If Your Law Firm Could Only Do One Marketing Thing

Some firms initiate large plans but only wind up getting one thing done while others are not sure what to do first and never get anything off the ground. More commonly law firms dive enthusiastically into a grand plan but after the first effort gains no visible ground, the grand plan is abandoned. So the question is: What is the one thing that might succeed if a law firm only did that one thing? My answer: Gain agreement among all the partners that, "this is who we are" as a firm. The answer is easy to say and not so easy to do, but if you only get one shot by whatever road you travel -- this is the shot to take. Here's how I do it.

• Hire a great facilitator (This go-round I had Merry Neitlich and Jim Hughes facilitating). Someone experienced at working with groups of individuals, collecting their thoughts, and capable of boiling down a myriad of thinking into concise, easy to understand statements.
• Get all (or as many as possible) of your attorneys into a large room and ask them the question, "What does (your firm name here) mean to you?"
• Write down everything they say on a large flip chart (this may take several pages). They may state things relevant to themselves, relevant to clients, or relevant to nothing at all. Just write it all down.

Let it rest for a few days.

• Get the group(s) back together. Have all of the pages of statements lined up around the room for all to see.
• Using the facilitator as discussion leader work through the list of statements and combine thoughts and ideas where it makes sense (Here's where a great facilitator's talent really comes into play) . You may start with 300 statements that can be reduced to 100.
• After the first go-around do it again. Get the list down to 60... then to 40... then to 10. It is a hard process that will invoke passionate discussion -- and yet that is exactly what you want -- passion.
• Once you can work the list to 10 or less
  

Let it rest for a few days.

• Using the 10 or less statements write one or two paragraphs that capture, in story form, the essence of what the firm has been boiled down to.
• Take the essence statement back to the attorneys for more discussion. Always refer any discussion to the agreed list. Resist all efforts to reopen the discussion of what should be on the list and instead get people to focus on the best way to tell the story.
• Success!

So what is this one, really hard thing all about? It's about creating a common language. Firms that need marketing typically need marketing less than they need a common language.

Imagine this: 300 brilliant scientists who all speak different languages working on the different parts of the same goal. Each has something equally important to contribute, but because they cannot understand the words of their colleagues will each be brilliant in a vacuum. They may each achieve wondrous results but ultimately the grand goal will not be reached because they could not talk about how each was adding to the whole.

Without an essence statement each lawyer (and employee) will have their own way of describing the firm. Create an essence statement and everyone starts saying similar things and more importantly, everyone starts feeling like they are part of something bigger and grander than themselves.

The Hardest Part of Creating a Relationship Network

A few weeks ago I sent a copy of Thom Singer's book, "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships" to a close friend. Today my friend wrote me a short note stating that he'd taken Thom's free quiz, the Networking Quotient, designed to help a person learn about their individual social networking skills for business and how their skills compare with those of peers in several demographics. My friend scored in the 4.o percentile (of 100). Ooops! The dilemma for this person that I know got me thinking about what is the hardest part of getting from 4% to 70%, or even 80% and above.

The short answer -- show up.

Let me explain. In just the county I live in (Orange County, CA) there must be tens of thousands of people engaged as company executives, up-and-comers, career advancers, business development professionals, etc.

Of those tens of thousands, less than 5% are actively involved in relationship development activities outside of what specifically involves their current position or clients.

For example: Locally there is an association of venture capitalists and early stage entrepreneurs that conducts monthly meetings. Each meeting draws about 100-200 attendees. In a marketplace with (probably) 3,000-5,000 individuals that could benefit from attending, the meetings draws 100-200. At least 50% of the attendees at each meeting are repeat attendees. So... in a marketplace of thousands there are less than 100 that have made themselves available for creating an extended network of relationships.

My simple math says that in order to jump from 4% to 70%-80% (and probably higher) all a business person needs to do is show up at business events. Even if your relationship development skills are rough, or you're scared to death, just showing up is a HUGE leap. You are ahead of most of your peers already! Unless you're drooling in a corner muttering to yourself you are bound to make at least one connection. Show up six times and you've made six connections.

A simple goal to achieve a wondrous benefit. Just show up and you are ahead of most....

Is it a Blawg or is it Just Electronic Collateral

I came across a new blawg (law firm blog) on a link from the navigation bar of the same firm. It had two posts -- both posts were simply statements about why someone would want to use this particular firm. That's not a blawg. That's advertising (at least in my opinion). I don't like the idea of feeling like a blog snob, but where is the line.

I remember using clothes pins to attach baseball cards to my bicycle so that, when riding the bike, the cards would slap on the spokes of the wheels and make this really cool sound -- like the exhaust of a hot rod. Riding that bike and hearing the sound of those cards I felt like I was straddling the coolest Harley in the world. But that didn't make it a Harley. And of course anyone seeing me riding my very loud bike didn't see a kid on a Harley. They saw a kid on a bike.

Blogs have been around long enough that people know what a real one looks like. They're about opinions, daily life, learning, teaching, exploring... They're a journal peeking into a person. Simply spewing sales stuff onto something you call a blog does not make it one. Worst of all, do the whole sales thing and people know it right off. They see the cards in the spokes. Get it?

If you are such a firm, and you read this tiny rant, send me an email. I am happy to explain how you might turn that around.

Fitting a Law Firm Brand to Individuals Lawyers

The question was asked, “How can an individual attorney communicate the firm brand AND communicate their special expertise and/or client focus?" Answer: Always state the message of the firm immediately followed by individual traits. It is the “My/I” statement.

• Example: My firm is a full service business law firm and I specialize in handling bankruptcy cases for large banks.
• Example: My firm specializes in representing insurance providers. I focus on litigating insurance fraud.
• Example: My firm is the largest intellectual property firm in California and I specialize in helping consumer electronics manufacturers in protecting their products and ideas.

The value of belonging to a firm that provides expertise beyond one specific practice area is often the cache of the firm reputation – especially if the firm is large enough to have dominance in a defined region (local, national or international). If an attorney only states their individual practice they have passed up on a ton of credibility inherent in the reputation of their firm.

If you are a law firm marketer start teaching this simple messaging concept to your attorneys. If you are an attorney… start taking advantage of this incredible value proposition.

Law Firm Messaging Creep: How Brand Gets Distorted

"The whispered sentence" is a popular old parlor game for entertaining at least five guests. The game starts with one person writing a (made-up) sentence onto a piece of paper that is kept secret from all other players. The writer then whispers what he/she wrote into the ear of the person next to him/her. Each player in turn whispers what they heard to the person next to them until the last person has heard it. The last person then speaks the sentence out loud to be compared with what was originally written.

The sentence may have started out, "My dog really likes wearing blue shoes." But by the time it has been whispered across the room the last person will swear they heard, "Fly grogs like really swearing at a new moon. The more people in the whisper-chain, the more hilarious the difference.

Sometimes what happens in this parlor game is exactly what happens to law firm messaging – it's called "message creep". One of the ways that happens is the result of seeking too much consensus. Here is how you can test the theory at your firm (and discover how effective your "whisper-chain" is at maintaining the firm message).

• Create a headline and paragraph of copy for an advertisement that is smack on top of your firm message.
• Interoffice the headline and copy to one of the people in your "approval" circuit.
• When you get it back send the marked-up original to the next person in the circuit. Each time you receive it back forward it along until all in the circuit has reviewed the copy (and commented/edited if so inclined).
• Now create a new headline and copy document based on all of their changes.
• Print out both the new and the original and compare them.

Here is what you will find:

1. The changes modified a few words, expressions, and corrected punctuation but in-all left the message and essence absolutely intact and on-target.
2. The headline and copy changes created a message a football field away from the firm message, but matches up well to some individuals within the firm.
3. The headline and copy matches some other firm.
4. The headline doesn't match the copy and the copy never gets to any clear point.

If you find that you are in situation #1 – Excellent! If you find you are in #2 - #4 then your next step is to work on the circuit. Is it the wrong circuit? Is it too big? Do the participants really understand the firm brand? Are there forces at work intra-circuit that prevent unbiased review? And, last but not least, does your brand/message truly resonate with the attorneys that make up your firm?

Do not be mistaken into believing that you're working with attorneys that will just never "get it". Brand creep most often happens because some attorneys do not not clearly understand what the "brand" is or how to communicate it clearly in concert with their own goals... Which is a topic for an entirely different post.

What is Your Favorite Thanksgiving Memory?

This is a good one. Steve Harper over at "The Ripple Effect" has a contest running as he looks for, "What is your favorite Thanksgiving Memory?" I found the link at Thom Singer's blog, "Some Assembly Required." For me it was a fun exercise in fond memories. Go there and give it a shot.

Politely Saying No to Charitable Causes

Law firms are not alone in receiving many, many calls, emails, and letters asking for support of viable, deserving charitable efforts. At my firm we line up behind charities that my lawyers can relate to and champion. Unfortunately that leaves a lot of charities outside our giving, or ability to give. I believe that saying no should involve more than a quick trip to the round file. And I believe that the business community has some measure of social responsibility for helping community take care of itself. To that end, when a request crosses my desk here is what I do.

• I take the time to look up the local chapter or presence of the organization on the Internet to see what they're doing and the community goal they're working towards. I also look at other individuals and corporations involved in volunteering, giving, and representing (trustees, advisory boards, etc.)
• If there are connections to their people (i.e. client supported) to lawyers in my firm, or the cause is closely related to other causes that we've stepped up to I will approach the appropriate partners and let them know about the opportunity.
  

• If an attorney wishes to support the cause then it will be presented to the business development committee to determine of the firm can provide support.

What I do iwhen the answer is no (whether at initial look or after further consideration):

• Every rejected cause receives a posted letter from me (on behalf of the firm) stating that we are not able to support them this year.
• The letter explains that our budgeted giving is reviewed once a year and they are welcome to re-submit at that time.

Community support is far too important to treat lightly. I myself sit on boards of two organizations and know how serious we take the activity of asking for support. At the firm I wish to acknowledge the seriousness of the request and handle it appropriately. Good people deserve diligent effort.

Of course that means that annually their requests are renewed but that seems to be hardly an inconvenience. Who knows when it may come that their cause is the perfect cause. Being a good corporate citizen has rewards at every level!

BTW, the image above is from the winter program at the United States Adaptive Recreation Center in Big Bear Lake, California.... One of the organizations I am passionate about (www.usarc.org).