Many bloggers offer predictions for a bright, shiny New Year ahead. I am no exception. In fact, I have been asked by several to include my two-cents in their group of august prognosticators. Here are two of my contributions below.
Posted on the Lexis Nexis Business of Law Blog: “Beautiful Minds: 41 Legal Industry Predictions for 2016.”
“In 2016, effective experience management is a mission-critical and vital business investment for a law firm. The most committed and aggressive firms have a mandate around experience collection and organization that starts with their firm chairs and executive committees. We have learned that top-down engagements have greater success than bottom-up.
100 percent of law firms want to manage this better. The firms that do it well give access to the lawyers – with a link to the experience database on their intranets, access to reporting features, even the ability to enter in details about a new matter. And lawyers who want to win more are accountable to keep their matter records current. Relevant, at-your-fingertips experience is critical to winning more practice-defining work.
In the very best systems (judged by the amount, quality, and relevance of data), lawyers are involved in the data-capture process. To win more, this cannot be a marketing department initiative – it must have the full support of and engagement by lawyers in the firm. And it must have active support from the firm’s C-suite.
Important laterals are enticed by the promise of integrating their matters into the firm’s database within 30 days or less. This is a sure-fire way for key lawyers around the globe to trust the strength and qualifications of each new lateral, and for them to feel embedded in your firm.”
And posted by David J. Bilinsky on his Thoughtful Law Blog: 2016 Predictions – Part III
“There is this phenomenon called “The Law of the First Impression.” For law firms and lawyers, your buyers are checking you out long before you know they are. They go through 57% of the purchasing process before even speaking to you – vetting for credibility, popularity, and efficacy.
For too long, lawyers have ignored that buyers of legal services make their purchasing decision on two levels. When buyers are creating their short list, they are making a technical or intellectual evaluation of things they can check off a list – expertise, relevant experience, geographical suitability, fee arrangements, industry knowledge, and so on. But when they are making their buying decision, where they are choosing the one lawyer or firm to hire, they are making an emotional decision – do I like this person, do I trust her, how would I feel getting stuck on the tarmac for 4 hours sitting next to him?
Lawyers have to win the short list test to even be considered for purchase – and most of this evaluation is done (at least 57%) before the lawyers even know about it. I predict that lawyers and firms will finally focus on ensuring that their best experience is readily available – that their best client stories are succinct, but complete, and that this critical warehouse of move-the-needle information will be a major priority for driving new revenue.”
There is clearly a theme about which I am passionate – effective experience management. Stay tuned for more discussions and advice about this mission-critical topic in the days and weeks ahead.