Articles: Strategic Business Development Archives
11/2000 Taking Responsibility: Implementing Personal Marketing Plans
Having worked with a large number of firms over 18 years, I've observed an increasing interest and enthusiasm among the younger lawyers to learn marketing skills and generate business. They know their careers depend on it and don't carry the lingering baggage of some older lawyers that selling is not what professionals do.
11/2000 Become A "Valued" Adviser
Competitors to lawyers - accounting and consulting firms and others - have made inroads to traditional lawyer territory by recognizing and providing added value to the specific task needing to be done. They know the expected is not enough - unless it comes at a notably reduced cost. In most instances when clients complain about fees, their beef is not so much about absolute dollars or hourly rates, but rather what they perceive they are getting for the money they are paying.
08/1998 Experience Appropriate Marketing
With the need and desire for associates to play an expanding role in marketing, it is time for a more detailed focus on the subject to guide both firms and individual associates to maximize their effectiveness.
For the individual associates on their climb from inexperienced lawyers toward the common goal of partnership and building of their own client base, business development success gives leverage to control their own destiny...
02/1998 The Management Bargain
As law firms turn more to rewarding for new business-focused production, "eat what you kill," and to pursuing laterals with sizable portable business portfolios, what are the responsibilities of organizations and their management to help their members and employees succeed? Shouldn't it go further than providing some overhead and basic marketing tools?
10/1995 Integration Of Laterals Checklists
Your Lateral Hiring Committee has successfully attracted desirable experienced lawyers to the firm. Management and the partners have voted them in. Whether the focus is on an individual or a group, how do you assure that the laterals and the practices will be integrated effectively into the firm? This checklist lays out the important steps.
09/1995 Cross-Selling Tactics
Cross-selling has been hailed as the most logical and natural way to expand business with your current client base. In most firms, large or small, the results have been underwhelming because of lack of information on capabilities, cooperation, and commitment to follow through. Here is how it should work.
08/1995 Integrating A New Practice Into The Firm
In a continual effort to differentiate themselves from the competition and increase revenues, many law firms are actively seeking to add practice areas or specialty groups. It should be obvious that without close integration of new specialty groups, a firm forfeits some of the advantages of adding them in the first place. Managing partners of firms that have successfully achieved new practice area integration say that there never can be too much. Integration has two parts: the internal, which should come first; and outreach to clients and the public (marketplace).