Is Your Firm Really Marketing?
Is your firm really marketing? If you think marketing is nothing more than seminars, communications materials, a clever theme line and a website, you’re only part way there. Worse, if you think marketing is doing good work and waiting for clients to call, you’re still waiting to hear that tree fall in the forest.
Sure, doing good work is vital to the health of your firm. But, according to client surveys conducted by Altman Weil, almost all clients believe their lawyers do good work—or admit that they can’t really tell the difference. Having a communications package that lets clients and prospects know about the firm, its lawyers, size and services is important, but most brochures and websites are so interchangeable in tone and content that it’s little wonder that many buyers of legal services feel their firms are fungible.
No, marketing is much more than buying a rowboat and waiting for the fish to jump in. When you think about it, your firm’s two biggest assets are its lawyers and its clients. Attracting, retaining and building both of these valued properties requires strategic thought and action that touch upon every element of the firm: its governance, practice management, recruitment, compensation, brand management and more. Most of all, it requires guts: the courage to listen to clients, to learn from mistakes, to change course when needed and to inspire lawyers to make even bigger contributions to the firm and to their clients.
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