Competitive Intelligence: Become More Relevant – Meet Your Clients' Needs Every Time

I've also been reading an insightful new series of articles explaining and applying lean principles in a legal environment. Although lawyers are the target readers, many of the principles are applicable to me and, in fact, are applicable across multiple job roles and industries.

The article series offers practical advice and there are several lessons that reinforce skills we all possess or at least are aware of. For example, the articles suggest breaking emails into a summary, followed by further explanation for those who want more detail, or breaking work down into actionable pieces, addressing one piece at a time. In doing so, by the end of a specified timeline, you have achieved what seemed like an impossible task at the beginning.

One lesson that particularly resonated with me is about mistakes and review: mistakes are normal, we all make them. Yet, it's in the admitting of these mistakes at the outset that we learn the most. Even if you don't make a mistake, it's also normal and can be very beneficial to review a project once completed. Reflecting on what specifically worked and what didn't, what could improve on the next assignment are all useful exercises. A quote that resonated with me from that lesson: “Welcome to the biggest room in the world, the room to improve.” See, “Introduction to the Improvement Process,” Lean Adviser.

Again, easy to say, more challenging to do. None of us likes to think we aren't doing a great job.

So how does improvement relate to becoming more relevant? To me, being relevant to your clients is to understand their unique perspective, what they are trying to achieve and adapting your deliverable to meet those needs. Being relevant to one client will look different from being relevant to another. It's through listening, questioning, exploring and considering different perspectives that you continually improve and provide intelligence in the appropriate format to meet your clients' needs.

To me, continuous improvement comes from being exposed to all types of ideas and experiences, professional learnings and personal interactions. Together, these combine to give you the tools and experience to be a relevant, topical, competitive intelligence professional.

Becoming and staying relevant is a process. It is not static but always evolving. Your clients change, their needs and requests change, you change, and, throughout these experiences, you learn steps to implement and how to implement them in given situations. It's easy to slip into autopilot and move through the same process without pausing to assess each request individually.

Listening to Ms. Applebaum's presentation and reading the lean articles has compelled me to reflect on my role as a CI professional in a law firm and how I am perceived by my clients. I've been reminded to take a step back and think, rather than reacting too quickly. It's instructive to evaluate and reevaluate on a regular basis, to keep up with those changes and adapt to a changing environment. It helps my clients to know that I am listening and evolving with them as they familiarize themselves with competitive intelligence, what requests they may make of me and what I can deliver.

Here are some things I do to become and remain more relevant. Some, or even all, may not be surprising, but I hope they will serve as a reminder:

• Don't take requests at face value. If you have the opportunity, engage in a conversation with the requestor to find out more. Think about who is asking, what they are asking and why they are asking. Are they asking for what they think you can give them, or are they asking for what they really want? Consider what they will do with the deliverable. Is the final product for the requestor or someone else? What is the best format?
• When developing your deliverable work product, try to preempt questions the requestor might ask. Based on your initial discussion, can you provide intelligence that answers their question? Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes the answer is no. No information can often be an answer in itself. Have you written an explanatory note outlining your findings, thoughts and recommendations? Have you removed all jargon and explained all source information? Have you provided digestible information, included an executive summary, highlighted key phrases and broken up text with graphics? Language that we live and breathe in the CI world does not always make sense to lawyers who live in a world of different language and text.
• Are you taking into account the requestor's preferred communication style and/or the depth of information they require? I have standard templates that I use for different types of requests, but I always try to include a personal note that demonstrates that I have heard and understood the request. For my repeat clients, if appropriate, I provide a reference to an earlier request on the same subject matter. On the other hand, if I notice a news items a few weeks/months later, I'll send it along with a reference to the earlier request and offer to monitor the situation. For those with whom I am developing relationships, I might follow up with a phone call to seek feedback to learn what resonates with them.
• Stay attuned with your organization and the other services your colleagues are providing to your clients. How can you leverage these sources of information to provide the most relevant deliverable? |
  • Touch base with your marketing and business development, RFP and finance teams to keep abreast of initiatives involving lawyers and clients.
  • Be aware of CLEs, webinars and events your lawyers are involved with and can adapt for clients, as these could be relevant to include in your deliverable.
  • Attend practice/industry group meetings, where appropriate, or speak with the marketing and business development team whom are responsible for those meetings to tap into what they know and ask them if you can help or become involved.
  • Spend some time riding the elevator or sitting in the most popular lunch spot. When people see you, they are more inclined to ask a question or bounce an idea off you.
  • Familiarize yourself with your firm's key clients (and those belonging to a key client program if you have one) and monitor these. Send articles about these clients and their industries to relevant partners as an FYI or to provide them with reasons to reach out to their clients.
• Are you keeping up to date with your CI colleagues? For many of us, we are a one-man band. Keeping in touch with CI colleagues in other firms or locations can provide a sanity check. It can keep us informed of new sources, how we use those sources in different ways, how other firms are tackling issues similar to those you are confronting, etc. This can be done in a noncompetitive manner. Establishing guidelines for the communication from the outset may be an effective way so no one oversteps the mark.
• What are you reading or listening to? While it's important to keep up with your professional reading, it's also helpful to consume material directed towards lawyers. This can be practice or industry-related as background knowledge for you, or to help you specialize in areas of particular interest to your lawyers.

Not only is it informative for your own development, but it gives you an insight into how lawyers might think or approach a situation. Articles or podcasts of particular interest may also give you an excuse to reach out to your clients, to share these items and start a conversation. It makes you more relevant to them and will let them know you are keeping their interests top of mind.

From a personal perspective, it's important to relate to your clients independent of work issues. When you find an interest in common, work it into the conversation. Like all of us, our clients have a varied range of interests from the obvious, like sport or travel, to something less common such as playing an instrument, being in a band, language specialties, collections, etc.

Your clients are real people and often welcome the opportunity to speak about topics outside of the law. They are passionate and tapping into that passion can be very rewarding for your relationships. I once heard an NPR podcast that I thought a partner would be interested in. He was, and it sparked a great discussion between us that led to an enjoyable collaboration.

The purpose of these connections is not always to generate work but to communicate to your clients that you are interested in them, that you are looking out for them and their clients, and that you are keeping them top of mind. It reminds them that you have relevance to them and their work. When occasions to work together do arise, the relationship becomes more familiar and your clients are likely to ask you for exactly what they want the first time, rather than dancing around and asking you for what they think you can provide.

How will you know if you've been successful? Requests will increase. The phone will ring. You will hear from your regular clients as well as new ones. Sometimes new clients will pay you a compliment by saying “lawyer x suggested I speak to you,” or “my practice group leader would like you to do the following for us.”

I am aware that sometimes we submit our work product and don't receive any feedback. You're left wondering whether you hit the mark or if you are doing a good job. In my experience, it is best to be proactive and to seek feedback. It's more helpful to your clients if you add value to their work and prompt conversations when you see them. This will keep you in tune with their needs and help you to become and remain more relevant to them.

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Patricia Ellard is a competitive intelligence professional, with more than 20 years of experience in a top-three global management consulting firm and in global law firms.