players, or is the department on a island? What’s the business development strategy? The client retention objectives? When was the last time your firm held training sessions on sales techniques and closing skills? Ask the serious, and sometimes, uncomfortable questions. Hunker down and spread your eggs around the proverbial baskets. And don’t ever get too comfortable.

Questions, questions, questions - the more knowledge about a corporate client you reveal, the more useful information you will receive. Polls and surveys of in-house counsel reveal that during the selection process, greater or lesser emphasis may be placed on :

- Diversity
- Pro Bono Activity
- Community Service

Some companies heavily weight these factors as they apply to competing law firms. Others may believe the activities of individual team members are more important.

Some buyers place equal weight on firm reputation and individual practice in selecting outside counsel. Some CEO’s and Boards of Directors demand the best law firm to solve the specific problem without much concern about who the individual lawyer is. From what you can see, are they really looking to protect themselves with a safety buy, a top firm “brand” so that, if the engagement goes south, they can still say they made the reasonably smart move?

* Do you know?
* Do you WANT to know?
* Do you know how to fine out?

Stay tuned!

Outside counsel can use the knowledge of how corporate law departments are beginning to produce as an opportunity to coach and guide inside counsel into opportunities to pursue similar tactics. This is a powerful yet subtle form of law firm marketing that makes your firm invaluable, cost-effective, and even lucrative. By making yourself increasingly valuable, you do the same for your client.

In order to achieve this status, you must do your research. Understand your role and that of inside counsel. Observe the dynamics of the industry. Be the eyes and ears of the department and a sounding board in which to weigh the pros and cons of litigation pursuit.

This is also a business development technique and business generation opportunity in the making. Your reputation as a must-have resource and ally, champion and revenue generator could work quite effectively in the long run.

Don’t neglect to mention this unusual deliverable technique as an example to other potential clients on your business development wish list.

We ended the previous article by repeating the marketing bromide “Get to know where they go, who they know, what they read.” So where are they going? Are the clients and prospects more likely to attend ABA meetings or their industry association conferences? Who are the people they trust and consult when looking for references for new or special counsel? Is their reading focused on professional journals, industry newsletters or novels of the Old West?

There are two ways to find out; ask or attend a wide range of conferences and workshops. Which do you think is more effective and time-valued? So ask away.

And in the next several segments, we’ll be recommending other key questions to ask to make your presentations and marketing calls much more impactful.

Your Client, Your Collaborator

Everybody enjoys a little ego-stroking from time to time. Hold your client in high regard, and be sensitive to how their expertise can enhance the depth and breath of your own practice, while deepening the bond between you.

• • Invite your client to bar and industry association events to discuss topics related to their industry, like current events, new legislation and court decisions.
• • Ask clients to participate in new partner training to lend advice on their specific needs, pressures and day-to-day concerns.
• • Invite clients to co-author articles or prepare joint presentations with you in which they can provide expert industry commentary to the legal and executive community. Then use the article for your law firm marketing tools and business development. Use them as collateral materials for conferences and seminars you hold. Email the published pieces to prospective clients and colleagues.

This strategy has real benefit. First, you communicate to the client that they have something to contribute. Secondly, you reinforce a strong relationship. In turn, your client may invite you to their training and industry events, which can be a boon for future business development and networking opportunities.