Posted In: Business Development, Client Service
Law Firm Business Development: Industry Team Best Practice #1
As I referenced in my previous blog post, there has been a shift in law firms over the past few years from individual-focused business development initiatives to team-oriented programs and we expect this trend to continue. One area that has been of particular interest to firms of all sizes is the development of an industry team go-to-market strategy. Also, in my previous blog, I promised that I’d begin sharing some examples of industry team best practices, so I offer the following, which will be the first of an upcoming series.
“Teeing It Up”
How you position this “new” go-to-market approach to the practice professionals in your firm is critical. One of the most important things to remember as you move forward is that this is the firm’s new go-to-market strategy. Don’t make the mistake of referring to it as an “initiative,” which may suggest that it is something temporary that “we’re just giving a try.” This go-to-market approach is a best practice, so it’s best if it is presented as a permanent process moving forward. Some other key talking points to keep in mind as you begin introduce the merits of the strategy:
- What it is
- An approach that closely aligns our interests with the interests of our clients
- An approach that enables us to strategically target opportunities with existing clients and effectively target new clients
- An opportunity to continue to learn about industry trends which may impact our clients
- An approach that makes success easy to replicate
- An opportunity to become viewed as “one of them” (our clients) rather than “someone who provides services to them”
- What it isn’t
- It isn’t in any way meant to be to the exclusion of our practice areas; in fact, it’s quite the contrary
- It isn’t a way to hoard budget money; in fact, the budget should be maintained at firm level to fund all go-to-market strategies
And now, you’ve teed-up the opportunity to begin describing what the industry go-to-market strategy looks like, why you’re suggesting that the firm take this approach, the benefit(s) to the client, and the nuts-and-bolts on how the strategy is developed. In my next post, I’ll share what the next step is in the process and how we advise clients on how to communicate it.
In the meantime, please feel free to give me a call to discuss how to develop and deploy an industry go-to-market strategy at your firm. You may also reach me at bruce.alltop@lawvision.com.
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