1. www.solicitorsjournal.comSJ 158/2 14 January 2014 25
PRACTICE NOTES
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Marketing and sales’ efforts to source clients are fruitless if solicitors fail to deliver
the best possible service, says Douglas McPherson
Maintaining high business
standards is everyone’s
responsibility
T
raditionally, when
business development is
mentioned in a legal
context one immediately thinks
of sales and marketing, about
developing relationships that
will, or at least should, generate
new work. Over the last couple
of years a solicitor’s traditional
marketing plan of meeting the
right people, staying in touch
with them and staying close to
clients, has been bolstered by
an endless list of‘must have’
marketing tools: networking,
CRM and social media, all of
which are pedalled as the
definitive answer to perfect
business development.
Withthesupportof more
creativeandinformative
communicationscombiningold
andnew methods,the majority
oflaw firms havedevelopeda
marketingapproachthatdelivers
againsttheprimaryobjective:to
winwork.
Nevertheless,it’sallverywell
winningnew workbutdoyou
havethestaff,processesand
systems todeliverthatworkto
thehigheststandard? Afterall,if
youaretoretainyourclientbase
andmakesuretheyare happy
enoughtoreferyoutotheir
networks,youhave toprovide
thebestpossibleservice aswell
asthebestadvice.
Morethaneverthe line
betweentraditionallydeveloping
yourbusinessbymeansof sales
andmarketing,andactually
developingyourbusinesssothat
you’restructured andresourced
inawaythatensuresyouhave
the rightpeopleprovidingthe
rightservicefortherightreward,
isasessentialaswinningthe
work.
Therightpeople
The keyquestionis,doyouhave
the rightpeopleinplacetodothe
work,andif youdo,areyou
monitoringtheircontribution
andperformance?Ifyouhaveany
weaklinks,youneedtotake
action.Similarly,theprofileof
yourpartnershipmustbeinline
withyourobjectives.Thelegal
expertisetoserveyourclientbase
isvitalbutyourpartnershipmust
be driventotakeittothenext
level,andifthe partnersof
tomorroware alreadyinthefirm,
ensure are theybeingdeveloped.
The holesleftbyanageing
partnershipcancausefinancial
hiccoughsthatcouldtakeyears
torectify.
Asalawfirm,the‘rightwork’
canbeeasilydismissedassimply
providinglegaladvice.Howevera
moreimportantconsideration
whenitcomestodefiningthe
‘rightwork’isprice.Areyou
charginginasensible,profitable
wayforthefirm,andforclients,in
anattractiveway?Whilethe
hourlyrateisn’tdead,itisfast
becomingoutdatedandinmany
casesissimplynolongerfitfor
purpose.
Toimproveyourservicelevels,
lookateverypartofyour
businessclientscomeinto
contactwith.Keep
appointments,returncallsand
emailsquickly,makesurebillsare
correctandtransparent,openup
yourreceptionsoitprovidesa
warmandfriendlywelcome,
chargephones,provideparking.
Thesearealleasythingstodobut
you’dbeamazedathowmany
firmsmissthem.
Four-stepmodel
Iwillmakethesweeping
generalisationthatyou’rein
businesstomakemoney.Ifyour
remunerationisgoingtobeas
highasitcanbe,focusmustbe
switchedfromfeestoprofit. Set
upyourfirminawaythatwill
maximiseyourprofitand
thereforeyourdrawings.Thisis
probablythemostcontentious
areaofrunninganybusinessand
gettingitrightwillinvolvesome
toughquestions;areyoutop
heavywithexpensivepartners?
Doallfeeearnersmakea
contributionlargeenoughto
covertheircost?
Whenitcomes tohelping
clientsdeveloptheirfirm,weuse
averysimplefour-stepmodel:
getthework,dothework,billthe
work,getpaidforthework.Can
youhonestlysayyou knowhow
eachfeeearnerinyourfirm
deliversagainsteachofthesefour
steps?Andif theyaren’t
contributing toallfour,haveyou
askedyourselfwhy?
Fromamorepragmaticpoint
ofview,don’tpayforpremises/
resources/supplies thatyou really
don’tneed.Outsourcefunctions
inordertoachievea higherlevel
ofcashefficiency.Any(sensible)
cutsyoumakewillreduce
overheadsandhelpyou increase
yourprofitability.
I’dliketoaskyou a smallfavour.
Thenexttime business
developmentcomes upasan
agendaitem,broadenthe
discussiontocoverwhatyou
needtodoto makesureyourfirm
canservicethefruitsofyoursales
andmarketing efforts tothe
highestpossiblestandard.SJ
It’s all very well
winning new work
but do you have
the staff, processes
and systems to
deliver that work
to the highest
standard?
Douglas McPherson is director of
business development consultancy
Size 10 1/2 Boots
www.tenandahalf.co.uk
25_SJ Jan 14th_Practice Notes.indd 25 1/10/2014 3:09:50 PM