The document discusses how professional services firms can implement sector-focused strategies by aligning internal technology systems, such as HR, financial, and client relationship management systems, to the sector strategy. This allows the firm to track sector performance, identify trends, measure marketing activities, and communicate successes to demonstrate return on investment. Key aspects include mapping clients and cases to sectors, training staff in sector expertise, and using digital tools like websites and social media to promote sector capabilities and thought leadership.

1. pm summer 2011 7
Insight
A
number of professional services
firms have successfully imple-
mented sector focused strate-
gies. Reasons for adopting this
approach will vary from firm to firm.At SJ
Berwin we were explicitly meeting the
needs of our clients. However, integrating a
sector strategy alongside a practice based
approach, and counterbalanced by geogra-
phies, requires a shift in culture across the
firm. For those firms who are considering
adopting this approach showing tangible
successes is one way to engage your
lawyers and influence change in your firm.
To secure these successes, you will need to
align internal and external technology
systems to your strategy. It is crucial if you
are to demonstrate progress accurately to
have the necessary infrastructure in place to
report to the partnership, demonstrating
return on investment.
WHY SECTORS?
First, let’s recap on why a sector approach,
as part of your overall marketing and busi-
ness development strategy, adds value to
your firm’s business. Research has shown
that clients value their adviser’s under-
standing and knowledge of their industry.
Speaking the client’s language positions you
as an expert in their field and a trusted
adviser who understands their issues. It
helps the firm to increase the number of
instructions from a key client by developing
an integrated approach to selling your serv-
ices to the client.
Understanding the client’s needs and
industry issues helps the firm to differentiate
itself from competitors as well as proactively
providing solutions to problems the client
might face.This, in turn, increases the loyalty
the client has to the firm as the relationship
broadens across practice areas thus
protecting your client base.
Many articles have been written about
implementing a successful sectoral strategy,
including how to identify a successful leader,
structuring the group for optimum efficiency
and identifying key messages to differentiate
expertise from competitors. But so far little
attention has been paid to the critical issue
of the technology needed to evolve the
firm’s culture from a practice driven
dynamic to an integrated sector approach.
WHERE TO BEGIN?
You should always begin your thinking with
the requirements of the client in mind.The
planning stage is your opportunity to define
your market, set objectives and agree key
clients and targets. Once actions have been
agreed, metrics will be set to measure
success, evaluate progress and where the
strategy should be refined.To do this effec-
tively, you will need quantitative data to
make informed decisions.
Internally, the firm’s HR, financial and busi-
ness development systems need to be
aligned with the sector strategy to ensure
that effective reporting takes place. Each
system should be configured identically to
reflect the agreed sectors – if more in-
depth reporting is required, in relevant
systems the sectors can be sub-divided to
assist segmentation.
Mapping clients and instructions to the
firm’s sectors as well as practices provides
valuable information which will underpin all
decisions, as well as marketing messages
going forward. Not only will you understand
the value and size of your existing sector
portfolio but you will be able to identify
trends, financially measure your marketing
activity and start to communicate successes
to the firm.You will also be able to carry out
better client analysis and understand where
investment should be focused in your firm.
Aligning the CRM system will ensure that
sector based marketing activity can be effec-
tively supported. Clients and contacts
should be assigned to sectors, preferably by
asking them directly to indicate their
sector(s) of interest.Any marketing activity
can then be preference-based and mailing
and invitation lists compiled based on the
specified needs and interests of the client or
target rather than historic activity or
assumptions.
If sector data is being collected, ensure that
processes are in place to get the informa-
tion into the database and keep it up to
date. Reports can be generated based on
key clients and prospects in the sector to
develop targeting programmes, key account
programmes and relationship mapping.
Marketing activy should be logged by sector
as well as practice so that patterns can be
tracked for the most successful business
Sector tech
Helen MacRae and Alison Jesset, of law firm SJ Berwin, look at how aligning
technology to support your sector strategy could be key to its success.
By Helen MacRae and Alison Jesset

2. 8 summer 2011 pm
Helen MacRae is head of sector & practice
business development and Alison Jesset is
head of marketing operations at SJ Berwin.
strategy are blogs, podcasts, Facebook,
MySpace, Netvibes andYouTube.
While it is a valuable way of connecting to
people and audiences you otherwise might
not have access to, building networks using
social media tools and technologies takes
time, commitment and resource. Focus on
those tools and technologies that will give
you the greatest return on investment.
It is important to define metrics for meas-
uring social media campaigns.As with all
business development activity, for measure-
ment to be effective, it needs to be aligned
with SMART objectives. Focus on quality,
not quantity. Social media success is not all
about the connections made and the size of
a network.
To assist the planning process, it is essential
to determine what social media efforts
drive the most traffic to your website.
CONCLUSION
To implement an effective sector strategy, it
is critical to align internal and external tech-
nology systems to support that strategy.You
must decide what social media tools and
technologies to use and set measurable
objectives.
Once your strategy is being implemented,
keeping momentum is crucial. Regular
communication between the sector teams
and the firm is vital so that everyone main-
tains a coordinated approach to the
strategy.
Regular internal update newsletters can be
sent to the groups to praise successes,
communicate who is meeting whom, future
events, recent and future pitches and finan-
cials. Developing an identity for the group,
either through a visual or a name helps to
create a collegiate approach to the plan.
By successfully aligning your technology to
your sector strategy you can demonstrate
to your firm the impact that the business
development strategy is having on the firm’s
growth.
development activity for winning business in
the sectors. It will also help the team to
understand where time and budget is being
invested.All this information will help to
refine and evolve the sector business devel-
opment plan.
The firm’s transaction reporting system can
be designed or modified to provide infor-
mation by sector as well as practice.This will
give qualitative data and information on
sectoral expertise and will assist in the
production of tailored pitches, showcasing
core expertise which is most relevant to
the prospect’s business and the work you
are pitching for.The information can be used
for collation for directory and award
submissions and will also provide useful crib
sheets for partners prior to that all impor-
tant meeting.
Another approach is to assign all lawyers
and business support staff to at least one
sector.This should be based on which part-
ners, associates and business services indi-
viduals have the most experience in the
sector.
The firm’s intranet can be used as a hub for
all key information that you wish to dissemi-
nate about your sector. Each sector can
have a dedicated page which the firm can
use as a starting point for understanding not
only where the firm is active in this sector
but also the external issues that are relevant
and which will help individuals get up to
speed.The intranet should be as interactive
as possible, using it as a forum to share and
exchange ideas, as well as encouraging
everyone to get involved.There are a
number of tools that can be incorporated
into intranets to facilitate communication,
eliminating the need for meeting overload.
This does not mean NO meetings. No tech-
nology will ever supersede the benefits of a
well run, focused, face to face meeting.
TECHNOLOGY TO PROMOTE YOUR SECTOR
CAPABILITY EXTERNALLY
The website should, as a minimum, contain
pages for each sector which provide an
overview of expertise, communicate news,
highlight deals and cases, showcase
published opinion pieces and promote
awards and events.These pages can also
include profiles of the lawyers with experi-
ence in the sector.We are not suggesting
that sector pages replace practice area
pages – rather that they can be included in
addition to practice area pages to demon-
strate the firm’s sector approach and link
back to practice area pages as required.The
inclusion of both sector and practice area
pages will enhance user experience of the
site and help to draw attention to the firm’s
other services.
There is a range of social media tools and
technologies that can be used to support
your sector strategy, providing opportunities
to demonstrate thought leadership and
specialist sector knowledge, build online
communities and ultimately new business.
They can also help build knowledge of a
sector by observing the issues which are
being discussed.
Lawyers can gain credibility in a sector by
answering questions posed by users of
LinkedIn, which can help build both pres-
ence and reputation.Well prepared updates
can be used to notify contacts of activities,
events and achievements, helping to contin-
ually reinforce expertise. Special interest
groups on LinkedIn can provide exposure to
new audiences, extend a lawyer’s reach and
help expand their connections.They can
share thoughts and information with group
members, which is an excellent way to drive
traffic back to the firm’s website.As well as
joining groups relevant to their sectors,
lawyers need to think about the sort of
groups that their clients and prospects
might join and establish a presence within
those groups too.The lawyers’ personal
profile pages should contain links to the
related sector page on the firm’s website
and include links to relevant articles and
other thought leadership pieces.
Another excellent way to expand networks
is by usingTwitter.Twitter can help to build
and maintain relationships and develop and
promote sector groups. It can be used to
make observations about something which
has been seen or read, post a link to an
interesting blog post or article, share links to
sector focused events the firm is hosting or
planning to attend and post links to relevant
articles, news items or other interesting
resources on the website.
Other social media tools which you might
consider including in your sector marketing
Insight This article originally appeared in professional marketing magazine.
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