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By Mark Powers & Shawn McNalis, Senior Practice Advisors
  "Why take the time to
have a marketing retreat? Aren't there more important things to do... like
actually marketing?" This is the sentiment expressed to us by partners who
dislike setting aside a chunk of good, billable time to focus on discussing
client development. Usually one of their partners has come to us with the idea
of having a marketing retreat and they want us to help convince the reluctant
one it's a good idea. Sometimes we're successful in this effort, and sometimes
we're not. When we're not, the resistant ones show up clutching files in one
hand and their cell phone in the other, ready to dash out the door at the first
remotely legitimate interruption.
But at least they show up. Because, for the most part, once
they're in the room exposed to new ideas for client development and hearing how
small shifts in their marketing strategies can make a huge difference - they're
sold on the idea. By being forced to step off their treadmill for a few hours,
they begin to understand that taking time to focus their scattershot marketing
efforts can lead to the kind of results that they want for their firm. Granted,
there are always a group of curmudgeons (young or old) who never see the value
in planning and don't understand strategic marketing, but fortunately for them,
others do and are willing to invest the time.
Many of the top-producing attorneys we work with meet
regularly with their partners to check the relevancy of their goals, inspire
and challenge each other. A tax attorney we work with in the Chicago area, for
example, heads up a rapidly growing tax assessment firm. In spite of a crushing
schedule, he stops once a year, gathers up his team and talks about which
marketing strategies worked and which didn't in the previous year. For the
first time, his firm had hired a marketing director and charged her with not
only re-energizing all of their marketing efforts, but cultivating new hotel
and condominium business.
Determined to look back before he stepped forward, our
client wanted to see if this new approach was working. His analysis showed in
no uncertain terms that his investment in a marketing director and the focus on
new business was indeed paying off. His business from hotels and condominiums
showed record highs and he was able to attribute over $150,000 worth of new
business to the efforts of the marketing director in conjunction with his own.
Beyond looking at these results he also decided to analyze
all marketing efforts made the year prior. He made a list of all their
different client development activities and scored each category on, one)
whether or not it deepened his relationships with his referral sources, and
two) whether or not it directly brought in new business. His categories
included the following: what he calls ‘lunches with lawyers' (he receives a
great many referrals from his colleagues); small gifts given over the holidays;
activities such as outings done with various property management companies;
educational seminars directed at decision makers within targeted groups;
staffing a trade show booth at an industry conference and sending out his
annual newsletter.
After scoring each of these efforts, he discovered face-to-face
activities garnered him the most direct business, with the exception of the
trade show booth which produced no real results. The response to his
newsletter, which he spends a great deal of time on, offered the biggest
surprise as it stimulated substantial interest (he received over 100 calls
responding to what he had written - an extraordinary result and not one easily
duplicated by other law firms). Given this, in the coming year he will up the
number of issues that he produces, in order to have one such piece in front of
his referral sources per quarter, and he'll schedule more one-on-one activities
for himself and his marketing director.
Because he held a marketing retreat, he was able to make informed
decisions on the strategies he'll carry forward and the ones best left as
interesting experiments. Consequently, he will move into the coming year armed
with accurate data and specifically targeted goals.
Like
this attorney, the legal landscape in which you live is not static. Change is
ever present: referral sources dry up, die or move away; you are joined by a
new partner; legislation changes the services you provide; you take on a
newsworthy case or you decide to launch a new practice area. These are just a
few of the many changes that can occur over the course of a year in your
career.
Fortunately,
changes like these are fodder for the creative marketer. Often what appears to
be stressful or dramatic change can be spun in a positive way. Depending on
what's happened in your year, you may need to adjust your marketing goals to
compensate for a reduction in referral sources; to feature a change in the
services you offer or to publicize a new partner.
For most firms,
the annual marketing retreat is a chance to:
·
review
last year's or year-to-date marketing results
·
focus
on marketing successes and acknowledge team members
·
educate
other partners or team members on marketing strategies
·
establish
next year's marketing targets: important for capacity planning and budgeting
[it's hard to get where you are going if you don't know where you want to go]
·
establish
accountability systems or quarterly checkpoints for your goals
·
assess
the cost effectiveness of using the Yellow Pages or other advertising vehicles
If your firm
conducts seminars and workshops as part of its marketing plan or works
strategically with other organizations, the annual marketing retreat is a good
time to establish dates for upcoming events such as co-sponsored seminars or
signature events.
Who Should
Attend?Senior partners should be the
first on the roster to attend any meetings about marketing. If there are
associates who are being trained to market themselves, they should also attend.
If the firm has a marketing director or assistant, they should not only attend,
but set up the meeting for the participants. A gathering like this is even
useful for those staff members who are often in a position to cultivate more
business than they realize. Whatever group is selected to attend, the retreat
facilitator and firm management should place on the agenda exercises and
discussions which allow for the team to contribute their ideas on client
development. The more contributions seem to come from the team - the greater
their buy-in will be.
Regardless
of the size of your firm, an annual retreat in which marketing objectives are
discussed and established helps keep the focus on the most important strategies
for growing the firm. The marketing retreat is a time to assess your client
mix, your firm's image, new opportunities for business, and determine who will
carry out each of the responsibilities. Taking
the opportunity to examine and retool your marketing efforts at least once a year
will significantly accelerate your firm's growth.
Keep in mind that in an uncertain economy it is even more
important to try to forecast trends and project results. To paraphrase Winston
Churchill, when all is said and done - even if you don't achieve all of your
objectives, it's the mental exercise of planning that makes all the difference.
Firm Retreats information can be found here .
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