Articles/Publications
Company Owner Reveals Attorney's Marketing "Secrets"
By Judith Nitsch, PE
What do I think about law firm marketing? Dave Frishberg said it well in his funky song "My Attorney Bernie." I'm impressed with my attorney Bernie/I'm impressed with his influential friends/He's got very big connections/And I follow his directions/Bernie knows his way around/And so I always do what Bernie recommends…(Dave Frishberg, ©1991 Concord Jazz).
Marketing professional services — in my case, consulting engineering and land surveying — is easy for some employees and a real chore for others. I think it's the same for lawyers. Finding the "medium" with which each individual is comfortable is key. As a client of a law firm, I say that the best and easiest way for an attorney to market is by demonstrating expertise and being responsive to current clients — just as it is in engineering. We call it client maintenance, and we expect everyone to do it. Others at the firm, however, have to be the rainmakers, generating those new client leads.
How Does a Lawyer Demonstrate Expertise?
My attorney sponsors a monthly roundtable for design professionals that features speakers on a variety of relevant topics. Recent topics have included Y2K issues, electronic communications policies, sexual harassment practices, banking relationships, and ownership transition. I attend, even when I don't have a current problem with the topic at hand.
When I need legal advice on an issue, however, I've usually been exposed to it at the roundtable and have heard the firm's expert talk about it. When I meet with that lawyer about my particular problem, I already know him or her and am confident he or she understands the legal aspects of my issue.
As an added bonus, the other roundtable attendees are clients or potential clients of mine — so I get to do some marketing of my own while I'm learning something. As another added bonus, I note my firm's participation in these roundtables every year on our professional liability insurance renewal application, and we've continued to get the maximum discount on our premium for good risk management practices.
Here is what I don't need from lawyers: I don't need a slick brochure, and I don't want cold calls telling me how wonderful they are. Why? In addition to attending my attorney's monthly roundtables, I see him volunteering his time and his staff attorneys' time on activities for and issues concerning the American Consulting Engineers' Council of Massachusetts. They write legislation on our behalf, testify on bills that are detrimental to our industry, meet with government officials on onerous contract terms, and teach us how to run our firms better. My attorney also has represented the consulting engineers on the wrap-up insurance issues concerning the policy for Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project. He presents low-cost risk management training seminars and donates the proceeds to our professional societies! Those practices tell me that my attorney is interested in my profession — what's good for us is good for him.
My engineering/surveying staff knows that participating on professional society committees is a type of "painless" marketing because they're doing something enjoyable to benefit the profession. I've always said that if you volunteer for a professional organization, show up, follow through, and are genuinely likable and reliable, other committee members (read: potential clients) will want to work with you when they have a problem. The client knows you will be just as inclined to show up and follow through. My attorney has his staff participate on our professional organizations' committees, and they benefit from this involvement and interaction.
How Others Can Market to Me
One law firm I know well — not the firm I use — always invites me to its client seminars and annual open house. It knows I'm happy with my attorney, so you might ask, "Why should it bother including me in its marketing efforts?" I'll tell you why. My attorney doesn't represent owners; he represents only design professionals. As trustee of a nonprofit science center/museum/zoo, I was in a position to recommend an attorney for our $10-million building project.
Guess who I called for that assignment? You guessed it. It was a sole-source procurement, he has been on an hourly contract for almost two years now, and the science center is thrilled with his expertise. It made a good investment.
Listen to Your Clients
Another way to "market" is to perform a client satisfaction survey. Last year, the firm's marketing director (who isn't an attorney) came to my office to interview me. (It could just as easily have been performed by an outside firm.) This survey helped the law firm get critical feedback on how it's doing.
Be an Expert in the Field
My attorney edited a book on the business and legal aspects of subsurface engineering projects, and one of his partners co-authored a book on ownership transition. They sent me copies of each book — each is an excellent reference text.
When I started my firm in 1989, I chose my attorney because he was known as the expert on professional liability issues for engineers. My knowledge of his expertise was the result of the public relations side of his marketing activities. Since then, I've called him for a wide variety of other issues: to review our lease and assist in lease negotiations; to review and negotiate working capital and equipment lines of credit; to review contracts; to analyze potential claims; to consult on employee issues; and to assist in a personal injury claim.
I've given away all of my attorney's secrets here — now all of the local attorneys will know how he attracts so many design professionals to his practice. But the one thing they cannot copy is his passion for our industry. That passion shows in everything he does. But, most important, he and his firm do not represent all sides of the construction industry. They just take care of the designers. We appreciate that dedication and discretion. Need I say more? That's why, as the song says, "…I always do what [my attorney] recommends."
Published in Strategies, the Journal of Legal Marketing, July 1999