Business Development and Marketing for Lawyers
I just received a flyer from the lovely people at the Legal Marketing Association. They're offering two books for the price of one by legal marketing guru, Sally J. Schmidt. They are about the topic of business development and marketing for lawyers. I confess I have not picked them up, but I would nevertheless be extremely confident in recommending them. Sally is fabulous, and her credentials are impeccable.
My own thought--and she may very well cover these in her book--is that excellence in client service is the most effective business development and marketing you can do. The reasons are self-evident, but I'll spell a few of them out anyway:
*It is far easier to keep a client than get a new one
*It is far easier to get additional business from an existing client (cross-selling)
*The internal costs of managing existing relationships are far lower (spelled "b-o-n-u-s")
* Existing clients that know and trust you are far less likely to scrutinize your every move
* Lawyers talk. Word gets out when you're fun to deal with. And when you're not
Marketing folks--if that doesn't light your fire I suspect your wood is wet. I've long thought that of all the tasks you are asked to do, the most important ones are those that improve your level of client service.
Lawyers--if you're not freeing your marketing folks up to do that kind of work, you may want to revisit the issue.
