Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
What People Tell Us Is Not Always Accurate
Despite thousands of dollars spent on research about why people choose one professional service firm rather than another, we still know remarkably little. Professional services are, to a large extent, too amorphous to respond to simple motivation, but there are some reasonable surmises that can be made, based on both logic and experience.
Unfortunately, the many homegrown surveys done by law and accounting firms don't go deeply enough into motivations to fully understand how people or firms choose one professional firm over another. Part of the problem resides in the fact that professional services marketing rarely moves people to act immediately, and so the purchase decision is often too distant from the marketing effort ' unlike product marketing. Part of the problem is that the reasons buyers need or want legal services are variable and diverse. To a large degree, many individuals ' and many companies ' make retaining decisions for irrational reasons, such as personal relationships or word-of-mouth recommendations. In many cases, decisions are made based on reputation or name recognition. Except for larger firms that have either in-house staffs or long-standing relationships with lawyers, a very large part of the market doesn't have the least idea about how to qualify the professionals they hire. As discouraging as that may sound, it tells us a great deal about how to formulate the elements of a marketing program.
Surveys, moreover, consistently show that how professionals think their clients view their performance and what clients actually think are usually miles apart.
In other words, experience or not, we know far less than we should know. And so we're back to surmises and objectives.
In the light of what we do know, and considering the singular nature of marketing professional services (as compared, for example, to product marketing), what works? Or more specifically, what seems to work?
Conclusion
Because a professional services marketing program must do more than accumulate clients, and because it must function in a dynamic world that's constantly in flux, an effective marketing program can't be a static list of activities that use a static list of marketing tools. It must have clear objectives that are flexible enough to accommodate the dynamic nature of the market. It must focus on specific aspects of a practice, predicated on the distinctive needs of each aspect of the prospective clientele. For example, a marketing program to attract high-asset individuals is different from one to attract corporations. A program to attract real estate developers is different than one to attract builders.And while it's commonly assumed that the idea is to sell the firm, experience shows that marketing professional services works best when it focuses on individual market segments. A program that does well results in projecting a capable firm in all its parts. Obviously, then, a clear understanding of each market served is essential.In other words, no one-size marketing program fits all. How, then, recognizing the foregoing differences, can marketing programs be devised that are focused, effective, and competitive?The answer resides in formulating objectives for each marketing program, based on the distinctive characteristics of each market. It helps immeasurably.
What People Tell Us Is Not Always Accurate
Despite thousands of dollars spent on research about why people choose one professional service firm rather than another, we still know remarkably little. Professional services are, to a large extent, too amorphous to respond to simple motivation, but there are some reasonable surmises that can be made, based on both logic and experience.
Unfortunately, the many homegrown surveys done by law and accounting firms don't go deeply enough into motivations to fully understand how people or firms choose one professional firm over another. Part of the problem resides in the fact that professional services marketing rarely moves people to act immediately, and so the purchase decision is often too distant from the marketing effort ' unlike product marketing. Part of the problem is that the reasons buyers need or want legal services are variable and diverse. To a large degree, many individuals ' and many companies ' make retaining decisions for irrational reasons, such as personal relationships or word-of-mouth recommendations. In many cases, decisions are made based on reputation or name recognition. Except for larger firms that have either in-house staffs or long-standing relationships with lawyers, a very large part of the market doesn't have the least idea about how to qualify the professionals they hire. As discouraging as that may sound, it tells us a great deal about how to formulate the elements of a marketing program.
Surveys, moreover, consistently show that how professionals think their clients view their performance and what clients actually think are usually miles apart.
In other words, experience or not, we know far less than we should know. And so we're back to surmises and objectives.
In the light of what we do know, and considering the singular nature of marketing professional services (as compared, for example, to product marketing), what works? Or more specifically, what seems to work?
Conclusion
Because a professional services marketing program must do more than accumulate clients, and because it must function in a dynamic world that's constantly in flux, an effective marketing program can't be a static list of activities that use a static list of marketing tools. It must have clear objectives that are flexible enough to accommodate the dynamic nature of the market. It must focus on specific aspects of a practice, predicated on the distinctive needs of each aspect of the prospective clientele. For example, a marketing program to attract high-asset individuals is different from one to attract corporations. A program to attract real estate developers is different than one to attract builders.And while it's commonly assumed that the idea is to sell the firm, experience shows that marketing professional services works best when it focuses on individual market segments. A program that does well results in projecting a capable firm in all its parts. Obviously, then, a clear understanding of each market served is essential.In other words, no one-size marketing program fits all. How, then, recognizing the foregoing differences, can marketing programs be devised that are focused, effective, and competitive?The answer resides in formulating objectives for each marketing program, based on the distinctive characteristics of each market. It helps immeasurably.
End of year collections are crucial for law firms because they allow them to maximize their revenue for the year, impacting profitability, partner distributions and bonus calculations by ensuring outstanding invoices are paid before the year closes, which is especially important for meeting financial targets and managing cash flow throughout the firm.
Law firms and companies in the professional services space must recognize that clients are conducting extensive online research before making contact. Prospective buyers are no longer waiting for meetings with partners or business development professionals to understand the firm's offerings. Instead, they are seeking out information on their own, and they want to do it quickly and efficiently.
Through a balanced approach that combines incentives with accountability, firms can navigate the complexities of returning to the office while maintaining productivity and morale.
The paradigm of legal administrative support within law firms has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last decade. But this begs the question: are the changes to administrative support successful, and do law firms feel they are sufficiently prepared to meet future business needs?
Counsel should include in its analysis of a case the taxability of the anticipated and sought after damages as the tax effect could be substantial.