Lessons Learned: The First Step to Successful Law Firm Marketing

As a marketing junkie, I am always looking for that yet-untapped space in which to implement good business-development practices. I found that the legal field area was crying out for attention.

Law firms are slow to warm up to dedicated marketing programs. The most tactical entry was a flank attack. By working my way through the third-party sidelines, I maneuvered to my ultimate goal: Director of Marketing at a respected firm.

I started my legal marketing career on the vendor side ' specifically software. During my time at a legal case management software company, and then at an e-discovery outfit, I had tremendous support from management to do 'whatever it takes' to make the company's products and services attractive and garner support from the legal community. I spent countless hours researching big firm marketing programs, getting to know other legal marketers, and implementing all manner of activities in a tightly controlled and testable environment. Learning to speak (read: sell) to attorneys was entirely more difficult than I had anticipated.

From the strategic viewpoint, I have been involved with the planning and execution of many activities. How many of these sound familiar to you?

• Shows/Events. LegalTech, ABA, ALA, CLE's, seminars, golf games, cruises for managing partners, DRI, and more.
• Web site. SEO, ergonomics, usage tracking, landing pages, design, e-mail campaigns.
• Mail. Mass mailers, target response mailers, drip campaigns.
• Branding. Logo equity, mission statements, competitive advantages.
• Technology. CRM, telemarketing, multimedia presentations.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Suffice it to say, I did it all ' lock, stock, and barrel.

Working for Buy-in

So, did any of it work? The short answer is a resounding yes. It was certainly nothing that happened overnight. It took time, patience, and a hardened resolve to hear the words 'No Thanks' more times than I care to remember.

Lesson learned: There is no silver bullet when marketing to a law firm. You need to have an ammunition warehouse. You have to use 'smart bombs.'

As time passed, I gained valuable insight into how attorneys think. I strolled confidently into my new post at the law firm. At last ' I would be able to flex my legal marketing muscles and help craft the slickest law firm ever.

Enter our friend: Reality.

Outside of the mega-firms, and some very notable boutique firms, the rest of America's law practices are just now coming to embrace the business-development opportunities that good marketing can produce. In my naivet', I was sure that I could take the tested methods I had accumulated and implement them with ease. I could just picture the new clients rolling in.

It turns out that all that time I had spent learning to get 'inside the heads' of attorneys might work when you're selling them a tool or service that can help them address an immediate need (marketing a service to a law firm on the premise of being proactive is almost impossible), but marketing yourself and your brilliant plan raises a whole new set of issues. It's all about buy-in.

I have found that the first step to being successful in marketing a law firm is getting internal support. I cannot stress this concept enough.

Put your plan, experience, and ego aside and realize that, as a marketer in a law firm, you might be among just a handful of people that understand the Keynesian economics of marketing: You have to spend money to make money. 'Priming the pump' is the phrase I learned in college economics. The rest of the staff might not see this long-range goal. After all ' it's not their job ' yet.

Market Marketing

We know that full-blown marketing programs are relatively new among law firms. Plaintiff firms have their yellow page and television ads, (where permitted by the state Bar) and defense firms have their connections, relationships and referrals. As the marketing department finds a rightful home in all manner of firms, competition has naturally increased. What worked in the past is not working in the present. This is a not a simple realignment for many firms. This reality is a fundamental shift in thought aimed at the very core of the firm's practices and theories in getting new clients.

It is important to note that I am not blasting law firm management. Take a step back and look at the big picture. Some firms have been in business for decades, acquiring clients the old-fashioned way. With the sharp increase in law firm competition and the financial savvy of would-be clients, business development demands the existence of the marketing department. Just like lawyers enjoy un-founded snide comments and negative reputations of being spenders of other people's money, so do marketers. This is a truth I learned very quickly.

I have completely readjusted my focus as the marketing director because of these tenets.

My number one goal at the firm is to market marketing. Of course, the ultimate goal is to get more clients; but you will simply not get any traction for your plan without support from the top. Coming to terms with this reality was not easy, and I certainly resisted. I could not understand why I wasn't getting any support. After all, my livelihood depends on getting results ' in the form of new and repeat business.

It may sound counterintuitive, but put aside your work on identifying target markets, creating house lists, building a Web site, and planning blockbuster events. Your number one focus needs to be on selling yourself and how you believe that careful and appropriate marketing will ultimately lead to quantifiable business results. In fact, I wrote two separate marketing plans. One is the traditional external plan of attack to generate new business and raise awareness. The other is my personal program to gain internal support. I came upon this idea after my initial marketing plan presentation was shot down by a flurry of raised eyebrows, heated questions, and demands for explaining the budget. I attempted to save myself by showing off nifty ROI calculation tables and documented studies showing the effects of smart marketing on the bottom line. I've never seen so many glazed-over eyes.

Nowhere in my career has the clich' 'time is money' held as true as it has in the law firm space. The partners who are going to decide whether your plan lives or dies are entirely too busy to shift from lawyer to businessperson mode. This is where my experience on the third-party side has come in helpful. Just like you have to make a favorable impression on a Web site visitor in a split second, you have to do the same for the law partner.

SWOT analysis, complicated ROI forecasts, SEO, target responses, blogs, and a flashy Web site might not interest the managing partners in the slightest. You need to condense all of this to the lowest common denominator. You have to be able to explain, above all, that your marketing plan will help the firm. And you have to do it fast.

Start at the top. Plan a meeting with the senior partners at the right time. Pay particular attention to their schedules. Look for a window of opportunity to get a captive audience when they will not be burdened by ongoing litigation, depositions, or scrambling to get attorneys to turn in their hours. Make the meeting for 30 minutes and use PowerPoint or similar presentation tactics. I went further to create presentation boards with key information prominently displayed at the front of the table. This keeps the critical points always up front.

The goals of this meeting are to explain:

1. Why you want to develop a marketing plan;
2. Why you believe in it; and
3. To plan a follow-up meeting.

First, sell the concept of the marketing plan ' not the plan itself. Show that if you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail. Emphasize the strategic importance of planning. Attorneys understand ' they would never represent a client without a clear plan of attack. I found that my initial meeting of presenting the entire marketing plan put some people off. They felt left out of the process ' and you don't want to make the managing partners feel out of the loop.

Second, be excited! Make your devotion to the practice of marketing and your firm plainly visible. If you have any historical data that shows success you have achieved in the past ' this is the time to showcase it, but keep it simple. In my case, I simply stated that my past marketing efforts resulted in X dollars in profit. I did not explain what I did, but simply stated that I did it ' and that it worked.

Third, plan a follow-up meeting. Make your presentation a cliffhanger of sorts. Infect meeting participants with your charisma (you are a marketer, after all) and build excitement. You want your audience to want to learn more about what you can offer. If you're lucky, the second meeting might be the assembly where you showcase your entire marketing plan. If it is, make sure that the attendees understand it will be a long meeting that might take a full day, if not more. Be honest about the time involved and get an upfront commitment.

Risk Averse vs. Risk-Taking

Lawyers are careful people. It can be safely said that they are not early adopters, and certainly not prone to jumping on any sort of precedent-setting activities. That's not how successful law firms are run. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but on the whole, lawyers are a conservative lot. Conversely, marketing is a practice based on taking risks. We like to call them calculated risks, but they are risks all the same. The practice of law is based on rules and regulations that are clearly defined. Recognizing this fundamental disconnect is paramount to being a successful marketer a law firm. Work to unite the firm with your marketing agenda. If you do not succeed first on this front, you will spin your wheels and waste time justifying your actions to an audience that might not be interested in your marketing techno-babble. Remember, it's all about buy-in. Start on the inside and work your way to the outside. Your firm will thank you for the results and honesty, and you can be proud in knowing that you are making a difference in a firm that stands behind you.

As a marketing junkie, I am always looking for that yet-untapped space in which to implement good business-development practices. I found that the legal field area was crying out for attention.

Law firms are slow to warm up to dedicated marketing programs. The most tactical entry was a flank attack. By working my way through the third-party sidelines, I maneuvered to my ultimate goal: Director of Marketing at a respected firm.

I started my legal marketing career on the vendor side ' specifically software. During my time at a legal case management software company, and then at an e-discovery outfit, I had tremendous support from management to do 'whatever it takes' to make the company's products and services attractive and garner support from the legal community. I spent countless hours researching big firm marketing programs, getting to know other legal marketers, and implementing all manner of activities in a tightly controlled and testable environment. Learning to speak (read: sell) to attorneys was entirely more difficult than I had anticipated.

From the strategic viewpoint, I have been involved with the planning and execution of many activities. How many of these sound familiar to you?

• Shows/Events. LegalTech, ABA, ALA, CLE's, seminars, golf games, cruises for managing partners, DRI, and more.
• Web site. SEO, ergonomics, usage tracking, landing pages, design, e-mail campaigns.
• Mail. Mass mailers, target response mailers, drip campaigns.
• Branding. Logo equity, mission statements, competitive advantages.
• Technology. CRM, telemarketing, multimedia presentations.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Suffice it to say, I did it all ' lock, stock, and barrel.

Working for Buy-in

So, did any of it work? The short answer is a resounding yes. It was certainly nothing that happened overnight. It took time, patience, and a hardened resolve to hear the words 'No Thanks' more times than I care to remember.

Lesson learned: There is no silver bullet when marketing to a law firm. You need to have an ammunition warehouse. You have to use 'smart bombs.'

As time passed, I gained valuable insight into how attorneys think. I strolled confidently into my new post at the law firm. At last ' I would be able to flex my legal marketing muscles and help craft the slickest law firm ever.

Enter our friend: Reality.

Outside of the mega-firms, and some very notable boutique firms, the rest of America's law practices are just now coming to embrace the business-development opportunities that good marketing can produce. In my naivet', I was sure that I could take the tested methods I had accumulated and implement them with ease. I could just picture the new clients rolling in.

It turns out that all that time I had spent learning to get 'inside the heads' of attorneys might work when you're selling them a tool or service that can help them address an immediate need (marketing a service to a law firm on the premise of being proactive is almost impossible), but marketing yourself and your brilliant plan raises a whole new set of issues. It's all about buy-in.

I have found that the first step to being successful in marketing a law firm is getting internal support. I cannot stress this concept enough.

Put your plan, experience, and ego aside and realize that, as a marketer in a law firm, you might be among just a handful of people that understand the Keynesian economics of marketing: You have to spend money to make money. 'Priming the pump' is the phrase I learned in college economics. The rest of the staff might not see this long-range goal. After all ' it's not their job ' yet.

Market Marketing

We know that full-blown marketing programs are relatively new among law firms. Plaintiff firms have their yellow page and television ads, (where permitted by the state Bar) and defense firms have their connections, relationships and referrals. As the marketing department finds a rightful home in all manner of firms, competition has naturally increased. What worked in the past is not working in the present. This is a not a simple realignment for many firms. This reality is a fundamental shift in thought aimed at the very core of the firm's practices and theories in getting new clients.

It is important to note that I am not blasting law firm management. Take a step back and look at the big picture. Some firms have been in business for decades, acquiring clients the old-fashioned way. With the sharp increase in law firm competition and the financial savvy of would-be clients, business development demands the existence of the marketing department. Just like lawyers enjoy un-founded snide comments and negative reputations of being spenders of other people's money, so do marketers. This is a truth I learned very quickly.

I have completely readjusted my focus as the marketing director because of these tenets.

My number one goal at the firm is to market marketing. Of course, the ultimate goal is to get more clients; but you will simply not get any traction for your plan without support from the top. Coming to terms with this reality was not easy, and I certainly resisted. I could not understand why I wasn't getting any support. After all, my livelihood depends on getting results ' in the form of new and repeat business.

It may sound counterintuitive, but put aside your work on identifying target markets, creating house lists, building a Web site, and planning blockbuster events. Your number one focus needs to be on selling yourself and how you believe that careful and appropriate marketing will ultimately lead to quantifiable business results. In fact, I wrote two separate marketing plans. One is the traditional external plan of attack to generate new business and raise awareness. The other is my personal program to gain internal support. I came upon this idea after my initial marketing plan presentation was shot down by a flurry of raised eyebrows, heated questions, and demands for explaining the budget. I attempted to save myself by showing off nifty ROI calculation tables and documented studies showing the effects of smart marketing on the bottom line. I've never seen so many glazed-over eyes.

Nowhere in my career has the clich' 'time is money' held as true as it has in the law firm space. The partners who are going to decide whether your plan lives or dies are entirely too busy to shift from lawyer to businessperson mode. This is where my experience on the third-party side has come in helpful. Just like you have to make a favorable impression on a Web site visitor in a split second, you have to do the same for the law partner.

SWOT analysis, complicated ROI forecasts, SEO, target responses, blogs, and a flashy Web site might not interest the managing partners in the slightest. You need to condense all of this to the lowest common denominator. You have to be able to explain, above all, that your marketing plan will help the firm. And you have to do it fast.

Start at the top. Plan a meeting with the senior partners at the right time. Pay particular attention to their schedules. Look for a window of opportunity to get a captive audience when they will not be burdened by ongoing litigation, depositions, or scrambling to get attorneys to turn in their hours. Make the meeting for 30 minutes and use PowerPoint or similar presentation tactics. I went further to create presentation boards with key information prominently displayed at the front of the table. This keeps the critical points always up front.

The goals of this meeting are to explain:

1. Why you want to develop a marketing plan;
2. Why you believe in it; and
3. To plan a follow-up meeting.

First, sell the concept of the marketing plan ' not the plan itself. Show that if you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail. Emphasize the strategic importance of planning. Attorneys understand ' they would never represent a client without a clear plan of attack. I found that my initial meeting of presenting the entire marketing plan put some people off. They felt left out of the process ' and you don't want to make the managing partners feel out of the loop.

Second, be excited! Make your devotion to the practice of marketing and your firm plainly visible. If you have any historical data that shows success you have achieved in the past ' this is the time to showcase it, but keep it simple. In my case, I simply stated that my past marketing efforts resulted in X dollars in profit. I did not explain what I did, but simply stated that I did it ' and that it worked.

Third, plan a follow-up meeting. Make your presentation a cliffhanger of sorts. Infect meeting participants with your charisma (you are a marketer, after all) and build excitement. You want your audience to want to learn more about what you can offer. If you're lucky, the second meeting might be the assembly where you showcase your entire marketing plan. If it is, make sure that the attendees understand it will be a long meeting that might take a full day, if not more. Be honest about the time involved and get an upfront commitment.

Risk Averse vs. Risk-Taking

Lawyers are careful people. It can be safely said that they are not early adopters, and certainly not prone to jumping on any sort of precedent-setting activities. That's not how successful law firms are run. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but on the whole, lawyers are a conservative lot. Conversely, marketing is a practice based on taking risks. We like to call them calculated risks, but they are risks all the same. The practice of law is based on rules and regulations that are clearly defined. Recognizing this fundamental disconnect is paramount to being a successful marketer a law firm. Work to unite the firm with your marketing agenda. If you do not succeed first on this front, you will spin your wheels and waste time justifying your actions to an audience that might not be interested in your marketing techno-babble. Remember, it's all about buy-in. Start on the inside and work your way to the outside. Your firm will thank you for the results and honesty, and you can be proud in knowing that you are making a difference in a firm that stands behind you.