denotes premium content | Dec 5 2008 Feature
posted 11 Apr 2006 in Volume 1 Issue 1
Back to school
By developing its own accredited marketing training course for secretaries and personal assistants, the marketing department of
Resources are finite and scarce was one of the first lessons of my economics class at university many years ago. In my marketing class at business school, I then went on to learn that: marketing is an overall business philosophy concerned with customer satisfaction and the delivery of perceived value, achieved by focusing the attention of the entire organisation on the importance and needs of the customer.
Both these truisms were at the root of Shepherd and Wedderburn’s decision to develop a course to provide secretarial staff with a higher level of marketing and business-development knowledge and skills.
In the past few years we had noticed a welcome and increasing internal demand for marketing direction and support. But, we had a limited supply of marketing resources, both staff and financial, to meet that demand. At the same time, the profile of the average member of the firm’s marketing team had altered significantly. They were now, typically, business or marketing graduates who expected to be running campaigns and projects commensurate with their qualifications and experience, rather than undertaking the administrative tasks that traditionally fell within the remit of law-firm marketing teams.
Meanwhile, the firm’s human resources (HR) team had undertaken a review of the likely future role of personal assistants and secretaries. The advent of new IT applications, such as e-mail, digital dictation and document-management systems, which were eroding the traditional role of the typist-secretary, made it clear that a new role would need to evolve. There was, therefore, an opportunity to create new marketing resources by devolving some of the tasks previously undertaken by marketing assistants to motivated secretaries. This would give them more of a client orientation and free up the marketing team to undertake other tasks.
We recognised that we would need to provide adequate training for the secretaries to be able to take on the tasks and perform them well, so, we approached the marketing department at
Having explained the rationale for developing the course, the next stage was for the university to work with our marketing and training managers to develop a bespoke programme relevant to the role of a secretary. We were not teaching secretaries to be marketers; we were teaching them to be secretaries who really understand the marketing and business-development dimensions to their job, the strategic importance of their position within the firm, and the practical marketing skills and knowledge that could enhance their roles.
Content
We decided that the course should focus on the key elements of business interactions that participants were facing in their daily jobs. So, it covered topics including: client management; marketing information; database management; seminar and event management; market research; communication skills; and business improvement (see Box 1).
Training had previously been functional – focusing on what to do and how. We added the ‘why’. For example, participants were able to see why updating the database with correct contact information was vital for reputation and risk management, rather than just a mundane task.
The result was a ‘Continuing Professional Development’ accredited course entitled ‘Developing Business Through Managing Client Relationships.’ The course was then promoted internally, and 15 staff signed up voluntarily.
It consisted of 15 two-hour modules, held after hours every two weeks. They were presented by experts who had first-hand experience of working in that area and were delivered on site at Shepherd and Wedderburn. This meant that the course did not eat into work time and also required a high level of personal commitment from those taking part. Support material was provided with all lecture notes and exercises, but there was no textbook requirement.
It was not all one-way lectures, though. Participants were actively involved in a series of exercises throughout the course, which led towards the final assignment.
These exercises included designing a questionnaire, analysing the value of their role, event management and information analysis (see
Although there was no formal examination, the final assignment was a 2,500-word report comprising an action plan relating to the next six months of their career. This had to be clearly timed and linked to specific areas in their job remit, and would be used as the basis of review with their line manager and the firm’s training manager. Many participants had never written a report before and found this element particularly challenging.
A special graduation ceremony was held at the university to mark the participants’ achievements, where the head of its marketing department, Gillian Hogg, presented the successful graduates with a Certificate of Professional Development in Developing Business Through Managing Client Relationships.
Post-graduation
Undertaking the course has meant different things for different people. For example, one has now joined the marketing team on a full-time basis and is studying for Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications. Another now manages the firm’s range of branded merchandise and helps arrange firm-wide events, while other graduates simply manage their partners’ client-relationship-management tasks more effectively, following their training.
It was not just the participants who benefited. There have been clear advantages for the firm, too. It has gained an expanded marketing team; the PA and secretarial roles have been enhanced; there has been increased understanding of the strategic direction of the firm, as opposed to an operational focus; there is more efficient internal management of information; some internal barriers between different teams have been broken down; and the participants are positively influencing others within their teams to be more marketing aware.
The firm’s HR team, which was at the time in the process of applying for ‘Investors in People’ accreditation, was fully behind the project. “As a firm we are committed to developing all staff to their full potential – ultimately such development enhances the quality of service we offer our clients,” said Carole Ritchie, the firm’s HR director. “We were delighted that this externally accredited course offered some of our secretarial staff the opportunity to develop new skills in a business-relevant context.”
The development of the course has also served as a reminder of the rapidly-changing focus of marketing at law firms. “Traditionally, this sector has relied on referral and ‘word of mouth’ for its business,” says Elaine Collinson, who led the project on behalf of the university. “The more progressive law firms are more sophisticated in their marketing and are adopting a very proactive approach to their marketplace.”
Buoyed by the success it achieved with Shepherd and Wedderburn,
David Wallace is marketing director at Shepherd and Wedderburn. He can be contacted at: david.wallace@shepwedd.co.uk. If you would like more information about the course, contact Elaine Collins at: e.collinson@strath.ac.uk.
1. Role in client management I;
2. Role in client management II;
3. Managing client information;
4. Client-strategy identification;
5. Database management;
6. Relationship management I;
7. Relationship management II;
8. Networks;
9. Networking;
10. Market research;
11. Managing market information;
12. Report writing;
13. Seminar and event management;
14. Interaction with the press;
15. Business improvement.
Event management task
You have been asked to organise an event, which will be directed at your legal team’s client base, on behalf of the marketing team within the firm. Working in pairs and using the questions below, prepare an outline of what you are trying to achieve. Summarise the answers to your questions on one sheet to be handed in at the end of the session.
Preparation questions
1. What type of event should we undertake, and why?
2. Who is the intended audience?
3. Who are the key people within the firm that must attend, and why?
4. What are the objectives of the event?
5. How is its success to be measured?
6. What information are we hoping to gather and for what purposes?
7. How is this to be ‘fed back’ to the firm?
8. How does the event support the firm’s other promotional and communications activities?
9. How often should it be run?
