Tips from the trenches

One of the greatest challenges for legal marketers today is coming up with ways to inform, excite and involve lawyers in their marketing programmes. Stacy West Clark presents some valuable advice on breaking down the barriers.

Choose the right messenger
Before you launch any marketing programme, suggest that the managing partner tells all the lawyers (and other staff) about it at a free lunch, for example. They should explain why the programme is being initiated, how it will help drive business at the firm and each lawyer’s specific role in its ultimate success.

Make the message tangible
When appropriate, and if funds permit, circulate t-shirts, pens or any other fun ‘giveaway’ items among the lawyers and staff. Tie these in with the initiative – for example, if you are launching a client-feedback programme, you could give everyone a firm pen to make notes of client comments at the interviews.

Make marketing fun
Do something different. In the US, Texas-based law firm Touchstone Bernays held a competition that mimicked the television show ‘The Apprentice’ to encourage everyone to get involved in the marketing effort – and it really worked. Lawyers were divided into teams and various marketing activities, such as meeting with a client or taking them to an event, speaking or writing, were awarded with points. The teams that had completed the most marketing activities won. This not only brought in new business – just by participating in ‘the game’, lawyers were fully aware of the firm’s marketing goals.

Keep everyone posted
Marketing should be a regular item on all practice group, staff and firm-wide meeting agendas. The managing partner should provide continuous, up-to-date reports on the progress of the effort at all regular staff, lawyer and practice-area meetings.

Communicate your successes
Success stories will always encourage support for a campaign. Try to get partners who have seen positive results from the marketing programme to describe how it has enabled them to accomplish goals or improve business, during meetings.

Be proud of your achievements
Show everyone the results of your labour. Display as much material as possible around the firm. If you are launching an advertising campaign, use it proudly around your offices. If you are spending time on a public-relations programme to heighten the visibility of your lawyers, post the articles around the firm and circulate hard copies to demonstrate how well the campaign is working.

Bring out the journalist in you
Keep everyone informed of how the programme is developing in a specially created marketing newsletter. Issue a weekly e-newsletter detailing the progression of all aspects of the programme, along with any achievements or successes.

Visit each lawyer in their office
The marketing partner or director should actually ‘walk the floors’ and tell each lawyer about the programme and their role within it. This should be done on a monthly basis.

Compensate those who participate
Savvy law firms will publicly reward those who succeed as well as those making a really good effort that will result in success over time.

Involve all your staff
Do not concentrate all your efforts on getting the lawyers up to speed and excited about your marketing goals; include support staff wherever possible.
In every firm I have consulted, the administrators and secretaries have had wonderful ideas on improving client relations and service. In cases where a lawyer is not fully tuned-in to the importance of the programme, staff should be able to communicate what the firm is trying to accomplish and the tools that have been created to do this.

Stacy West Clark is president of Stacy Clark Marketing, a legal-marketing consultancy in the US. Previously, Clark was an attorney at international law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, where she went on to become its first marketing director – a role created specifically for her in 1986. She can be contacted at: swconsulting1@aol.com