Marketing Tech: Five Steps to a Strategic Marketing Technology Budget

Budgeting is one of the few predictable functions in legal marketing, and yet, for many, it is a thankless exercise in doing more with (even) less year over year. At the same time, the technology implemented in law firms continues to grow in sophistication and, consequently, cost. Drafting a technology budget that adds value to the firm is increasingly important, and following these five steps will go a long way in ensuring that is the case.

Step 1: Identify how marketing will help advance the firm's strategy.

Start by reviewing the highest-level strategy and goals of the firm. It's a safe assumption that firms want to generate greater revenue next year. The variability lies in what “greater” means to those firms: more revenue, period; more profitable revenue; more revenue from a new market; more revenue from a key client, practice, or industry; and so on. How will firm leadership know that these goals have been achieved?

Consider for a moment that it is next year at this time, and the firm's goals to increase revenue have been realized. Think about the information ' not the specific technology ' needed to create benchmarks and track success over time. Think also about the information that could be leading indicators of success or the need to refactor the strategy. Common data elements to support revenue generation goals include win/ loss ratios for pitches; time, billings, and receipts by office, practice, and lawyer; sources of new business; and number of and engagement with key client and prospect contacts. Resist the temptation to measure everything; instead, focus on only those data points that demonstrate success as specifically defined previously.

Then list the systems the firm has that contain this information. Note both whether the information is readily available, meaning that no one needs to do anything to retrieve it other than run an existing query or report, or if the raw data there, but the specific measures cannot be retrieved easily. If you are unsure of the answers, seek out a colleague in IT or finance who can help answer these questions.

Step 2: Identify the activities that prevent marketing from spending more time supporting the firm's revenue generation strategy.

Examine carefully and with as much specificity as possible the activities that consume marketing resources that do not support the strategy or generate adequate value to offset the time spent. Common examples are responding to RFPs that the firm is unlikely to win due to lack of scale, contacts, specific experience, or rates; credentialing submissions in areas where the firm is unlikely to be ranked; and pay-to-play speaking engagements that do not generate business.

For each item on this list, think about whether firm management would agree that these activities do not generate enough value. If they agree, it may be possible to stop doing them. If, on the other hand, they think they are valuable or necessary, consider whether it is possible to persuade them otherwise. Can the cost-benefit analysis be presented in a way that compels them to reconsider? If so, try to convince them.

When the list of necessary evils is whittled down to as few as possible, order them by most time-intensive to least time-intensive and identify the steps that take the longest for each. Consider what you would need at the ready to reduce the time needed to complete these tasks. Perhaps a comprehensive, up-to-date experience list or a more robust catalog of standard RFP questions and answers would allow marketing to generate a first draft more quickly. Once again, identify the systems that contain the information (or that could contain the information, if implemented) to streamline these activities. Consult with IT or peers at other firms to identify whether there are systems that could help if you don't know of any offhand. The saying, “There's an app for that,” exists because usually, there is.

Step 3: Create a matrix that maps priorities with systems.

This is where the rubber meets the road in technology budgeting. Create a grid where the list of top priorities and necessary evils runs down the first column and all systems needed to support them run across the top. For each list item, check a box for any system that aids the effort. Include both systems already in place and those that should be considered for future purchase. For example, if one of the firm's priorities is to increase revenue in a particular industry, systems that likely support this initiative would include:

• Financial system to track revenue;
• Content management system or proposal generation system to house industry-specific biographies of lawyers;
• D&B or Hoover's for industry coding of clients;
• Experience database to house industry-specific experience; and
• Contact relationship management system to track contacts and business development efforts within the industry.

If you don't have one of these systems, what is the cost in terms of manual effort of not implementing one? It could dwarf the cost of purchasing the technology, regardless of the size of the firm.

Step 4: Prioritize investment in systems and internal resources.

When complete, review the systems with the largest number of boxes checked. This is where to focus the firm's investment. In doing so, consider costs in terms of internal human resources and hard costs for hardware, software, and consultants. Systems that are already in place but that are underutilized may require an internal project team as well as a consultant, but there may not be any hardware or software costs with which to contend. Collaborate with IT to estimate costs, even for systems that do not require capital, as multiyear contracts may be in place to keep maintenance and support prices steady or there may be a need to account for an annual bump.

Equally important is reviewing the systems with the fewest boxes checked. These systems may be an unnecessary drain on IT's resources, if not marketing's. Talk with IT about whether these systems can add more value than they do at present, or whether it makes sense to decommission them. If the systems are necessary, discuss whether there are any additional steps that can be taken to reduce the costs (again, both human resources and hard costs) to support the systems to the bare minimum.

Step 5: Communicate.

The final step is to plot the implementation of technology projects with IT. Among the many considerations are: understanding the full scope of projects IT is planning across departments and practices, and which resources will be available to you; minimizing technology fatigue by distributing significant enhancements or new product launches over the calendar year; and weighing quick wins (creating reports or providing training for existing systems) against the longer-term implementation of a new system.

Budgeting for technology can feel overwhelming to marketers who approach the process by simply reviewing a laundry list of systems. By instead starting with the firm's strategy and ensuring that all technology implemented supports it, marketers will feel more comfortable not just defending technology investments, but in advocating for them as critical to advancing and measuring the firm's success.

Kelly Harbour is the Associate Director of Client Relations at Goulston & Storrs PC. She has more than a decade of experience in strategic planning, managing organizational change, and project execution in the professional services industry and holds a Master of Professional Studies in Law Firm Management from the George Washington University.

Budgeting is one of the few predictable functions in legal marketing, and yet, for many, it is a thankless exercise in doing more with (even) less year over year. At the same time, the technology implemented in law firms continues to grow in sophistication and, consequently, cost. Drafting a technology budget that adds value to the firm is increasingly important, and following these five steps will go a long way in ensuring that is the case.

Step 1: Identify how marketing will help advance the firm's strategy.

Start by reviewing the highest-level strategy and goals of the firm. It's a safe assumption that firms want to generate greater revenue next year. The variability lies in what “greater” means to those firms: more revenue, period; more profitable revenue; more revenue from a new market; more revenue from a key client, practice, or industry; and so on. How will firm leadership know that these goals have been achieved?

Consider for a moment that it is next year at this time, and the firm's goals to increase revenue have been realized. Think about the information ' not the specific technology ' needed to create benchmarks and track success over time. Think also about the information that could be leading indicators of success or the need to refactor the strategy. Common data elements to support revenue generation goals include win/ loss ratios for pitches; time, billings, and receipts by office, practice, and lawyer; sources of new business; and number of and engagement with key client and prospect contacts. Resist the temptation to measure everything; instead, focus on only those data points that demonstrate success as specifically defined previously.

Then list the systems the firm has that contain this information. Note both whether the information is readily available, meaning that no one needs to do anything to retrieve it other than run an existing query or report, or if the raw data there, but the specific measures cannot be retrieved easily. If you are unsure of the answers, seek out a colleague in IT or finance who can help answer these questions.

Step 2: Identify the activities that prevent marketing from spending more time supporting the firm's revenue generation strategy.

Examine carefully and with as much specificity as possible the activities that consume marketing resources that do not support the strategy or generate adequate value to offset the time spent. Common examples are responding to RFPs that the firm is unlikely to win due to lack of scale, contacts, specific experience, or rates; credentialing submissions in areas where the firm is unlikely to be ranked; and pay-to-play speaking engagements that do not generate business.

For each item on this list, think about whether firm management would agree that these activities do not generate enough value. If they agree, it may be possible to stop doing them. If, on the other hand, they think they are valuable or necessary, consider whether it is possible to persuade them otherwise. Can the cost-benefit analysis be presented in a way that compels them to reconsider? If so, try to convince them.

When the list of necessary evils is whittled down to as few as possible, order them by most time-intensive to least time-intensive and identify the steps that take the longest for each. Consider what you would need at the ready to reduce the time needed to complete these tasks. Perhaps a comprehensive, up-to-date experience list or a more robust catalog of standard RFP questions and answers would allow marketing to generate a first draft more quickly. Once again, identify the systems that contain the information (or that could contain the information, if implemented) to streamline these activities. Consult with IT or peers at other firms to identify whether there are systems that could help if you don't know of any offhand. The saying, “There's an app for that,” exists because usually, there is.

Step 3: Create a matrix that maps priorities with systems.

This is where the rubber meets the road in technology budgeting. Create a grid where the list of top priorities and necessary evils runs down the first column and all systems needed to support them run across the top. For each list item, check a box for any system that aids the effort. Include both systems already in place and those that should be considered for future purchase. For example, if one of the firm's priorities is to increase revenue in a particular industry, systems that likely support this initiative would include:

• Financial system to track revenue;
• Content management system or proposal generation system to house industry-specific biographies of lawyers;
• D&B or Hoover's for industry coding of clients;
• Experience database to house industry-specific experience; and
• Contact relationship management system to track contacts and business development efforts within the industry.

If you don't have one of these systems, what is the cost in terms of manual effort of not implementing one? It could dwarf the cost of purchasing the technology, regardless of the size of the firm.

Step 4: Prioritize investment in systems and internal resources.

When complete, review the systems with the largest number of boxes checked. This is where to focus the firm's investment. In doing so, consider costs in terms of internal human resources and hard costs for hardware, software, and consultants. Systems that are already in place but that are underutilized may require an internal project team as well as a consultant, but there may not be any hardware or software costs with which to contend. Collaborate with IT to estimate costs, even for systems that do not require capital, as multiyear contracts may be in place to keep maintenance and support prices steady or there may be a need to account for an annual bump.

Equally important is reviewing the systems with the fewest boxes checked. These systems may be an unnecessary drain on IT's resources, if not marketing's. Talk with IT about whether these systems can add more value than they do at present, or whether it makes sense to decommission them. If the systems are necessary, discuss whether there are any additional steps that can be taken to reduce the costs (again, both human resources and hard costs) to support the systems to the bare minimum.

Step 5: Communicate.

The final step is to plot the implementation of technology projects with IT. Among the many considerations are: understanding the full scope of projects IT is planning across departments and practices, and which resources will be available to you; minimizing technology fatigue by distributing significant enhancements or new product launches over the calendar year; and weighing quick wins (creating reports or providing training for existing systems) against the longer-term implementation of a new system.

Budgeting for technology can feel overwhelming to marketers who approach the process by simply reviewing a laundry list of systems. By instead starting with the firm's strategy and ensuring that all technology implemented supports it, marketers will feel more comfortable not just defending technology investments, but in advocating for them as critical to advancing and measuring the firm's success.

Kelly Harbour is the Associate Director of Client Relations at Goulston & Storrs PC. She has more than a decade of experience in strategic planning, managing organizational change, and project execution in the professional services industry and holds a Master of Professional Studies in Law Firm Management from the George Washington University.