Professional services firms are now seeing the value of having a brand. In the first of a two-part series marketing expert  David Reid explains the right way to go about developing the best brand positioning for your legal practice.  

Hands up! Who’s got a Marketing plan?

Nowadays it’s doubtful if there are any legal firms operating in Scotland who don’t appreciate the importance of marketing. To many however, sadly this means just ticking a few very basic boxes. Typically these will include – refreshing the logo once in a while, having a website, running a few ads in trade magazines such as this, attending or speaking at the odd seminar, doing a few client dinners and sending out photos of the partners engaging in tug o’ war, beard shaving or other laudable charitable activities.
So far, so average, but in these competitive times, is it really enough?

Enlightened professional services companies see marketing as not just a function, but a way of actually doing business. They appreciate that marketing is about meeting the needs and wants of clients. It is about understanding their desires and finding ways to provide services or products which there is demand for, and for which the client is happy to pay. It is about becoming more relevant to the client’s need state.

By blending the big four P’s, the cornerstones of the marketing mix - Product, Price, Place and Promotion, all law firms should be able to generate a positive response from their chosen target audience. This ensures that they buy into the ethos of the firm across the multitude of it’s offerings whilst feeling comfortable about recommending it’s services to others. ( I would like to add in Emotional Proximity to the P’s, but that would be messing with a formula that’s been around since God had a paper round).

Making your marketing more relevant to clients sounds like common sense , but how many firms are actually carrying this through in practice? According to industry expert, Drew McLennan, 95% of legal firms don’t have a written marketing plan. Of course, these firms are not intrinsically lazy, they just don’t understand where to begin to develop a strategic Marketing plan. They don’t know the first steps, they don’t know who should be involved and they often don’t know what they are trying to achieve through the process.
Let’s look at a more focused, yet fairly basic, set of points that will enable the writing of a cohesive Marketing Strategy.

1. Develop a proposition. It all starts with distilling down what your point of difference is. What values do you stand for? What are you expert in? What is your DNA? Once created the proposition needs to be consistently applied to everything, not just in a visual form, but in every word and deed in which your company interacts with the outside world. The more you distinguish your firm from others, the more effective your firm’s marketing efforts become.

2. Assess your client base. Break out key clients by industry, by type of company, revenue, geographical area etc. Identify who are your most profitable clients and compile a list of up to the minute referral sources. Determine the profile of the clients you wish to attract.

3. Cuddle your clients. The chances of selling to an existing client are better than 1 in 2. The chance of selling to a lost client is 1 in 3. The chance of selling to a fresh prospect is no more than 1 in 8. Make contacts, communicate constantly, build on this business bonding, turn it into a friendship and reap the rewards of creating a long term client relationship.

4. Determine key practice areas. What services are you wanting to promote? There are possibly business reasons you want to push certain specialisms more than others.

5. Identify targets. Select clients you’d like to have as well as identifying referral sources within existing clients and journalistic circles.
6. Reporting structures. What internal systems do you instigate to ensure others can learn from results and experiences elsewhere in the firm? What tracking and reporting methods are in place so that revenue can be linked directly back to individual marketing activity.

7. Make everyone an advocate. How much more stronger do you think your firm would be if everyone had a clear sense of direction in which the company was going. Key members of staff should also be encouraged to write down what contacts they’re making, what opportunities there are with existing clients and where they see potential for company growth.

8. Develop action items. Only select activities that will be achievable for your firm to implement. Speaking at seminars, writing articles, networking, getting client feedback, entertainment, joining relevant organisations.

9. Determine a set yearly budget. Develop a cohesive plan as to how you are going to deploy your annual budget and which activities you believe are going to deliver the best results. Which media choices are you going to use - Advertising, Direct Marketing, On Line etc.

10. Stick to your plan. Don’t deviate and throw valuable time and money on activities that are not set in stone at the beginning of the marketing plan. Have courage that a long term positioning is exactly that. Naturally I’ve simplified the whole strategic planning process and being honest, I’ve not even got into the fine detail of how to implement these thoughts. (Well, you wouldn’t expect me to give 22 years of training and experience away for nothing).

So, it’s probably here that I should stick up for us humble marketers. If your firm does not have a qualified marketer overseeing much of this process then I am afraid you are running the risk of creeping inertia and possibly even failure. Whilst all employees of a legal firm are obligated to ‘market’ the firm in one way or other, ensuring your marketing plan is robust, has stakeholder buy-in as well as the correct checks and balances is not something that can be done as a mere sideline to someone’s day job.

Lawyers are not trained in marketing and business development at university. Whilst legal reasoning works best in closed systems where there are accepted rules and outcomes, if your quest is to build a firm that is demonstrably different, then not engaging with a dynamic and creative plan of attack will create a very uninspiring focus. Whilst not having a plan, will mean you spend more money, reach fewer of the right people, be less efficient and grow your business more slowly, if it grows at all.

Marketing is not a quick fix or something to check off a list of things accomplished, but it should be a significant income and awareness driver in the ongoing business process. There is no doubt that nowadays law firms are businesses. Once it was enough for legal firms to just trade on doing a good job, but that is no longer a guarantee of new clients or even retaining existing ones.

Finally it should be remembered that successful marketing does not operate in a vacuum. Good law firm management is required to make it a success. This means there has to an effective management team structure and that the Marketer is not left devising a plan that does not have the collaboration of senior Partners and that is contrary to the firm’s own business plan.

In the next issue I shall discuss how an effective internal team structure might operate and how  it’s my belief that many legal firms do not require a full time Marketing Director.

David Reid is a Freelance Marketing Consultant operating in Scotland.

Keep in touch with the latest news on the marketing industry at www.thedrum.co.uk


TOP TEN TIPS
ON CHOOSING A MARKETING AGENCY

Choosing a marketing agency is an important decision for any business but it’s even more crucial in the competitive market that is the legal sector.

As the leading source of information on marketing agencies our clients ask us for independent advice and support to recruit their marketing partners. Much like legal firms, marketing companies all have their individual specialisms, strengths, weaknesses, key clients and staff. But whether you’re looking for an agency to help with branding and design, direct marketing or PR, advertising or digital we’d recommend some simple principles.


1. Be informed

The first thing you should do is gather your intelligence. Do your research. In the early stages, evaluate the whole market not just a couple of agencies. Talk to marketing contacts in other companies. It’s always helpful to take advice from someone that knows the market.

2. Be prepared

Be organised. Decide on the process you will follow and be aware of the time that will be involved. Early on set a timetable for the whole process and then stick to it. Allow for agency access to key individuals within your company at the relevant times. Make sure you prepare a full written brief with clear objectives and an agreed budget.

3. Be selective

Having done your initial research, cut down your contenders. As the Grand National proves, more candidates and more information doesn’t make it easier to make the right choice.  If you talk to a dozen agencies you’re unlikely to evaluate any of them properly, and chances are you may barely remember who said what.

4. Be objective

You’re making an investment in marketing and need to find the best partner to help deliver your objectives. Be aware of what you want to achieve and stay focused on that. Remember that agencies are full of good sales people, and they’ll all want to sell you their solution.

5. Be firm

Stick to your process. It’s been drawn up to help you judge all parties equally, so stick to the rules. Agencies will try to bend the process. If you bend for one you should be prepared to bend for all.  And that can make it difficult to stay focused on your original objectives.

6. Be fair

You’re looking for a marketing partner, people you’ll get on with and be able to work with productively in the long term. So treat all fairly and be as flexible as you can in meeting an agency’s reasonable requests. Think about the level of investment needed from agencies in the process and consider a pitch fee if appropriate.  

7. Be honest

Share your market data and any appropriate research. Allow the agencies to talk to your people. Don’t hide things unnecessarily. Be truthful about why you’re looking for a new agency as well. Is it about cost, your current agency relationship or the work?  The more an agency knows about your business and what you’re looking for the more likely you are to get a solution that works.  

8. Be happy

Enjoy the process and do what you can to help others enjoy the process. Be happy to meet people and smile. This should be one of the more enjoyable parts of the job. If it’s not, ask yourself why.

9. Be quick

Stick to your deadlines. This is especially important when it comes to making your decision. Once you’ve seen everything you need to see, make your mind up as quickly as you can. Unnecessary delay can just muddy the water. Let the agencies know your decision quickly too.

10. Be kind

Appreciate the effort all the agencies will have put into the process. Share your delight with the winners. The unsuccessful will be disappointed so be as understanding as you can. Make the time to give honest and constructive feedback. Don’t forget that an agency you don’t appoint this time may be just what you’re looking for further down the line.