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Practice Management Course

Marketing and Business Development

Queensland Law Society | Practice Management Course: Marketing and Business Development of 70

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Comments

Comments and suggestions on these materials should be forwarded to Giles Watson, Manager, Practice Support, on [email protected] or 07 3842 5853.

Revision information

Version 1.0 – December 2013

mailto:[email protected]


Table of contents

1. Unit introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4

2. Introduction to marketing and business development .............................................................. 5

2.1 Marketing in professional service firms ................................................................................. 5

2.2 What is marketing? What is business development? ............................................................ 5

2.3 Tips before you start .............................................................................................................. 8

2.4 Planning and budgeting ......................................................................................................... 9

2.5 Review: key points ............................................................................................................... 14

3. Differentiation, positioning and messaging .............................................................................. 15

3.1 The challenge of differentiation ........................................................................................... 15

3.2 Branding and reputation ...................................................................................................... 16

3.3 Develop a personal brand ................................................................................................... 19

3.4 Become an expert ................................................................................................................ 20

3.5 Referral messaging.............................................................................................................. 20


4. Creating new opportunities ........................................................................................................ 22

4.1 Creating new opportunities through existing contacts ......................................................... 22

4.2 Referrals .............................................................................................................................. 23

4.3 Networking ........................................................................................................................... 28

4.4 LinkedIn ............................................................................................................................... 31

4.5 Website design and search engine optimisation ................................................................. 32

4.6 The promotional mix ............................................................................................................ 35


5. Converting opportunities ............................................................................................................ 41

5.1 Sales and sales management ............................................................................................. 41

5.2 Competitive tendering .......................................................................................................... 50

5.3 Pricing and fees ................................................................................................................... 56


6. Managing client relationships .................................................................................................... 57

6.1 Client relationship management .......................................................................................... 57

6.2 Client service ....................................................................................................................... 60


7. References .................................................................................................................................... 63

Appendix 1: Indicative marketing plan template .............................................................................. 64

Appendix 2: Key client tracking template .......................................................................................... 67

Appendix 3: New opportunities tracking template ........................................................................... 68

Appendix 4: Monthly activity chart .................................................................................................... 69

Appendix 5: Client engagement form and new client tracking template ....................................... 70


1. Unit introduction

This unit is required reading as part of the QLS Practice Management Course (PMC).

Legal practice marketing and business development is becoming more ambitious, competitive and sophisticated. This unit aims to explain how marketing and business development can help a principal in legal practice, provide an overview of marketing activities that may be potentially suitable for your circumstances, and outline how selling techniques and approaches can assist you to build a sustainable practice.

At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

describe alternative approaches to business development and marketing

identify approaches most likely to be effective in your practice, and develop a plan for implementation.

Glossary

SMART stands for ‘specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.’ In order to be effective, an objective should have these features.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A business review and planning process requires consideration of these factors.


2. Introduction to marketing and business development

2.1 Marketing in professional service firms

Marketing and business development are key to running a successful business. Legal practice is increasingly pressured. IBISWorld’s Legal Services market research report (September 2013) shows that the market for legal services in Australia is mature with very little growth since 2008. Increased competition in the legal services market due to market consolidation and more sophisticated clients mean that the buyer is more likely to source alternative providers which may put usually reliable sources of income under threat.

Marketing activities take many forms. Principals need to win and retain clients to maintain and develop a business in an increasingly competitive environment.

Relatively few solicitors work to develop their marketing or business development skills, giving those with better skills an edge. However, some simple tactical measures can assist to differentiate services in any market, and personal skills in building and maintaining a client base can improve with disciplined practice.

Marketing for legal services has revolutionised in recent years. Drivers include:

increased competition among practices and from new entrants, particularly professional and commercial service providers

increased demand and sophistication of clients – domestic and international, consumers (B2C) and businesses (B2B)

growth of major national and international practices

increased sophistication of marketing specialists as consultants or in-house

development of professional services marketing as a fully supported professional group with a range of books, magazines, events, specialist recruiters and forums leading to a wealth of accumulated knowledge and advice

growth of new technologies for communication, including mobile technologies

regulatory changes, such as the proposed national reforms for the legal profession.

2.2 What is marketing? What is business development?

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

(http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx - viewed 5/12/13)

Marketing theory introduces the concept of the seven Ps – seven integral components of marketing services both to direct consumers and to businesses. The last four are considered crucial in all marketing activities.

http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx


People The profile of potential clients and customers.

Planning Research, analysis, objectives, and strategies.

Positioning The position of a product or service should be relative to competing products.

Product The service or product that is being sold.

Price The value of the product or service as determined by demand and perceptions of quality and value.

Place Where the product or service is delivered or distributed.

Promotion Techniques used to sell or position the product or service.

(Adapted from Kotler, P, Armstrong, G, Cunningham, P H (2005) Principles of Marketing Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.)

In recent years, business development has overtaken marketing to describe the efforts of practitioners to profitably identify, anticipate and satisfy customer requirements and win business. So:

Is business development just a new term for marketing?

Is business development part of marketing?

Is marketing part of business development?

Opinions differ. Business development is seen by some as concentrating on sales and client development, whereas marketing may be construed as limited to branding and the promotional aspects of websites, advertising, publications and hospitality events. However, terms are commonly and interchangeably used to refer to any activities that attract clients or build a business.

This unit suggests four key elements to marketing and business development as below.

So, which elements should be prioritised?

Priorities will depend on answers to the following questions:

1. Is the practice developing or established?

Principals in a new practice spend more time promoting, networking

and creating new opportunities.

Principals in more established practices spend time maintaining client

relationships and generating referrals.

Differentiation, positioning and

messaging

Creating new opportunities

Converting opportunities

Managing client relationships


2. Who is the competition?

How do competitors market themselves?

Is it best to compete using a similar strategy to competitors or find a new angle?

If the practice cannot compete with competitors’ marketing budgets, consider

investing more time in networking, maintaining client relationships and

generating referrals from established and satisfied clients.

3. What is the client base?

If the practice is dependent on a small number of large clients – work on

maintaining client relationships.

Does the practice target the local community, large organisations or specific

sectors?

4. What is the practice area? Is it intended to maintain a general practice or to focus on an area of specialisation?

5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of individual staff (both employed solicitors and support staff)?

6. What is the available time, money and other resources

Most practitioners now focus on maintaining client relationships and increasing personal business development activity, which is seen as more direct, more effective and lower cost, though more time consuming, than generic marketing techniques. The focus on maintaining client relationships arises out of acceptance of the marketing truism that it costs more to find a new client than it does to retain an existing one.

Despite the move to business development activities, some practitioners remain reluctant to spend time actively cultivating client relationships because it may take time away from legal work, they lack confidence, or they have concerns about the ethics or professionalism of such activities.

Small practice priorities

For the purposes of this section, it is assumed that smaller practices will be a sole practitioner or a practice with five or less solicitors.

Despite size differences, the challenge is to generate legal work and allow the practice to expand into the foreseeable future. Challenges faced by smaller practices include:

Greater reliance on principals

In larger practices, individual solicitors get some work as a result of the marketing efforts of colleagues. If a principal has fewer colleagues, they carry a greater responsibility for marketing and business development.

Limited money

Principals in smaller practices are unlikely to have a large marketing budget and any money they do spend on marketing will have a bigger proportional effect on profits. It is unrealistic to expect small practices to compete with larger practices on advertising reach. Successful marketing by smaller practices is therefore much more dependent on the investment of the principal’s time rather than on spending money.

Limited time

Principals in smaller practices are all-rounders, taking on responsibilities that might be the role of a practice manager or specialist in larger practices. This puts


pressure on their ability to dedicate time to fee-earning and, as a result, business development rarely becomes a top priority.

Paradoxically, the more successful the business development initiatives, the less time principals will have to spend on them, as work comes in and there is a small team to do it.

Effective marketing in small legal practices is dependent on excellent time management by principals. Time for marketing has to be allocated, planned and specific tasks diarised.

Many successful sole practitioners suggest they ‘don’t do much marketing’ and that their practice is successful due to a flow of repeat work and referrals from a loyal client base. However, when questioned, it usually turns out that they invest significant time and effort in activities that they do not define as marketing but that others might, such as delivering excellent client service, staying in touch with their clients and nurturing good relationships with others who might refer work to them. With most practices typically attracting 85% of their work through repeat instructions and referrals, client service and the nurturing of potential referral relationship, activities not being seen as ‘marketing’ by some will nearly always be central to building demand.

2.3 Tips before you start

1. Focus on SMART objectives.

Agree what you want to achieve and decide how to progress. The business development process starts with a specific goal that has a specific outcome.

2. Get the basics right – instil good client-care procedures throughout the practice.

Clients are lost through errors in basic client care, such as clear and timely communication. Implement simple and effective client care procedures that all staff understand. See the Client Service unit for ideas.

3. Focus on people and relationships.

Treat clients as valued individuals, not cash machines. In a competitive industry, appeal lies in personal skills as much as legal skills.

4. Get everyone involved.

Effective business development requires a wide range of skills. Speaking at conferences or seminars, contributing to newsletters or website material, courting current and potential clients, tendering for a place on a legal panel and networking require different skills and suit different personalities.

5. Keep everyone informed.

A client’s impression will be affected by their last contact with the office. Everyone should present a consistent, positive message.

6. More you, less we.

Some potential clients expect solicitors to be arrogant. Wherever possible, try to think of a client’s requirements rather than your skills or experience, and phrase things in terms of benefits to the client.

7. Training and development.

A wide range of business development skills can be improved through training and applied practice, either in-house or with external providers.

8. Listen.

Seek feedback from clients and make changes accordingly.


9. Assess and learn.

Business development initiatives should be assessed on completion and note taken of lessons learnt. Make changes to improve processes for next time.

10. Promote successes.

Gain influence and support for future marketing initiatives by demonstrating the value that effective business development adds.

2.4 Planning and budgeting

Marketing planning:

helps a team or individual gain support from others for their marketing plans

creates a visible plan of all marketing objectives, strategies and plans for the year

gives control and direction over all marketing activities for the year, so marketing can be proactive, not reactive

provides a point of reference for all new or potential marketing opportunities.

Marketing planning process

There are a number of facets to initiating the marketing process, taking the practice from generalised agreement to a strategic marketing plan.

Activity Action

Agreeing the team Appoint a small team for the planning process and allocate individual responsibilities.

Researching and analysing

Include a review of the following:

current work, clients and sources

sources of current work: existing clients, referrals, networking, advertising, PR

effectiveness of current marketing activities

skills, staff and services

competitors

market trends

last year’s marketing activities.

Setting SMART objectives

Identify objectives – consider:

relevant research and analysis

the practice’s vision statement or business plan

using partner meetings to discuss and agree objectives.

Agreeing strategy Determine how the objectives are to be met.

Agreeing budget Based on costs of past activities, prepare a budget for future marketing activities.

Developing the marketing plan

Work through the planning process and use the information to develop the marketing plan.

Developing an action plan

Set out timings and responsibilities for marketing activities.

Monitoring results and return on investment

Decide how the practice will measure success. Remember that some marketing and business development activities can take months or years to demonstrate a return on investment.


Components of a marketing plan (for a practitioner, entire firm or a team)

This is a summary of the core elements of most marketing plans. See appendices for plans and templates.

Element of plan Description

Analysis of current situation

Where does current work come from?

SWOT

What is the geographic scope?

What is the professional scope?

What products and services will be offered?

Who are the main competitors of the practice?

What is the gross fee income and how will this grow?

What is the target for profit (per partner or for each individual employee or as a percentage of revenue)?

Objectives Two to five overriding objectives taken from the vision or the practice’s business plan.

Specific objectives SMART.

What does the practice want to achieve?

Team objectives consistent with practice objectives.

Strategies How are you going to achieve your objectives?

Specific strategies for meeting each objective.

Action plans Should outline the tactics arising from your strategies.

All tasks have time limits and team members are assigned responsibility for achieving them.

Budgets Summarise the budget for each activity.

Key messages In a nutshell, the three sentences that might be used to describe your product/service/initiative.

Bolstered by supporting statements.

Used for consistent communication throughout your practice.


Some marketing plans also include:

Element of plan Description

Success measurement

A summary of how the practice measures the success of each objective.

Clients’ information A summary of clients in groupings based either on their sector or size or on the levels of business.

This could be further broken down into key clients, clients for development, referrers, or other targets.

Useful further information – contact partner, main client contact, and client-related billing information.

Separate key account or Client Relationship Management (CRM) plan

Clients that can be leveraged for business development / marketing opportunities.

Separate media plan Target publications and proposed media releases/features.

Media release list and journalists’ details.

Responsibilities for writing releases/articles.

Plans to meet or entertain journalists.

Events calendar List of hospitality events, seminars, conferences and client group activities.

Budgeting

Most marketing budgets cover a year but some initiatives will need to run for longer than that to be effective. Others will require outlays for longer. If the marketing plan covers more than a year, consider whether the budget should too.

The best time to start the marketing budgeting process is towards the end of a financial year as part of the annual business planning cycle, when the practice can expect an indication of projected revenue for the coming year. Marketing budgets can be set in a number of ways or can consider a number of different factors or techniques. Usually, marketing budgets are decided through a mix of considerations.

Objectives-based budgeting.

A ‘bottom-up’ approach. The practice identifies and costs the resources required to meet the objectives and fund the campaigns set out in the marketing plan. This has the advantage of linking the budget directly to the marketing strategy.

What the practice can afford.

A ‘top-down’ approach. All practices have cost pressures and priorities so, with limited funds available, the marketing budget will compete with IT, facilities or training budgets. Strong arguments and evidence of a return on investment will be required for a successful budget bid.

Question upper limits on marketing spend and consider whether the practice can afford not to spend on marketing.

Variation on previous year.

The previous year’s budget is the obvious place to start: it is seen as roughly the ‘right’ amount, regardless of the success or value that came out of the activities funded.


Share of fee income.

Figures from the QLS/FMRC Legal Business Monitor service suggest that larger practices spend between 2% and 3% on marketing, before salary costs, whilst small practices spend between 1% and 2%.

Competitor-based budgeting.

Many marketing budgets are decided on the basis of what a practice thinks their competitors spend on marketing. If the practice is in close competition with practices that have spent money on highly effective marketing campaigns, it can be tempting to try and match them.

Gaining support

When competing for limited resources, internal politics will always be an issue. So, those advocating an increase in marketing spend should look to influence and gain support from key decision makers.

What should be included in a marketing budget?

Items to consider in developing a marketing or business development budget include: client hospitality, general stationery, website development and maintenance.

Decisions about including items that are otherwise general corporate overheads can have unintended consequences:

The primary purpose of the marketing budget should be to meet the objectives and implement the initiatives outlined in the marketing plan. The marketing budget should not include items unrelated to marketing objectives.

Including items leads to higher spend for marketing and can lead to questioning of the value of the entire marketing function.

The marketing budget controls all marketing spend so corporate hospitality and similar items should be included.

Return on investment

Measuring effectiveness and return on investment:

improves allocation of marketing resources by improving the ability to compare initiatives for effectiveness and by fostering continual improvement

forces consideration of initiatives by asking “what are we going to get out of this?” and “how can we justify this?”

demonstrates return and justifies continued expenditure.


What can be measured?

Measuring the effectiveness of marketing activities will help in the planning and allocation of resources. Relevant measures include:

number of referrals

bid or tender success rate

number of short-listings for a panel or a specific piece of legal work

number of invitations to tender or bid for work received

number of introductions to potential clients converted to meetings

specific leads generated from activities, for example, response rates to direct marketing

advertising response rates

number of practice areas known to key clients

client progress along the customer relationship management (CRM) arrow - see section 6

seminar and hospitality event attendance

quantity and quality of media coverage

number and seniority of contacts in clients and prospects.

Capturing data

Capturing the data to provide figures can be difficult. Measures such as the number of people attending seminars are simple to capture. Databases and IT tools help with other information, such as the number of solicitors known to a client.

Some information will only be gathered through regular contact with colleagues or through team meetings. Once data is captured, it should be centrally stored and available to use at further planning and budgeting meetings.

A final word – don’t overdo it

While planning, budgeting and measuring effectiveness are important, implementing the plan is critical. Leave some time for hands-on marketing. Set a start date for implementation, or a time limit on planning, to get people moving on what many solicitors will find the hard part.


Getting the basics right is vital for business development especially if it is difficult to dedicate time and money to the more tangible, obvious marketing activities and hospitality events. These are some tactics for polishing up on the basics:

Tactic What can be done

Client care Really understand client concerns and reassure clients on what will be done to provide legal solutions to those concerns.

Give accurate cost and time estimates when preparing cost agreements.

Communicate with clients and give regular updates on the progress of their matters.

Conduct client satisfaction research – monitor performance and identify areas for improvement.

Give personal service – many people will choose a smaller practice because they expect a more personal service. Make the most of this advantage.

Quality of work The higher quality the work is, the more referrals and recommendations can be expected.

Efficient sales and conversion of leads

Maximise all opportunities. A confident, structured approach to converting opportunities is likely to significantly increase revenue.

Efficient conversion relies both on consistent work practices and good personal communication skills.

Personal time management

Diarise time for marketing activities.

Plan and make the time, otherwise it won’t happen.

Be realistic.

Solicitors experience feast and famine conditions – if the next week

is quiet, allocate some time to marketing.

2.5 Review: key points

Marketing and business development are key to running a successful legal practice.

The goal is to win business and profitably identify, anticipate and satisfy client requirements.

Marketing and business development professionals with an understanding of the legal sector will provide the best value.

Planning, budgeting and measuring results is critical to success.


3. Differentiation, positioning and messaging

3.1 The challenge of differentiation

Why should anyone instruct you rather than a competitor?

Clients can always find a solicitor with the technical skills to assist them. To avoid competing solely on price, focus on differentiation and give people a reason to choose you over another solicitor.

The Business Planning unit discusses the importance of developing a coherent business model which can help position you in your practice in relation to:

range of practice areas

targeted client segments

fee structures

price/quality positioning.

The same unit emphasised the importance of developing value propositions for your practice, for teams, for individual products and services, and for individual solicitors.

Three of the most important factors for clients in deciding on professional advisors are speed, price and quality. Think about positioning in terms of these three factors and how this affects marketing.

Consider these differentiating factors when identifying your brand attributes:

size of team

experience of lawyers

internal culture

attitudinal factors (friendliness/ approachability/dynamism/ambition of staff)

aggressive negotiation skills

low gearing/involvement of partners

accessibility

online and IT capabilities

international links or capabilities

industry sector groupings

local knowledge

speed of service

specialist knowledge/experience

breadth of services

commercial expertise

free added services

tradition

price/value for money

flexible approach to billing.


There are a number of ways to start identifying what differentiates you from competitors, such as:

client satisfaction surveys and other feedback

specific research with clients and business partners

internal discussions

legal media and directories

using research agencies or branding consultants.

3.2 Branding and reputation

What is a brand?

Each organisation has its own collection of qualities and character traits. The perceived brand is the consolidation of these traits and their projection to the outside world.

Ambler and Styles (1997)1 define brands as:

“the promise of a bundle of attributes that someone buys...the attributes may be real or illusory, rational or emotional, tangible or invisible”.

Therefore, a brand is much more than a visual or tangible identity and its successful projection is not reliant on a big advertising budget. On the contrary, ‘living the brand’ can be more important than promoting the brand, as clients and potential clients will be much more influenced by their actual experience.

Why is a brand important?

A brand reinforces and projects a consistent set of internal and external values and differentiates organisations.

The legal services market has seen a significant increase in competition in recent years. If you do not differentiate, your offering might be viewed as a commodity and you may only be able to compete on price.

A strong brand:

is a promise of consistency, which is reassuring to clients

is a valuable asset and a sustainable selling proposition

breeds client loyalty

offers a margin for premium pricing.

Successful brand building involves:

a focus on internal values as much as external promotion commitment, agreement and consensus from all staff embedding the agreed brand values into practice culture

external and internal reinforcement

a sense of urgency to use the product or service

continual monitoring and evaluation.

1 Ambler, T. and Styles, C., 1997, Brand development versus new product development: toward a process model

of extension decisions, Brand Management, 6(4)


Brand building

Identifying and building a brand can be a long and demanding process. These are the main steps:

Step 1 Gain support and

commitment

Brand building can be a long process, so it is important

to gain support and commitment from colleagues before

starting

Step 2 Plan project Stage the project with clear objectives and timeframes.

Step 3 Research Undertake research with clients, business partners and

staff to identify brand attributes.

Step 4 Define brand values

From research and discussions, identify two to five

brand values that are:

distinctive

a perceived practice strength

easily understood by everyone

easily applied to actions and projects

easily translated into key messages for promotion

important to clients

consistent

able to be promoted with confidence. Some examples are:

respect, integrity, service

commercial, fun, innovative

personality, presence, intensity and consistency.

Step 5 Test brand values Test the agreed brand values with selected staff to

check they are consistent with their perceptions. Then

check with selected clients.

Step 6 ‘Do’ and ‘say’ Brands are judged on what they do, not just what they

say. This is particularly true in professional services.

The ‘do’ and the ‘say’ of branding must be consistent

with each other.

Do: brand experience/relationships/internal

communication/recruitment/training/work practices.

Say: advertising/visual identity/media relations/

publications/events.

Step 7 Manage brand

(‘do’)

Reinforce the brand through people’s experience with the practice. See ‘Managing the brand’ below.

Step 8 Promote brand

(‘say’)

Reinforce the brand verbally and visually. See

‘Promoting the brand’ below.

Step 9 Review and

develop

Integrating brand values into work practices and

promotional materials is only the start of the process.

Feedback from clients and other sources can be used to

check that perception is the same as reality and

intention.


Managing the brand

Living the brand is as important, if not more so, than promoting it, as clients and potential clients will be more influenced by their actual or anticipated experience. Once brand attributes have been agreed on, everything must be consistent with those attributes.

Activity Task

Get buy-in Managing a brand requires consistency which is not possible

unless everyone accepts the brand values and the importance

of applying them.

Communicate

brand values to

all staff and

organise training

Once the brand values have been agreed, they should be

communicated to all staff with an explanation of what they are

meant to convey.

Provide training about brand values and how to apply them to

projects and daily tasks.

Challenge people to think differently so they do things

differently.

Promote the brand values internally – a screensaver, on the

intranet, on internal stationery and on communication material

distributed to all staff.

Consider brand

values when

recruiting and

promoting

Staff are the embodiment of the brand, so consider brand

values at recruitment or promotion.

Include brand

values in

induction talks

Explain brand values and what they are meant to convey.

Senior level discussion

The success of introducing brand values into the practice’s

activities should be discussed at all levels, including partner

meetings.

Continue

promotion of

brand values

Keep promoting brand values by:

discussions in internal newsletters

having ‘brand champions’

recognising the person or project that best embodies the brand

values.

Continue

monitoring client

opinions

Undertake regular research with clients to check if their

perceptions of the practice are consistent with the brand

values.


Promoting the brand

Activity Task

Agree and use

key messages Set three key messages, consistent with brand values, to be

used in all communication eg advertising, brochures, web

copy, media releases, client care letters and bid texts, and

client discussions.

Agree consistent, tailored messages for different teams.

Create a visual

identity that

reflects brand

The content, look and feel of publications and website should reflect brand values.

Create and implement ‘house style’ when formatting all

materials.

Visual identity goes beyond marketing materials and includes the look of offices and the way staff dress.

Make events

brand-consistent Reflect brand values in choice of venue, topics and speakers.

Measure

success of

brand promotion

Undertake regular client satisfaction research and check if brand values are confirmed by client comments.

Analyse media coverage to check if brand values are confirmed in content.

Organise internal discussions to check your lawyers and staff are still confident in living and promoting the brand values.

3.3 Develop a personal brand

For a sole practitioner, identifying the brand is easy – it’s you! Pick out your best attributes, plan where you want to take the practice and promote yourself as much as your practice.

Personality traits distinguish one person from another. When they are consistent, recognisable and valuable to you and/or your practice, then you have a personal brand.

A personal brand is important because clients buy from or develop relationships with people rather than organisations. Reputation matters – it gives people a reason to call you, trust you or refer other people to you – and it pays to invest.

A strong personal brand is authentic, visible and consistent.

Authentic – be yourself. Don’t pretend to be anything other than yourself. People can spot a fraud.

Visible – get out there. Talk to people, network, present, write articles, contribute in meetings, blog.

Consistent – a strong brand can only develop if you are consistent in your actions and behaviour.

So, what’s your brand?

What are your top five values?

What are your strengths – technical and personal?

What are your weaknesses – technical and personal?

How do you think most of your professional colleagues would describe you?

How would you love your professional colleagues to describe you?


How do you think most of your clients would describe you?

How would you love your clients to describe you?

Once you have an idea of what your brand is and what it should be, focus on development:

Be positive, confident and believe in yourself and your value to others.

Develop, demonstrate and communicate strengths.

Address weaknesses and gaps.

Stay true to your values, and be consistent in behaviour and communication.

Seek feedback on how people see you, and how you can develop.

Regularly review and adapt your personal brand.

3.4 Become an expert

Being recognised as an expert is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself and attract new business. It reassures clients and prospects, and makes you a lower risk referral from other professionals.

Expert status can be developed formally or informally:

become a QLS accredited specialist

write books and articles

be an active commentator on LinkedIn or social media sites

start your own blog and promote this

speak at conferences and seminars

gain additional qualifications

become a university lecturer

be ranked as an expert in a legal directory

join a QLS policy panel

become a media commentator

gain media coverage for a high profile or landmark case.

Competition for expert status is getting tougher, especially with practices building the expert status and personal reputations of junior solicitors alongside maintaining the profile of existing experts.

3.5 Referral messaging

What would you like your clients to say about you?

Once potential clients find some names or a shortlist of legal practices, whether through referrals, directories, advertising or other sources, they will likely:

1. look for further information on your website or the internet through online searches

2. telephone your firm

3. ask friends and contacts – increasingly on social media – if they know anything about you.


Maximise opportunities by using clients and contacts as your sales force. This means providing good service, staying in touch and – as with any sales team – giving them the words and messages they can use in their ‘sales’ efforts.

Prospect: Do you know any good succession lawyers in north Brisbane?

Client: Yes. I used XYZ & Associates and was happy with their services.

Prospect: What was good about them?

Client: Stunned silence! = a lost opportunity…

In a competitive market, clients and contacts should be able to tell someone why they should come to you rather than anyone else. It is not difficult to find a solicitor and it is increasingly easy to get a referral/recommendation from someone. If that is by social media, it is there forever for the world to see.

So, with prospects likely to receive a number of names and referrals – you need to give your clients something specific and positive to say about you: a variation on your value proposition, a differentiating feature, or something specific about your costs, people or service levels. Examples include:

“They kept me in control of costs all the way through.”

“They really took the time to understand my needs and helped me understand my options.”

“They had it all sorted in no time with minimum fuss.”

Develop some client messages and weave these into all communications to emphasise your commitment.

First interview: “How can we best keep you in control of costs?”

Client agreement: “We will send you cost updates every two weeks and will always seek your approval for costs not anticipated in this estimate before we proceed.”

Client satisfaction survey: “Did we keep you in control of costs?”

You need to deliver on claims, but sometimes this is not enough to get the message across. Help clients recognise and understand why they can be confident in referring others to you and give them the reasons and messaging they need.


Understand and develop the features that differentiate you from competitors.

Your brand differentiates you, projects your values and is a promise of consistency.

Consider personal brand as well as practice brand.


4. Creating new opportunities

4.1 Creating new opportunities through existing contacts

The majority of new opportunities come through existing clients and contacts – that is, by cultivating referrals. All practices generate some referrals but those who do it best take a focused, systematic approach to client service and development, and the active cultivation of relationships.

This involves some time and effort but is the most cost-effective way of creating new opportunities.

As with many other aspects of marketing and development, the key to developing leads and opportunities lies in a process:

Understand your market

What market are you targeting?

How is the market segmented?

Which segments are attractive in terms of potential growth, profitability and competition?

What social, economic, political or technological facts impact the market?

What issues are involved in buying legal services for each segment?

Target Where is your niche?

Are there gaps in the market?

What expertise/experience can the practice offer?

Match practice strengths to the needs of different segments.

Get specific and detail target sectors, companies, departments, locations and individuals.

Prepare to make contact

Research issues, companies and individuals.

Be professional – this includes appearance and attitude, the office, staff deportment, service offering and outputs.

What do you do? Prepare three key messages about how you can help people.

Develop communication skills – sales, speaking, networking, writing.

What contacts do you have in the chosen segment?

Who are the key decision makers?

What events do they go to?

What publications do they read?

Make contact Use existing contacts first – for work, for referrals, for information.

Target key referrers – professionals, unions, insurers or financiers.

Meet people through networking – industry events, conferences, charity work and school or church activities.

Write articles or advertise in target publications.

Speak at industry events.


Keep at it. Creating new opportunities requires long-term effort, so do not give up if efforts don’t immediately bring new instructions. It takes time to raise a profile, so a steady, sustainable approach is best. Plan how much time and money can be committed to generating new opportunities and follow through!

4.2 Referrals

Why referrals?

What percentage of new clients result from referrals?

For most mature practices, the percentage is very high: studies show that 70-90% of clients choose their professional advisors primarily on the basis of a recommendation or referral.

The benefits of generating opportunities through referrals and recommendations are as follows:

Your marketing costs are reduced – although referrals take time and effort.

Your practice has increased credibility and trust – the fact that someone has referred means the new client already has more confidence than a ‘cold’ approach.

This:

increases your chances of converting the opportunity into an instruction

reduces the time and effort needed to convert the opportunity

increases trust, confidence and openness throughout the matter, making prospects more receptive to you.

Referrals provide an opportunity to help a referrer – if the relationship works, trust is reinforced with the referrer. Referrals that work well are a win for everyone.

Referrals are easy to track, so effectiveness can be monitored.

Referrals come from two main areas:

reciprocal institutional/practice referral arrangements

personal fee-earner referrals.


Reciprocal institution/practice referral arrangements

Depending on area of practice, up to 80% of referrals or recommendations will come from another professional or from a recognised organisation, such as QLS.

While many practices recognise this, they fail to take the necessary actions to protect and develop reciprocal relationships with key institutional referrers. The result is that the relationship eventually ceases, and so do the referrals.

These are some tips for maximising the effectiveness of a reciprocal organisational referral arrangement.

1. Pick partners carefully

It will not be possible to establish formal referral agreements with multiple

organisations: one partner keeps it simple, with three as a maximum. More than

three will not allow enough time to manage the relationship.

What types of organisations will give you the most referrals? This will depend on

your practice area, but common candidates are professional associations,

accountants, financial advisors, other solicitors, insurers and unions.

Consider all possibilities. Consider new or unknown organisations. If there is an

organisation that could be a good partner, approach them, get to know them,

and ask them if they would be open to discussing a mutually beneficial referral

arrangement.

Are they a good choice of partner:

Do they look after their clients?

Are the client bases complementary? Would you be happy to refer your

clients to them?

Is there potential to develop good individual relationships with their people?

Will the cultures be compatible?

Can you trust them to keep their side of the deal?

2. Formalise the relationship

Ask them if they would be willing to discuss setting up a more formal

arrangement.

Discuss how the arrangement might work, including:

realistic expectations of the number of referrals or recommendations that can

be generated by each side each month

the nature of these referrals: will they require passing contact information to a

client, and if so in what circumstances? Will they involve passing client

contact information between organisations, with the client’s consent?

expected actions by each side

training and support to be provided by each side for the other

the need for client disclosure as to the nature of the referral arrangement.

Consider a formal arrangement only if broad agreement can be found on these

points. A formal arrangement is more likely to be successful than an informal

one.


3. Train and support your referral partners

Referral partners cannot confidently refer clients if they do not understand your

practice.

Arrange training for their staff, and provide support information and

documentation.

Provide regular update training – including in relation to new staff or services.

4. Do the follow-up marketing to their clients

Do not expect referral partners to do all the marketing work:

ensure they have enough of your literature

ask what they need and expect in return

promptly follow-up on any opportunities.

5. Keep your side of the bargain

Don’t expect a free ride. Referral relationships work best when there is a

genuine reciprocal benefit for both partners.

Develop measures of your activity and communicate this to referral partners.

6. Consider joint marketing initiatives

If the relationship is going well, with both referral partners actively seeking opportunities from the same client types, consider joint marketing campaigns to save costs and maximise opportunities.

7. Regularly review the relationship

Establish regular meetings to review referral activity and discuss how the relationship can be maintained and developed.

Personal referrals

In addition to practice referral arrangements, all solicitors should be encouraged to cultivate their own network of potential referrers. Here are some tips to maximise individual referrals.

1. Excellent client service

The first step is providing excellent client service.

Aim to exceed client expectations.


2. What do you do?

Referrals come from many sources, including social contacts.

Have a simple key message, preferably memorable, to explain what you do.

Don’t say “I’m a property lawyer.” Tell people how you can help them: “I help

take the pain out of property deals/I help small business handle the compliance

burden.”

3. Build a database

Make lists of potential referrers, whether these are existing clients, past clients,

business contacts, family friends or others.

‘A’ list referrers:

Big fans of the practice who have referred people in the past and can be

expected to provide more referrals.

Limit the numbers: 10? 20? Pay these people some attention by keeping in

regular contact.

‘B’ list referrers (or possibly ‘C’ list referrers):

People who might be willing to refer in the right circumstances, if you keep in

touch.

Only include people who you know, who know you and who respect your

business.

4. Stay in touch and remind people what you do

Aim to ensure that contacts remember and recommend you when they meet a

potential new client.

Regular personalised contact:

With ‘A’ list referrers – coffee catch-ups, phone calls, personalised notes or

emails; mention your recent work and how you have been able to help.

With ‘B’ list referrers – less regular and not so personalised contact like

newsletters or group emails.

Develop a monthly plan of meetings, calls, newsletters and emails to stay in front

of potential referrers.

5. Give to get

Many referrals are reciprocal.

Look for opportunities to refer to others

The more you help others, the more they will be willing to refer work to you.


6. Mention you are a referrals-based business

Mentioning that you are a referrals-based business will subtly suggest that

contacts could refer to you.

Being a referrals based business suggests to potential clients and potential

referrers that you are good at what you do and it gives people some reassurance

that they would be safe in referring others to you.

7. Identify referrals

Identify when somebody has been referred.

Ask “How did you hear of us?” or “Why have you chosen to come to us?” in the

first meeting, in a form, or when gathering initial contact information.

This tells you how many referrals you are generating and lets you thank the

referrer.

8. Thank referrers and keep in touch

Thanking referrers will generate more referrals.

Develop systematic arrangements for thanking referrers – whether by a phone

call, personalised note, or small gift.

A referral conveys significant trust on the part of the referrer: if a client is

unhappy with your service after a referral, it reflects badly on the referrer. For

this reason, stay in touch with the referrer and let them know how the

relationship is going.

9. Respond to positive feedback

Seeking client feedback is vital – the Client Service unit deals with client

feedback in detail.

If you receive favourable comments from one of your clients, thank them and ask

them to pass their feedback to others they think could benefit from your services.

Emphasise how important referrals are to the practice.

10. Asking for referrals

Referrals and recommendations work best when they are unforced and in

response to the needs of others – when the referrer recognises someone’s need

and is happy to recommend.

Asking minor clients to tell their contacts about you can be seen as pushy and

harm the relationship.

If a strong relationship exists, consider asking for a referral.

If asking for a referral:

ask at a relaxed moment, when the relationship is very strong

thank them for their business and any past referrals, and emphasise how

important referrals are to the practice

ask to ask them for a favour – this sets the scene and provides permission to

ask for a referral.

Only ask for referrals once.


4.3 Networking

What is networking?

Networking is the growth and effective leverage of personal and professional networks: it means building relationships and making the most of them.

For some people this is done at dedicated networking events, discussed below. For others who are good at staying in touch, this is done by getting introduced to useful people and building a bank of goodwill and positive associations.

Most professionals and business people are part of LinkedIn, and Facebook can be a networking tool.

Broad, diverse networks are likely to be more use than narrow, homogenous ones.

Don’t neglect or ignore old/cold contacts: they might have developed their own new networks.

Be strategic: think about the types of networks and individuals that will help achieve goals.

Be wary of potentially damaging associations

Build rapport or identify areas of commonality.

Remember people.

Give. Build social and networking capital. Make deposits of goodwill in different relationships that can be drawn on later.

Be appealing – personally and professionally.

Be memorable.

Actively seek introductions but don’t ask for favours before earning the right.

Networking at an event

Networking at an event is a valuable activity for senior and junior solicitors, but many feel uncomfortable with it. Often they believe networking requires natural people skills that they do not possess, or they feel awkward, embarrassed or transparently ‘salesy’ and pushy.

Fortunately, building the necessary skills is easy – effective networking is a process that can be learned and applied.

Consider the attributes of the ‘natural’ networker. They are relaxed and sociable, comfortable meeting new people, a good conversation starter who always knows what to say.

Some put this down to natural ability and an extrovert personality, but neither is necessarily true. Introverts can be effective in networking, and confidence can be developed by learning the key steps and by regular practice.

Remember that many people at any networking event have similar feelings of discomfort.


Prepare

Check the event

What is the potential benefit?

Target individuals

Who else is attending?

Define objectives for each of your targets?

Can introductions be arranged from people who are also

attending?

Prepare

conversation

topics

Do not be lost for words. Prepare conversation elements, ready

for use:

“Hi, I’m X from Aus Lease Law and I specialise in leasing

commercial property.”

Join a group and make positive comments about the

event or host.

Meet a target: “I was hoping to meet you so I could ask…”

Ask interesting questions.

Have some ‘give to gets’ ready

Think of something you could give to others or some way you can

help others as a way of building a relationship and trust. This

could be offering to send an article or introducing someone to

somebody else. Paying it forward creates goodwill that can be

drawn on as required.

Engage

Target Are any targets there and are they approachable?

Can anyone make introductions?

Try to speak to new people who will expand your circle of

contacts.

Pick peers rather than people who are noticeably more senior or

junior to you – these are the people you are most likely to develop

mutually beneficial relationships with.

In approaching a group, pick one that is likely to be welcoming to

newcomers:

A group in a relaxed rather than intense conversation

Groups of three or more where you are less likely to

interrupt private or personal conversations.


Engage Individuals: be confident and ready with a smile and an opening line – direct/casual/superficial – whatever the circumstances suit.

Groups: go to the fringes of the group, smile and listen silently

until an opportunity to contribute arises. Be welcoming to people

who want to join the group.

Say who you

are and what

you do (briefly)

Have a key message that describes what you do (not merely a job

title). Consider finding a line that says how you help people. Keep

it brief and leave people to ask follow-up questions only if they are

genuinely interested.

Develop rapport

Listen.

Ask interesting questions.

Pay attention to the person you’re speaking to.

Find areas of common interest.

Get people talking about themselves.

Be positive and memorable.

Talk business Find out what other people do and move the conversation to

business matters.

Exchange business cards if it feels right. If someone asks for your card, you should ask for theirs. Don’t offer cards indiscriminately.

Give to

get/ask for a

low-

commitment

follow-up

Giving is a great way to develop a new relationship. Offering to

make an introduction or provide an article or a third person’s

contact details gives you a reason to get in contact. Asking for a

meeting or appointment on the basis of a brief chat can be seen

as too pushy – asking if you can stay in touch to help is much

more effective.

Notes After a good conversation with someone, retire to a quiet spot and

subtly make some brief notes. Without notes, you might forget

what was discussed, and miss the opportunity to benefit from the

meeting.

Follow-up

Keep

commitments

Keep promises – send the article or arrange the introduction. Do

not delay, or else it might be difficult to make the most of the

opportunity.

Keep your commitments or risk harm to reputation.

Record the data

Enter information in a database of contacts with any appropriate

notes.

Research

Do some light research on anyone you meet (check their website or LinkedIn profile).

Could they be a useful contact?

Follow-up the

follow-up

10 days after the event, if you have helped someone, or have

earned enough goodwill, ask for a slightly higher commitment,

such as a brief coffee. Be aware of not being too pushy – don’t

ask for a formal meeting or lunch date if you have not earned it.

If someone has helped you, send a thank you note. This makes it

more likely that they will help again.


Hints and tips

Hunt in packs

Networking is more effective if done in pairs or groups. This means you are rarely isolated or distant and makes it easier to join other groups; you can promote each other without appearing to brag. Use the introduction of a colleague as a way to move on to other people.

Beware of food or alcohol

Watch what and how you eat so that you don’t appear inelegant or greedy. Limit your alcohol intake – if you drink too much you might miss opportunities, forget useful information or even embarrass yourself.

Be brief Be wary of boring others, imposing yourself or taking up too much of their time. Make contact, establish a rapport, exchange information and move on.

Advice Don’t give advice unless someone specifically asks for it – it risks offending.

Don’t brag Do not be too pushy or ‘salesy’. Do not brag or be too obvious in promoting your strengths.

Avoid being overt in asking for or offering of business cards

Asking for a business card or offering your own unnecessarily can be seen as coarse. Wait until someone asks for your card, or you have a valid reason to ask to exchange cards. If you remember their details, and you believe they will remember you, you can always look them up on the internet.

Remember why you are all there

Everyone in the room is there to promote their business and make contacts – you can make a good impression in many small ways that can help down the track.

While understanding how to network can help to improve your networking effectiveness, don’t expect networking to generate immediate leads or instructions. This is a long-term initiative – you might not see an immediate benefit, but if you go to the right sort of events regularly, opportunities are created. A long-term view helps to take the pressure off so you can relax.

4.4 LinkedIn

The legal profession has concentrated on the risks rather than the opportunities of participating in social media. However, LinkedIn is now mainstream in business and the professions, helping members stay in front of existing clients, raise their profile, generate referrals and be sought out by new clients.

Used effectively it is a networking tool that takes only time, and works without caffeine or alcohol. LinkedIn can be a great way to connect with old contacts that may turn up in an extended network.

Eight tips for LinkedIn success:

1. Complete your profile.

The more detail in a profile, the easier it is for people to find and connect.

Add a photo and use a ‘professional headline’, such as job title and employer.

Make it consistent with websites and any other online presence.


2. Build connections.

Decide on strategy – do you want as many contacts as possible to maximise reach or to limit your connections to a trusted few.

Invite known contacts, and send invitations when meeting new people.

When seeking to connect with an unknown contact, ask for an introduction from a mutual connection or try to connect with them through a group.

Play by the house rules – there are rules about contacting people you don’t know and moderators will ban you from the site for failure to comply.

3. Give introductions.

Give to get. Introduce people that should get to know each other. This strengthens your network and may prompt return introductions.

4. Join groups.

Join a relevant discussion group. New groups are starting all the time. If there isn’t one for your niche, start one! Blogging in LinkedIn groups is a great way to raise profile and hone your blogging skills.

5. Ask questions/give answers.

Raise your profile by asking or responding to questions – in groups or your network. This will develop new contacts and remind old ones of your existence and expertise. Be tactical – not all questions are worth your time to answer and not all questioners are worth responding to.

6. Provide and respond to status updates.

Let people know your thoughts and activities. Responding to status updates is a way of reconnecting and starting conversations.

7. Be active but don’t be a pest.

The more active you are, in terms of status updates, questions and new connections, the more you raise your profile, but be warned: as with Facebook, it is easy to disconnect from someone without them knowing.

4.5 Website design and search engine optimisation

A law practice website can serve a number of functions. It can:

attract new clients, with the assistance of search-engine optimisation and other marketing

provide additional information (including basic contact details) to prospects, supporting other marketing and business development

provide resources and support to existing clients

sell new services to existing clients.


A website can certainly help attract new clients, but it can also lose them. Potential clients will often review a practice’s website before making contact, and as an aid to selecting which if a few potential practices they will contact first. The website content therefore has to give people a reason to call, provide differentiating messages or offer reassurance.

All practices should now have some sort of online presence, even if this is only a social media page rather than a formal website. Even if you receive almost all your work from other sources, clients and prospects still need to be able to find you. A professional, informative website can offer significant reassurance to potential clients and can be vital in both attracting and converting prospects.

Development options

Developing a website has never been easier, but costs vary dramatically. Many practitioners develop their own websites by using templates from services such as www.wordpress.com or www.squarespace.com for minimal cost. Depending on your skill in using the templates provided, the resulting websites can often look very professional and be effective in terms of search engine optimisation.

Some legal practice management software solution providers are also offering law firms a website as part of their overall package. Alternatively, practitioners can look to retain professional web developers or web builders to develop a more tailored website to meet specific functionality or design needs.

The choice of how you develop your website will often depend on how you want to use your website – specifically whether you want your website to attract enquiries through search engine optimisation, or whether you are happy for the website to simply provide additional information to clients and prospects, supporting other marketing and business development activities.

Website design and content

It is important that practitioners take control of developing their own website.

Website designers and developers can only do so much: the basic design direction, structure, content and messaging in a law practice website has to come from the law practice itself.

Design direction Know what you want in terms of ‘look and feel’.

Review other websites and give any designers or web-builders some examples they can refer to in developing your site.

Structure Take time deciding the operational headings and menus.

Are they internally consistent?

Will users find it easy to navigate through to the information they need?

Content and messaging

Does the website differentiate the practice from other law practices or is it ‘law firm generic’?

Does the website feature a value proposition?

Does the content and messaging provide reassurance to the target market?

Does it have a ‘call to action’ – a prompt for clients to make direct contact?

Does the website answer typical questions from clients and prospects?

Does the site feature personal profiles and photos (to support personal referrals)?

Does the site have dynamic content in terms of news items, blogs, newsletters?

http://www.wordpress.com/

http://www.squarespace.com/


Search engine optimisation

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of building your website’s visibility and prominence in common search engines such as google.com. Given the extent to which potential clients continue to use search engine to identify potential professional providers, effective search engine optimisation can give you the edge on your competitors by driving more traffic to your website.

Significant investment in SEO is not for everyone. Criticisms and challenges of SEO as a major marketing strategy include the following:

Retaining professional SEO consultants or website designers can be prohibitively expensive for smaller practices.

Whilst good initial results are often possible, retaining continued prominence in search engine listings is more difficult.

SEO is highly dependent on the ongoing promotion of the site by other means and the time consuming production and promotion of new content.

The rules by which google.com and other search engines prioritise listings are constantly changing, making it difficult for non-professionals to manage the process effectively.

Resulting enquiries are often not from the targeted market segment, are harder to convert and are more price sensitive than enquiries from other sources.

For the above reasons, many law practices decline to invest significantly in SEO, or alternatively, may place less emphasis on it as a primary marketing strategy once a client base has been built up and more direct referrals can be expected.

The art of SEO is constantly evolving, prompting many to retain professional designers and consultants. SEO practices can be broadly split into those focussed on design and those focussed on website development and promotion.

For tips in relation to design elements, Google have produced the ‘Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide’.

One of the most effective ways to optimise your website’s search engine performance is to maximise the number of links from other topically related sites back to your site. Strategies therefore include:

registering in online directories and listing sites

asking referral partners to include a link from their website through to yours

promoting your website in practice and individual social media pages and updates

blogging, or writing new website content, and promoting this through social media and other sources.

Google and other search engines also provide free tools to help you monitor the performance of your website and control how they interact with your website. Two of the most popular are Google Analytics and Website Optimizer.

Search engine advertising

To complement or as an alternative to SEO, law practices should also consider search engine advertising. Google Adwords allows you to tailor advertising to specific keywords, and also provides significant control and flexibility over expenditure.

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf


4.6 The promotional mix

Promotion is a constituent of marketing, and includes the use of advertising, events and publications to raise the profile of the practice and communicate key messages to targeted audiences.

The key to success lies in linking the activity to the practice’s strategic objectives, all of which are in place before spending any money on promotions.

There are many possible marketing objectives and any number of promotional tools, and practices should work towards the right mix to meet their objectives. Part of this process is recording and assessing promotional efforts.

Example promotional mix matrix

Promotion Selling Relationship

management

Advertising Occasionally

effective

Effective Minimal benefits

Brochures/ leaflets Effective Occasionally

effective

Minimal benefits

Client entertaining Has benefits, but

there are more

effective tools

Can be effective

if managed well

Effective

Direct mail letters Effective,

if well targeted

Effective,

if well targeted

Occasionally

effective

Internet-website, LinkedIn, blogging

Effective,

if well targeted

Effective,

if well targeted

Effective,

if well targeted

Media relations Effective Occasionally

effective

Occasionally

effective

Multimedia Effective,

if well targeted

Good in some

pitches

Effective,

if well targeted

Networking Effective Minimal benefits Effective

Referrals and

recommendations

Effective Effective Effective

Newsletters Effective,

if well targeted

Effective,

if well targeted

Effective

Seminars Has benefits, but

there are more

effective tools

Has benefits, but

there are more

effective tools

Effective

Sponsorship Effective Effective,

if well targeted

Effective,

if well targeted

Here are a few tips about these promotional tools, to help you get started.


Advertising

Best for:

Raising profile within a particular target market.

Communicating specific branding or positioning messages.

Raising awareness of something new – a service, partner, team, successful deal, or merger.

Generating leads and new opportunities.

Hints and tips:

Be as targeted as possible – scattergun advertising is poor value for money.

Advertising tends to be more useful for domestic and small business clients rather than big business, as big business is sophisticated about potential legal advisors and procurement procedures. Big business is more likely to respond to a tailored approach.

Research shows repeated advertising to be more effective than ‘one-offs’.

Plan a structured campaign, rather than reacting to occasional offers.

Find out when target media are running relevant features and slot into that.

Brochures and leaflets

Best for:

A summary of services for clients and intermediaries.

A specific promotion.

Building a more detailed understanding of a product or service.

Hints and tips:

Decide the life of the brochure – plan and budget accordingly.

Don’t include deal lists, team profiles or other information that will quickly date the brochure.

Maintain a consistent style – limit the number of people involved in drafting.

Have someone that has not been involved in the drafting proofread the final draft.

Include a pocket for up-to-date inserts, such as deal lists or profiles.

Don’t rely on brochures for team-specific communication – tailored documents are likely to be more effective.


Client entertaining

Best for:

Introducing colleagues and clients to each other.

Saying thanks to a major client or to introduce new people.

Celebrating a big deal – and talk about the next one.

Hints and tips:

Identify client interests (sport, culture, food, drink) and find an event to suit. Do not pick an event without thinking whether it suits.

Be careful of bulk-buying and season tickets – empty seats are of questionable value.

Watch the ratios – two guests to one host is about right.

Direct mail letters via post or email

Best for:

Conveying specific news and information.

Generating responses, for example, registration for seminars.

Reminding potential clients and referrers of services, features and benefits.

Hints and tips:

Best used with a targeted audience.

Personalise correspondence – it makes a big difference to response rates.

Don’t get a reputation for junk mail. Coordinate the campaigns from different departments or individuals so clients are not bombarded with marketing material.

The internet

Best for:

An information and reference resource for clients.

Advising existing clients of news and events.

Promoting new services to existing clients.

Communicating key messages.

Hints and tips:

Make the site dynamic with regular updates and new information – give people a reason to come back to it.


Thoughts about blogging:

Start blogging on LinkedIn. An alternative is to respond selectively to the posts of others, which builds profile and confidence without much skin exposed.

Blogs are a great way to reach an audience, and there are many bloggers out there – find an angle.

Don't commit to a regular blog without the time and ideas to do it properly.

Doing it properly means remembering that everything reflects on the practice – have someone proof read the content, checking spelling and style.

Doing it properly also means don't blog when you are angry/frustrated/under the influence of alcohol or a drug.

Media relations and publications

Best for:

Improving credibility with new and potential clients.

Reminding clients and potential clients about the practice’s expertise.

Generating new leads.

Communicating specific branding or positioning messages.

Hints and tips:

Good media relations are built on positive long-term relationships. Stay in touch with target media and journalists or they may not be interested when needed.

Be careful – anything you say can be used negatively, particularly if a negative angle is more newsworthy than a positive one.

Do not be dishonest or misleading. Journalists often talk to a number of people and the facts will come out.

Be aware of journalistic rivalry. Many journalists and media are very competitive and may not take kindly to the consistent favouring of a competitor with news.

Media relations can be complicated. Get training from those who talk to the media regularly.

Think about non-traditional media. Consider targeting a local community or niche industry publication?

Multimedia

Best for:

Use as an alternative to a brochure.

Interactivity, or if better design would be beneficial.

To demonstrate modernity or technological flair.

Hints and tips:

This is a fast-moving area. Keep up with technology and choose user-friendly tools and applications.


Networking

Best for:

Raising profile in a target audience.

Demonstrating activity in certain disciplines or sectors.

Making new contacts and generating leads.

Meeting and talking to existing clients.

Introducing a colleague to existing clients.

Hints and tips:

Find out who is going to the event and have a hit list of people to target.

Introduce yourself. Everyone is there to network and business people expect it.

Do not hard-sell, but try to say something memorable.

Give to get.

Immediately after the event, make notes of new contacts and what they might be interested in.

In the following days, have a discussion with any colleagues who also attended the event and plan the best way to make take the next step with new contacts.

Referrals and recommendations

See section 4.2 of this unit.

Newsletters

Best for:

Maintaining contact with existing clients.

Demonstrating added value beyond chargeable work.

Advising about changes in the law.

Promoting new services.

Selling.

Hints and tips:

Get the mailing list right.

Stick to a consistent house-style.

Stand out – there are a lot of newsletters out there. Use design or innovative headlines to increase interest.


Seminars

Best for:

Demonstrating expertise in a particular area.

Promoting particular services.

Staying in touch and demonstrating added value.

Introducing colleagues to clients and to meet the clients of colleagues.

Hints and tips:

Focus on objectives.

Always include drinks or opportunities for networking.

Get your team along to network, and brief them before the session.

Sponsorship (ingoing/outgoing)

Best for:

Associating the practice with a particular event, publication, sector or discipline.

Reinforcing values or showing an interest in a specific target market.

Raising practice profile generally.

Hints and tips:

Success depends on what is included in the sponsorship package – the chance to speak, contribute or distribute literature, mailing lists etc.

Leverage opportunities for cross-promotion.

Ask:

is the audience in a target market?

how many people are invited?

who are the other sponsors?

any feedback from a previous event (delegates/sponsors)?

Avoid the opportunity to sponsor an event/publication if a competing practice is involved.


Most new opportunities come through existing clients and contacts, by referrals.

Referrals and building business from existing clients, though time-consuming, is the most cost-effective way to create new opportunities.

Consider formal referral arrangements where appropriate.

Networking means building relationships and making the most of them.

Use a mix of promotional devices, measuring results to maximise return on money spent.


5. Converting opportunities

5.1 Sales and sales management

Solicitor reticence on sales and sales management is often attributable to concerns about ethics and professionalism, concerns about how it looks to be ‘touting for business’, fear of failure and a lack of organisational support through training, recognition and reward, or coordination.

A successful sale, however, is most reliant on understanding prospects (and their business), gaining their trust and building rapport. Effective sales rely on listening rather than talking, asking questions rather than giving answers. Techniques vary and are easy to learn and apply, whether a sale is expected in two minutes or two years.

The selling process

Selling is a process. Sometimes you only have one or two opportunities to close a sale but for major contracts with large commercial organisations, there may be seven or more different contacts with a prospect before a sale is completed.

The process consists of a number of distinct phases, starting at the point where you have just met or identified a contact. To get an instruction – the solicitor’s ‘sale’ – you might have to go through similar processes a number of times with different contacts in the same organisation. The model outlined below is one of many sales models, but it aims to include all the main issues.


Research

Research prospects:

to establish if they are worth developing as a prospect

to identify a hook, reason, issue, excuse or something to talk to them about to justify the approach.

Not all contacts are worth developing, so ask:

how likely is this prospect to give me work?

is this prospect in our target market?

is this prospect likely to be a profitable client?

Research could include searching internal information and the internet – and talking to colleagues and others.

Approach

Approaches, in general order of effectiveness, include:

following up after a brief first introduction or meeting – preferably building on something they might have said

name-dropping – contacting them after a suggestion, recommendation or referral from a colleague or shared acquaintance

contacting them to discuss something relevant to their business, as a result of news or research

contacting them as a result of a new service

When approaching prospects, aim for an outcome or development that will continue the relationship. This could be a meeting, an agreement to call back at another time, to send some information or to gain a better understanding of their work and concerns. In some types of legal work, you might expect to close a sale in the same conversation as an approach, but this is rare. Whatever the objective, rehearsing an approach can help.

Relationship building/discovering needs

This is the most important phase in the sales process and could take anywhere between two minutes and two years to complete. During this phase, you should look to:

gain the trust or respect of the prospect

develop a dialogue

develop a rapport

identify business or legal concerns by asking questions and listening:

what are their stay-awake issues?

how do they choose advisers?

what are the opportunities?

what are they looking for?

where is their pain?

Once the issues have been identified, confirm understanding and show empathy. For example: “I can see why that’s important”.

If rapport can be developed successfully, they might broach the subject of work themselves. If they don’t, raise it by finding an angle and moving to a trial close.


Trial close

Once concerns have been identified, it is time for the trial close. Ask them a “so, if” question (or a variation of it) in an attempt to get a provisional agreement to proceed:

“So, if we could demonstrate our experience with regard to the inherent political risks in Ukrainian structured finance, would you be interested?”

“So, if I could reassure you on our associate’s experience, would you be interested in a meeting?”

This might lead to the next stage, to a “no” or a “maybe” from the prospect. This can be a good thing, as it allows further probing so you can learn more about their concerns.

Overcome objections

Objections can come in a variety of forms. A real, valid objection is difficult to overcome, but a misunderstanding is simple to put right. A prospect might offer excuses just to put you off.

Whatever the objections, there are techniques to help keep the sale on track:

Gain a good understanding of the objection – get to the root cause.

Acknowledge, or qualify their objections:

“I understand that is an important issue.”

“I can see that would be key.”

Write down their objection. This not only demonstrates respect, it also buys time.

Respond:

If you are confident you can address the objection, set the opportunity up with

one of the following:

The trial close – as above: “So, if we could reassure you about X…”

A presumptive rephrase: “I can appreciate that experience is a key issue to

you. So, you’re saying that if we can put an experienced team together, then

it would be worth having a meeting.”

If you are not confident about resolving the objection, acknowledge this and

focus on another approach.

Tell it like it is: “We can’t compete against those rates but we can offer the best

team around.”

Is the problem lack of information – ask questions until you know.


Close

Closing, or asking for confirmation, is the area where many solicitors hesitate or are reluctant to move forward. It can be seen as pushy, obvious or aggressive but this needn’t be the case. Closing and selling will appear pushy if you get the timing wrong and attempt to close too soon.

The trial close process delays the main close, until you have an understanding of the prospect, so you can judge when the time is right.

Some clients perceive not closing as arrogant, and a sign that you assume you already have the work.

When to close? Look for one or more of the following:

The prospect agrees you meet all their requirements.

The prospect shows a lot of interest in some feature of your service.

The prospect asks specific questions that indicate they are already thinking of working with you:

“How do your client extranets work?”

“Do you have the capacity to put a large team on this?”

If you are confident that it is the right time to close, there are a number of alternative techniques:

The open question: “So, where do we go from here?”

The direct question: “Can we do business?”

The trial close: “So, if…?”

The assumptive close: “So, when do you want to start working on this?”

The alternative close: “So, to get this started, shall we begin tomorrow or next week?”

The chosen technique should be based on specific circumstances and what feels most comfortable and least confronting.

Responsibility and structure

Whether selling to a team, a group of key decision makers or an entire organisation, gain some understanding of the roles of the decision-makers and influencers.

How many people would be involved in the decision?

What are their individual roles and concerns: decision maker? Buyer? User? Influencer (negative or positive)? Gatekeeper? Sponsor?

How senior or influential are the contacts?

Who really has buying power?


Organisational types

Depending on their position in the company, different contacts will have different roles and interests. Try to speak their language and pay attention to their concerns.

Organisational

group/

individuals

Typical concerns

Senior management

Bottom-line finances, company reputation, strategy, management performance.

Middle management

Problem solving, personal standing, stress reduction, budget

management.

Purchasing Price and concessions, defined specifications.

Technical Specific expertise and abilities, technical commercial knowledge.

Project

manager or

main contact

Service levels, communications, rapport, personal standing, job

performance.

Test your assumptions and be ready to adapt, address their issues and build rapport. Be prepared to reassure about a full range of concerns, with one person or many.

Personality types

In addition to organisational types, different personalities will react differently to your approaches. There are many ways to analyse personalities, one of the most common ways is outlined in this matrix.

Assertiveness

Responsiveness

Low High

Low

Analytical

Reflective, rational logical

Typical role: accountant, in-house counsel

Driver

Highly motivated, dynamic, focused, assertive, demanding

Typical role: CEO/MD

High

Amiable

Nice, undemanding, unassertive

Typical role: support/ back room

Expressive

Engaging, talkative

Typical role: salesperson/ trainer

Understanding the type of person you are dealing with, as well as their role, will help you address their concerns and talk their language.


Personality type

Approach

Analytical Detailed facts, numbers and logical reasoning. Give them the information and wait for them to either ask more questions or make a decision.

Driver Don’t waste their time – use facts, be quick and confident, sell hard

benefits and provide proof.

Amiable Gain their trust – gentle, slow selling.

Expressive Give them personal attention – get to know them on a personal

level, be engaging and approachable.

Success will be easier to find with some personality types than others. Successfully matching and mirroring their personalities will help to build understanding and rapport.

Sales management

The biggest barrier to effective sales of legal services is not the sales skills of individual solicitors but the extent to which sales are seen as important in the culture and strategy of the practice. Although things are changing quickly, legal practices are not traditionally set up to sell.

Common problems include:

a cultural aversion to proactive sales, which are seen as unethical or unprofessional

aggressive/ambitious targets for billable hours that leave little time for anything other than fee-earning

a lack of training in sales and other non-legal skills.

To overcome these problems and get serious about sales, a practice will have to both develop and communicate clear objectives about sales, which should be SMART.

The sales pipeline

One way to introduce structure and discipline into a practice, team or individual solicitor’s sales activity is the sales pipeline, which can be used to manage the progress of prospects through the sales process.


By placing prospects in their place on the pipeline, practices or teams can track the success of sales efforts and identify where they need to focus their energy. Ask:

Are we going to meet our targets for new clients?

Are we creating enough contacts/prospects?

Are we developing them successfully?

Do we have a good record in bidding and specific work discussions? What is our success rate? Does this need to be improved?

The effectiveness of a sales pipeline will depend on whether solicitors are motivated to undertake a sales process and take pride (or competitive pleasure) in moving their prospects along. Discussing the pipeline at each team or partner meeting brings organisational drive into the equation and increases motivation.

Ask team members:

“What progress have you made with your prospects this month?”

“What are you going to do in the next month?”

This provides an incentive to act – each team member will want to have a positive response at the next meeting.

The activities in the pipeline need support from the practice – finding that solicitors are too snowed under with work to spend the time, or failing to fund necessary initiatives, will undermine the effort.

Moving prospects along the sales pipeline

All solicitors should also be aware of what they should be doing at each stage and how they will know when a prospect can be moved to the next stage.


Stage Actions Qualification for next stage

Marketing Targeting.

Networking, media relations, advertising, referrals, directories, website, cross-selling.

How details were obtained?

Be mindful of data protection and privacy legislation.

Contact Brief research of contact/ organisation (are they a target?).

Start communicating.

Measure success.

Are they worth developing?

Are they a decision maker or an influencer?

Are they a target?

Initiate contact/follow-up.

Development Prioritise – are they a key target? Are they valuable? Would winning this client be easy or difficult?

Stay in touch /build rapport.

Personalise contact (such as a note with invitations or newsletters).

Ask questions.

Discuss issues and come to understand their business.

Demonstrate knowledge of their business.

Look for the right opportunity to discuss possible instructions.

Identify their issues – locate the pain.

Invitation to meet or discuss specific work.

Note:

Have a reason to pitch.

Don’t ask for opportunities before earning them.

When you know their business, use this to identify opportunities.

Specific work discussions/ bidding and presentation

70% listening.

30% talking.

Continue to ask questions as well as give answers.

Address their issues.

Talk in terms of specific benefits, not general features.

Sales and bid training.

Trial close and close.

Competitive tendering.

An instruction.

Clients Consistently good service.

Keep listening.

Client relationship management.


Support staff, availability and converting enquiries

Practices work hard to generate client enquiries they can turn into instructions.

Opportunities are lost if the practice fails to respond to client enquiries with the speed, information, solicitor contact or active interest required – with the result that clients get frustrated and move onto an alternative provider.

A good response to the first phone call or email from a prospect is vital. At this point they have invested next to nothing in the relationship, so it is very easy for them to move on. As soon as they have discussed their matter with someone, provided personal details or arranged a meeting, they have invested time and effort and there will be some reluctance to write this off for no benefit.

The challenge is to capture the enquirer or potential client, get them talking and progress the relationship onto the next stage. Opportunities are missed for many reasons including:

Reason Why

Inability to

speak to a

solicitor

If they cannot speak to a solicitor or find someone who they can

discuss their matter with, many prospects will call the next practice

on their shortlist or the next number in Yellow Pages.

Ideally, practices would nominate a solicitor – perhaps on a roster –

to be available to take calls from new enquirers.

For times when people are genuinely unavailable, support staff

should be trained to get the caller’s details, help as best they can

themselves (without offering advice they are not qualified to give)

and ensure someone calls them back as soon as possible.

Never say that no one is available and ask that they call back –

this is the surest way to lose an opportunity.

Failure to

return

enquiries

Prospects will only wait so long for a return call before they call

another provider.

Make the return of these calls a priority and set standards for how

promptly both phone and email enquiries are returned.

The first practice to return a call gets first refusal on the prospect.

Inability to

arrange a

meeting at

short notice

A phone call might not be enough. If the prospect wants a meeting

the same day or within a few days and they cannot see someone,

they will move on.

Someone from each practice area should be able to attend meetings

at short notice – again a roster can be helpful.

Inability to provide information about costs or service

If a prospect cannot get answers to “Can you help me?” and “How

much will it cost?” they might lose interest.

Support staff should be trained to provide an appropriate informative

response (if not a definitive answer) to these questions.

Once the prospect is satisfied on these matters, it is easier to move

them on to talking to a solicitor or arranging a meeting.

Failure to

take the

initiative

and arrange

a meeting

A prospect who asks a number of questions about costs, service

or other issues may be reluctant to get into detailed conversations,

preferring to get the information they need to compare with other

practices.

The more client engagement, the more likely the conversion.

Solicitors and support staff should be aware of the importance of taking the initiative in response to enquiries and either:

progressing the enquiry to talking to a solicitor or arranging

a meeting; or

getting contact details so that a follow-up call can be made.


Consider:

training for all staff about handling initial enquiries

providing information so a staff member can confidently handle initial enquiries

ensuring that every effort is made to record the contact details of every caller

increasing the availability of solicitors for initial enquiries by phone or in meetings – consider a roster or some credit or notice for the solicitor who signs them up

measuring:

the number of enquiries received

how many result in a solicitor phone conversation

how many result in a solicitor meeting

how many result in an instruction.

It is important to monitor/measure how successful the practice is in converting initial enquiries to instructions. Increasing the conversion rate on enquiries will save significant time and effort.

Conclusion

Many practices will find effective sales and sales management very difficult to introduce.

The key issues are:

Commitment from the top

Senior management have to take the lead by making sales a priority, setting objectives and creating a culture where effective sales are possible.

Get everyone involved

Although partners will often be the ones closing a sale, everyone should see themselves as part of the process of building relationships with clients and prospects. Associate relationships with junior client contacts now might be crucial in 10 years’ time.

Training

Not everyone is a natural salesperson but training can certainly help.

Time and resources

If sales are important, consider a concession on billable hour targets for key individuals or for a department as a whole?

Measurement and discipline

What gets measured gets done. Practices should monitor progress on sales activities, check if targets are being met, and identify priorities and responsibilities.

5.2 Competitive tendering

Invitations to tender are a success in themselves – some marketing must have been successful to get on the shortlist. This highlights the fact that the bidding process starts well before you receive an invitation to tender and that branding and relationship management are key factors in receiving invitations to tender.

Competitive tendering offers an opportunity to differentiate your practice, and display that you are the best choice for the project. As you are likely to have spent a considerable amount of money generating that opportunity, you should invest time and effort to maximise your chances of a successful bid.


Managing the process

The success of a tender depends as much on the management of the bidding process as on skilful drafting.

This table highlights the stages of a bid.

Stage Actions

Alert colleagues

Let colleagues and any marketing team members know that a bid

is on, and the timescales.

Read and circulate documents.

Research the tendering

organisation

prior to

contacting it

Find out more about the tendering organisation and the project –

web searches, annual reports and news stories.

Has the practice worked for them before?

Does anyone know the organisation?

Identify your competitors.

Develop key themes and hooks for bid.

Identify pertinent questions.

Initial

discussions

and bid

decision

Organise a meeting to discuss:

Conflict considerations?

Do we want this sort of work?

Do we want this job?

How much time will it take?

How profitable will it be?

How risky is it?

Consequences of losing?

Questions for the potential client?

Call

tendering

organisation

or get

meeting if

possible

Make a personal connection.

Communicate enthusiasm.

Ask why you were short-listed.

Demonstrate your knowledge of the organisation and their business.

Ask questions to help in preparing the bid – what are their

worries?

Try to identify their key criteria (expertise/understanding/team/

cost).

Internal meeting

Appoint team.

Agree strategy (see below).

Agree price.

Allocate responsibilities and timescales for drafting.

Manage

writing and

publishing

Packaging and presentation is important.

Coordinate drafting – house style, one voice, fresh eyes to proofread.

Advise marketing/desktop design/courier/print room as required.

Allow time for copying, binding and delivery.

Decide who has final approval and sign off.

Send and check

Send the bid in time for the deadline.

Call to check they received it, whether they read it and have any

questions.

Follow-up Feedback is vital. If unsuccessful, call to find out why. Try to find a

way to stay in touch or discuss other opportunities.

If successful, call to find out why. Start discussing and planning the project.


Also consider the following measures to improve success at bids:

Keep hard and soft copy libraries of all bids to use as a reference for future bids.

Measure win/loss rates and regularly review bids for lessons learnt and continuous improvement.

Organise training for all staff likely to be involved in bids.

Strategy

Many bids fail because they lack focus – there are insufficient compelling, well presented and convincing arguments for the appointment of your practice.

If you have been invited to tender, the client must want to hear from you, and a strategy is required to convey the message you want to send.

Strategy element Actions/considerations

Research Who are the decision-makers at the tendering organisation

and what are the key criteria? Consider the organisational and

personality types.

Who are our competitors?

Analyse A SWOT analysis based on the key criteria and possible

competitors.

Identify unique

selling

proposition

Identify strengths, compared to your competitors?

Be aware of limitations and consider how to deal with questions or challenges addressing them.

Promote

importance of

identified

strengths

Show that the identified area of strength is the most important

factor, for example:

In a fast-moving project like this, client communications

and teamwork will be critical.

If working with Bloggs Pty Ltd, proven negotiating skills will be essential.

In a highly technical project like this, experience will be key.

Price If there are minimal differentiators in the respective bids, the

decision is likely to come down to price, so it pays to

differentiate.

Elements of a competitive tender document

Starting a bid from scratch is a daunting, time-consuming task. It makes sense to refer to previous bids and take certain elements from these. A library of previous bids can provide useful examples. In the largest practices, this may be contained in a searchable database.

Each bid needs to be treated on its merits and of course must comply with any requirements outlined by the client. Most bids include common elements, outlined below.


Tender

component

Description

Covering letter Refer to previous work, meetings or conversations. Make a

personal connection. Keep it short – the information is in the

bid.

Introduction Outline the work you are bidding for and what the document

includes.

Contents List of subject headings and their page numbers.

Executive

summary Articulate your value proposition / selling proposition

Requirements Summarise your understanding of the client’s requirements.

Include any relevant information you have gained about the

client or the project from research or earlier conversations, and

issues that the client has not mentioned but that you think

might affect the project.

Outline the legal work and how you would approach it.

Draft a project plan – break the work into coherent stages.

Relevant

experience Relevant to the specific client/project/sector/country.

Include succinct case studies, outlining how you have helped

others achieve their objectives.

Team A summary of your team, including structure and whether they

have worked together before.

Profiles – tailored to the client /project.

Back-up and other resources.

Suggest specialists if required.

Costs/timescales Be creative and flexible on fees and offer to discuss

Include estimated timescales.

Emphasise value.

Practice

structure and

policies

Policies – IT, quality, risk management, client care, conflicts of

interest, equality and diversity, training, complaints and claims,

financial structure and management structure.

General

information

about the

practice

practice statistics/awards/practice areas/geographical spread/clients/affiliations.

Why us? Outline key points of difference and why you should get the

instruction. Ensure it fits in with the executive summary –

reinforce the message.

Maximising effectiveness

Bid documents do not necessarily win work but can often lose it. These hints might help you to improve your success rate.

Act quickly

Start the bid management process as soon as you get the documents. Otherwise it can be difficult to include all the necessary research, rapport building with the client, discussions, drafting and checking.


Use existing relationships

If a good relationship exists with someone at the organisation, they might be willing to give a lot of advice on the bid and might even be willing to give comments on a first draft. Ensure that this doesn’t break any formal or tacit rules.

Differentiate and sell

Include clear messages outlining what makes the practice different.

Tailor bid to brief, tendering organisation and project

The questions in the documents are there for specific reasons. Ignore any aspect of the tender documentation at your peril.

Tailor each bid to the specific needs and concerns of each client.

Demonstrate commercial knowledge

Demonstrate an understanding of the client, their needs and concerns.

Demonstrate an understanding of the industry sector.

Raise new and relevant issues.

Offer value-adds.

Less ‘we’, more ‘you’

Phrase sentences in terms of the client’s concerns – highlight benefits and solutions rather than your own skills and services.

The client wants to hear that you understand their concerns and that you can help them reach their specific goals.

Try to reflect their style, language and culture.

Detail

Make the bid as simple as possible.

Don’t let detail detract from the key messages.

If appropriate, use appendices for extra detail such as experience lists or team profiles.

Address potential questions or objections.

Consider the people in the decision making process.

Don’t make claims that aren’t backed up by evidence or examples, especially in areas relating to service and client care.

Be enthusiastic

Let the client know that you want the work, and that you are confident you can do a great job. Be positive, not defeatist.


Be consistent

Maintain a consistent writing style – one person should be the main drafter/ reviewer.

Adhere to style or layout rules.

Use simple language

Avoid legalese: unnecessary technical or legal words.

Clients appreciate solicitors who can explain complex ideas simply.

Proofread

Ask someone who has not been directly involved in the bid to proofread it.

Check for consistency, grammar, spelling, house-style and that the client’s name is spelt correctly.

The presentation

Many bids require a presentation before or after submission. This presentation can be as important, or more important, than the written document, so put equal effort into it, and consider:

Before and at the presentation

Ask questions

and interact

Involve the panel throughout the presentation. This builds

rapport, demonstrates your enthusiasm and helps to retain

the panel’s attention.

Personality Use your research to help you relate to and make a connection

with the panel, whether they are expecting a formal or informal

presentation.

Be aware of and adopt or mirror the mood and personality of the

panel as much as possible.

Be flexible Be ready for the panel to take a discussion away from your plan

for the presentation. Go with the flow and respond to what the

client wants.

Expect questions

Think what the panel might ask, and be ready with answers.

Prepare

questions Ask who is on the panel; then do some research on the

members – what do they like, what are their roles and personalities.

Tailor the presentation to suit them.

Demonstrate understanding and enthusiasm with intelligent,

relevant questions.

Rehearse Run through the presentation to iron out any rough patches..

Asking for business

Ask for the work and show your enthusiasm. Don’t let fear of rejection or embarrassment at seeming pushy get in the way of a successful bid.

There are dangers associated with not asking for work – you might appear complacent, arrogant, or not hungry enough.


Some sales techniques can be useful:

“So where do we go from here?”

“How would you like to proceed?”

“So, if our fees can be reduced…”

“So, if we can reassure you about our associates’ experience…”

“If we start tomorrow, we can…”

Practice these with your colleagues before the presentation or a meeting with the client.

5.3 Pricing and fees

See also Costs, Billing and Profitability unit.

In most legal practices, pricing is set by the principals or department heads and their accountants on a six-monthly or annual basis. Minimal flexibility is given to solicitors, and marketing partners and managers are kept well away. This is profoundly different from industries such as retail, where a marketing team may take the lead in pricing issues.

Pricing and fee structuring are critical to the marketing of legal services as they are a significant part of the service offering. Practices should consider their level of fees, how they are structured and presented and how these affect the practice’s appeal to clients.

Differentiate

Wherever possible, give clients a reason other than price to choose you. Effective positioning and messaging can help pull away from price competition and sensitivity.


Selling is a process. Understanding the process helps you convert opportunities.

Understand organisational and personality types when working to convert opportunities.

Develop a sales culture in the practice, and train and support your staff to work towards this goal.

Get tendering right – keep a collection of previous tenders for reference, pay attention to the detail, seek feedback whether or not your bid is successful.


6. Managing client relationships

6.1 Client relationship management

Client relationship management (CRM) is “a systematic, managed approach for sustaining and growing loyal and profitable client relationships”.

CRM aims to give structure and focus to strengthening client relationships. Given limited resources in both time and money, it makes sense to focus on your most important clients.

Existing client relationships must be managed to ensure retention of high quality and a high quantity of work. Winning a new client will always cost more than maintaining and developing an existing one. Apart from that, concentrating on developing existing clients:

helps to lock-in existing workflow

develops existing clients as a source of new business and referrals

keeps you in touch with them, so you can anticipate problems before they become critical

facilitates cross-selling.

The overriding objective of CRM is to strengthen key client relationships. Even if you believe you have a satisfactory relationship with a client and could reasonably expect instructions to keep coming, do not assume things will never change.

There are different sorts of contacts and clients, and different ways to progress, depending on how developed your relationship with the client is.

CRM should ensure that the most important client relationships are constantly developing in the right direction.


Implementing and managing a CRM program

A CRM program can be implemented for a practice, a team, or an office – but the key stages remain the same.

Stage Description

Gain support

and

commitment

Implementing a CRM program can be difficult and frustrating, and its success depends on ‘buy-in’ from everyone.

Explain the benefits of implementing a CRM program and what it will mean for your colleagues.

Agree on

client lists Make lists of clients who are most important to you.

The most obvious are ‘key clients’ – those who have the highest

billings figures or those for whom you do the most work. Before

you start, confirm that ‘highest billing’ is the same as ‘most

profitable’.

Consider other groupings where managing the relationship would

be beneficial ie ‘key referrers’, ‘development clients’, ‘targets’ or

‘quick wins’.

Use accounts and matter listings to identify key clients.

Select a manageable number of clients for specific relationship

management. If you select too many, the process becomes

unworkable.

Set up client

partner and

teams

Identify one person to be responsible for managing the

relationship with each key client. This might be the partner who

does the most work for each client. The responsibilities of the

coordinating partner are outlined below.

Identify the client team – others who do work for the client or have

an interest in doing so.

Research Gather information from a range of internal and external sources.

Useful information includes:

billings

matter listings

who knows who

the scope of the client’s activities

the client’s other advisors

how they like to be entertained (food/drink/social events).

Develop

client plans Analyse the current situation, including a definition of the

relationship as it is, and the results of internal and external

research.

Complete a SWOT analysis for the relationship.

Develop SMART objectives for relationship management,

specifying how you want it to develop:

More instructions?

Higher value instructions?

Cross-sell to different practice areas?

Introduce client’s contacts to more practice contacts?

Develop relationships with more client contacts?

Ask the client to refer their contacts to you, or facilitate a specific introduction.

Develop action plans, including responsibilities and timeframes,

for achieving the stated objectives. How much contact is needed?

What sort of contact?


Implement

plans and

activities –

staying in front

of clients

Implement systems to ensure regular focused contact with

each important client.

Formal meetings, cross-selling, casual catch-ups, phone

calls, personalised emails and letters, entertaining,

networking, newsletters and electronic direct mail.

Use client-tracking templates to track progress in relation to

all key clients and discuss this as a priority at regular team

meetings.

Ensure everyone is taking responsibility for maintaining and

developing client relationships.

Communicate

information Let everyone know key client relationships are being managed.

A list of key clients and key partners, as a minimum, should be

made available to all staff, so they know who to contact regarding

matters affecting these clients.

Regularly

review

progress at

team

meetings

With pressures on fee-earning, it can be difficult to keep partners

focused on relationship management. In team or partner

meetings:

go through the list of key contacts and ask for an update from

the coordinating partner, so gentle pressure is applied for

partners to complete their action points

note any major client contact since the previous meeting, with

plans for further action

use a client-tracking template to monitor progress and confirm

actions/objectives.

Client relationship reviews

Although many solicitors are reticent about asking clients for

feedback, client relationship reviews or satisfaction surveys are a

valuable tool that reassures the client that you value the

relationship and their opinions.

An annual relationship review should be arranged for each key client.

Following each client relationship review there should be an

internal meeting of the client team to discuss progress and how

best to manage the relationship in the future.

See the Client Service unit for more details.

Annual

reviews and

measurement

When implementing a CRM program, measure its success. Try:

client surveys

rates of client retention

client billings

positive feedback, both through direct comments and through

referrers or directories

initial and subsequent categorisation of clients by nature of the

relationship (client/good client/business partner/ advocate).


Coordinating partners

Responsibility for a client relationship should be with a coordinating partner, with clear roles and responsibilities, such as:

responsibility for monitoring the relationship

monitoring all work done and ensuring the client is happy with the service provided

finding out what the client really wants by way of service, now and in the future

acting on the client’s comments and demonstrating progress

deciding on objectives and action points for client development

building relationships at all levels within the client organisation

assuming responsibility for cross-selling opportunities and coordinating as required with other partners or practice groups who work with the same client

ensuring there are no gaps in communication with an important client for more than two months

entertaining key contacts at least once each year – could be as simple as lunch or coffee.

Staying in front of your clients

Maintaining and developing client relationships requires a disciplined approach, especially in the context of fee-earning and other practice pressures. You have to find the right balance between what needs to be done and the available time.

Be realistic, but don’t neglect your responsibilities.

How many formal client meetings can you have a week? Maybe one or two?

How many casual catch-ups can you have a week? Maybe two or three?

How many client calls can you make a week? Maybe eight?

These are reasonable figures for maintaining relationships with 50 important clients – seeing each of them at least once every three months with a couple of calls in between.

Set targets and use the client-tracking and activity templates in the appendices to monitor progress. Allocate regular time slots in your diary each week for coffee catch-ups and phone calls – then make appointments and make the calls.

6.2 Client service

Excellent client service:

gives people a reason to choose you

builds a positive reputation

drives repeat business and referrals from clients

gives confidence and reassurance to potential institutional or professional referrers

reduces downward pressure on fees and costs disputes.

The delivery of excellent client service is addressed directly in the Client Service unit.


Client service as a marketing message

Most practices recognise the importance of service to their branding, and emphasise service and client care in their promotional literature and websites. Unfortunately, these messages can either invite cynicism or raise client expectations.

Don’t make ‘service’ part of your marketing message unless you can make your claims convincing or you can back them up with evidence. If clients are going to respond cynically, you might be better off focusing on other messages – price, experience or expertise.

If you are going to claim service excellence, ensure:

any claims to service excellence are convincing

that the client experience justifies the claims

that each individual in your practice can explain how the practice delivers on the claims.

Make your claims convincing

What messages would make the discerning client challenge their natural cynicism about service claims and start to believe your practice can deliver? Here are a few ideas.

Define ‘service’ – what do you mean when you say ‘client service’? Explain what you mean by client service or explain what you understand about clients’ service needs.

How – explain how you run your practice to deliver excellent client service.

Proof – do you have any proof? Think about statistics on satisfied clients, client testimonials, professional or business awards?

Ensure that every client experience justifies the claims

Delivering consistently excellent client service isn’t easy and requires more than good rapport building skills and good intentions. Unsatisfied clients talk more about their negative experiences than satisfied clients talk about their positive ones. You have to be delivering excellent client service – and actually exceeding client expectations – around 90% of the time before you start to benefit in terms of increased referrals and positive reputation.

Delivering excellent client service involves a mix of personal skills, practice systems and practice culture – all supported by active performance management of service delivery and effective client feedback arrangements. Here are some tips for key actions:

Agree, communicate and keep focused on your objectives.

Publish internal and external service standards.

Publish your standards and policies, including costs.

Know your clients.

Keep your staff happy.

Talk to your team about practice culture.

Review administrative systems and processes with client service in mind.

Provide service training and guidance.


Review remuneration and promotion policies with service in mind.

Review time recording and billable hour policies.

Make service a supervision and performance management issue.

Develop client feedback arrangements.

Develop opening and closing service assessments.

Consistency and discipline.

Maintain the profile and fight complacency.

Train staff to justify service claims

If a client asked a team member to explain why and how the practice delivers excellent client service, could they respond confidently? For effective service delivery and to support any differentiation messaging, everyone in your practice – from receptionist to senior partner – has to understand and be able to confidently explain how the practice meets client needs and delivers excellent client service.


CRM is a systematic, managed approach for sustaining and growing loyal and profitable client relationships.

Appoint coordinating partners for each client.

Stay in front of your clients.

Provide excellent service.


7. References

Kotler, P, Armstrong, G, Cunningham, P H (2005) Principles of Marketing Toronto: Pearson Education Canada)


Appendix 1: Indicative marketing plan template

Marketing plans range from the simple to the sophisticated. This example is towards the more detailed end of the scale – take what you want, forget the rest and find a plan that will best help you manage your own marketing activities.

Part 1: Strategic practice goals (from the practice business plan if this exists)

Goal 1

Goal 2

Goal 3

Part 2: Analysis of current marketing strategies

General comment on

marketing strategy

and effectiveness

What works and what doesn’t? Which current activities bring in the work?

Resources and

constraints

Available budget? Available time for marketing activities?

Clients Do you have the type of clients you want? Where does your current work

come from?

Competition What competitive pressures are you under?

Political, social,

economic and

technological

considerations

What’s happening in the world or local community that could impact on

demand for your services?

Part 3: SWOT Analysis

Strengths (internal) Rating Weaknesses (internal) Rating

Opportunities (external) Rating Threats (external)

Relevance rating: (H)igh (M)edium (L)ow

Part 4: Marketing goals and objectives /strategies

Goal Objective/strategy How are you going to achieve it?

By: (date)

Resp.

What are you trying

to achieve?

Measurable outcome:

Measurable outcome:

Measurable outcome:

Measurable outcome:

Measurable outcome:

Measurable outcome:


Part 5: Segmentation, targeting and positioning

How is the market for

your service

segmented?

eg employers and employees

What is your target

sector?

eg employees

What is your

positioning strategy?

eg the choice of the unions

Part 6: The marketing mix

Product What is the product/service? What’s different about it?

Price What is the pricing strategy? Are you cheap? Expensive? Representing value?

Is there anything innovative in the way your fees are structured?

Place Where do you provide services? Can you work over the phone and internet?

What is your geographical reach?

Where do you market yourself? Do you market yourself through different

channels?

Promotion Do you have a strategy for your promotion? Is it targeted or general? What

messages are you promoting?

Part 7: Implementation/Action plan

By: (date)

Resp. Date(s) and/or frequency

Generating new opportunities

Converting opportunities

Relationship management

Other activities (product development, pricing initiatives)


Part 8: Key messages

Key message 1

eg how do you

want your practice to

be described?

Supporting statements

Key message 2

eg what are the

benefits of using your

service?


Key message 3

eg where is your practice

going?



Appendix 2: Key client tracking template

It is helpful to maintain a central, easily updated Excel spreadsheet that summarises progress on each key client or target.

It can be used as a management report at partners’ meetings to review overall success and to maintain momentum, and should be reviewed and updated after partner and team meetings.

Client Coordinating partner(s)

Objective(s) Current status/ last action (dated)

Next steps

(include by

whom/when)

ABC Mining

A hard hat Gain higher value

work

Gain finance instructions

Coffee with

General Counsel

Meeting with ABC Finance Director

(Managing

Director /2 Aug)


Appendix 3: New opportunities tracking template

How many new prospects have you met recently? Are you in the process of pursuing these opportunities and converting prospects into clients? You can think of this in terms of a funnel.

An Excel spreadsheet template can help track opportunities through the sales pipeline. It should be reviewed and updated after partner and team meetings.

Client Name Last Action Next Action

Recent contacts /prospects (Number = 20?)

ABC Toys Met at charity function

Forwarded Fair Work article

Phone call to seek coffee

catch-up

Good prospects for development (Number = 8?)

Specific work discussions /bidding (Number = 3?)

Recent converted clients (Number = 2?)


Appendix 4: Monthly activity chart

Use this chart for either a team or an individual to monitor regular business development activity. Set targets, and then review regularly. A month is a good period to measure because it allows for peaks and troughs in fee-earning, but choose a period that works for you.

Target Actual Notes

New clients 10

Referrals received 8

Referral thank-you notes

8

Networking events attended

5

Networking follow-up actions

10

Ads placed 1

Client bids/ presentations

2

Media releases/ publication articles written

1

Speaking engagements

1

Formal client meetings

4

Client catch-ups 8

Referrer catch-ups 2

Client phone calls 20

Newsletters articles written

1

Client satisfaction survey follow-ups

10


Appendix 5: Client engagement form and new client tracking template

Client engagement form

Create a separate form or integrate these questions into your client engagement processes and forms to track the effectiveness of marketing and business development activity.

1. What prompted you to come to us?

2. Were you aware of the practice through any other means?

3. If someone recommended/referred you to us, who was it?

4. Is there any reason you have chosen us rather than another advisor?

New client tracking template

Primary Secondary

Prompt for instruction Number

% Number

$

A referral

Met practitioner at business networking event

Met practitioner socially

Advertising – Yellow Pages

Advertising – other

Street/signage

Media item/Publication article

Saw speak at event

Website search

Reason for instruction

Trust in referrer

Price

Reputation for quality

Reputation for speed

Fee structuring and flexibility

Size

Close to my home/work

Experience

Other

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