Category: Legal Business Development

Next week! Join NAWL at their General Counsel Institute – November 5-6 in NYC

nawl general counsel institute new york GCI national association of women lawyers

Register today!

The last several years have brought significant changes to the General Counsel position and for many, a rise of greater prominence within their companies. Large-scale forces are transforming the economics of corporations as they face challenges related to accelerating competition, cost controls, technology development, reporting transparency, and Wall Street’s focus on short-term profit maximization.

As a result, the General Counsel increasingly has a broader scope beyond being strictly a legal advisor to also being a C-suite executive, senior counselor to the Board, the CEO, and the CFO, and the ultimate guardian of the company’s integrity. The General Counsel and her in-house lawyers are expected to understand the full spectrum of their company’s business and provide expert legal advice, business strategy input, and ethical guidance.

At GCI 11, you will explore ways to create and promote your legal department as a key business partner, develop and employ critical business relationships, and strategically advance your expertise and skills to bolster your prominence within the company. Through powerful personal stories, substantive legal workshops, and GCI’s unique open exchange of ideas, you will soar to new heights as you develop practical solutions to stay relevant in today’s evolving corporate legal and business environments.

Three Reasons Why Lawyers Avoid Business Development

One of the scariest things someone can do is to approach an attractive stranger in a bar and begin speaking.  While there are the limited few with nerves of steel who can talk with anyone about anything, the majority of us humans are actually intimidated by this act.  Why are some of us afraid of these conversations and others confident? How does this apply to being a lawyer and building a sustainable book of business? The ability to understand the “why” and overcome your own personal uncertainty could mean the difference between success and failure in building a sustainable law practice.

Although there are many different reasons why lawyers are so hesitant to go after new business, I would like to explore the top three that keep some attorneys awake at night.  The unfortunate truth for many attorneys is that without developing your own clients, you will not have the freedom and security that was so easily obtained 20 years ago.

Reason #1: The fear of rejection

One of the main reasons people don’t go into sales is because of the seemingly endless amount of rejection that comes with selling a service. You may recall your first experience with rejection when you were picked last for a game of kickball or when your best friend found someone new to hang out with. As you became older, someone may have turned you down at your local bar. You may have felt sick before approaching that person, and even worse when he or she wasn’t interested in your advances.  Whatever the case, you knew that you hated rejection and the way it made you feel. It’s obvious that the risk of getting rejected is something to avoid if given the choice.

There are two key elements to overcoming the fear of rejection. Unfortunately, they are not easily mastered until you’ve obtained the proper mindset. The first element is dealing with what I call “head trash.”  Head trash is the mess that you create between your two ears regarding things that you are afraid of. There’s an acronym for F-E-A-R, which stands for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” This means that you’ve built up something scary in your mind, when in reality nothing bad is going to happen. Think about the first time you went skiing or rode a roller coaster. Of course you might have been afraid—until it was over. Then you probably said, “What was I so afraid of?”

When it comes to rejection from your business development activities, the same sentence can be uttered, “What was I so afraid of?” One of the first things I do with the attorneys I work with is to get them to realize there is absolutely nothing to fear.  You’re not going to die or get hurt in any way. The rejection, if it does happen, is not personal.  The reality is that not everyone is going to do business with you. Sometimes it’s because you weren’t the best fit for them or they weren’t the right fit for you. That’s just the way it is.

Another important element to overcoming fear when selling legal services is to be very skilled at what you do. Top lawyers have an endless reserve of confidence because they know that no one else can do a better job for a client than they will. This confidence allows the fear to subside because if someone doesn’t select you, it’s his or her loss. Move on to the next opportunity, as there will be many more to come.

Reason #2: The stigma that is attached to the word “sales” and “salespeople.”

One of the main reasons why lawyers are hesitant to invest time on their business development efforts is because of the negative feelings one has towards sales. It is seen as a dirty profession. The imagery of carpetbaggers and soapbox pitchmen is synonymous with the word sales.   To make things worse, we have all been “taken for a ride” at some point in our lives, paying too much for something we were sold.

It’s possible that you chose a career in law, specifically to avoid having to sell anything.

While I have been in sales for over 25 years, I never remember saying as a child, “Gee, one day I hope to grow up to be a salesperson.”  For many millions that are currently in a sales role, it’s really a default profession.

As an attorney, you probably never thought that you would have to sell anything right?  More like “hoped.” The reality for most attorneys over 60 years old is that they didn’t have to sell. Being a good lawyer and trusted counselor was probably enough. In fact, my father retired from law in 1999 and never had to make a business development call or attend a networking event in his entire career. Well, obviously, things have changed.  Lawyers today need to control their own financial destiny by getting out there and originating new business.

As I mentioned previously, it’s important to be the best lawyer you can be. It’s also critical to have a better process for selling legal services. The old school “pitch” meetings and aggressive tactics to closing new business are outdated. The easiest way to stop the negatively charged stigma associated with sales and salespeople is to stop doing it yourself.

Think about it this way. When you enter a courtroom for a big trial, are you properly prepared?  What happens if you aren’t? All attorneys know that preparation and execution in a courtroom are paramount for success to occur. In selling legal services, it’s not that different. Being properly prepared for a prospective client meeting is just as involved as going into the courtroom.  You need to have a more relationship driven and consultative approach, to remove the salesy element from the room. Ask questions and learn about the prospective client’s needs, wants and desires. While this is easy for me to say, it’s very difficult to actually execute. We are all wired to solve problems and present solutions. It’s a constant struggle to hold back, ask quality questions and really listen to a prospective client’s issues. Just yesterday, one of my clients closed a new piece of business. At the end of the meeting the prospect said to him, “I’ve never had an attorney ask me so many questions before. You really seem to understand my problems.” That’s it! If you can change your approach to avoid being salesy, the negative stigma will also be removed from within your brain.

Reason #3: Lack of education on business development

“They never taught me this in law school.”  If I’ve heard this once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. It’s sad, but true.  Skills including networking, time management, follow-up and selling process are all learnable for attorneys. Business development can be frustrating and challenging. Without the proper education on how to plan and execute on it, you might be doomed to fail from the start.

In order to be great at something, anything, you take lessons. For example, try learning a new language, sport or musical instrument without any professional help. Not an easy road to travel.  While some people are more adept at figuring things out through trial and error, we all know it’s best to seek out the best help available.

A few ideas for finding this education include seeking out an open-minded mentor at your firm. She likely has already traveled down the wrong paths and may help you avoid those pitfalls. Another option is to study the topic of sales. If you were to read five books and get a few take-aways from each one, you will probably make fewer mistakes. Even one small positive change that becomes a habit could have a significant effect on a career’s worth of business development. Lastly, look for professional help. There are coaches, consultants and trainers locally and nationwide that may be a good resource for you. Be sure to check references and try to find someone that you can connect with on a personal level. And those legal superstars around you who seem to attract business wherever they go? They are continually fine-tuning their skills as well—in such ways as coaching, training and peer-to-peer counseling. Whichever direction you decide, it’s definitely better than wasting countless hours on marketing efforts that aren’t getting you results for your time invested.

Whether you are a new partner in your firm, a solo player or an up-and-coming associate, it’s important to understand what sales is really all about.  The best business developers today aren’t the most aggressive, pushy or salesy. They are relationship focused, confident in their skills and consultative in how they approach new clients.  Strong business developers have lost the fear of rejection, and replaced it with confidence in their skills as a top lawyer and high level solution provider in the legal field.

Article By Steve Fretzin of Sales Results, Inc.

Copyright @ 2015 Sales Results, Inc.

Attend the Women, Influence and Power in Law Conference, October 28-30 in Washington D.C.

Wherewomen influence power in law: The Capital Hilton, Washington D.C.

When: October 28-30, 2015

Register today!

The annual Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference offers an opportunity for unprecedented exchange with women outside counsel. This unique event was created with the assistance of an unheralded advisory board comprised of high ranking women General Counsel or direct reports to the GC and were drawn from across the country. These attorneys have the highest levels of expertise and experience in key practice areas.

The Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference is not a forum for lawyers to discuss so-called “women’s issues.” It is a conference for women in-house and outside counsel to discuss current legal topics, bringing their individual experience and perspectives on issues of:

Who Should Attend

  • Chief Legal Officers
  • General Counsel
  • Corporate Counsel
  • Associate General Counsel
  • CEOs
  • Senior Counsel
  • Corporate Compliance Officers

Legal Bloggers: Strategies for Increasing Your Readership

So you have a blog. Great! Everyone – from legal marketers to managing partners – has probably told you that writing a regular blog will establish you as a thought leader and drive business development.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Finding a blog on the Internet is akin to picking out a needle from a haystack.

Just because you write it doesn’t mean they will read it. For your blog to attract readers, you need to give it a push. And that means coming up with a solid distribution strategy.

Let’s look at potential channels that could send readers to your blog.

Organic Search

You can bet that your target audience will be using search engines – Google, Bing, etc. – to find articles and blogs. Understanding topics and keywords that people search for should be the first step in blog writing.

Use Google Trends and Google News to mine for topics. Then research which keywords people are using to search for your topic. Google’s keyword planner provides data on how many searches are conducted every month. For example, if you’re writing about Title IX, are people using search phrases like “title IX discrimination on campus” or “gender equality in education”?

Once you determine the best keywords, integrate them into your blog – naturally. Don’t overuse phrases again and again. Instead, choose five or six phrases and sprinkle them throughout your blog.

Next, give consideration to your title tag. This is separate from the headline on your blog post. The title tag is what is known as a “meta” field and is accessible on the back end of most content management systems (WordPress, Drupal, etc.). Select one prominent keyword phrase that has relatively high search volume, along with high relevancy, to use in your title tag. Search engines use title tags to index your blog posts. Your title tag is also what search engines use to designate your posts in their results pages.

And don’t forget about “domain authority.” Domain authority is a third-party metric that indicates how well search engines will rank a website in search results. Hosting your blog on your firm website (as opposed to building a brand-new site for your blog) will most likely provide higher authority for your blog.

Email Subscriptions

Have a way for readers to sign up for email alerts that are triggered when you put up a new blog post. This type of “opt-in” automated program delivers your blog to engaged readers – that is, potential leads.

If your blog focuses on various practice areas or industries, creating sign-up categories will help you target your readers with relevant content. As an example, Kirton McConkie recently launched a multi-practice blog that provides email sign-up options by category.

Subscription-Based Legal Syndication Sites

Sites like the National Law Review, JD Supra and Mondaq repost blogs on their websites. These online resources are hubs for general counsel, attorneys and reporters to find information on legal topics. Subscribers can join for free, while contributors pay monthly or annual fees to have their content included.

These types of sites have an added benefit for blog authors: They also use social media and email marketing tactics to deliver your content, creating additional visibility.

Social Media

It goes without saying that social media has the potential to reach an enormous pool of readers. But getting the attention from the right people on social media is a daunting task. Sending out a tweet linking to your blog can be like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean. Fortunately, there are a few best practices to help you get additional visibility.

First, decide which social media platforms you’re going to use based on the audience you want to attract. Every social network has a unique culture and demographic characteristics. Don’t waste your time chasing a crowd that’s not relevant – for instance, Snapchat users are not interested in legal blogs.

Once you’ve identified one or two social platforms, search for influencers in your topic area. These influencers will frequently write about and share relevant content and will have high follower and engagement metrics. Start engaging with these people. Don’t bombard them with requests to share your blog, but show interest in their content and join in conversations. Also, sprinkle links to your blog into your social stream. Just be careful not to make it all about you.

LinkedIn Posts

Use the LinkedIn “Publish a Post” feature to repurpose your blogs on your profile. It’s a simple way to expand your reach on LinkedIn. Not only are posts searchable on LinkedIn, but they also are pushed out through LinkedIn’s email notification program.

Blog Directory Sites

Setting up your blog’s RSS feed to relevant blog directory sites like AllTop’s legal section and ABAJournal blogs will drive readers to your blog. Track visits from these sites in the “Referral” section of your Google Analytics dashboard to measure the effectiveness of these visitors.

Guest Authors

I

nvite thought leaders with high online visibility to write guest posts for your blog. These authors will have followers who read their content. If they post to your site, they will help you share their post through their social media channels, which again drives visits to your website.

It may be difficult to recruit guest bloggers. If you find that is the case, try to provide benefits to writers, such as prominent links back to their websites.

Other Digital Marketing Initiatives

Leverage all your digital marketing channels by including a link to your blog in your electronic communications – email signature lines, client alerts, invoices, etc. Add a link to your blog in all your social media profiles – LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

As with all digital marketing initiatives, measurement and tracking are key steps for identifying tactics that work and tactics that don’t. Review your Google Analytics or other analytics-tracking platform regularly. Understanding which topics resonate with your readers will inform your content strategy as you go forward.

ARTICLE BY Melanie Trudeau of Jaffe

© Copyright 2008-2015, Jaffe Associates

Three Tips for Better Law Firm Videos [PodCast]

Great overview of successful attorney videos by John McDougall of McDougall Interactive and Justin Parker and Jimmy Craig of MethodLoft in the podcast below.

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/203761369

John McDougall: Hi. I’m John McDougall. I’m here today with Justin Parker and Jimmy Craig of MethodLoft. Today, we’re going to be speaking about three tips for better law firm videos. Welcome, Jimmy and Justin.

Justin Parker: Hi. Good to be here.

Jimmy Craig: Good to be here.

John: Why is video important for attorneys?

Justin: There are a few factors there. One of the most important is that an attorney is — you’re not only selling services but you’re selling yourself. A video is a great way to let your client know who you are, what’s your body language, how do you talk, is someone going to be comfortable working with you? It’s much more personal than just seeing a stock photo or a still photo of you on the website.

John: Yeah, and too much text, which certainly people read a lot online but video is a booming trend for sure.

Justin: For sure. For a lot of attorneys, you could have a video that doesn’t need to have a lot of views, but one sale from 75 views is really a big deal and can make the whole project worthwhile.

John: And you’ve seen that happen?

Justin: Absolutely, yes.

Jimmy: It’s obviously important for attorneys to be present online. So having video is just a, what we think is a critical piece of that, especially now since videos show up in organic Google search results. Also, YouTube is the second biggest search engine. It’s good to take advantage of that.

John: What is typically wrong with lawyer videos?

Jimmy: I’d say, something we always encourage lawyers to avoid is being too sales y. Video is a really good opportunity to be more personable. Basically, just share knowledge that you already have and don’t try to be aggressive, and not sales y and not stiff.

Again, anytime we shoot a video, we really encourage lawyers to not even use a script. We’ll basically have a loose outline, but we really want them to basically just be them.

John: Yeah, a lot of times, they’re really wondering, “Who’s going to write the script, and how long is the script?” It’s a lot more likely you’ll get a less stiff take if you don’t do that, right?

Justin: Absolutely. A lot of attorney videos, you’re just seeing, like Jimmy said, “Come to our law firm because we do this.” That’s all we’re getting from them, and it’s just blending in with everybody else who does that as opposed to, “I’m just here to share my knowledge with you.” That is just a much better sales pitch, I think.

John: Yeah, so starting with the right approach, a good inbound marketing type of approach. What are the three tips to improve law firm websites using video?

Justin: One tip is just to make sure your production quality is decent. It doesn’t have to be like Hollywood extravaganza, but you probably you don’t want to shoot your videos with the webcam in your laptop. Also, a lot of people underestimate audio quality. That’s a big thing that goes into the whole production process.

John: How do they miss out on that, just using the mic that’s in the camera or is there a way to get around that?

Justin: Yeah. Different microphones are obviously going to have better quality even if they are on the camera, but you could have a boom mic that you can place right next to the subject. That’s definitely going to increase the quality. Just put it up on a little tripod. It’s not really a big deal, not a big setup.

John: Do you often can go into a separate MP3 recorder or…

Justin: Yeah, absolutely. That’s our current process, but that isn’t the only process. Sometimes, you can feed directly into the camera. It just depends on the equipment.

John: But that means you’re going to have to sync it somehow, right?

Justin: Yeah, absolutely.

John: But you think that’s worth doing?

Justin: Yeah, for sure. Again, audio quality, almost more important than video quality. They’re right there.

John: Interesting. What else?

Jimmy: Another tip, I’d say, is to be mindful of the length of the content you’re releasing. Typically, when we do an overview video for an attorney, which is basically their commercial to the world, we stick around one to two minutes, typically. We don’t really want to go too long.

We found that a lot of attorneys want to say everything they’ve done, the history of their firm, and how much money they’ve won, and how long they’ve been in the business and stuff. It’s really just highlight points. Basically, you want to think of it as, this is your bullet list. Again, people online don’t really have the longest attention spans, so we try to keep things under two minutes.

Also, for FAQ videos, that’s another thing we do with a lot of attorneys, and we keep those, typically, I’d say, under a minute, probably around 40 to 45 seconds.

John: With the overview videos, I think some of those value proposition statements, a little bit of, “How long have you been in business?” and some of those stuff is OK but as long as they can do it quick.

Jimmy: Of course. The thing is, that stuff is definitely important. It’s just, sometimes, you can get that across, too, with even a text bulleted list during the video while the attorney is saying something else, maybe talking about a specific case or something like that. Basically, you want to pack a lot of information into a short thing. But you don’t need to go into detail, basically.

Justin: Again, it depends on what kind of video you’re doing. There’s overview videos, and then there’s FAQ videos. With your overview video, maybe that’s more of an overview of your firm. An FAQ video, it’s just, here is a specific question, here is a specific answer.

So as a law firm or an attorney, you have a lot knowledge you want to share, and just figuring out which pieces of that knowledge fit into what kind of video you’re doing.

John: With the FAQ videos, it’s important to pick keywords. So you’ve seen good results with that as well.

Justin: Definitely, another tip that we would definitely recommend is using keywords, and then adding them to YouTube, and then transcribe the text of what you’re talking about in your video, and you can put that text directly into your website for SEO purposes and also take that text and import it into YouTube as the Closed Caption text. Those are other ways to be searchable for sure.

John: Those are great tips. Again, this is John McDougall with McDougall Interactive Marketing, here today with Jimmy Craig and Justin Parker of MethodLoft. See you next time. Thanks, guys.

Justin: Thank you.

© Copyright 2015 McDougall Interactive

Continue reading Three Tips for Better Law Firm Videos [PodCast]

The 9 Top Habits of Successful Rainmakers, Part 3 of 3

The Rainmaker Institute

Working with more than 10,000 attorneys over the past dozen years has taught me a lot about what it takes to be a successful rainmaker. Some would argue you’re born with it; however, I believe many of these successful habits can be learned.

To read about the first six top habits of successful rainmakers, go here to access Part 1 and here to access Part 2. These are the final three:

7.  Incorporate Sales Into Daily Life

While personality is a key factor in successful selling, developing a sales mindset so that it permeates your daily activities is a key attribute for high-achieving rainmakers. These attorneys consistently:

Differentiate contracts from prospects. Listen for the signals that distinguish a real prospect from someone who is simply price shopping or worse (using you to obtain a lower fee from another lawyer).  Create a list of questions to disqualify contacts focusing on the criteria of “need, want, afford.”

Interview qualified prospects directly. Are you consistently talking directly to your prospects (versus their gatekeepers and time-wasters)? Make sure you are speaking to the real decision-maker.

Give prospects a call to action. Make sure each prospect receives one clear call to action. Make it easy for them to follow. Ask for their business!

Follow up. Have a process in place that will follow up with a thank you letter or e-mail within 24 hours of the interview. Be sure to end every interview with action steps (e.g., what each party agrees to do as next steps and when they will do it by). If you agree to do something, be sure to do it before the deadline.

8.  Answer the Question, Why Hire Us?

To be able to successfully pitch why you are the best choice, you must understand the problem the prospect sitting across from you is facing.  They are coming to you seeking a solution to a specific problem, which for you could be something you see every day, but for them are new and unique.

Don’t emphasize the kinds of services you offer, the quality of your services, the size of your law firm or your years of experience. What you need to tell prospects is the benefits they will get because they are doing business with you, the value you will provide them (value does NOT mean price) and theresults they can expect from the services you provide.

9.  Perfect the Close

One of the primary reasons that a company or person hires an attorney is to alleviate some type of “pain”. They may use words like “challenges”, “problems”, or “obstacles”, but all of the words amount to the same thing; they are experiencing discomfort; they are experiencing pain. Their “pain” is whatever they are asking your assistance with. Successfully closing a deal with a prospect relies upon your ability to identify their pain and effectively communicate how you will help them resolve it.

Some attorneys have a very bad habit of making clients feel stupid by using too many legal terms in conversation. Stay on your client’s level and always make sure they understood what you are trying to communicate.

In perfecting the close, great sales people:

  • Lead with benefits

  • Can articulate and add value to the conversation

  • Build credibility and trust

  • Are perceived as a trusted advisor

  • Identify a prospect’s wants and needs

  • Sell to the prospect’s goals

  • Focus on prospect’s gaps

  • Demonstrate how they will solve the prospect’s problems or needs

ARTICLE BY

Stephen Fairley
The Rainmaker Institute

Part 2: The 9 Top Habits of Successful Rainmakers

The Rainmaker Institute

Successful rainmakers consistently apply certain habits and characteristics to distinguish themselves from competitors and increase the revenues of their law firms.

Click here to read Part 1 for the first three top habits of successful rainmakers. Here are the next three:

4.  Mind and Grow Your Referral Network

Just like any cash crop, a referral network needs to be nurtured in order to grow. And one of the best ways to nurture your referral network is to keep educating them about your firm so they can send you great referrals.

Here are five things you need to tell them:

  1. What your perfect client looks like. Provide a detailed description of your ideal client.

  2. Why someone should hire you. Be clear about your unique competitive advantage.

  3. What problems you solve. Again, be as specific as possible.

  4. How you follow up. Tell them your process so they are comfortable with referring you.

  5. Why referrals are important to you.

In addition, you need to find unique ways to thank your referral sources and, whenever you can, reciprocate.

5.  Leverage Relationship Building Tools

Staying connected with referral sources and clients you want to hire you again and again is the hallmark of a great rainmaker.  In my experience over the dozen years of working with more than 10,00 attorneys, I’ve found one simple solution that will help you achieve this goal without much effort or expense on your part: an e-newsletter.

E-newsletters provide an easy way for you to reach out to your entire network at the same time and to keep your name and your firm in their mind. The key benefits include:

It Establishes a Dialogue – Most email marketing companies make it easy to provide links to email and social media. The easier you make it for a contact to share information, the more likely they will share it.

It’s Easy to Track – Your email marketing provider will make tracking your effectiveness simple. They know who opened your email, who opted out, who clicked through. It’s an easy way for you to find out if the newsletter is working.

Keeping Them Informed – With a newsletter, you can include information about other firm highlights you want to share. Did someone just get an award? Did a case just settle? Did someone new join the firm?

Keep in Touch – Use the newsletter to keep in touch with former clients. It will reinforce the positive impression you had on them and ensure that you are top of mind if a new issue arises.

Educate Your Clients – If you handled my divorce, then I may not think of you when it comes time to hire an estate planning attorney. That isn’t my fault though, it’s yours. Educate your past, current and future clients and referral sources about all your practice areas.

It is a long road of small interactions, but by focusing on creating a solid relationship with your network you will benefit in the end.

6.  Develop a Marketing Mindset

The Internet and social media has blown the old legal marketing model to bits, and those with the entrepreneurial mindset and vision to harness the incredible power of these modern marketing tools create their own opportunities for revenue and growth beyond their wildest dreams.

Be proactive to recognize opportunities for you and your network and keep the radar on in every aspect of your life. Marketing is not an event, it is a mindset and a lifestyle. Access every resource available to you — internal, external, memberships, friends, family, and colleagues.

ARTICLE BY

Stephen Fairley
The Rainmaker Institute

The 9 Top Habits of Successful Rainmakers, Part 1 of 3

The Rainmaker Institute

Successful rainmakers have certain habits and characteristics in common that drive them to greater levels of success. These habits and characteristics manifest themselves as key behaviors and specific actions, and understanding how to implement these actions on a consistent basis will distinguish you from your competitors and increase your revenues.

1.  Develop a Solid Personal Brand

rainmakerFor most attorneys, reputation is everything.  It used to be that attorneys gained their reputations primarily through word-of-mouth and personal interaction.  Today, building a reputation must contain an online element since this is where most people gather and interact.

A personal brand is the expression of your identity that answers the question of why clients should want to work with you. Having a niche is important in creating your personal brand. Plus, it is much easier to build your brand in a select niche than it is to stand out in a huge market like “attorneys”.   Even online, it’s important for you to niche your practice in an area that can provide living, breathing clients for your practice.

2.  Proactively Manage Digital Assets

What do prospects see when they type your name into a search engine? If it’s not much, that can often be as harmful as something negative. Here are some tips on managing your online reputation:

Update your website and social media profiles. Research shows that 76% of people searching for an attorney go online first, so your website and social media profiles are likely one of the first chances you will have to make a good first impression on a prospect. Be sure these are robust reflections of your expertise and the market you serve.

Create good, meaningful content. Wherever you are online – your law firm website, your blog, your social media networks – make sure you are creating and posting valuable and relevant content that your target prospects will find interesting and helpful.

Look and listen. Create a Google Alert for yourself and your firm so you can monitor what is being said. If you find something negative on a site that allows you to comment, do so professionally and unemotionally.

3.  Aggressively Build Contacts

Having a great contact list is key to being an effective rainmaker. While you may not realize it, you probably have more contacts than you think. Not only do you have all the contact information of the people you have done business with, you can look at your email contact addresses and also get the email addresses of those individuals you are connected with on LinkedIn. Right off the bat this will give you a bigger database then you thought.

You can also begin to speak, attend networking events or create Free Reports that motivate people to give you their contact information in order to get valuable information back.

In addition, any time you meet someone or someone calls your office, get their contact information so you can begin to communicate with them on a regular basis in a meaningful way.

To succeed at building contacts, you need to err on side of inclusivity in all your interactions. Be clear on your follow-up systems, maintain a process for adding new contacts and regularly review contact lists for updates.

ARTICLE BY

Stephen Fairley
The Rainmaker Institute

Succession Planning: How to Hand Your Law Firm to the Next Generation

Jaffe

While conducting a year-end review of several client projects I worked on in 2014, I noticed a trend emerging. Though the types of projects and initiatives were disparate, there was a single, shared stumbling block that deterred the work from moving purposefully forward without a hitch. Whether working on new website builds, social media programs, content strategies or business development initiatives, generational and change-management issues impeded progress.

Jason P. Grunfeld, a corporate partner and head of business development and marketing at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C., spoke at the 22nd annual Marketing Partner Forum in late January. During the session titled: “The Law Firm Rainmaker Redefined,” Jason and his fellow panelists spent significant time discussing the passing of leadership roles to the next generation, as well as changes in management.

I spoke to Jason after his presentation, about the process his firm undertook to elect new leaders in various strategic roles including department chairs, managing partner, and the head of business development and marketing, and he confirmed my belief that certain practices lead to easier leadership transitions. Some of these practices include open communication amongst partners, eliminating committees to create more efficiency, having a plan and vision in place for transition and strong mentoring. All of these practices have developed over time, and are now a part of the culture at Kleinberg Kaplan.

Moving a firm from the first to the second generation of leadership is a difficult task. Generally, taking the time to develop an over-arching vision and strategy takes a backseat to day-to-day operational issues. As time goes on, marketing and business development programs, as well as other processes, can effectively grind to screeching halt.

The good news is that firms can navigate the leadership transition and change-management processes if they have focused intent. To ensure success, the topic needs to stay high on the agenda, and progress must be monitored and shared regularly. In other words, don’t let it fall off the list – even when the challenges to change are more than just logistical.

Change Is Challenging

There are two main issues involved in transitioning to the next generation and change  management in law firms:

1. How do you get founding and/or senior partners to relinquish control and power?

2. How do you get younger partners with leadership abilities to take on and focus on the role?

What’s imperative is open and honest communication – and plenty of it. Firms must address impending issues and prepare to face pushback when developing a change-management plan.

Timing is another factor. The time to plan is not when founding and senior partners are looking toward retirement. The best transitions happen when new leaders are well-mentored and work alongside their predecessors.

In some instances, leadership transition is a very emotional issue for some of the parties involved. For a founding partner who has built the firm from the ground up, the firm is part of her/his identity, so letting go is difficult. Conversely, a younger partner may experience anxiety about assuming greater responsibility. All of this must be considered and managed during the process.

Change Management for Law Firms

There are many activities your firm can implement that support open communication and facilitate the eventual changes in leadership.

Institute an exit-planning program. Develop a program that is fair and provides for the continuity of the firm. Be sure to include lead time to introduce clients to younger attorneys who have the skills to perpetuate the relationship. Consider all of the knowledge the firm will lose when an experienced attorney leaves, and make preparations accordingly.

Develop mentoring programs in all practice and leadership areas. Good mentoring cannot be underestimated. It’s one of the most significant factors in career success and the future health of an organization. Young associates are frequently assigned mentors when they first join a firm, but the “mentoring” is not monitored and thus falls by the wayside after a year or two. Make mentoring a priority at your firm so it doesn’t go out of style.

Consider leadership, business and business development skills when hiring. There are tests that can be administered during the interview process to help determine the aptitude an individual has for developing and strengthening potential skill sets. In addition, personality-type tests show natural propensities for leadership, as well as other characteristics.

Provide leadership training to appropriate personnel. When attorneys or other professionals demonstrate effectiveness in a specific area, consider providing assistance to help them excel. This will accelerate the learning curve so the firm can take advantage of their skills earlier.

Provide business development training and coaching to attorneys. As we know, a firm must continue to generate business from existing clients and bring in new clients to prosper and thrive. Most firms do not have a plethora of great rainmakers roaming the halls. Identify those attorneys with natural skills and those who have the potential for improvement, and provide the necessary training.

Make discussions about planning for the future a priority. As stated above, don’t let discussions about your firm’s future fall off the list while dealing with the day to day. If firms discuss potential future opportunities and obstacles regularly, addressing leadership changes will not be as intimidating.

Align compensation with the firm’s goals regarding future plans. I’ve heard about and worked on many different types of plans that incentivize behaviors that firms encourage. These include compensation programs for introducing younger attorneys to new clients, handing younger attorneys responsibility for existing clients and mentoring younger attorneys into leadership roles. These may sound avant-garde to some, but they have proven highly effective for many.

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Take advantage of the tactics that can keep change management top of mind and prevent your firm from grinding to a halt. If the topic of change is giving rise to negative reactions, start with open communication. Then continue and continue until the issues are not so difficult to discuss.

ARTICLE BY

Sue Remley
OF
Jaffe

Positive Media Exposure: Elevate Your Practice and Your Firm

Legal Marketing Association Southeastern Chapter

Your business is on the rise yet every time you scroll through your news feeds, read the newspaper, or watch a news show, you find your competitors highlighted everywhere instead of you and your business. You want this kind of coverage, but you are short on time due to your demanding work schedule, board activities, community involvement and family engagements. Dealing with the media also feels uncomfortable and you fear that reporters will not tell the story correctly. Sound familiar? This is what we discovered when we asked our clients (i.e. very smart lawyers we love to work with!)

To be fair, media interviews can be a daunting experience for almost anyone. These feelings are compounded by the notion that subject matter experts may believe that reporters and interviewers are out to get them. The truth is, the media should be treated just like a client. A great majority of reporters are cordial people who are assigned to cover a story on a topic. It is their job to talk with various sources, research the topic, and educate the public. Yet, almost always, reporters are on deadline while juggling other priorities assigned to them on any given day. Their challenge is to collect a depth of accurate information in order to inform the public and meet a tight deadline. Does that sound like a client? Have you ever received a call or an email from a client who needs to know the latest on a particular issue and has questions they need answered right away? It’s not that either is out to get you, rather each need to be educated so that they can succinctly and accurately inform their audience, be that a reader or a senior executive.

What you must realize is that the interviewee is often more knowledgeable on a subject than the interviewer, therefore you should approach the interview with full confidence and take advantage of the opportunity to provide useful and practical information. After all, this is your opportunity to shine and help educate the public. Here are some tips to ensure a successful media interview:

  • Similar to preparing for a case, successful media messages depend on preparation. Pick a story angle ahead of time and stick to it thought the interview. This bolsters your ability to serve as a subject matter expert.

  • Consider all of the difficult questions that may be asked and prepare answers. This critical step will help you from being caught off guard.

  • If you are asked a challenging question that you did not consider or are asked to talk about something that you simply can’t discuss, you can maintain control of the interview by using bridging techniques with phrases like: “before we leave the subject, let me add that …” “And the one thing that is important to remember is …” “While this is important, it is also important to remember that…”

  • Reporters love to use research and statistics in their stories as much as lawyers do. Feel free to prepare some stats and takeaways for reporters to help emphasize the story angle you are trying to promote.

  • Reporters are trained to listen. Just because a reporter puts away a notebook, a microphone or turns off a tape recorder doesn’t mean the interview is over and you can say anything without it being used.

  • Reporters hate when someone misleads or lies to them. They don’t like it when their stories have to be corrected through no fault of their own and because of inaccurate information provided to them. Accuracy is a gold standard for reporters. Help them achieve it and you can bet they will come back to you with another interview opportunity.

  • Instead of using industry jargon, speak in simple terms to appeal to the general public and potential clients. The reporter will most likely use those comments word-for-word which earns more thought leadership clout.

  • Body language can be just as important as words. Keep your arms loose and gesture naturally. This will help you appear calm and confident. Don’t cross your arms, your legs or put your hands in your pockets. Strive for a relaxed and happy face. Again, you are the expert who has the opportunity to share your knowledge.

  • Some reporters will ask you to spell your name on camera or tape so the editors can include it in the caption. If they don’t, be sure to spell your name and your firm’s name so they can include it in their story correctly.

  • Whether your story appears online, in print, radio or on television, don’t forget to engage in the digital space. Update your social media channels, website and blogs before and after the interview to continue the growth and expansion of your online brand.

Representing your business and knowledge base to the public is extremely important for you and your practice. Keeping these general media tips in mind puts you at a greater advantage to deliver a successful message and stay in front of your clients. With this said, remember to stay positive and have fun! And of course, call the Marketing Department or your public relations representative to work on a customized approach for each story.

ARTICLE BY

Ioana Good
Ryan King
OF
Legal Marketing Association Southeastern Chapter