Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices

The September 2007 McKinsey Quarterly has an interesting article called: The Evolving Role of the CMO by David Court who discusses four areas of change for the CMO:

• Changing to reflect new consumer [client?] buying behavior
• Shaping the Company's [Firm's?] public profile
• Managing Complexity
• Building new Marketing Capabilities

• Take time to understand what's really happening with customers [clients?]
• Foster the right connection between the CMO's efforts and those other parts of the organization
• Be a "thought partner" for the CMO as he or she transforms the marketing organization.

NOTE:  General access to McKinsey Quarterly is free but requires registration and log-in - for recommended article, premium (paid) subscription is required.

At Edge International we are often asked about how lawyers and their firms might be different from place to place around the world.    One of my stock answers is that many people misinterpret the propensity of the Brits to avoid hyperbole to mean that they are not aggressive.  There is a reason why they once ruled the world and their legal profession seems to be bent on repeating the feat.

According to a post today at LAWFUEL, "Lovells, the law firm, is to launch an alliance with nine Chinese counterparts, in the latest sign of the English legal profession’s aggressive efforts to export its services to big economies where foreign lawyers are restricted."  (Note, not one or two or three, but NINE!

As well, "China is one of a number of leading emerging economies being lobbied by the British government and legal industry representatives to scrap restrictions on foreign lawyers."

PUNCHLINE:  The Brits have never stopped thinking globally - many Americans have not started.  (There are notable exceptions of course but if I were placing a bet on world domination, my gold coin goes on the British square.)  Your thoughts?

The despised business of videoconferencing is about to get a new lease on life.

This weeks Economist has an article on Telepresence.  The full title is “Behold, telepresence - Far away yet strangely personal”.  (Requires subscription).  Image above is from the article.

Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite for the story – the headings are mine:

The Problem:

Videoconferencing was supposed to put an end to corporate travel. But positioning people in front of a camera, fiddling endlessly with controls and then either giving up or proceeding to stare at a tiny picture of a blurry face often seems less satisfactory than the humble telephone.

The Solution:

Designers want people in telepresence meetings to appear life-sized, and the tables and rooms at the two ends to blend together seamlessly. (Rooms, furniture and even wallpaper are often identical, to aid the illusion.) People must also feel that they are making eye contact, which involves multiple cameras and enormous computing power. The delays in sight and sound must be negligible (ie, below 250 milliseconds, the threshold at which the human brain starts to notice), so that people can interrupt each other naturally. Sound must be perceived to come from the direction of the person speaking. And getting things started must be simple—ideally involving a single button or none at all.

Saving Money and Time (law firm example driven by client):

In addition to saving money, Cisco argues that telepresence saves time. The firm recently completed a takeover in eight days (as opposed to the usual weeks or months) by putting the lawyers in telepresence rooms instead of on aeroplanes.

More examples:

Lee Scott, the boss of Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is said to see great scope for improving his supply chain. DreamWorks, a Hollywood studio that helped HP develop its telepresence system, says the technology will help it make movies cheaper and faster, by allowing creative types to collaborate without travelling.

My Punchline:

Managing Partners – don’t think about this opportunity from the law firm’s perspective but rather your client’s.  You may have some clients who will acquire this technology and will want you to participate – I welcome this as I believe that most law firm technology comes because the clients want us to have it (sometimes, “insist”).   If top corporations in your markets populate your client list, perhaps you should become familiar enough with this technology to initiate the discussion with your major clients.  After all, wouldn’t it be refreshing for your client to believe of you that your firm is progressive enough to be at the forefront?

Footnote (Greetings from Uruguay):  Speaking of technology and the world becoming more virtual, I posted this blog entry from my hotel room in Montevideo, Uruguay following an assignment with an MDP (accounting and law) firm here.  The Economist arrived promptly on my desk top this morning and I was able to effortlessly post this story.  Perhaps before too long I will be able to conduct the kind of assignment I traveled here for by video conference.

About The Economist: You can of course buy the hard copy or subscribe on line. This story is marked: Aug 23rd 2007 | SAN FRANCISCO
 From The Economist print edition

If you want existing clients to like you as much as possible and even more so prospective clients then use proper names in conversation.  Now there's PROOF if you need it.  

Most probable reasons you may not be using proper names in conversations:

• You are not completely certain you remember (or pronounce) the name right so why risk it
• There is a group and you can’t remember all their names so feel you shouldn't use any
• You are afraid of sounding patronizing
• It’s a discipline you simply have not mastered.

“The brain lit up with activity when proper names were used, including areas that are not associated with language,” Almor said. “We saw considerable activity in areas of the parietal lobe that involve spatial processing that was absent when pronouns were used.”

Read the full story “Names Disrupt The Brain”.

Winners:

• touch parts of their clients brains that others ignore
• are liked and remembered much much better than their competitors

• Write the names down (if a group – make a seating chart – at least first names)
• If hard to pronounce, ask and practice (they will love you for it)
• Practice using the names (starting right now)

WARNING:  My post above may lack veracity according to Stephanie Allen West's post "Anatomy of a telephone game applied to a neuroscience study" in her "Brains on Purpose" blog - I respect her enough to reference her post here - Stephanie's admonition is deserving of consideration and reflection.  Thank you, Stephanie.

I am asked frequently why some lawyers create such amazing rapport with their clients.  Much of this stems from the art of the first impression .  The first client interaction is more about not making a bad impression than it is making a good one.

Here are 7 first client interaction blunders that virtually guarantee you won’t develop healthy client rapport:

1. Talking only about yourself
2. Revealing too much
3. Not listening
4. Not looking your best
5. Trying to be cool or aloof
6. Not being yourself
7. Not listening to your gut

CONFESSION

He actually posted 10 First Date Blunders That Blow It Every Time on his Achieve-IT blog and I thought, hmmm, can we learn (transpose from one context to another).

You will note that there were 10 in his post and seven in mine –  as for the three I left out, I thought two were not relevant and thought better of including the third, they were:

1. Going someplace where you can’t talk
2. Bringing friends along
3. Having sex or being too sexual

By the way, Brad's blog has some very interesting posts - check it out!

Harsh?  If killing the golden goose is stupid, then this is not harsh at all. 

Find out why 58% of (surveyed) General Counsel expressed outrage.  Find out why 84% of (surveyed) General Counsel wanted the law firms they use to contact them about associate salaries but none did.

Brilliant law firm leaders who can not empathize with the clients they serve (including General Counsel in their larger clients) are going to pay an enormous price.

If sustaining profitability is high on your agenda, read Patrick Lamb’s post called “Demand Destruction” in his famous In Search of Client Service" blog.  (In a better world, there would have been no need for this post.)

Punchline:  Within the next two years, many private practice law firms will be going through some rough times and many will blame the GC’s of their clients.  There are two sides to this story.  Some bold firms should gather the courage to communicate with their clients directly and with candor.  The best texts on negotiating describe win/win scenarios where both sides benefit.  There is a certain immaturity to the ostrich approach most law firms take to these issues – even major firms.

(Click on image to see original enlarged version)

I was fascinated by this piece at the Consumerist:   How To Beat The Stock Market: Buy Companies With High Customer Satisfaction Scores

If the same phenomenon occurs in the legal profession, there would be a tremendous return on investment from enhancing client satisfaction.

The story is that a portfolio comprised of “companies at the top 20% of the the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)... greatly outperformed the stock market, generating a 40% return.

“From 1996-2003, the portfolio outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 93%, the S&P 500 by 201%, and NASDAQ by 335%.”

How would you like to out perform the average law firm by somewhere between 93% and 335%?  More importantly, how much should you invest in order to reap a return of that nature?

Don’t bother disseminating this information to your people in order to encourage them to focus on enhancing client satisfaction.  Their consequential improved knowledge on the subject will do little.  It takes results (client satisfaction) to get results (improved profitability).  SKILLS rather than knowledge with be essential to achieve the desired outcome.

PUNCHLINE:  In my opinion, there is an overabundance of information in law firms and a dearth of client-relations training.  If you are a Managing Partner, you may want to balance this disparity.

Note:  I admit that this post is an act of unbridled extrapolation.  I cannot prove that the empirical research referenced would apply to the legal profession per se but my view is that it probably would.

(Thank you to my son, Daniel, for bringing this to my attention.  Daniel (Riskin) is a PhD and a renowned expert on bats - he discovered Vampire bats run - check out his site.)

How your people use their voice mail may seem at first both trivial and unimportant. BZZZZZZZZZZ WRONG!!!

The reason you open you wallet wide for a Ritz Carlton is because of the experience.  Do you think it’s a coincidence that you are greeted by name at the front desk?    (Did you see the secret service-type ear phone worn by the doorman who opened your car door and asked if you were checking-in and for your name?  As you walked form your car, the front desk staff was given your name – they did not not need to recognize you from last time.)

Two highly respected bloggers, Tom Collins of morepartnerincome and Patrick Lamb of In Search of Perfect Client Service respectfully disagree in their respective posts: Voice Mail -- a Lawyer's Friend or Foe and Voicemail--Useful Tool Or Devil's Folly?  Tom sets out some rules worth considering and Patrick builds on them adding his own perspective.

PUNCHLINE:  Take five minutes, read the posts, and then do the unthinkable.  Create your own protocol (that you think optimizes the client’s experience with your voice mail system) and then ask your partners, associates and staff to comply.  Trivial and unimportant?  Your competitors hope you think so.

Seth Godin explains this distinction simply with a post well worth reading: "The difference between strategy and tactics". 

Punchline:  My experience working with law firm leaders is that many are quickly seduced by discussions about tactics.  Perhaps they are more familiar with tactics than strategy or simply enjoy debating tactics.  The great firms have the discipline to do the right things well (rather than efficiently doing the camel-actions conceived by consensus).

Thank you Michelle (of Golden Practices) for mentioning my email etiquette post and taking the thought further to embrace phone calls:

Michelle goes on to say:

Another rudeness that Gerry's post makes me think of are abruptly ended phone calls. The failure to say "good-bye," or even "thanks," and simply ending a call by dropping the phone onto its base--often loudly--is more common with lawyers than accountants. And it happens a lot...usually by men.

When did people become too busy (or important?) to say "Good-bye," "Hello," or "Be Well"?

I am asked very frequently by wonderful lawyers how to they might raise client satisfaction and attract better work.  As Peter Paul and Mary sang (and Bob Dylan wrote):  "the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind..."  May we all improve our listening skills - Thank you, Michelle!

Here’s a quote from an article called ‘Yours Truly,’ the E-Variations in today’s New York Times:

Many e-mail users don’t bother with a sign-off, and Letitia Baldridge, the manners expert, finds that annoying. “It’s so abrupt,” she said, “and it’s very unfriendly. We need grace in our lives, and I’m not talking about heavenly grace. I’m talking about human grace. We should try and be warm and friendly.”

I will add that many do not add a “sign on” like “I hope this finds you well” or “It was nice seeing you at the conference.  You will recall that I promised to send you a…” or even, “I hope you are having a pleasant day in San Francisco”.

If you want a quick preliminary test of your email etiquette, go to www.netmanners.com and take the Netiquette Quiz.

PUNCHLINE:  You work so hard to attract and satisfy clients – make sure your emails are not crafted in a manner that undermines your good efforts.

The top five mistakes entrepreneurs make when they market

by Seth Godin

• Expecting gratitude in exchange for having done something that was hard.
  

• Spending money as a substitute for doing something great.
  

• Not realizing that it's your company, and your marketing better be as good as everything else.
  

• Listening to other people.
  

• Failure to measure.
  

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.  Mark Twain

Rajesh Setty of Life BEYOND CODE in his post "Ways to distinguish yourself #153 - Use humor right!" has some importanmt rules for the use of humor that we have long subscribed to in Edge.  Check it out!

.

So, how many stars does your firm have?

Not sure?

You had better pay a visit to my friend and colleague Robert Millard at The Adventure of Strategy, and in particular, his post:  Banks Use Star Rating to Force Law Firms to Compete

My view:  The future does not care whether you like it or not

Seth Godin's blog post on Receptionists is 100% correct.  When I was a managing partner, my firm required a receptionist for our largest office.  I personally reviewed 215 applications myself and created my "A list", about 42 applicants, whom I invited for interviews late one afternoon.   I asked 6 of my partners to help me and we interviewed 6 applicants each.  Any WOW applicant was interviewed separately by at least two partners.  Were we insane to take so much partner time on this?  You decide.

PUNCHLINE:  For many years thereafter, we had a legendary receptionist whom clients loved on the phone and in person.  I personally received an average of two positive remarks about her every week.   Many of my partners and associates reported similar experiences.  She created the "positive experiences" that Seth blogged about.

I remember a call from New York one day and the lawyer started by saying: "before we get to the business at hand, I just have to tell you...".  I did not have heart to tell him "yeah, I know, you are the 100th person this year to tell me". 

By the way, I told that receptionist about every single positive comment I heard, personally or second hand (and no, that did not lead to extortion - she appreciated the recognition and the credible praise). 

Cynics - who are tempted to guess that she was the winner of a beauty pageant – don't go there –  she got the job as the best applicant and got her praise on merit - her performance was awesome.

So first let's define eggplants in terms of your law practice.  According to marketing guru, Seth Godin, "Most people are afraid of eggplant. They won't buy it. They need to be sold it."  In your law practice, eggplant may be preventative services that will keep board members of your corporate clients out of jail or in a private client practice it may be ensuring that a proper estate plan was in place before an unexpected death.

Many great lawyers I have practiced with or consulted to love to sing this old refrain: "if I had wanted to be a salesman, I would have been a salesman".

But just a cotton-pickin' minute:  Don't we cherish the doctor who "sold" a loved one on the idea of quitting smoking or exercising to lower blood pressure?

I believe that clients love being sold what is genuinely beneficial to them, provided with integrity and offered for a fee that represents good value.

OK - now I think you are ready to assimilate Seth Godin's message in his blog today titled: Hard sell at the farmer's market.

If you are a managing partner I hope that you will help your lawyers see that Seth's punchline applies to them:  

Salespeople who sell properly sell stuff people wish they would have bought in the first place. It's a huge service... I'm pretty sure we need more good salespeople, not less.

Perhaps there are other lessons for lawyers at the farmer's market.

When you see a golf ball go in the hole in one shot, it's appropriate to tip your hat.  Look at Michelle's 3 point punchline in her post: Lost Clients? "Reasons" are Symptoms, Not Cause.  Do you agree?

Constance E. Bagley, Lawyer, Author, Harvard Professor

PUNCHLINE: Constance Bagley has not offered the services for which I suggest you may want to retain her but in a discussion with her I learned of her willingness to utilize her unique capabilities for the purposes I hypothesize about. I will be fascinated to see whether one or two action-oriented firms actually explore this idea with her. I will certainly be discussing this with my law firm clients.

Whether you are a Managing Partner, a Marketing Partner or a Marketing Professional working in a law firm, Constance (Connie) Bagley may hold a key to your developing business, both by satisfying existing clients and attracting new ones.

What if you invited Professor Bagley to address a meeting of your clients on the subject of "Harnessing the Power of the Law"? What if she could show your existing (and maybe prospective clients) the untapped value that lies in your services just awaiting harvesting by your clients? What if she could help your clients practice what she calls strategic compliance management so they can go beyond the legal requirements and convert constraints into innovation opportunities?

Why Connie Bagley? Her credentials, credibility and original work regarding the value of law to corporations can help your firm pursuade top clients of the valiue you can offer.

Professor Bagley graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1977, and was invited to join the Harvard Law Review. She received her A.B., with Distinction and Departmental Honors, in 1974 from Stanford University, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa her junior year. She is a member of the State Bar of New York and the State Bar of California. She was a corporate securities partner at Bingham McCutchen and now teaches at the Harvard Business School. She has also taught at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where she received Honorable Mention for the Stanford Business School Distinguished Teaching Award. Her practice and academic research focus on helping lawyers and managers work together as partners to increase the value created by the firm while effectively managing risk.

At Harvard, she teaches the MBA elective Legal Aspects of Management, as well as being on the faculty for the Entrepreneur's Tool Kit Executive Program. Her first two books, Managers and the Legal Environment: Strategies for the 21st Century and The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Law, are used at more than 100 business schools and law schools worldwide.

Her Curriculum Vitae is 21 pages long if you care to learn more about her credentials. Go to click here.

What's in it for your firm?

I have noticed while working with even large, sophisticated, blue chip law firms that individual lawyers find it challenging to quantify the value that their lawyering can bring to their clients (existing and prospective). I am suggesting that Professor Bagley has the credentials, credibility, knowledge and, by her own experience, the sensitivity to deliver that message in a way that will appeal to your most sophisticated clients.

Look at some of the editorial reviews of her recent book, Winning Legally: How Managers Can Use the Law to Create Value, Marshal Resources, and Manage Risk, which is directed to no less than aspiring CEO's:

"Winning Legally, with its clear exposition of real-world problems and solutions, is a thought-provoking resource that can only improve the performance of lawyers and laypeople alike. My best business advice to aspiring CEOs is simple: Read this book!" — James W. Kinnear, former CEO and Chair of Texaco, Inc. "Professor Bagley has done a masterful job of showing how managers can work with attorneys as partners to create value and manage risk. Armed with the knowledge in this book, managers will not only be far more likely to keep their firms out of trouble, but will also have at their disposal a set of tools to manage the firm more effectively. This is an important read for managers and the lawyers who advise them."

— Larry Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati "Bagley has successfully demonstrated the value of the managerial capability that she calls ‘legal astuteness.’ Instead of focusing only on how law constrains managers, Winning Legally’s systems approach to business regulation and the practice of strategic compliance management provides managers with a far more complete and promising way of managing the legal dimensions of business."

— William E. Fruhan, Jr., George E. Bates Professor, Harvard Business School "Common sense alone is not enough to provide the ethical and legal guidelines necessary to conduct a business. Winning Legally provides the framework for maximizing profits in a manner that assures the long-term viability and growth of the corporation."

— Arthur Rock, Principal, Arthur Rock & Co. "This timely book is required reading for every business manager and general counsel. Professor Bagley has provided a practical guide to harnessing corporate legal resources with sound business judgment to maximize shareholder value."

— David R. Andrews, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary of PepsiCo, Inc., retired, and director of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. and Union Bank Corporation

Read this full Book Description by the publisher Harvard Business School Press for more of an insight on what Constance has offer:

The rash of corporate scandals in recent years underscores a fact too often ignored in the business world: flouting the law holds serious consequences. Indeed, all it takes is one rogue trader, one greedy executive, or one misinformed manager to place an entire organization at risk. But respected legal expert Constance E. Bagley argues that staying out of trouble is only part of the picture when it comes to legality in business. In Winning Legally, Bagley shows how managers can proactively harness the power of the law to maximize corporate value, marshal human and financial resources, and manage risk. Through scores of classic and contemporary examples across the business landscape, this no-nonsense guide completely reframes the relationship of law to business. Bagley explains how managers can use the law as a strategic tool to help select and work effectively with legal advisers, spot legal issues before they become problems, weigh the legal risks of specific opportunities, and more. Ultimately, the responsibility for making tough business decisions lies with managers-;not with lawyers. This timely book shows how managers can combine business audacity and vision with integrity and respect for the law to build truly great and enduring firms.

Tim Collins, founder of Juris, Inc gets an artisan in Seattle to make mirrors because at Juris, Inc there is one of every desk. Find out why (and decide if you need one) at the morepartnerincome post called: How People Respond to Attorneys and Vice Versa.

Here's a part of what New York and Toronto Law Firm "Torys" says about itself:

Torys LLP is an international business law firm with more than 330 New York and Toronto lawyers. Our strength lies in working with clients on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and major litigation matters. In addition, the firm’s expertise in a wide range of other practice areas enables us to focus on the needs of our business clients. Our New York and Toronto lawyers work together to offer a unique wealth of talent, experience and seamless cross-border service to clients on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border and around the world.

Visit Torys' Video Center and have a look at the three 3+ minute video casts.

PUNCHLINE: The subject matter is pretty esoteric - one question is whether anyone (besides me) watches these presentations. Of even greater interest is the fact that they are doing videocasting at all. Personally I can't resist the observation that whether anybody is watching or not, they at least look pretty savvy to their existing and prospective clients. Maybe your firm should consider following suit - you will still be early in the game.

CREDIT: See the Globe and Mail story "Torys tunes in to latest pop-tech craze" by BEPPI CROSARIOL from whom I learned about this.

Our consulting firm, Edge International, has been engaged by a mid-sized law firm in Virginia that strongly believes in the stick to your knitting approach. They have asked us to assist them in identifying viable companies to which they can outsource their entire marketing support function.

My Edge International colleague, Ed Wesemann, has posted about this on his Creating Dominance Blog under the title Sticking to Their Knitting

A copy of the Request for Qualifications is available for down load at Ed's Blog and he has agreed to post about the kind of responses we receive.

PLEASE pass this forward to anyone you know who may be interested in this opportunity. Thank you in advance.

When you fire a client, you might want to be a little more diplomatic than the title of this post (or the posture of the fellow above) implies — but, diplomatic or not, when it's the right thing to do, DO IT!

The primary purpose of marketing is to give you choices. Effective marketing allows you to improve your client mix and get rid of the ones who consume your life forces like voracious vampires — you know the ones, they don't pay (or pay VERY slowly), they argue, they test your ethics and they demoralize you and your best staff — and they don't wear watches, at least not when they call you at home at 11 o'clock at night.

Read Seth Godin's post "The Customer is Always Right" and simply substitute "client" for "customer" You owe it to yourself!

Arnie Herz's post active listening and the art of conversation I consider a vitamin because it ought to be consumed daily.

I quote from Arnie's Post:

1) Listen 50% more
2) Ask twice as many questions
3) Hold eye contact 50% more
4) Make slight contact, or hold contact slightly longer
5) Show sincere sympathy or enthusiasm for something they say
6) Ask them if there is anything you could help out with

PUNCHLINE: This is a prime example where "knowing is not doing" - we can not get enough reminders on the subject of listening - THANK YOU, Arnie.

Stephanie West Allen

Thanks to Stephanie for reading my post Patrick Lamb's Latest Punchline on Client Visits and steering me (and you) to an article titled: Embrace the 'human moment' at work. Two excerpts:

Often the computer encourages superficial attention to streams of data, but talking face-to-face demands focused emotional and intellectual involvement that is uniquely satisfying.

You are likely to be happier during this journey if you concentrate on building and maintaining strong relationships. And there's no way to do that except face to face.

A THOUGHT: As lawyers, we are the ultimate rational people ignoting feelings in favor of facts, for the most part, necessary to practice law. This can make us linear as we consider business development pracxtices and Stephanie reminds us that perhaps there are subtle consequences, in this case benefits, to having more face-to-face time with clients.

PLEA: Stephanie, when are you going to launch your blog - we need you out here in the blogosphere! If you know Stephanie personally, help me nag her - send her an email telling her that her friends and acquaintances are all anxiously awaiting her blog because she has so much to contribute.

Patrick J. Lamb

There are many voices on the subject of the management of law firms but very few have Patrick Lamb's depth of experience and accomplishment. Patrick continues to practice in a complex and specialized area of the law attracting and maintaining clients at the high end of the curve. I think his own track record entitles him to greater credibility than those offered by pure theoreticians.

In his post, Are There Definite Rights And Wrongs For Client Satisfaction Surveys?, Patrick explores the evolution of the discussion on this topic including some of my own contributions. I liked the way Patrick summed up his thoughts:

A lawyer or law firm gains from every face to face meeting with the client, and those meetings should be as frequent as possible. Most of those meetings should be directed to providing service or exploring needs that the client has. The client satisfaction meeting, however, is critical and must be treated as distinct, both in form and in substance. It is a chance for the spotlight to be shifted from the client to the firm, and for the client to provide insights that the firm should desperately want to hear about how it can render service in a way that makes the client happier, more satisfied and more committed to the firm. This keeps the client satisfaction meetings separate in the critical spot they deserve.

PUNCHLINE: Follow Patrick's sage advice - the most important part is getting out there and "doing it"!

Constance E. Bagley

For your consideration:

Whether you are a Managing Partner, a Marketing Partner or a Marketing Professional working in a law firm, Constance Bagley may hold a key to your developing business, both by satisfying existing clients and attracting new ones.

What if you invited Professor Bagley to address a meeting of your clients on the subject of "Harnessing the Power of the Law". What if she could show your existing (and maybe prospective clients) the untapped value that lies in your services just awaiting harvesting by your clients.

Why Constance Bagley?

Professor Bagley graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1977, and was invited to join the Harvard Law Review. She received her A.B., with Distinction and Departmental Honors, in 1974 from Stanford University, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa her junior year. She is a member of the State Bar of New York and the State Bar of California. She was a corporate securities partner at Bingham McCutchen and now teaches at the Harvard Business School. She has also taught at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where she received Honorable Mention for the Stanford Business School Distinguished Teaching Award. She still practices law focusing on legal aspects of entrepreneurship and cyberlaw, as well as corporate governance.

At Harvard, she teaches the MBA elective Legal Aspects of Management, as well as being on the faculty for the Entrepreneur's Tool Kit Executive Program.

Her Curriculum Vitae is 21 pages long if you care to learn more about her credentials.

What's in it for your firm?

I have noticed while working with even large, sophisticated, blue chip law firms that individual lawyers find it challenging to quantify the value that their lawyering can bring to their clients (existing and prospective). I am suggesting that Constance Bagley has the credentials, credibility, knowledge and ,by her own experience, the sensitivity to deliver that message in a way that will appeal to your most sophisticated clients.

Look at some of the editorial reviews of her recent book, Winning Legally: How Managers Can Use the Law to Create Value, Marshal Resources, and Manage Risk, which is directed to no less than aspiring CEO's:

"Winning Legally, with its clear exposition of real-world problems and solutions, is a thought-provoking resource that can only improve the performance of lawyers and laypeople alike. My best business advice to aspiring CEOs is simple: Read this book!" — James W. Kinnear, former CEO and Chair of Texaco, Inc. "Professor Bagley has done a masterful job of showing how managers can work with attorneys as partners to create value and manage risk. Armed with the knowledge in this book, managers will not only be far more likely to keep their firms out of trouble, but will also have at their disposal a set of tools to manage the firm more effectively. This is an important read for managers and the lawyers who advise them."

— Larry Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati "Bagley has successfully demonstrated the value of the managerial capability that she calls ‘legal astuteness.’ Instead of focusing only on how law constrains managers, Winning Legally’s systems approach to business regulation and the practice of strategic compliance management provides managers with a far more complete and promising way of managing the legal dimensions of business."

— William E. Fruhan, Jr., George E. Bates Professor, Harvard Business School "Common sense alone is not enough to provide the ethical and legal guidelines necessary to conduct a business. Winning Legally provides the framework for maximizing profits in a manner that assures the long-term viability and growth of the corporation."

— Arthur Rock, Principal, Arthur Rock & Co. "This timely book is required reading for every business manager and general counsel. Professor Bagley has provided a practical guide to harnessing corporate legal resources with sound business judgment to maximize shareholder value."

— David R. Andrews, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary of PepsiCo, Inc., retired, and director of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. and Union Bank Corporation

See the full Book Descripion for more of an insite on what Constance has offer:

The rash of corporate scandals in recent years underscores a fact too often ignored in the business world: flouting the law holds serious consequences. Indeed, all it takes is one rogue trader, one greedy executive, or one misinformed manager to place an entire organization at risk.But respected legal expert Constance E. Bagley argues that staying out of trouble is only part of the picture when it comes to legality in business. In Winning Legally, Bagley shows how managers can proactively harness the power of the law to maximize corporate value, marshal human and financial resources, and manage risk. Through scores of classic and contemporary examples across the business landscape, this no-nonsense guide completely reframes the relationship of law to business. Bagley explains how managers can use the law as a strategic tool to help select and work effectively with legal advisers, spot legal issues before they become problems, weigh the legal risks of specific opportunities, and more.Ultimately, the responsibility for making tough business decisions lies with managers-;not with lawyers. This timely book shows how managers can combine business audacity and vision with integrity and respect for the law to build truly great and enduring firms.

PUNCHLINE: Constance Bagley has not offered the services I suggest you may want to retain her for but in a discussion with her I learned of her willingness to utilize her unique capabilities for the purposes I hypothesize about. I will be fascinated to see whether one or two action-oriented firms actually explore this idea with her. I will certainly be discussing this with my law firm clients.

Jim Hassett

Thank you to Jim Hassett at his Law Firm Business Development Blog for continuing the conversation about Bullet Proofing Crown Jewel Clients with his new post regarding my thoughts on the comments of Steven Bell, Director of Sales at Womble Carlyle. See his post To Sell or Not to Sell in his Law Firm Development Blog today.

Jim's two part story on my recent presentation to the Marketing Partners Forum can be found in his recent posts:

Bulletproofing your crown jewel clients – Part 1

Bulletproofing your crown jewel clients – Part 2

Press Release

Just 30.7% of clients recommend their primary law firm
Low satisfaction drives client spending to new law firms

BOSTON, March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The BTI Consulting Group's fifth annual survey of corporate counsel reveals an unprecedented drop in client satisfaction with law firms. Just 30.7% of large and Fortune 1000 companies recommend their primary law firms. These deep dips in client satisfaction, reports BTI, promise to drive dollars into the hands a new set of law firms, unsettling the status quo.
"Large clients are making broad-sweeping changes in how they hire and work with their law firms," comments Michael B. Rynowecer, BTI's President, "These changes will translate into opportunity for a select group of well-positioned law firms."

BTI's study analyzes how law firms can position themselves to benefit from these critical changes in a brand new report, How Clients Hire, Fire and Spend: Landing the World's Best Clients. BTI found an astonishing 53.7% of clients ousted their primary law firms in the past 18 months. More than 50% of clients also reported they plan to try at least one new law firm for substantive matters in 2006.

BTI conducted more than 200 independent, individual interviews with corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies and large organizations each year for the past five years. Find information on BTI's How Clients Hire, Fire and Spend: Landing the World's Best Clients and other compelling research in the legal services industry on BTI's website at http://www.bticonsulting.com or contact BTI at (617) 439-0333. BTI is the leader in providing high-impact market and client research to law firms and General Counsel.

For details, contact:
Michael B. Rynowecer
Phone (617) 439-0333
mrynowecer@bticonsulting.com

FASTFORWARD: Rynowecer's work has been extremely helpful to strategists within major firms. The trend he sites is alarming. I like his optimism that it means opportunities for many firms but it is a scathing condemnation of many established firms who are failing to Bullet Proof their Crown Jewel Clients. Could this in part be due to an ever increasing sophistication of demanding clients? Perhaps... but you know where the onus is. In my view, this should be a topic for discussion at your very next executive committee meeting followed by an action plan — it is only the firms who actually do something who will benefit from this crisis of confidence.

Thank you to Tom Kane for publishing my five biggest legal marketing mistakes I listed for an article that appeared in Lawyers Weekly USA (subscription required) by Nora Tooher.

You can see the five mistakes identified by others (including Tom) cited in a series on Tom's Blog, The Legal Marketing Blog

Thank you to very funny pics for the photo.

Guy Kawasaki two days in a row? Not my fault - his. Guy was traveling on:

from

to

when he decided to create this email gem called The Effective Emailer. Guy recites a dozen sensible and perhaps essential rules of email etiquette.

I almost called this post: "Don't FUQ with me and I won't FUQ with you" but then I thought it may not be so obvious that this Kawasakism really means "Fabricate Unanswerable Questions". As for the title I chose, when you read #10 in his post you will learn how to avoid "a sure sign of bozosity"!

FASTFORWARD: Our Edge International project for a non-email protocol to dramatically reduce emaill within organizations continues. I think we're ahead of the curve (few people know they want this or care) which is exactly where we want to be. In the meantime, email behaviors neeed all the help they can get and I thing Guy Kawasaki's contribution is the best I've seen recently. Stay tuned.

Guy Kawasaki is quite extraordinary (click on his photo to see for yourself)... "evangelist, entrepreneur, investment banker, and venture capitalist" kind of sums it up but not quite.

In his post today, he discusses The Art of Schmoozing... his list is not only consistent with some of the best academic work I have seen on the subject but he describes his steps in such a compelling way, for example, his third step is:

Ask good questions, then shut up. The mark of a good conversationalist is not that you can talk a lot. The mark is that you can get others to talk a lot. Thus, good schmoozers are good listeners, not good talkers. Ask softball questions like, “What do you do?” “Where are you from?” “What brings you to this event?” Then listen. Ironically, you'll be remembered as an interesting person.

PUNCHLINE: Whether you are a Managing Partner or a CMO, share Guy Kawasaki's 9 step list with your law firm. You may have to translate it a bit (removing words that twist the stomach of most lawyers - like "tradeshows" - gosh, what would a lawyer do at a trade show, or MySpace - heaven forbid.) However the wisdom in this list is far too valuable to overlook.

Seth Godin provokes our thoughts with a very quick intellectual journey through service to expectations. In his post, What customer surveys measure, he teaches us not that serving and satisfying is impossible but that it is possible to do the former extremely well without doing the latter.

TRANSLATION FOR LAWYERS: Excellent legal work is not enough. Excellent work plus managing expectations plus exceeding those expectations is indeed enough. Is your firm doing enough? Are your individual lawyers and client teams doing enough?

(Click on photo for bio.)

Bruce adds this terrific article to The Marcus Letter:

ALL TOGETHER NOW – IT’S OUR CLIENT
The Client Service Team As A Growing Phenomenon

The article features Iris Jones who breathed life into this concept at Akin Gump. Bruce speaks very highly of her and her achievements - click on photo for bio. Bruce does a nice job of describing the elements that had to be in place at Akin Gump to support their client team initiative.

Visit Bruce's newsletter regularly. Just click on The Marcus Letter logo below.

Tom Kane

See Tom's post by this title — these tips are so true (and I base that assertion on a lot of work with both GC's and those who pitch to them).

PUNCHLINE: Busy lawyers frequently look for the magic bullet - the tricks that the great rainmakers use. The simplicity of the list in Tom's post should not fool you. If you find yourself arguing with the list, you are suffering from what Zig Ziglar calls "hardening of the attitudes" — a deadly disease for aspiring business developers.

There are few people who can pull off asking this question let alone answering it so effectively. David Maister's latest offering is titled: "Do You Really Want Relationships" available at his site.

In "Do You Really Want Relationships" Maister will help you explore how some firms build profitable long-term relationships.

Maister says: examples of dysfunctional “client as enemy” behaviors include:

Focus on rehearsing what you are going to say to the client in proposals and presentations rather than how you plan to get a true conversation going.

Avoiding conversations with clients because you want either to remain in control or avoid having to treat the client as a person.

Avoiding contact with clients unless there is something concrete to talk about.

Too obviously trying to sell more work to get what you want rather than serve the client.

Requiring that all agreements and decisions be documented and formally approved, rather than trusting each other’s word.

FASTFORWARD: David Maister built his extraordinary career on the power of his thoughts which have been very useful catalysts for firm leaders around the globe for some years. Don't let the price of subscribing to his articles deter you - don't make the mistake of equating a free offering with a valueless offering (well, I suppose you can, but don't assume all your competitors will be as naive). Sign up for all his articles, today!.

Read the Mark Merenda's ENTIRE POST — the punchline is so worth it.

PUNCHLINE: How many times must we be told that persistence pays off before we not only believe it, but apply the principle to our lives?

Seth Godin has done it again but maybe the value of his post for law firms transcends his own intention.

First, read his post, then read my following comments.

PUNCHLINE: Of course I am not recommending that you give away free pickles but let's pause and reflect here. A $30 turkey sandwich is not the low end of the market — apparently the pickles have been a draw. Perhaps even a prestigious law firm could think about appropriate added value (free) items for clients. Add your own ideas to this list:

a) free parking (yes, there are still law firms who don't offer this). In major cities, maybe a car (we'll pick you up and take you back);

b) password clearance to a web site with access to all documents and correspondence relating to their matter (secured so no changes can be made);

c) complimentary meals in our partners' cafeteria;

d) complimentary work station or office with high speed for guests while they wait — especially if from out of town;

e) personalized stationery and a monogrammed bathrobe at their hotel;

f) the assistance of a concierge;

OK, you add the rest.

Note to cynics and skeptics: Remember how little face time we have with clients - how few "in-person visits. Do not assume these suggestions are expensive — they may be the best marketing dollars you have ever spent. What if everybody starts doing this stuff? No worries, mate, so few will do it that you will have a competitive advantage for at least half a decade — I promise.

I've had the opportunity to experience Patrick McEvoy's energy, enthusiasm and results-oriented drive. He 's been in the front lines as a Canadian Chartered Accountant and proven that his techniques work for him and others. If you want a no-nonsense practical approach including tips and "how to's", you may want to give one of his TeleSeminar's a try.

For more information about Patrick McEvoy and his TeleSeminar, click here.

I wonder if Neil Witmer, Ph.D. understands lawyers, law firms or the legal profession. His reported conclusions may be correct in the context of the industries he normally serves but are not consistent with my experience in the legal profession.

Dr. Witmer’s views are reported by Larry Bodine from a recent breakfast meeting resulting in a post called Marketers: Forget the Grinders and Drones. By the way, I am not shooting the messenger — I happen to admire and appreciate Larry Bodine for his own hands-on consulting work as well as his prolific contribution to law-related internet content including Lawmarketing ListServ, all of which are superb — keep up the good work, Larry! No, here I take issue exclusively with Dr. Witmer because of the views attributed to him with which I disagree.

“According to Witmer, the grinders and drones lack the essential personality elements to develop new business. You cannot change their personalities, and they may be unable to change themselves.”

“Drones”? The expression "Finders, Minders, and Grinders" is cliché and insensitive enough — "drones" is an unfortunate term. According to my dictionary, unless Witmer uses "drones" to mean "a humming sound", "continuous note", "a musical instrument", or "a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft or missile", then he is stuck with: "a male bee in a colony of social bees, which does no work but can fertilize a queen". My Webster dictionary adds: “Figurative: a person who does no useful work and lives off others”. (I suppose female lawyers can take heart that the term cannot apply to them — small consolation.)

It is not personality that drives the client attraction process, but a combination of what the lawyer does and the skill to convey it — skill that almost every lawyer has or is quite capable of acquiring. If you look closely at a law firm’s top rainmakers, you will notice a wide diversity of personalities.

While there is a lot of team-oriented work in a law firm, in many cases the client is choosing the surgeon for the operation — the more specialized the work, the less relevant the personality. If heaven forbid, a dear one needed brain surgery, the doctor's personality is probably the last factor for consideration. (I will yield that in an undifferentiated commodity market personality is far more important but most top firms keep that work to a minimum in favor of specialty work.)

Witmer goes on:

“So if a professional lacks drive and confidence, forget them. Leave them in the library or their offices, where they belong. No amount of coaching, training or individual business planning will ever work for them. They will always be people waiting for an assignment from someone else who can generate new business.”

In a good law firm, if a lawyer “lacks drive and confidence”, you don’t forget them — you encourage them and if that doesn't work, you fire them.

Good news: encouraging works most of the time — many of those who look like naturals today were actually encouraged at some stage. Confidence sometimes must be acquired — that happens by being supported — not forgotten.

There is no discrete sales force in a law firm — every lawyer (especially every partner) must interact effectively with prospective and existing clients. I'll give you that some do it better than others but in most good firms, almost every lawyer can raise his or her game appreciably with effective training and coaching. So I strongly disagree with Dr. Witner's recommendation that we simply forget about these people.

If you look at Dr. Witmer's bio, perhaps he can be forgiven for not knowing the legal profession — there is no evidence he has any relevant experience. His own web site categorizes the people he serves as: CEO’s, HR Executives, Equity Firms and Boards and Sales Executives. On his site he has testimonials from 15 clients among those categories none of whom are law firms. (In case you were curious, none of the bios of members of Witmer's firm evidences any legal education or experience.)

One of the reasons I feel so strongly about this is that over the past 25 years, Edge has worked with almost 400 law firms worldwide up to and including the world's largest. I can report that the recognized rainmakers do not have a monopoly on Witmer's “five elements…: Drive… Persuasion… Confidence… Organization… Relationship Skills…” Most lawyers in good law firms must possess these elements to make it through law school, get hired by a good firm, and then serve demanding, intelligent and sophisticated clients. The head of the Hong Kong office of a major firm reported to me personally that his training with us many years ago contributed greatly to his transformation and success as both a rainmaker and a leader. These comments are common.

Why do we give litigators advocacy training — why does Tiger Woods have a coach?

Many top-notch litigators have all five of Witmer's elements but are not rainmakers in the traditional sense because that is not their focus. They may slay fire-breathing dragons in court all day in situations that would send mere mortals into the embryonic position but are not comfortable with small talk around the shrimp dish at the bank reception. However, these litigators can be trained to excel in their client relations, to their advantage and to the firms'.

There are two Punchlines here:

1) Almost all lawyers (OK — there may be a few extreme exceptions) can be trained to dramatically improve their client-relations skills from “Meeting Prospective Clients, Managing Client Expectations to Dealing with Complaints and Getting more Referrals (and much more). I have the anecdotal evidence of many pleasantly surprised law firm Managing Partners to prove this. If not attract new clients, they can get more work from existing clients, cross sell to other areas of the firm and much more.

2) In law, the most important business development comes from ever-enhancing the satisfaction levels of existing clients — especially the crown-jewel clients. The very lawyers whom Witmer tells us to forget about may be the glue that holds the most important existing clients to the firm. These so-called non-rainmakers often grow the work of existing clients which is a huge contribution that in many firms goes under-appreciated because it is simply not as sexy as attracting a new client. In many cases the bulk of a firm’s income will be found in the long-term growing book of business from the firm’s top clients

Conclusion: I am concernmed that Managing Partners may interpret Dr. Witmer's message in such a way that they will neglect many of the lawyers in their firms who need help to enhance the skills that are key to the long-term success of the firm. If you have people in your firm that you are tempted to forget, help them. If you won't, can't or it doesn't work, do a mutual favor — release them from your custody.

If you share the love/hate relationship that my Edge International colleagues and I have toward PowerPoint, you will appreciate the post of marketing genius Seth Godin on the subject.

He alludes to a comparison between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and how they use PowerPoint. (For the record, Steve does not use PowerPoint at all but rather Keynote, available only on Apples. However, the points on the differing use of this medium remain perfectly valid.)

Check it out: Worth 1,000 bullet points

PUNCHLINE: You will have occasion to use PowerPoint or Keynote in your business development efforts, especially in live responses to RFP's. If you want to win, simplicity is the key and it has no better teacher than Steve Jobs.

(Voice of Rod Serling) Let me take you to a world where everything is different from what you now know… a world where your imagination is liberated as in childhood, except now with your acquired maturity and knowledge you ride your ideas at the speed of light to the delight of your firm and your clients alike… welcome to Larry Bodine's portal and perhaps the most imaginative story, that's true, that I have every read.

What magic does this woman weave? Read for yourself, and if you are dissapointed, please tell me why…

(make a sandwich — refresh your beverage)

…and now, a mysterious man, dressed in black, hands you an envelope…

I know that ideas from outside the legal profession are suspect — and for good reason — you have been disappointed so many times before by concepts that simply don’t apply — so why waste your time.

John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing

What if this is true (and, by the way, it is):

“If you expect your clients to be thrilled with your services - they will”

“If you flat out expect your clients to refer business your way - they will…”

“…Have you ever found yourself so excited about a … service that people [retained] you because they almost had to?”

PUNCH LINE: Many professionals do not believe in the value of their services nor do they get sufficiently enthused by them. That’s just plain wrong. The reason is that professionals have trouble seeing and quantifying the value. Quantum Mechanics Physics will not let you down.

Humour me — read (and re-read) this Duct Tape Marketing post called "The Power of Positive Expectancy" by John Jantsch. Suspend the cynicism and reflect.

Adam Lewis, a Director and the Managing Partner of the Australian and New Zealand practices of McKinsey & Company, was one of my co-presenters at the World Masters of Law Firm Management last week, in Sydney.

Adam told us a number of fascinating things about McKinsey, one of the premium consultancies in the world. Among them were two gems:

1) McKinsey & Company has no internal marketing department. (Why not? Because the consultants themselves market the firm.)

2) 2/4/8. Every Director in the firm is required to be working on "2" assignments, be in the process of proposing for "4" more, and in communication with "8" more prospective clients.

Management within McKinsey follows up to ensure that "2/4/8" is a reality.

Some superb marketing professionals in some extraordinary law and accounting firms confided in me that if their fairy godmother granted one wish it would be that their "professionals" would interact with clients beyond just doing the work.

It sounds like McKinsey's "2/4/8" means that the fairy godmother has already visited McKinsey & Company.

Client service reaches new heights at Clifford Chance, which has obtained a 24-hour alcohol licence.

According to its spokes-woman, clients can get a refreshment (code for an "alcoholic beverage"?) at any time of the day or night.

Now in fairness, there are big deals that close in the wee hours and you would not want CC to be precluded from serving a little libation, would you?

See the full story in today's The Independent Online Edition: Lawyers drink in the last-Chance saloon

Just when the legal news starts looking a bit dull, some firm somewhere does something to capture our imagination — be grateful.

Credit to Transblawg (Margaret Marks) whose blawg alerted me to the story.

*"Going the Extra Mile" is a stated value of Clifford Chance

The techniques managers use to get through a tough agenda in a business context are completely useless in a deposition. To survive the deposition, managers are trained to avoid the tactics they would have used in a business situation. Those who lead law firms are often experiencing more of a deposition environment than a business environment. Perhaps this is why some lawyers want their firms to be more "corporate".

This insight arises from the analysis of Wall Street Journal writer, George Anders, in his July 26 article called Depositions Require A Skill Set Leaders Don't Use on the Job (subscription required) in the July 26 WSJ (page A17 if you haven't thrown out your hard copy yet). Anders nicely illuminates the contrast between the very different business and deposition contexts.

FASTFORWARD: Those who live in law firms know what I mean when I say that the law firm environment resembles a deposition more than it does a corporation. A partnership meeting can be as grueling as a deposition. Support professionals (like marketing directors) often feel devoured by the environment. I believe that the lawyers training, especially litigators, fosters the propensity to lawyer their way through meetings making the leader's job next to impossible.

Lawyers must be highly critical and analytical when creating or improving