Counterpoint: Marketing in Law Firms

(Editor's Note: In the May issue, I wrote an Op-Ed entitled 'The Land of Wannabe' that focused on the reasons why, after some 17 years, marketing in law firms is still struggling to win acceptance. The following is a counterpoint to that piece, written by Mel Morrione.
' Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' Tursi, Editor-in-Chief)

I found your Op-Ed piece, 'The Land of Wannabe,' in the May 2006 issue of Marketing The Law Firm, to be a valid assessment of what I believe to be a failed incursion of 'marketing' into the business of law firms. You conclude that if the right marketers were available, law firms might figure out how to use them. However, I don't see this happening by any evolutionary or natural process, for all the reasons it has failed to date.

From my 12 years of experience in providing management consulting to law firms in strategic planning and marketing, and more than 20 years as a partner in a major accounting firm, I see the problem from two dimensions. On the one hand, those who manage law firms, both large and small, do not truly understand the role that marketing should play in maintaining and growing their business. On the other hand, most law firm marketing professionals, because they either have honed their skills in law firm marketing departments or come with outside marketing experience but don't understand the law firm business, are not really qualified to fulfill the role that is required. To better understand the issues, and why this is so difficult a problem, each of these perspectives needs to be analyzed separately.

Attitude of Law Firm Management

Many law firm managements, particularly those that run the major firms, would freely acknowledge the importance of marketing. But exactly what that means has as many definitions as definers. Their views are limited to their own experience as practicing lawyers, which has demonstrated that marketing is a staff function to be called upon to provide brochures, bios, newsletters, articles, Web sites, and other assorted trivia that can be sent out with proposals. Some might even use them to maintain client databases, run seminars, and participate in the preparation of proposals. While all these ancillary functions are necessary, they do not represent what real marketing should be in a law firm. There are no commonly understood criteria for the qualifications and role of a 'top marketing person' in a law firm, because there is no track record. The job, which really should be called 'director of business development,' has yet to be defined.

The problem is not with defining the criteria for the role, but with getting management to acknowledge the need for it. I have never met a lawyer who didn't feel that he or she had the innate ability to solve any problem ' any problem at all. So why should it be necessary to bring someone into a senior management position in the firm to handle something so mundane as marketing, which is non-legal work? The real answer lies in the fact that marketing should be done by the lawyers, both partners and senior associates. But except for a small supply of natural, born rainmakers, most lawyers don't really know how to market themselves, or their firms, effectively. And even those who would like to always save marketing for the last item of the day; and to no one's surprise, seldom get around to it, because client matters always manage to get in the way.

Most partners need coaching in what, and how, to market. They need help in developing specific annual and long-term business development plans, marketing skills, and tools and criteria by which to pace their efforts and monitor their achievements. One size does not fit all, and each partner's plan should be tailored to his or her strengths, and should complement the plans of other practice group partners, as well as the overall growth objectives of the firm. However, any management that is serious about making marketing an integral part of the firm business plan cannot just rely on good intentions; they need to require that partners put in the effort and spend a stated minimum amount of time. This will require that management develop and send a clear message that time must be made available for business-development activitie,s and that the effort will be monitored and evaluated by management as a necessary part of a partner's responsibilities, just as it evaluates client service. Unless management takes marketing seriously enough to make every partner a part of the overall marketing effort, everyone who is so inclined will find a valid reason to slip thorough the crack. While every partner will not become a rainmaker, every partner has certain skills that can be used in marketing ' whether speaking, writing, lunching, or just schmoozing. Over a period of time, the sustained efforts of all the partners will make a greater impact on the marketplace than the limited scope of just a few rainmakers.

Qualifications of the Marketing Professional

The skills necessary to help lead a law firm in marketing and business development fall into two categories. First, the professional must understand how lawyers operate and what motivates them professionally. Second, he or she must understand what clients need and what motivates their buying habits.

The role of a top marketing professional in a law firm should be equivalent to the level of a partner. He or she must be responsible, and report directly, to firm management. If not perceived to be at that level, he or she will be considered an employee, and treated as such by the partners. The person should have the experience and qualifications to guide management in the development of growth objectives for the firm. This requires an understanding of the capabilities of the firm, the changing needs of the marketplace, as well as the qualifications of its competitors.

In addition to working with management and developing programs to improve client satisfaction and expand services to existing clients, the top marketer should work with individual partners ' not only on the development of their personal marketing plans, but in their implementation. He or she should be capable of providing valuable assistance to partners who are experienced marketers, as well as new partners who don't know where, or how, to start. He or she should work with practice group heads to focus on building sufficient critical mass to build dominant positions in the market.

The Dilemma

This role can only be effective if the marketing person has complete and unwavering support of management, and the respect, as a professional peer, of the partners. This will be facilitated if the partners can relate to this top marketing professional because he or she has worked in a similar demanding client service environment and has succeeded in developing new business, while also fulfilling client demands. This is the crux of the problem. Generally, candidates for top law firm marketing positions do not possess the skill set and experience required to do the job at the right level ' and if they did, most of those that manage law firms today would not really know how to use them effectively. So where do we go from here?

This dilemma will only be resolved when those who manage law firms come to realize that marketing departments as presently constituted do fill a need, albeit in a staff capacity. But if management's objective is to fend off the competition and significantly grow the business, they should be looking for professionals with the experience and skills to design and implement programs to expand and improve services to existing clients, expand the client base, and motivate and coach partners to develop their visibility and reputations in the marketplace by building a marketing mindset into their daily activities.

(Editor's Note: In the May issue, I wrote an Op-Ed entitled 'The Land of Wannabe' that focused on the reasons why, after some 17 years, marketing in law firms is still struggling to win acceptance. The following is a counterpoint to that piece, written by Mel Morrione.
' Elizabeth Anne 'Betiayn' Tursi, Editor-in-Chief)

I found your Op-Ed piece, 'The Land of Wannabe,' in the May 2006 issue of Marketing The Law Firm, to be a valid assessment of what I believe to be a failed incursion of 'marketing' into the business of law firms. You conclude that if the right marketers were available, law firms might figure out how to use them. However, I don't see this happening by any evolutionary or natural process, for all the reasons it has failed to date.

From my 12 years of experience in providing management consulting to law firms in strategic planning and marketing, and more than 20 years as a partner in a major accounting firm, I see the problem from two dimensions. On the one hand, those who manage law firms, both large and small, do not truly understand the role that marketing should play in maintaining and growing their business. On the other hand, most law firm marketing professionals, because they either have honed their skills in law firm marketing departments or come with outside marketing experience but don't understand the law firm business, are not really qualified to fulfill the role that is required. To better understand the issues, and why this is so difficult a problem, each of these perspectives needs to be analyzed separately.

Attitude of Law Firm Management

Many law firm managements, particularly those that run the major firms, would freely acknowledge the importance of marketing. But exactly what that means has as many definitions as definers. Their views are limited to their own experience as practicing lawyers, which has demonstrated that marketing is a staff function to be called upon to provide brochures, bios, newsletters, articles, Web sites, and other assorted trivia that can be sent out with proposals. Some might even use them to maintain client databases, run seminars, and participate in the preparation of proposals. While all these ancillary functions are necessary, they do not represent what real marketing should be in a law firm. There are no commonly understood criteria for the qualifications and role of a 'top marketing person' in a law firm, because there is no track record. The job, which really should be called 'director of business development,' has yet to be defined.

The problem is not with defining the criteria for the role, but with getting management to acknowledge the need for it. I have never met a lawyer who didn't feel that he or she had the innate ability to solve any problem ' any problem at all. So why should it be necessary to bring someone into a senior management position in the firm to handle something so mundane as marketing, which is non-legal work? The real answer lies in the fact that marketing should be done by the lawyers, both partners and senior associates. But except for a small supply of natural, born rainmakers, most lawyers don't really know how to market themselves, or their firms, effectively. And even those who would like to always save marketing for the last item of the day; and to no one's surprise, seldom get around to it, because client matters always manage to get in the way.

Most partners need coaching in what, and how, to market. They need help in developing specific annual and long-term business development plans, marketing skills, and tools and criteria by which to pace their efforts and monitor their achievements. One size does not fit all, and each partner's plan should be tailored to his or her strengths, and should complement the plans of other practice group partners, as well as the overall growth objectives of the firm. However, any management that is serious about making marketing an integral part of the firm business plan cannot just rely on good intentions; they need to require that partners put in the effort and spend a stated minimum amount of time. This will require that management develop and send a clear message that time must be made available for business-development activitie,s and that the effort will be monitored and evaluated by management as a necessary part of a partner's responsibilities, just as it evaluates client service. Unless management takes marketing seriously enough to make every partner a part of the overall marketing effort, everyone who is so inclined will find a valid reason to slip thorough the crack. While every partner will not become a rainmaker, every partner has certain skills that can be used in marketing ' whether speaking, writing, lunching, or just schmoozing. Over a period of time, the sustained efforts of all the partners will make a greater impact on the marketplace than the limited scope of just a few rainmakers.

Qualifications of the Marketing Professional

The skills necessary to help lead a law firm in marketing and business development fall into two categories. First, the professional must understand how lawyers operate and what motivates them professionally. Second, he or she must understand what clients need and what motivates their buying habits.

The role of a top marketing professional in a law firm should be equivalent to the level of a partner. He or she must be responsible, and report directly, to firm management. If not perceived to be at that level, he or she will be considered an employee, and treated as such by the partners. The person should have the experience and qualifications to guide management in the development of growth objectives for the firm. This requires an understanding of the capabilities of the firm, the changing needs of the marketplace, as well as the qualifications of its competitors.

In addition to working with management and developing programs to improve client satisfaction and expand services to existing clients, the top marketer should work with individual partners ' not only on the development of their personal marketing plans, but in their implementation. He or she should be capable of providing valuable assistance to partners who are experienced marketers, as well as new partners who don't know where, or how, to start. He or she should work with practice group heads to focus on building sufficient critical mass to build dominant positions in the market.

The Dilemma

This role can only be effective if the marketing person has complete and unwavering support of management, and the respect, as a professional peer, of the partners. This will be facilitated if the partners can relate to this top marketing professional because he or she has worked in a similar demanding client service environment and has succeeded in developing new business, while also fulfilling client demands. This is the crux of the problem. Generally, candidates for top law firm marketing positions do not possess the skill set and experience required to do the job at the right level ' and if they did, most of those that manage law firms today would not really know how to use them effectively. So where do we go from here?

This dilemma will only be resolved when those who manage law firms come to realize that marketing departments as presently constituted do fill a need, albeit in a staff capacity. But if management's objective is to fend off the competition and significantly grow the business, they should be looking for professionals with the experience and skills to design and implement programs to expand and improve services to existing clients, expand the client base, and motivate and coach partners to develop their visibility and reputations in the marketplace by building a marketing mindset into their daily activities.