Maintaining a well-structured business development plan is critical for law firms to remain competitive, and to build a strong client base.
Hiring a law firm can be a long and tedious process, and it can take years to win a new client. However, when the stakes of winning a new client are so high, it is worth the wait, and the efforts into developing and nurturing all avenues that can lead to the generation of new business.
Traditionally law firms relied most heavily on in person networking to bring in new business, however times have changed and even before the pandemic, top law firms have been quick to embrace modern marketing, lead generation, and data collection tools to gain an advantage in this increasingly competitive market.
Below are five steps that law firms must consider when formulating their business development strategies:
1. Strengthen the value and recognition of your firm’s brand
Promote and grow your firm’s and reputation and brand by showcasing your specialties and professionals. What sets your firm apart from the competition, and how can you relay that information to the market?
The production of content and resources to educate current and potential clients on the capabilities and efforts of your firm is more important than ever. It no longer is enough just to operate as a firm, but you must implement a robust marketing strategy into place to remain relevant in this very competitive market.
2. Analyze your client base
Understand the characteristics of the types of clients who contract your services (ie. size, operating sectors, location, type and value of services contracted)
3. Follow the markets
It is important not only to stay up to date on the legal sector, but the unique markets of your clients must also be on your radar. Competition is increasingly fierce, since we have already passed the mark of over 1.3 million lawyers in the USA (Statista) and 1.2 million lawyers in Brazil, according to OAB data. Understanding these movements and crossing them with your client base can help the offices to prepare for trends, as there was in the offering of services related to Compliance and data privacy legislations, and to understand the size of the market to be occupied.
4. Establish a Relationship Management Processes
Maintain frequent contact with your customers to build customer loyalty, to generate trust and appreciation, and to keep them informed of all the ways your firm can service them. It is important to keep a database of the origins of these relationships as well, so that you have better data on what was successful in the past, and what you can continue to do in the future.
It is also advisable to send out recurring satisfaction surveys to your clients check on areas of improvement, and thereby improve service delivery. Clients will appreciate your openness to feedback, and it will allow for your firm to better service them.
5. Participate in Legal Rankings and Awards
It is important to appear in the same places as your competition. If your main competition is appearing in legal rankings and awards, and your firm is not yet actively engaging in those same channels, then it is time to get involved as well. Having a third-party research team endorsement for your firm often holds more weight and credibility in the market than endorsing one’s own firm. Being able to leverage an endorsement from a well-respected media outlet (ie. Chambers and Partners, Legal500, Leaders League) will go a long way.
6. Launch the Business Development Plan into action
Each of the steps described above is important individually, but must be executed in unison to become a strategy. The better that a firm is able to present itself to the wider audience, and to gain the trust and respect of that audience, the better the likelihood that the firm will win new clients. Knowing who your potential customers are is a critical step to begin opening new doors and targeting new leads. Through better understanding the market, we induce the growth formula and see your potential. By establishing relationships, operational and financial stability, along with a more sustainable method of doing business can be maintained.