An Educated Team Makes All The Difference
Business development teams within law firms increasingly play a pivotal role in a firm’s success. Intense competition among law firms for business is a given as clients continue to question billable rates and new attorney salaries show no signs of leveling off. Developing new business opportunities has always been important to a thriving law firm; now it is an imperative. It is critical that firms demonstrate their expertise in very targeted ways. Business development / marketing teams are the most efficient and effective resource to do this well. Your team is the key to ensuring that your firm excels at the business of knowing – and showcasing – its strengths.
To raise your profile at the firm and have lawyers seek out your team for collaboration, you must speak the lawyers’ language. Your marketing-savvy business development team is already expert at communicating your firms’ legal work and how your lawyers are a cut above the rest, but they also need to understand the business of the firm. We recommend providing your business development team with a substantive training on legal practice areas and also, how to get actionable specifics from your lawyers for productive searches. With this information, your team will be able to optimize lawyers’ time on marketing efforts while also becoming the go-to group the lawyers rely on to translate their work into a persuasive case for new business.
In LKO Information Management’s ongoing efforts to provide our clients with strategically aligned service delivery, we are developing an education program for law firms that covers two areas:
- Getting the right information – understand the questions to ask and searches to conduct
- Understanding the Practice:
- What does it mean to practice law that intersects with the government?
- Why does a litigation not necessarily involve court?
- What are the keys to transactional practice?
By empowering your business development team with this information, you position them to provide the best service possible, which ultimately, will show in your bottom line.
