In a catch up conversation with Ed Schecter this morning, we discussed a subject about which we are both passionate: how law firms can strategically grow revenue. This isn’t a new conversation at all. In fact, it’s a tired one that we’ve both had countless times in our careers. The […]
Back in America
I’ve just returned from two weeks touring and cruising Italy, plus other countries that are on the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. It was a great immersion in ancient cultures and centuries-old cathedrals and basilicas, combined with the joy of spontaneous, contemporary exploration and choice-making. But this post isn’t about […]
Client service tips that will make a difference in your relationships today – from Ritz Carlton and more
Anyone who has stayed at a Ritz-Carlton property appreciates why the company is twice a winner of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award winner. And if you are fortunate enough to frequent the same hotel, the next time you arrive they make you feel like they missed you — really missed […]
The yin of the web designer and the yang of the client – whose ego wins?
For nearly 30 years, I have bought and sold design services, and since 1996, I have worked with website designers. Wait, I shouldn’t count those first years of web design, because they were horrifying experiments in this crazy new medium, but I can legitimately herald 2000 as the year that […]
One of the most important lessons that “connected” lawyers must learn
I just read an HBR Blog post by Peter Bregman that I've had on my imaginary "to-do" list for three days. The title caught my attention: Two Lists you Should Look at Every Morning. Finally, early Saturday evening I "found time" to spend three minutes reading it. To Bregman's point — […]
Content Pilot’s “CP Proposal Pilot” and Branding Services Wins Big in the National Law Journal “Best Of” Awards Competition
May 30, 2012 –DALLAS, TEXAS – Content Pilot LLC announced today that CP Proposal Pilot and CP Deals and Cases won the top award, “2012 Best Proposal Automation and Experience Management Solution,” in NLJ’s first nationwide survey of lawyers and other legal industry personnel. The National Law Journal created the […]
Lawyers (and everyone else), ask yourself: Am I my resume?
With yet another high profile resume-fake (Scott Thompson, who was ousted as Yahoo! CEO after four months among accusations that he lied on his resume about having a computer science degree) I am compelled to write this blog post about telling the truth on your website and other biographies. Whether […]
How long do CMOs last in their organizations?
When I took my first marketing director position in a law firm in 1987 (I know! A million years ago.), the function and position were so new, no one was measuring average tenure of senior marketers. Five years later when I moved to another firm to take its top spot, […]
If it were REALLY a good idea – Part 2
This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog post http://lawfirm4-0.typepad.com/law_firm_40_blog/2012/04/if-it-were-really-a-good-idea-.html . . . Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, who designed the cartoon I posted yesterday, wrote his own blog post about it. He says something that we’ve known in legal marketing circles for a long time: “In innovation, we often fixate too […]
Brilliant strategy and brilliant execution – are they strange bedfellows?
The CMO Network on LinkedIn has an interesting discussion sparked by the question: What is your opinion on Execution trumps Strategy?…Do you agree?… This is both a rapid and rabid-responding group, and those who have come down hard on the side of strategy (as they slap-slap the faces of the […]
Columbia Business School study proves that ROI is an elusive partner to marketing departments
Senior law firm marketers have been seriously talking about ROI since at least the mid-1990s. Believing in its relevance and importance to financial decision-making, this “proof” has frustratingly been like a mirage in the desert. For years we have relied on anecdotal data and stories – an RFP or pitch […]
Content Pilot’s “Velocity” wins IAC Awards – Best Legal Mobile Application
NEWS RELEASE – March 26, 2012 THE 2012 INTERNET ADVERTISING COMPETITION AWARDS (iAC) HONORS CONTENT PILOT’S “VELOCITY” The first mobile app to drive sales in the legal industry wins “Best Legal Mobile Application” Dallas, Texas — Content Pilot LLC announced today that Velocity™, the first mobile application that drives sales […]
What does a Chief Strategy Officer in a law firm do?
I reconnected with Janis Nordstrom, Chief Strategy Officer at Wolf Theiss, at the Marketing Partner Forum in Miami in January – and peppered her with questions about her globe-trotting legal marketing career. It’s different, mainly, because she is an American LMA member living in Austria and working for a non-U.S. […]
Bits and Pieces from James Kane’s LMA Keynote Presentation – March 15, 2012
Like nearly 1,000 other LMA members last Thursday morning, I listened to our conference opener keynote, James Kane, speak about “loyalty.” It could be the best keynote I’ve ever heard in my life. Thanks to Mark Usellis and Jill Weber, conference co-chairs, and Betsi Roach, LMA Executive Director (plus the […]
The Elephant in the Room: Marketing Technology Trends you can’t Afford to Ignore
That's the title of our ILTA/LMA panel at the Legal Marketing Association's pre-conference CMO session tomorrow. (This is the first formal joint venture between LMA and ILTA – the first of many, I hope.) Starting at 11 CT, Kate Cain, the new Director of Market Intelligence at Sidley, will kick […]
Attorney business development: Here’s proof – it’s all about face time.
In my last post, I wrote about metrics and reports you can create to get your arms around the value of various forms of attorney business development. My post prompted a phone call from the President of a leading training company, where we discussed digging deeper into these business development […]
How valuable is each hour of attorney business development time? The answer: It depends.
Last month I attended a panel workshop called “Building Reporting: Marketing and Business Development Metrics” at the 2012 Marketing Partner Forum in Miami. Presenters were Steve Bell, Chief Client Development Officer, Womble Carlyle, Adam Severson, (then) Director of Business Development & Marketing at Faegre (and now Chief Marketing & Business […]
What law firms can learn from my wonderful experience at Davio’s in Philadelphia.
For the second year in a row, I spent Valentine's Day in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. (Appropriate enough on this holiday where "love" is front and center.) And, for the second year in a row, I had dinner at Davio's. Davio's is billed as a Northern Italian Steakhouse. […]
What is the dollar cost of directory referrals to your law firm website? And are the visitors worth it?
Senior marketers have been questioning the value of Martindale-Hubbell listings with increasingly loud and passionate voices. For AmLaw 100 and 200 firms, the cost ranges from a bare-bones listing in the $20,000-40,000 range to a comprehensive contract that costs well into the six-figures. And many firms have eliminated it altogether, […]
The strongest law firm brands – a 2012 brand survey by Acritas
"Brand" and "branding" were words that were nearly eliminated from our lexicon during the recession. A respected stalwart in corporate strategic business planning, law firms, when slicing initiatives and the budgets that supported branding the last two – three years, quickly erased those line items. There was almost no looking back . […]