Column – Legal Musings: Law firms, take note!

October 2015

Stephen Hibbert offers an interesting take on law firm marketing techniques from an in-house point of view.

I have a bone to pick with law firm marketing techniques. I am generally unimpressed with the marketing that most law firms do.

With the advent of email databases, many law firms today think that successful marketing is the ‘e’ equivalent of dropping leaflets over a city from 15,000 ft. and hoping someone will act on them.

There seem to be two general approaches: 1) Take a topic like construction; list some cases in the English courts; make a few observations and send a mailer to everyone on your database. Perhaps the worse is option 2) Take a range of topics; quote some new law and court cases and send to everyone on the database and hope that one of the topics is of interest to the recipient.

Either way, the marketing department validates its role. Partners have to spend little or no time getting involved as most of the newsletter involves quoting text from cases or a law.

There is a saying that applies to most things in life: an un-aimed arrow never misses.

Here are my propositions for successful law firm marketing strategies:

1. You should not treat non-clients the same as clients: What clients get from their law firms should be different - of direct value and not available to non-clients. And clients should know that there is this distinction and that it is part of the value of their relationship with their law firm.

2. All marketing should be focused and personal:One downside to the rapid expansion of international law firms is what I might call their de-personalisation. In almost all cases, key senior executives of the most significant clients of any law firm have a strong, personal relationship with one or more senior partners.

Research and marketing systems these days have the capacity to produce legal up-dates that are personally sent from the relationship partner to his client contact and, in summary, say to the effect: “Dear Bob, over the last month there have been a range of legal developments that are relevant to your business – here is a summary – very happy to stop by and do a short presentation”. Is that really so hard to do?

What’s also critical is that content should be focused and of value to that client and that person.

3. The best clients are the ones that you have i.e. 80/20: Again, in every law firm there are a small(ish) number of key clients that are the most valuable. Value might be a function not just of billings but strategic market position or involves a range of other measures – but you know who they are. Yet constantly, law firms chase ‘new clients’, paying mid-to-scant regard to their existing clients.

Two things to do:

1) Cull– Assess and reassess constantly who you will keep as clients. Don’t be afraid to let very late-paying- troublesome clients go. If you are confident that you offer a quality professional service, clients will come.

2) Divide your marketing department into two sections: Routine (to clients and non-clients) and specialized for ‘key clients’ and spend 80 per cent of time, effort and money on a constant flow of focused communications with your key clients. Personalise all key client communications. Tailor the content directly and especially for their sector or business. Let these key clients know that you are thinking about them when the clock is not running.

It’s the dinner party test: A group of say construction CEOs are dining and one asks the gathering – I need a good construction lawyer for a very major arbitration – who do you know? Inevitably the answer is along the lines: I have used Brian Smith at Hibbert & Co. Terrific guy. Great firm. From the moment we started I felt like the firm was genuinely interested in our business. Constant up-dates on a range of legal issues that affected us. Personal. Available.

As noted above, one downside of the growth of international law firms is that many forget that it is the individuals in clients who make the decisions to hire or fire a firm. Be confident. Focus, focus and focus on those individuals and success will follow.

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