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Competitive Intelligence
Competitive Intelligence (CI) is not a new concept. It has been actively practiced in many industries for a number of years. In fact, competitive intelligence has existed in law firms that have been proactively implementing ways to respond to changing client expectations since the early 2000s, though it has been gaining widespread prominence in the last few years. The Ark Group held its 9th Annual Competitive Intelligence in the Modern Law Firm program in New York in 2015 to a sold-out audience (They had to double the size of the venue due to increased demand). So, why now is competitive intelligence gaining more attention in the legal industry? Because the value that the insights from competitive intelligence can provide in today's highly competitive environment is more necessary than ever before.
Background
As the industry moves from a buyer's market, where clients primarily deferred to their outside counsel for advice, to a seller's market, where clients demand more value for their legal spend, law firms must strive for ways to differentiate themselves and vie for business in the face of new and non-traditional competitors. Law firms need someone to wade through the noise to provide as much credible information as possible in order to take the right action at the right time, in the most cost-effective manner.
What is CI and how is it being implemented in law firms? And how is it different from what is currently being practiced?
Lawyers are trained not to make decisions without reviewing all the facts. The role of CI is to simplify this process. More relevant, not more, information improves intelligence. We all have access to the same legal media, market research, etc. CI professionals, trained in the art of gathering, analyzing and synthesizing this information and distilling and distributing it to key stakeholders bring valuable skill sets to the legal profession. They take a collection of factual information collected about a given topic and go further. They relate this to the situation at hand, asking questions, highlighting gaps in the market, suggesting particular skills sets the firm has to fill these gaps and how this could save the client time, money, media exposure, etc., or a collection of all these.
The insights CI professionals provide create a foundation to be used by decision-makers who contribute in meaningful ways throughout the whole organization, from firm strategy to recruiting, pitching, practice development and enhancing new or existing client relationships.
Peter Drucker famously said, “Ninety percent of the information used in companies is internally focused and only ten percent is about the outside world. This is exactly backwards.”
CI uses internal and external information that the law firm may or may not know about itself and the client/industry in question and marries that together to provide a shortlist of areas of opportunity or recommendations for further exploration. Through the process of analyzing and synthesizing client relationship data (current and historical), win/loss information, financial relationships, lawyer personal and business relationships, alumni data together with information companies push into the market about themselves and independent market commentary, competitive intelligence aims to eliminate decision-making in a vacuum.
In my experience, it's rarely the role of competitive intelligence professionals to make decisions based on findings. However, they are expected to highlight potential opportunities or make recommendations related to a specific situation. The relationship here between the lawyer and the CI professional is critical in getting this right, as lawyers hold valuable information about 'life on the street' that coupled with the intelligence the CI professional provides, creates the really meaningful insights.
Understanding Requests
To this end, one of the foundations of successful competitive intelligence is understanding the purpose and context of a request in order to provide the right level of information every time. This must not be underestimated. The chart'below provides a non-exhaustive list of questions to consider during the request stage of the process.
Asking these questions and fully understanding the purpose and use of the end product will provide the correct context and make a vast difference to the relevance of the results provided.
What does the CI process look like and how can law firms learn more about this?
Ann Lee Gibson, one of the pioneers in law firm competitive intelligence, marketing and business development created a framework to guide us on our intelligence journey. The Intelligence Cycle outlines the steps to be followed to filter the vast amount of information available and to select only those that are most relevant to the situation at hand. In her book, Competitive Intelligence: Improving Law Firm Strategy and Decision Making, Gibson details, step-by-step, how one goes about defining the scope, finding the information, analyzing and synthesizing it into actionable recommendations, and how to determine the most impactful presentation for overloaded and time-poor lawyers.
The SLA's CI division (www.ci.sla.org) provides a forum for discussion, the sharing of ideas and events aimed at developing and improving skills in this area. SCIP, the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals organization (www.scip.org) and Aurora WDC (www.aurorawdc.com) provide a wealth of information, tips and strategies for employing another strategy in the CI professional's toolbox, Key Intelligence Topics (KITS).
Creating a CI Division
There is a vast array of information available to those seeking to understand more and potentially create a CI division within their law firm. Recruiting firms are increasingly placing CI professionals in law firms and can be another resource to speak to find out who is out there and may be suitable for your organization.
Start a conversation, get involved, learn more. What are you waiting for?
References
Gibson, Ann Lee, Competitive Intelligence: Improving Law Firm Strategy and Decision Making. 2010, The Ark Group.
'Special Libraries Association, Competitive Intelligence Division. http://ci.sla.org/.
'Patrick on Pricing: A Resource for law firms (blog). The Importance of Intelligence, Part One: C.I. http://bit.ly/1OpWFj7.
Aurora WDC Webinars, How to Evolve Intelligence Organizations for Maximum Success (6 January 2016); How to Identify User Needs with Key Intelligence Topics (27 January, 2016).
Geeks and a Law Blog. http://www.geeklawblog.com/.
Dewey B Strategic. Jean p. O'Grady. http://bit.ly/219lvk0.
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Source: http://www.annleegibson.com/PublicDocs/Doc_ID_1016_2102005166546.pdf
Patricia Ellard is the Competitive Intelligence Manager at Pepper Hamilton, LLP. She has been working in CI in law firms and management consulting firms for more than 15 years, in Australia, Europe and the United States.
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