Marketing in Tough Times

What Actions You Need to Take Now and Why You Need to Take Them

By Alan Levine

When the economy falters, the inclination of many law firms is to hunker down, reduce expenses and do only what is necessary. At times like these, when things look far bleaker even than that, law firms can become frozen in inaction. Marketing is seen as a luxury that firms can ill afford.

Instead, I would argue, now is precisely the time when lawyers need to be focusing more than ever on marketing, for several reasons:

(1) In an economy like ours, due to factors that may be completely out of the lawyers’ control, clients – even good, long-standing clients – can disappear, through merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or business closing. The reality is that all of these things happen in strong economies, too, but the impact can be far more devastating to the law firm when every client counts more than ever.

(2) Clients know they are very much in the driver’s seat. If they are not getting the level of service they expect, they know there are plenty of other lawyers out there prepared – no, hungry – to offer that service.

(3) Marketing is not just about finding new clients, but about cementing existing relationships and growing those relationships. And it is far easier (and less expensive) to get more business – or new business – from existing clients than to start finding new ones.

While marketing is especially vital in this economy, lawyers are right to be cautious, to want to separate worthwhile endeavors from those that are more dispensable. Following are 10 marketing actions that lawyers should concentrate on now:

(1) Ask Not What Your Clients Can Do For You – Have you taken the time to ask your clients what they think of your firm and its services? This is very commonly done in many industries, but still relatively unusual in the legal industry. Partly because of its novelty, clients generally welcome the chance to express their views about the service they are receiving. In fact, clients, like most people, are happy for the chance to talk about themselves and what they think.

Not only does surveying clients provide valuable feedback and information, but the interview itself gives the law firm a chance to let the client know how much they value (and will listen to) their input. It also is an opportunity to subtly educate the client about the firm’s capabilities about which he may not be aware, and to cross-sell such services.

(2) Give ‘Em Value – When clients are increasingly worried about every dollar they spend, they want to know they are getting good value for those dollars. The client interview is a useful way to identify what each client values in the relationship (and each client will see things differently, and value things differently). Find out what pushes the client’s buttons. Do more of what they value and fix what they don’t. This is your chance to improve the quality of service you are offering and, hence, the strength of the relationship.

(3) Do What You Normally Don’t Have Time to Do – Let’s face it. Though some attorneys are reluctant to admit it, many are finding themselves with emptier plates than they are used to. Find the silver lining in this. Take advantage of downtime by engaging in marketing activities – some of which don’t even involve hard costs – that you normally don’t have time for, like taking contacts to lunch, writing articles, making speeches, researching prospects, taking on responsibilities at an organization that you are involved in.

(4) Stay Close – Remind your clients, your prospects, your referral sources – all of your business contacts – that you are there. When you are busy, you may not have the time to keep in touch. Now be in touch in every way that makes sense for you and your contacts. Make a call, pay a visit, send an e-mail, send an invitation (to a seminar, webinar, meal or social event). The more you stay top-of-mind with your contacts, the more likely that they will think of you when the need arises.

(5) Network – Speaking of contacts, this includes your referral sources. If you want them – and this includes accountants, other lawyers, bankers and financial planners – to keep you in mind, make sure you are staying in touch with them and keeping them in mind. As much as a good turn is generally appreciated, it is appreciated all the more when the chips are down.

Another group of people you should not be ignoring is your dormant clients. Undoubtedly, you have many clients for whom you have not worked in a long time, but, in most cases, it is not because they are unhappy. It may just be that their matter ended and they did not have another immediate need for a lawyer. Now may be a good time to get back in touch and see if there is anything new you can do for them.

(6) Make a Plan – Every attorney should have his or her own marketing plan. And for most attorneys, the simpler than plan, the better. Have each attorney take some time to think about his practice, and figure out where it currently stands and how he would like to see it grow. A simple personal marketing plan can take the form of a statement of business development goals, backed by a bullet-pointed list of specific action steps that will be taken to achieve these goals. It is important that the firm hold the attorney accountable for his marketing plan. If the attorney plans to take actions 1, 2 and 3, there should be a stated timeframe and he should be expected to report that he took these actions (or, if not, why not), what happened, what resulted and what further steps need to be taken.

(7) Price It Right – In most businesses, pricing is an important component of marketing. Traditionally, this has not been the case in the legal world, but there seems to be a growing realization that the billable hour and the raising or rates every year may not be a sustainable model. Stop paying lip service to alternative billing arrangements and give serious thought to coming up with pricing approaches – including project rates and value billing – that let the clients know that you are aware that their financial resources are not unlimited and that you want to give them real value.

(8) Create an Interesting Package – In other industries, packaging is a crucial element of marketing. Here, too, it can be utilized to the law firm’s advantage. Give some thought to packaging services to give clients a stronger perception of value. For example, you might consider offering a set number of hours of consultation, a regular newsletter or e-newsletter, an annual or semi-annual meeting or document review and a private seminar for a single, set price.

(9) Embrace Today’s Technology – While many law firms like to flatter themselves (and try to convince their clients) that they are on the cutting edge of technology, many are not taking full advantage of today’s technologies – or the cost efficiencies they can provide. There continues to be a debate about the relative value of hard-copy newsletters vs. electronic newsletters. There cannot be a debate, however, that electronic newsletters – which require neither printing nor postage – are far less expensive to publish. Webinars do not have the advantage of giving clients and prospective clients a chance to interact personally with your attorneys, but they can be inexpensive to produce. Blogs can be far, far less expensive to publish than a newsletter, and can be a far more effective, proactive form of marketing. The pace of change in technology keeps accelerating; law firms should keep up on the trends and see which forms of technology they can employ to help them achieve their marketing goals more effectively and cost-effectively.

(10) Be Involved – Partly because attorneys may have more free time, partly because organizations may be hungrier than ever for people to be actively involved, taking an active role – preferably a leadership role – can pay dividends in the long run. Target the right kinds of groups – whether they are professional, legal, civic or not-for-profit – and dive in. Joining in name only does neither the organization nor the attorney any good. Often, the hardest part is finding an organization that is the right fit, but once it is identified, the attorney can get to know – and be known by – a new group of people.

None of these suggestions is radical. Many do not require a significant increase in hard costs. They do, however, require a recognition that now is exactly the time to take advantage of marketing, and to use it strategically, proactively and effectively.

Alan Levine has been helping lawyers and law firms market for more than 20 years. He has been the director of marketing for several prominent New Jersey and New York law firms and a marketing consultant with Hildebrandt International.