time-frame then we potentially haveuncertainty staring us in the face.

To develop new business, the tools thatwe have at our disposal however remainthe same – it is the way in which wehandle them that needs to be reassessed.The chart (figure 1) presents the tools thatwe have to hand in law firms. There maybe others that could be included, buteveryone will recognise the genericgroupings of ‘communications’,‘marketing’ and ‘business development’.The numbers on the right represent asense of the size of the ‘audience’ thateach of these activities addresses.

In the past, when the resources oftime and cash were less strained, therewas probably an effort to create abalance across all of these activities. Allof them were seen as somehowimportant so resources were dedicatedto each of them – with or withouttangible success. But there is anincreasing urgency in business today, toget cash through the door as quickly aspossible. A plan that is measured inyears or even months will now take aback seat to one that can show results in weeks.

The pinnacle of the chart shows thatmoment where the real business takesplace, when the supplier gets to meet theclient face-to-face to generate new ormore business. In the case of law firms, itwill typically be the partner who takes onthis challenge. If we want to look at thechart dispassionately, we could say thatwhile all are still important, the activitiesbelow that face-to-face pinnacle aremerely preparation for the grand entranceof the partner.

Gold barsSo the question for us today is how canwe ensure that all the activity weundertake on the way up the pyramidactually leads to and enhances that face-to-face interaction with the client – our‘gold bars’.

It may be a great morale boost to moveup a rank or two in the directories, butdoes that really create more immediate

LEADERSHIP

In an economic downturn the emphasis of law firm businessdevelopment and marketing professionals must be towards attainable,short term goals, says Chris Scoble of Esprima Consulting in London.

Profession

En el actual clima deincertidumbreeconómica el énfasis delos profesionales deldesarrollo de negocio yel marketing de losdespachos de abogadosdeben orientarse haciainiciativas reales ytangibles, tambiéndenominado el «lingotede oro», apunta ChrisScoble, de EsprimaConsulting. El interés seha desplazado de losplanes deposicionamiento de lamarca, a medio y largoplazo, a aquellos quepueden ser controladosen una semana o unmes, y que ayudan a lossocios a acercarse aclientes potenciales yque, por lo tanto,pueden maximizar lasoportunidades denegocio.

Focusing and prioritising law firmmarketing in a downturn:finding the “gold bars”

Given the turmoil that we haveseen all around us in recentmonths, it is fair to say that anybusiness development or

marketing plan made last year for anybusiness, anywhere in the world, haslikely now been ripped up and thrown inthe bin. The only businesses that seem tobe thriving are the fast-food restaurantsand pizza delivery companies, as peopledecide that “ordering in is the new eatingout”!

The situation is undoubtedly true forthe legal sector. With much of theinternational legal press highlighting theredundancies of both lawyers andsupport staff at many of the world’slargest firms, the emphasis for firms nowis clearly on generating cash flow andensuring survival.

Recognised business planning practiceis however that it must follow a certainpattern – gathering market informationon trends, competitors and clients;assessing internal capabilities andresources; agreeing activities andallocating responsibilities. All of this (ofcourse) followed by a rigorousmonitoring process to ensure that theplans deliver their desired outcomes.

In the traditional world of law firms,these plans could be created at a varietyof levels: the whole firm, a single office orpractice area, or even at the level of anindividual lawyer or client. Whether ornot the follow-up to a plan was ever asrobust as it should be (how manyperfectly created plans end up in abottom drawer never again to see thelight of day), there is still a lot to be saidfor the disciplined thinking that created itin the first place.

The law firm-client pyramid

Today however, we no longer have theluxury of being able to embark on anextended process that can work so well ina period of economic and businessstability. We now need to focus on thingsthat we can control today, this week orthis month. If we move much beyond that

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client opportunities? The mostattractive brochures look great in thereception area but do they reallyinfluence the client’s buyingdecision? A lengthy analysis of atarget’s market positioning mayproduce some interesting findings,but can we convert that informationinto a client-winning proposition orare we being distracted from moreimportant initiatives?

All these activities are valuable intheir way but we need to be carefulthat – to continue the analogy – theprizes they deliver us are not madeof merely bronze or silver, or simplysupport our aspirations for futuresuccess. Rather, all of these activitiesmust lead us to the gold bars we areseeking.

But how can we identify the goldamongst all the other colours outthere? How can we identify, planand execute initiatives that willdeliver us that prize? I believe thereare a few key points, which areequally applicable to firms of allsizes, and even to individual practiceareas:• Play to a recognised key strength;• Have a clear view of what you

want to achieve and what successlooks like;

• Don’t only measure the financialresults – set targets and measureperformance against the actionsthat will lead to those results;

• Engage as many people aspossible in the initiative.

Even if we get all these things right,there are further key factors toremember:• No initiative or project ever

succeeds without a clearlyrecognised leader or sponsor;

• Initial communication to all thoseinvolved (and others) is essentialto build enthusiasm and a senseof purpose;

• Regular communication onprogress, and hopefullysuccesses, is essential to maintainmomentum.

Putting the theory intopracticeI saw a recent example of thebusiness development emphasisbeing placed on tangible, andattainable, goals by a medium-sizedlaw firm who really took hold of thegold bar concept.

They identified a specific practicearea of strength, and also one inwhich there had been a recentsignificant change in legislation, andestablished that this service could beintroduced to almost the entire clientbase of the firm. Some cross-selling

had happened previously, but not ina systematic way.

Consequently a seminar wasorganised and attended by a largegroup of the firm’s clients to explainthe legislative change, the firm’sservice offering, and why theirclients needed it. At that conferenceall of the firm’s partners wereassigned names to meet up with atthe end of the plenary session, witha view to investigating the client’sspecific needs and to arrange an in-depth meeting with someone fromthe specialist team.

Throughout the process targetswere established – number of clientsat the event, number of individualclient meetings at the event,conversion rate to meetings with thespecialist team, number of proposalsprepared, number of engagementssigned. All of these activities weretargeted to take place within a stricttime-frame of weeks not months. Ofcourse, there was a final economicobjective, but each of these interimgoals was given great importanceand communicated widely.

Particularly impressive was theway in which the firm’s associateswere also involved. They were eachassigned to personally greet anumber of clients on arrival at the

A graduate of Cambridge University,Chris Scobles has more than 25 yearsof experience in senior executivepositions, including a period withBarclays Bank in Madrid and Milan.Based in London, he led EuropeanMarketing and Communications atDewey & LeBoueuf and Orrick and heis now a consultant for law firmsworldwide, advising on strategy andmarketing and how to win new work.Chris is a trainer in sales and businessdevelopment to some of the worldsmost successful law firms. He can bereached viachris.scoble@esprima.co.uk

conference – giving a sense of realengagement right across the firm.But most important, there was aclearly identified sponsor of thewhole initiative who was veryvisible and led from the front.Incidentally, he did not come fromthe practice area at the centre of theinitiative, but the outcome was a realfirm-wide effort that producedtangible and measurable results.

This real-life example ticks all theboxes highlighted above. It is fair tosay, though, that success is notguaranteed even if all the right stepsare taken, but to give yourself thebest chance of finding that goldenbar in a downturn, you would dowell to tick as many as possiblebefore you start!

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