There is a continuing debate about whether lawyers can be taught to market. Continuing the dialog are the in-house marketing professionals, marketing consultants, and law firm consultants. Surveys, published articles and blog postings and comments continue to reflect two schools of thought which can be summed up in two words: YES or NO.
Some lawyers are naturals at marketing. We have to acknowledge that. They instinctively know how to build a network, sniff out opportunities, innovate on developing new products, new innovative billing arrangements, uses of technology which tie clients to the firm, or to identify other service opportunities to attract clientele. A greater number of lawyers, however, are NOT naturals at marketing, and must be taught. Ok, so now you know where I come out on the debate. I think marketing skills can be taught. But the process has to start from day one.
The problem is, most firms do not take the time to actually help lawyers develop marketing skills. They think that taking young lawyers along to appointments and quasi-social events here and there, and letting them watch the “master†in action, is sufficient. After all, if the attorney is a capable marketer, he or she will learn in this manner, and if not, he or she will sink like a stone, and ultimately be cast aside. What a monumental and unnecessary waste.
Add to this the fact that most compensation systems actually work against developing marketing skills. Yeah, you heard me correctly. What are you rewarding, actually? Nose to the grindstone. Creating billable hours. And in many firms partners are very possessive of associate talent, to the point of discouraging them from doing anything which will detract from their ability to service the partner’s clients. I’ve even witnessed the same struggle between senior and junior partners; evidenced when a senior partner resents the time the junior partner spends developing and servicing their own growing client roster, rather than the senior partner’s clients.
Since attorneys learn more by doing than by studying, it is vitally important to young attorneys to begin developing the most fundamental and essential marketing skills as early as possible. And the firm must not only encourage it, it must require and reward it. Even the failed attempts.
Where should the young lawyer start? Networking. Think of this as the foundation upon which an attorney’s “house†of marketing skills will be built. Without a solid foundation the attorney will never successfully build further. Here are five tips to build a solid foundation in networking:
1. BE OUT THERE. Start with the bar association, but move quickly to add whatever professional associations clients or prospects or possible referral sources belong to. Add additional organizations to the repertoire as soon as possible, but choose them based on personal interests, not on where potential clients are. At the least, it will continue to expand the network of people known, and skills at meeting and greeting new faces.
2. LISTEN. People expect more from an attorney, and usually value and solicit the attorney’s opinion on just about any topic of interest. So it becomes easy to dominate the conversation with words of wisdom. Try not to do that. Instead, ask people what frustrates them about using legal counsel and why. Ask them what challenges they face every day in work or personally. Ask them what their professional needs are today, and how those needs will change tomorrow. Count this as free market research. Be confident that people will remember the attorney who demonstrates good listening skills.
3. COLLECT and FOLLOW UP. At every meeting set a goal of meeting and speaking with at least six new people. Be sure to get their business cards or, if they don’t have one, obtain their contact information and put it on the back of one of yours and put it aside. As soon as possible during or after the meeting, make a note on the card about what was discussed, their needs, what they do, etc. Note everything possible, so that later this individual will be memorable later.
Upon returning to the office, get all this information into a contacts database, so the key words become searchable. If you have any written articles, web site addresses, or even a news clipping about something you discussed, take a moment to hand write a short note and send it along with the information.
As you come across or develop information on topics, you can quickly search your contacts database to see if there are any “hits†for the subject matter, which can provide an excuse for a repeat contact.
4. SHOW UP. Woody Allen coined the phrase “80% of success is showing upâ€, and this certainly applies to networking. Even if you don’t feel like it, show up. On evenings when it’s cold and raining and you would rather stay home, show up. These are the best times to go to a meeting. The people who do show up are motivated, which means they will be more likely to be interested in what you do, and to share valuable information about themselves.
5. VOLUNTEER. Showing up and forcing yourself to interact with others will get even the most staunch introvert into a comfortable networking mindset after a while. Once you’ve gotten the least bit comfortable, it’s time to volunteer to serve on a committee or help plan an event. It provides one of the best ways to maximize your networking opportunities. It tells others you are interested. It gives others an opportunity to see you “in actionâ€, so that you can demonstrate some of your skills to key people in the organization.
Once your networking skills are developed, it’s time to focus on the next step. That’s a topic for a future post. Stay tuned.
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