The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

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While perusing some blog posts by others in the law firm marketing and business growth business, I ran across this quote from Marianne (a consumer of legal services, as she defines herself), who had this to say.

“I have never ‘met’ the lawyer who looked at their business through a ‘client service’ window or felt the need to try an innovative approach or solution.”

An overstatement to be sure. But the point is that Marianne’s perception is indicative of a larger perception by would-be clients of the legal profession – that attorneys as a group are generally not attuned to what clients really want from a law firm.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, there are outside forces acting upon the legal profession in much the way they have acted on other sectors (such as high technology, manufacturing and even tax services).

Those forces will undoubtedly drive down fees for the average law firm and reduce client numbers (also for the average law firm) and increase the need for effective law firm marketing.

So the challenge is to become an exceptional law firm, that is impervious to economic downturns and fee pressure from low cost centers in developing countries. The way to accomplish that is by listening. . . .

• Listening to clients past, present and future in order to understand precisely what they need, and therefore what you can do that no other law firm is doing to earn their trust and their business
• Listening to your staff because that is where you will find some of the most innovative ideas about how to test your business thinking, transform old-style law firm marketing techniques and to increase profits
• Listening to other businesses outside the legal profession – particularly how they market themselves. It is there among fast, agile, hungry entrepreneurs that you will find really outstanding ideas that you can apply to your own law firm marketing approach.

Whether you are currently feeling the sting of price pressure or thinning client lists or you simply want to become one of the elite firms in the nation, try these simple steps.

Respond to what you hear and apply what you learn to your business processes and systems and to your law firm marketing plans.