Legal Marketing Q and A

The Rainmaker Institute mini logo (1)

Our session in San Diego last weekend yielded some good questions that are worth sharing here, with my answers:

When should I ask for testimonials?

  1. Right after the client is retained
  2. Anytime the client says thank you
  3. Anytime there is a “win” for the client
  4. After the case/matter is handled

Why do I need testimonials, can’t I just tell prospects that my clients love me?

You can do so, but it is far more compelling when someone else talks about their positive experience they had with you or the firm than if you simply say your clients are happy. Third party reviews are far more powerful than if you say it.

People are skeptical; they don’t always believe what individuals and companies say about themselves.

Lastly, people are deathly afraid of making mistakes, if they can see or read about others’ experiences with you or the firm they feel better about making the decision because others have had a positive experience with you and they believe they will have a similar experience!

What are a few major systems I should have in my law firm in regards to managing client experience?

1.     Intake system (what docs clients need to bring in, sign, initial, etc.). If the process is easy and systematized, the prospect will pick up on that and feel more comfortable about hiring you.

2.     Follow up system (If a prospect doesn’t hire you how frequently and persistently do you follow up? When you meet someone at a networking event that can refer you clients, how frequently and persistently do you follow up?) Improves the client experience because they see you follow up and care.

3.     Create a policy and procedure manual (so you are not held hostage by staff or find yourself totally crippled if someone leaves, gets sick or is no longer available). Improves client experience because each time they come in or call, the experience, language used etc. is consistent.

Why does it seem like my prospects only care about price?

If prospects only care about price, that means they believe you or your services are a commodity. And commodities are sold on price. You are most likely trying to be the shiniest apple in the barrel of apples…you must become the orange in the sea of apples so people understand why and how you are different and why paying a premium makes sense.

Article By:

 of

Mexico: U.S. Natural Gas Savior?

Bracewell & Giuliani Logo

Much has been made of the exponential growth in natural gas supply within the continental United States due to the horizontal drilling and fracking techniques employed in recent years. The resulting natural gas glut has reversed the conventional wisdom that America would be a net importer of natural gas for most of the 21st century with the expectation now being that America, despite being by far the world’s largest consumer of hydrocarbons, will be a significant exporter of natural gas overseas in the coming years and decades. This development has resulted in a flurry of proposed liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) terminals that hope to export natural gas in order to take advantage of the large spreads between prices in America and those in Europe and Asia. Those price spreads exist because a worldwide market for natural gas doesn’t exist, as opposed to oil where the relatively short-lived Brent-WTI price differential has evaporated in recent months.

However, these export terminals cannot export gas to foreign countries lacking a free trade agreement with the U.S. without permits from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). The queue for approval is long with only three facilities (including most recently the Lake Charles LNG Project in Lake Charles, Louisiana) receiving approval from the Department of Energy and only one of those (the Sabine Pass project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana) receiving approval from FERC. Given the long construction lead times for these projects and political pressure from environmentalists and buyers of natural gas who want prices to remain low, it won’t be until 2016 when any significant volumes of LNG are exported from the continental United States. Rival producers such as Qatar, Australia and Indonesia are rapidly signing contracts with Japan, Korea and China to satisfy the long-term needs of those countries as America continues to delay the development of its LNG infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the historically low natural gas prices created by the production glut are forcing energy companies to find a profitable market for their natural gas in the short to medium term. They appear to have found one in America’s backyard: Mexico. Constructing pipelines to straddle the U.S.-Mexico border entail less regulatory complexities and attract less political attention than LNG exports. With the existing U.S.-Mexico natural gas pipelines almost at capacity, energy companies cannot build border pipelines fast enough, with several new pipeline projects coming online, including Kinder Morgan’s El Paso Natural Gas Co. export pipeline near El Paso, Texas, with a capacity of 0.37 billion cubic feet per day. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration all of the in-progress pipeline projects on the U.S.-Mexico border could result in a doubling of American natural gas exports to Mexico by the end of 2014.

This new export market should continue to support U.S. shale development in the near-term and medium-term future, especially in Texas, despite low natural gas prices and continued supply growth. Longer term prospects for U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico are also bright as well. Even though Mexico has large hydrocarbon reserves itself, the 1938 nationalization of its oil industry and the subsequent decades of underinvestment have seen Mexican hydrocarbon production steadily decline in the last decade. The Mexican constitution effectively prohibits private investment in hydrocarbon production and the Mexican public firmly believes in public ownership of hydrocarbons. There is widespread agreement among many Mexican politicians that private capital, especially from U.S. energy companies with the expertise to tap offshore and shale hydrocarbons, is needed to reverse the production decline, but whether public opposition can be overcome remains in doubt. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is pushing constitutional reforms to attract foreign capital, but even if those pass Mexico is years away from converting any private capital into increased production. If those reforms do not pass, Mexico will be forced to continue to look to U.S. natural gas producers to provide it with its growing energy needs.

So while a regulatory bottleneck is endangering America’s ability to be a long-term overseas exporter of natural gas, Mexico, with its growing economy and inability to tap its own reserves, seems poised to play an outsized role in a continued expansion of American natural gas production. LNG exports might be the wave of the future, but natural gas exports to Mexico are the here and now.

 of

Professional and Personal Aspects of Law Firm Social Media

Correct Consults Logo

I’ve seen it far too many times: law firms are often concerned that any personal posts on their firm’s Social Media platforms may hinder their credibility as a professional legal practitioner.  That simply isn’t the case. In fact, if every post is of a professional nature, it may deter the average Facebook user from interacting with your content. You need a good balance of the two.

social media communication marketing

If you keep your Social Media presence strictly business, you run the risk of scaring away followers – or at the very least losing their attention. We agree with Ken Hardison, Founder and President of the Personal Injury Lawyers Marketing and Management Association (PILMMA), who says that no more than 15 percent of your social content should be self-promotional. “People love to buy, but they don’t love to be sold to,” Hardison says.

More personal posts – such as employee birthdays and anniversaries, new hires, local news, a thoughtful quote, or even pictures that don’t directly relate to law – will show Social Media users a more approachable side of your firm. However, if you never post anything related to your law firm and practice areas, your Social Media platforms wouldn’t be much of a marketing effort.

So, what’s the perfect recipe for Social Media success?

The best way to promote your website, content and firm on Social Media is through your blog. Blogs often provide shareable information or news and thus lend themselves to Social Media sharing. Blogs bridge the gap between useful, shareable information and promoting your law firm. Combine a healthy flow of blog posts with a balanced blend of non-promotional posts and you just may see more users clicking your links and interacting with your Social Media posts.

Why Are Non-Business Posts Beneficial?

Posts that do not directly relate to law and your practice still serve a purpose. They’re not getting people onto your site. They’re not directly getting you cases. However, they are getting attention in the form of Likes, Shares, +1s and retweets – and therefore giving your brand attention. People are getting to know your firm through the content you share, some of which is business-oriented, some of which is more relatable to the average Facebook, Twitter or Google+ user. The goal should be to appear knowledgeable, professional and approachable. This blend of posts does just that.

Both types of posts serve a purpose. Professional posts receive a few likes and drive traffic to the firm’s website, while more personal posts spread the brand to far more Social Media users, increasing brand recognition and page visibility.

Article By:

 of

Health Care Reform Update – Week of August 5th, 2013

Mintz Logo

Leading the News

Office of Personnel Management Addresses Premiums for Congressional Staffers On August 1st, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced it will release proposed regulations within the next week to allow the federal government to contribute to the health care premiums of members of Congress and their staffs. Earlier in the week, President Obama said he was working with Congress to address the issue, which had prompted concerns about a brain drain from Capitol Hill. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) said he intended to place a hold on Katherine Archuleta, the nominee to be the chief at OPM, until the issue was resolved.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Unanimously Approves SGR Bill On July 31st, by a unanimous 51-0 vote, the House Energy and Commerce passed legislation that would repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) Medicare physician payment method and shift payment to quality-based measures.

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act

On July 29th, CMS issued a release that indicates the ACA and its gradual closure of the donut hole coverage gap has saved 6.6 million Americans over $7 million, an average savings of $1,061 per beneficiary.

On July 29th, the White House issued a blog post noting nationwide health care costs grew just 1.1% from May 2012 – May 2013. The 1.1% growth is the slowest in 50 years.

On July 30th, House Republicans released a playbook for the August recess that encourages members to hold “emergency town halls” in response to ACA implementation.August 5, 2013

On July 30th, the CMS released an application that allows organizations to become “Champions for Coverage” under the ACA.

On July 30th, CMS released an application for community health centers and other health providers that want to become certified application counselor organizations and help people searching for insurance coverage on the ACA exchanges.

On July 30th, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JTC) issued an estimate that the employer mandate delay of the ACA will cost about $12 billion.

On July 31st, HHS issued a request for information from stakeholders regarding section 1557 of the ACA, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in health care programs.

On July 31st, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a report and interactive map on how insurance coverage would be expanded as a result of the ACA.

On July 31st, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he is still unsure if House Republicans will use the threat of a government shutdown in an effort to defund the ACA.

On July 30th, EHealthInsurance reached a deal to sell its products on the ACA insurance exchanges. EHealth CEO Gary Lauer says his company’s involvement on the exchanges will lead to increased enrollment and improved competition in the insurance marketplace.

On August 1st, California announced six insurers that will offer coverage on the state’s Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). A summary of the Covered California plan indicates the premium prices and coverage options for hypothetical business operations.

On August 1st, 38 Republican Senators sent a letter to White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler with a request for information on the government agencies involved in ACA implementation.

On August 1st, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the role of the IRS in ACA implementation. Gary Cohen of the CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) and Daniel Werfel of the IRS testified before the committee.

On August 1st, the House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a hearing with CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to discuss the current state of ACA implementation.

On August 2nd, the House voted, 232-185, to prohibit the IRS from being involved in enforcement of the ACA. The vote was the 40th time the House has attempted to repeal components of the ACA.

Other HHS and Federal Regulatory InitiativesAugust 5, 2013

On July 30th, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wyeth Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay over $490 million to resolve criminal and liability issues arising from the company’s unlawful marketing of Rapamune, a drug only approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for kidney transplants.

On July 31st, CMS issued final payment rules to increase payments to skilled nursing facilities by 1.3%, at a cost of $470 million, and increase payments to inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 2.3%, a $170 million cost.

On August 1st, the FDA released 2014 user fee rates for biosimilars, brand name prescription drugs, generic prescription drugs, and medical devices.

On August 2nd, the FDA issued a rule addressing ‘gluten-free’ food labeling. The rule states foods that claim to be gluten-free but contain more than 20 parts per million of gluten will be considered misbranded products.

On August 2nd, CMS released a final rule relating to payments for acute care and long-term care hospitals in 2014. The rule increases payment to the nation’s 3,400 acute care hospitals by $1.2billion. Payment to 440 long-term care facilities is set to increase $72 million.

Other Congressional and State Initiatives

On July 31st, Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) introduced legislation to require hospitals to publicly disclose the prices charged for the most common medical procedures.

On August 1st, Democratic Senators sent a letter to President Obama urging the White House to establish set targets for Medicare and Medicaid cost savings.

On August 1st, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced The Care Planning Act of 2013, a bill to improve palliative care and provide seriously ill patients with greater control of their own care.

On August 2nd, Michigan and Illinois announced a partnership to share Medicaid information systems, a plan expected to save millions of dollars for both states.

On August 2nd, Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced a bill, S. 1422, to require the CBO to more completely address the cost-savings of preventive healthcare.

Other Health Care News

On July 29th, doctors from the National Cancer Institute published a report suggesting the word ‘cancer’ is overused. The report argues the overuse of the term leads to unnecessary and potentially harmful treatment in many patients.August 5, 2013

On July 29th, Gallup released a poll indicating Americans have exercised less each month in 2013 than during the same months in 2012. About half of Americans say they exercise at least 30 minutes three or more days each week.

On August 2nd, the Institute of Medicine released a report on the efforts needed to tackle obesity in the United States.

Hearings and Mark-Ups Scheduled

The Senate and the House of Representatives are in recess until the week of September 9th.

David Shirbroun also contributed to this article.

Article By:
of

Prospects for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: The House of Representatives Kicks the Can Down the August Recess Road

GT Law

The U.S. House of Representatives left town last week for the long August recess without passing one immigration-related bill. House Republicans made it quite clear that the Senate- passed S. 744, The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, would never be taken up by the House.

To date, the House has five immigration bills reported out of either the Judiciary or Homeland Security Committee. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that the House Gang of 8 (now 7) has been working on for the past 18-plus months has not be introduced and the common wisdom is that it will not be the vehicle that will be used in the House.

None of the five bills have been brought to the floor for a vote. When the House returns in September, there is a feeling that the bills might be brought up in the following order:

  1. The Border Security Results Act (H.R. 1417) was introduced on April 9, 2013 by House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul and approved by the House Homeland Security Committee on May 20, 2013 by voice vote. H.R. 1417 requires results verified by metrics to end The Department of Homeland Security’s ad hoc border approach and to help secure our nation’s porous borders.
  2. The Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act (H.R. 2278), also know as The SAFE Act, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on June 18, 2013. The SAFE Act seeks to improve the interior enforcement of our immigration laws by preventing the Executive Branch from unilaterally halting federal enforcement efforts. To this end, the bill grants states and localities the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.
  3. The Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 1772) was introduced on April 26, 2013 by Rep. Lamar Smith and approved by the House Judiciary Committee on June 26, 2013. This bill discourages illegal immigration by ensuring that jobs are made available only to those who are authorized to work in the U.S. Specifically, the bill requires employers to check the work eligibility of all future hires though the E-verify system.
  4. The Supplying Knowledge Based Immigrants and Lifting Levels or STEM Visas Act (H.R. 2131), also known as The SKILLS Visa Act, was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa on May 23, 2013. The SKILLS Visa Act changes the legal immigration system for higher-skilled immigration and improves programs that make the U.S. economy more competitive. The SKILLS Visa Act was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on June 27, 2013.
  5. On April 26, 2013, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte introduced the Agricultural Guestworker Act (H.R. 1773), also known as The AG Act. The Committee approved this bill on June 19, 2013 in a voice vote (20-16). This bill attempts to provide farmers with a new guest worker program to ease access to a lawful, agricultural workforce that employers may call upon when sufficient American labor cannot be found.

The members of the Republican leadership in the House have not been clear about the timing strategy for a potential conference with the Senate. It is not very likely, however, that a conference will occur until the end of 2013, if at all.

Article By:

 of

2013 Retail Law Conference – October 16-18

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming 2013 Retail Law Conference:

250x250 Oct 2013

The Retail Law Conference is the only law conference designed specifically for general counsel and their teams and is the perfect opportunity to network with fellow retail leaders and earn CLE credits.

Hosted by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the Retail Litigation Center, the 2013 Retail Law Conference will be held October 16-18 at the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. General session, breakout, and retail-only roundtable topics include:

  • Social Media, Mobile Technology & Online Marketing
  • California Litigation Trends
  • Wage & Hour Strategies
  • EEOC & Background Checks
  • Navigating Consumer Product Regulations
  • Data Breach and more!

Register today and join other retail legal executives to discuss the latest and most pressing legal issues and what the retail industry is doing to address them.

Picture This: The National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice Wants to Sue Employer for Issuing Social Media Policy with Photo/Video Ban

Michael Best Logohe National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice (the Division) recently recommended that the Board issue a complaint against Giant Foods for implementing its social media policy without first bargaining with two unions, and for maintaining a social media policy that included unlawful provisions. Although the Division analyzed several social media policy provisions, its criticism of two provisions in particular—a ban on using photo and video of company premises, and restrictions on employees’ use of company logos and trademarks—makes it very difficult for employers to protect their brands while at the same time complying with federal labor laws.

Giant Foods’ social media policy forbade employees from using company logos, trademarks, or graphics without prior approval from the company. The policy also prohibited employees from using photographs or video of the “Company’s premises, processes, operations, or products” without prior approval as well.

The Division concluded that these provisions were unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) should issue a complaint against Giant Foods for implementing them. As employers are becoming keenly aware, the NLRA safeguards employees’ right to engage in protected concerted activity. Such activity includes group discussions and some comments by individual employees that relate to their wages, hours, and other terms conditions of employment.

The Division concluded that banning employees from using company logos or trademarks was unlawful because: (1) employees should be allowed to use logos and trademarks in online communications, including electronic leaflets or pictures of picket signs with the employer’s logo; and (2) those labor-related interests did not raise the concerns that intellectual property laws were passed to protect, such as a business’ interest in guarding its trademarks from being used by competitors selling inferior products.

Additionally the Division concluded that restricting employees from using photo and video of company premises unlawfully prevented them from sharing information about participation in protected concerted activities, such as snapping a picture of a picket line.

Unfortunately, the Board’s expansive view will likely hamper companies’ ability to prevent damage to their brand and reputation.  Not allowing employers to ban the taking of videos and photos on their premises, or restricting the use of company logos/trademarks could lead to public relations nightmares such as the one Subway Foods recently endured after it was revealed that an employee posted a graphic picture on Instagram of his genitalia on a sub, with the tag line “I will be your sandwich artist today.”

Given the prevalence of cell phones with photo and video capabilities, and the ease of uploading photos and videos to the internet, a company that cannot control its employees’ use of those devices on their premises will be one bad employee decision away from public embarrassment.

What else can be gleaned from the Giant Foods Advice Memorandum? That the Board’s General Counsel will continue to prod employers to eliminate blanket bans on certain kinds of employee conduct from their social media policies and replace those bans with provisions that include specific examples of what employee conduct the policy prohibits. The Board and its General Counsel have previously found social media policies that restricted employee use of confidential information and complaints about an employer’s labor practices as unlawful; Giant Foods makes clear that the agency is also scrutinizing other kinds of policy provisions that potentially could infringe on an employee’s right to engage in protected concerted activities.

Accordingly, employers should review their policies with counsel so that they can tailor them to restrict employee conduct that will damage the company and its brand, but not be “reasonably” read to restrict employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activities.

It’s Official: Top Union Lawyer To Be National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel

Barnes & Thornburg

And you thought Lafe Solomon was anti-employer? Buckle your seat belts folks because the employer community is in for a rough ride.

The White House has confirmed Board member Richard Griffin has been nominated to be the new General Counsel for the NLRB.  Before joining the Board as a “recess” appointee, Griffin served as General Counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers. Griffin has served on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee and has held various legal jobs with the IUOE. Griffin holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. With Griffin’s nomination, the President also withdrew the nomination of Lafe Solomon Jr. to be General Counsel.  Solomon had been named Acting General Counsel on June 21, 2010.  His nomination for that job went to the U.S. Senate on January 5, 2011 and again in May of this year, but the nomination was never voted upon.

As we previously reported here and here, Griffin’s nomination for the GC job comes on the heels of the deal crafted in the Senate to allow the President’s nominations for the Board to come to the floor for an up or down vote.  Republicans insisted that the President withdraw the nomination of Griffin and Sharon Block.  He agreed and replaced their nominations with those of Kent Hirozawa and Nancy Schiffer, both reportedly hand-picked by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. With the recent confirmation of all five of the nominations, the Board is at its full five-member complement for the first time in more than a decade.  However, with a solid 3 member pro-Union majority and Griffin in the General Counsel’s slot, it will be full speed ahead on President Obama’s pro-Union agenda.

Article By:

 of

Consumer Financial Services Basics 2013 – September 30 – October 01, 2013

The National Law Review is pleased to bring you information about the upcoming  Consumer Financial Services Basics 2013.

CFSB Sept 30 2013

When

September 30 – October 01, 2013

Where

  • University of Maryland
  • Francis King Carey School of Law
  • 500 W Baltimore St
  • Baltimore, MD 21201-1701
  • United States of America

Facing the most comprehensive revision of federal consumer financial services (CFS) law in 75 years, even experienced consumer finance lawyers might feel it is time to get back in the classroom. This live meeting is designed to expose practitioners to key areas of consumer financial services law, whether you need a primer or a refresher.

It is time to take a step back and think through some of these complex issues with a faculty that combines decades of practical experience with law school analysis. The classroom approach is used to review the background, assess the current policy factors, step into the shoes of regulators, and develop an approach that can be used to interpret and evaluate the scores of laws and regulations that affect your clients.

Measuring the ROI of Business Development – Even if it’s Possible, Does Anyone Care?

 

180x180-w-tagline

ROI serves as calculation of the capital, time and other resources invested in a service that yields a profitable outcome, and should be measured systematically and deliberately by law firms. While math isn’t necessarily the forte of attorneys and legal marketers alike, times are changing with the legal market shifting from a demand to a supply economy. No longer does the generation of unending call for legal services exist—rather, the landscape of the legal market today is in a downflow with lay-offs and hiring freezes. This compels law firms to change tactics and rid themselves of self-constraints in order to stand out among the pack. There are many well-trained attorneys with legal expertise so how can law departments distinguish themselves? Clients are looking for more in an attorney than just an understanding of the law and a lower billing rate. Other major considerations are client focus, predictability, communication and management of expectations and efficiency, all qualities that remain measurable and can be raised through the use of statistical analysis tools.

Measures of ROI as Relative and Over Time

In its simplest terms, ROI is measured as the (gain from investment – cost of investment) / cost of investment. ROI is a relative, not absolute, measure of performance and serves as a function of the resources available to law firms. A firm can invest x or y to obtain the same results so x and y remain variable opportunities in competition with each other and one firm’s successful outcome is another firm’s failure. In order to determine which is most fruitful, each variable’s ROI must be measured against alternative investments. Moreover, each alternative must be measured over time as a mere snapshot in time remains insufficient to determine the full impact on revenue down the line. For example, a firm that issues a newsletter every month may as a result eventually gain a new client and this time span and the client’s reads should be tracked.

Measure and Report Metrics that Matter

ROI matters and should be measured for such law management and marketing strategies as attorney memberships and legal events for resource allocation and departmental reporting purposes. By measuring internal and external data through statistical analysis, law firms can narrow their scope of vision to the successes and misses.

Memberships and Associations Value Chain

One way law firms can save on resources and stay within the constraints of business development budgets while still maintaining a proactive presence in the legal community is to conduct an audit of its attorneys’ enrollment in bar associations to determine ROI. At the top of the chain in descending importance are attorneys who lead their associations as leading experts and engage in such activities as serving on board committees. Next are attorneys who take advantage of bar memberships to demonstrate their expertise, such as speaking at conferences. At the bottom of the chain are attorneys who are enrolled in associations for the purposes of networking and education and may attend to earn CLE credits. The lower down the chain attorneys go, the more minimal the ROI and while attorneys who use their memberships for updates on the law are certainly benefiting—these expenses should be drawn from education costs as opposed to business development budgets. Moreover, law firms can set goals for attorneys who use firm expenses to attend association meeting, such as targeting particular people and obtaining a certain number of business cards. Thus, law firms can quantify the benefits of paying for bar memberships and make the most of their budgets.

Legal Events and Sponsorships

For educational law events such as seminars and conferences that draw clients, there remains a window in which law firms can count retaining new clients as a result of holding the event. While sponsoring a legal event may not serve as a direct causation of retaining a new client, law firms can determine if such events increase the rate of landing a new client. By tracking the costs of investment in holding the event as well as the number of days it took to close on a client, the probability rate of an event’s influence in generating clientele can be estimated. In turn, a best practice checklist can be created from such data that can target different factors to create the most lead-generating event and invitees who have the most potential to become future clients. If certain factors are found to lead to a higher probability of generating clientele, then honing in on these factors and measuring them can lead to maximum profit.

Measuring Productivity Takes Time

In solving for the highest number of wins at the lowest costs, it is not necessary to be a statistical analyst but it remains imperative to have a methodology in place. Remember to use the following procedures:

1.       Plot all activities

2.       Plot all practices

3.       Track marketer time against all practices

4.       Compare to strategy plan

5.       Review resource allocation with firm management

The information in this article was derived from a presentation by Timothy B. Corcoran, Principal of Corcoran Consulting Group, LLC.

Article By:

 of

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by