Imagine this scenario: A lawyer receives an RFP from an existing client on Tuesday who wants to consolidate the number of outside law firms from 50 to 10. The RFP is due in three weeks. You have THREE WHOLE WEEKS to try to win this work! According to two 2018 industry […]
Expert Insights: Modernizing the Legal Pitch Process – an eBook by HighQ
HighQ recently published an eBook, “Expert Insights: Modernizing the Legal Pitch Process,” for which I wrote a segment. My excerpt is below. Buyers of legal services purchase on two levels – when they are formulating their short list, they are making a technical and intellectual evaluation – jurisdiction, particular expertise, […]
Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th Edition – Ready to Order! By Greg Siskind and Deborah McMurray
Lawyers in firms of all sizes will benefit from the advice, trends and best practices that fill this new book just published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section. Use this resource to transform your website, email, social media and overall online strategy. Get closer to target prospects […]
Strategic Experience Databases in Law Firm Mergers – that’s my 2017 prediction
I am always proud to be included in Dave Billinsky’s legal industry predictions for the New Year. His Thoughtful Law Blog is read by anyone who wants to improve the way they manage and run law firms and legal practices. Here is my submission as we look ahead to 2017 […]
Experience Management is not an “initiative” – it’s got to be in your firm’s DNA
Here is a snapshot of how law firms approach the topic of “Experience Management:” It’s someone else’s job – “Put a few people together from IT and marketing and see what you can come up with. Make a recommendation. Don’t bother the lawyers.” Toe in the water – “See if you can […]
“Lean Data” makes more sense for law firms than big data.
Big Data is getting bigger. According to research firm IDC, big data services and technologies will grow at a compounded rate of 27%, exceeding $32 billion by 2017. The greatest challenge is knowing how to make it work for us in a law firm – how can we learn from it, […]
Law firms+data+marketers: the love-hate relationship between marketing and math
The first “marketing and math” presentation I gave was for the now-defunct Marketing Directors’ Institute conference 15 or so years ago. It was, looking back on it, rudimentary – but it was a start. I told the law firm marketing audience to care about client and matter profitability, realization and […]
What courage looks like in a law firm.
Jordan Furlong, legal industry consultant and popular blogger, and I have recently been emailing about “courage” and what it means to lawyers and their clients. He just published a penetrating post called “What Leadership Really Means,” that gets to the heart of courage and why it’s so important for lawyers to […]
Experience management projects and why they fail in law firms.
I have written many posts on this blog about effective experience management as a mission-critical, business imperative for a law firm. Without relevant experience to evaluate, buyers of legal services will not hire you. It’s that simple. That’s how urgent it is. That’s why you should have a mandate around […]
To win more business, don’t underestimate the value of visceral appeal.
For more than two decades we have known that corporate counsel and other buyers of legal services have two levels of decision-making. They make an intellectual decision when creating their short list, evaluating expertise, perceived technical skill, and other features that are important to them – geographical reach, depth, rates […]
A champagne toast to a grand 2014 – and my one piece of New Year advice
Many law firm consultants, prognosticators and pundits have written long blog posts and articles with predictions for law firms in 2014. Given that website visitors don't read (they scan), I prefer tiny bites of information and opinions, as opposed to having to scroll to China. I have several predictions this […]
A big year of awards and enhancements for Content Pilot
As the founder of Content Pilot, I am proud when the company and team I have built does well. Our biggest test of success is how our clients feel about us. Every engagement – regardless of size or client – means the world to us, and our mission is to […]
Good advice about lawyers’ productivity, but marketers are getting a bad rap
Jack Bostelman wrote a blog post about Wells Fargo's Q3 law firm financial survey and the AmLaw 200 firms' weak showing in 2013. Here are the results in a nutshell: Gross revenue increased 2.5% Expenses also increased 2.5% Total hours billed declined 0.75% and hours per lawyer declined 1.1% Effective […]
What law firms can learn from my weird service experience at Del Frisco’s in Dallas
Well, Del Frisco’s has done it again. It’s once more the subject of one of my “What law firms/lawyers can learn . . . ” posts, and not in a good way. My earlier post about the Del Frisco’s in Manhattan is one of the most-read posts of this blog. […]
The future of CMOs – according to FORBES
A Forbes blogger posted an article called, "Is the CMO Role Dying or Thriving?" Here is how it starts: What’s happening to the CMO role? This question has been hot for a couple of years. Some suggest the role is nominal and “dying” while others suggest it is bigger, more […]
Experience management/databases – best practices in content gathering
Gathering and managing content that is relevant to a firm's buyers of legal services is the bane of every marketer's existence. I've seen this one activity paralyze entire departments. The team is flummoxed by finding the most efficient way to engage lawyers so they provide the information that marketers need […]
2013 advice for law firms to ensure a bright future
My friend and colleague Leigh Dance published a terrific article in AmLaw Daily structured as advice for global law firms. But most of it applies to law firms of any size. Leigh’s advice comes from more than 20 years consulting to corporate legal departments in multinational companies and global law […]
Experience management and databases – The results of a survey of CMOs
Experience management and how to get one’s arms around it surfaces in every conversation that I have with firm leaders and senior marketers. As I noted in a February 2012 blog post “Experience Management – it’s been elevated to mission-critical,” cross-selling and revenue growth are the two top concerns of firm leaders […]
The Secret of CRM Success in a Law Firm – Guest Post by William A. Smith
Marketing technology implementations are challenging in a law firm for a variety of reasons. The demand for trusted data for use by lawyers exactly when they need it is increasing, and the pressure on marketers to deliver just-in-time, relevant information and intelligence is greater than ever before. I recently spoke at the […]
How law firms can grow revenue in a more client-friendly way
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 […]
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 […]
Experience Management – It’s been elevated to mission critical.
I have had more than a dozen conversations with AmLaw 100 and 200 firm leaders starting in Q4 2011 and continuing through January 2012. They identified cross-selling and revenue growth as their top priorities for 2012. As resolved as they are about that, they also admitted that they aren’t entirely […]
The best description of “strategy” I’ve read in years
I am having lunch today with the “3 Geeks and a Law Blog” trio – Lisa Salazar, Toby Brown and Greg Lambert. To prep, I am climbing into their award-winning blog of the same name and came across this description in a post by Greg. He’s talking about another blogger […]
A Toast to Differentiation: What law firms can learn from Blue Hill at Stone Barns
(Guest post by Lise Anne Schwartz) Regular visitors to this blog know that Deborah is a connoisseur of fine food, wine and restaurants. So when she visited New York last week, the pressure was on to find a unique dining experience for us to share. I took her to Blue […]
“2012 CFO Outlook” – A survey by Merrill Lynch and Bank of America – What does this mean for law firms?
Now that the holidays are behind us, let’s get down to some serious business – and some prognosticating about what law firms’ business and financial lives might be like this year. The bottom line is that the CFO respondents (600 of them from corporate America) are concerned and have low confidence […]
The secret to becoming a rainmaker – Part 3 (Or, the “Triangle of Success”)
In Part 1 of "The secret to becoming a rainmaker," I shared the one thing that I think makes the greatest difference in lawyers who are effective business developers. Here is an excerpt of that post: This post isn’t about telling you how to sell. It’s about me finally articulating […]
How does the “last mile” relate to lawyers’ website biographies?
The “last mile” is a supply chain management term (and a single released by hard rock/glam band, Cinderella, in 1989, and also a play and movie from the 1930s) that refers to a product’s last mile before it gets to market and on store shelves. Apparently, it’s the hardest and most […]
Martindale’s Counsel to Counsel Forum – Managing Investigations, Compliance and Audits in Today’s Tough Markets
I have facilitated Martindale Counsel to Counsel forums all over the world since 2000. These discussions are “best practice” exchanges by corporate counsel and law firm lawyers about a particular topic. Consistently, they are the best received CLE programs by buyers of legal services and senior law firm partners of […]
Calling in-house legal marketers and business development professionals – A Survey
There is one day left to be a part of Content Pilot’s survey called, “Survey on Law Firm Proposals, RFPs and Managing Experience.” This is the second such survey, the first being conducted on a smaller scale in early 2010. Prompted again by recent conversations with C-level marketing/BD leaders and marketing directors […]
Getting a rash from the rash of law firm RFPs
During round table discussions in 2009 entitled, “Best Practices in Business Development and Proposals,” we asked invitees (law firm marketing and BD professionals mostly) about the uptick in the receipt of RFPs and RFIs from clients and prospects. The overwhelming response was that the number had tripled or quadrupled. On […]