This week, we welcome guest blogger Jim Durham, chief marketing and business development officer for McGuireWoods, who shares the ten things you should know about every client.
You must invest time to fully understand the culture, goals, opportunities and needs of a client. You should develop the equivalent of a dossier on anyone with whom you work. There is no such thing as too much information.
When you are trying to find a way to truly help someone - not to sell them something -remember that “to guess is cheap, to guess wrong is expensive.” Although information gathering is critical, it is of little value if you do not apply strategic, creative thinking to what you learn, and use the information to propose new ideas and solutions.
Here is what you need to know; the best way to get most of this information is to sit down with someone and ask questions.
1) In what marketplace is the company principally competing for business, and what is happening in that market? (For example: Who are its competitors and customers? Are there significant industry trends, such as consolidation, price pressure, class action threats, technology advances, etc.? What strategic business opportunities does the client have? What resources or contacts do they need to succeed?)
2) What is the company’s financial status? (Determine its strategies for short-term business and financial goals. Have there been any recent changes, deals, threats or litigation? What is the company’s corporate structure? Its geographic locations?)
3) What is the company’s long-term strategy and vision - where does it want to end up? (For example: Does it want to grow through a series of mergers and acquisitions, to go public or get acquired, to diversify product lines, to become more global, to dominate a market, etc.)
4) What are the primary personal goals and concerns of the individuals who hire the lawyers? (How are the people who work with the lawyers, and the people who hire the lawyers, judged and rewarded? What makes them successful?)
5) What is most important to the people at the client organization who actually work with and interact with the lawyers? (These are not necessarily the same people who hire the outside lawyers.)
6) What are the personality and communication styles of the decision-makers? (Are they intuitors or sensors? Introverts or extroverts? Visual, auditory of kinesthetic? Big picture or detail-oriented?)
7) What is the firm’s total legal budget, and with which law firms and lawyers does the company currently work? (Is the company anticipating any meaningful changes in its budget? Does it have a history of changing counsel?)
8) What types of legal needs does the company have? (In other words: What expertise do they need? How is the work currently divided between inside and outside counsel?)
9) What, if any, special billing or partnering arrangements does the prospect have with other law firms or professional service providers? (If none, have they discussed or tried any ideas?)
10) How satisfied are they with the service and quality of hte laywers at your firm with whom they work, and what does the client know about the rest of the firm?
Some of this information can be obtained from publicly-available sources; some through networking with accountants, underwriters, bankers, etc.; some can come from people at your firm who know people in the client’s organization; etc. The best way to get this information, however, is by meeting with key people to learn their needs, goals and styles.
Whatever you learn must become the foundation of your strategy - remember, developing business comes from developing relationships. Relationships are built on trust and by adding value to people’s personal and professional lives. This requires information - information about “them,” not about you!
About Jim Durham
Jim Durham is the chief marketing and business development officer for McGuireWoods. He has almost 20 years experience in the legal marketing and management world.
Jim previously served as chief marketing officer for Ropes & Gray, and was founder and president of his own consulting firm. He’s interviewed hundreds of clients on behalf of law firms to determine how they judge outside counsel, and what they value most in outside counsel relationships.
Jim co-edited and authored The Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing Your Practice published by the American Bar Association, and wrote The Essential Little Book of Great Lawyering: www.greatlawyeringbook.com