Any successful law firm should have a strong business development strategy. Some firms will have this function in-house but for others, they may need to work alongside law firm business development experts. With our knowledge of the legal market, we offer that resource to firms across the UK and internationally, ensuring that your business development activities maintain momentum in bringing in new clients and work.
Business development activities help grow your client base and keep it competitive.
In today’s business world, everyone has a part to play in bringing in and nurturing business. Typical business development goals include establishing your market position, expansion, client acquisition/retention and brand awareness, all of which are shared goals of marketing.
Business development differs from marketing in that we typically use tactics more closely associated with sales rather than marketing to achieve goals. Our strategy also uses targeting prospective clients as well as nurturing existing ones through account management, collating and responding to clients’ feedback, and adding value to existing relationships.
We can assist wherever you are based and have a track record of generating new work for law firms across the world.
Free initial discussion
We are friendly and down to earth. We can help you as little or as much as you like with our outsourced Business Development services and we provide a no-obligation, free initial discussion to explain how we can assist you. Call us today on 0115 8700443 or email info@marketinglawyers.co.uk.
Law Firm BD - What we do
- Conduct Business Development Training
- Conduct meetings or set up meetings for Senior Management Teams
- Help companies develop a business development strategy
- Help companies to implement that strategy
- Provide an in-house resource
- Set up a database of key contacts
- Work on an ad hoc basis
- Email marketing
- Content writing
We like to break business development activities down into four distinct categories based on the sources of new work.
- New Clients: how do you win new work from new clients?
- Existing Clients: how do you win new work from existing clients?
- Referrals: how do you maximise your referrals of work from other sources?
- New Practice Areas: are there other practice areas your firm could introduce?
We all want to focus on winning new clients but don't forget about the other three areas as a focused approach on these can reap large dividends for your firm.
Business development in the digital era requires firms to adopt new strategies and tactics to adapt to opportunities and challenges created by the increasing use and constant evolution of social and digital technologies.
There are many tactics we are experienced in deploying, including making the most of your website, niche internet advertising, and social media platforms. The choices are plentiful and potentially overwhelming. It’s hard to know where to begin, but our friendly team can certainly help, call us today to find out more.
Create a Business Development Strategy
Your strategy will keep your firm’s development on track and make sure progress is monitored.
It can include:
- growth objectives
- how success is measured, for example how marketing activity results in new business enquiries
- how to build awareness of your brand
- who your target market is and how you can meet their needs?
Customer Service
Focus on customer service, making sure that:
- New enquiries are handled by a trained new business team
- Timeframes are realistic and services are delivered on time
- Your clients feel listened to
- Your clients know you by name
- Your offices are welcoming
Having a customer service policy can help regulate:
- how often staff should contact clients
- how quickly enquiries should be responded to
- how to deal with client complaints
You may consider a mystery shopping exercise to really understand the journey from the clients perspective.
Also, it may be a good idea to set up a discount scheme to reward customer loyalty or encourage referrals.
Flexible Opening Hours
Flexible opening hours can attract clients by giving them the opportunity to speak to you before and after their working hours. This will also have the added benefit of allowing your staff to work flexibly.
Cross-sell Your Services
Use client data to improve customer relationship management (CRM) and input this into specific CRM software.
You can categorise clients into contact groups based on their areas of interest. You can then tailor promotional and cross-selling efforts can then be tailored to meet their needs.
By cross-selling, you are leveraging your firm’s existing relationships, however, firms often neglect this tactic, as lawyers want to protect their client relationships and may fear jeopardising trust with a big ask that could get rejected.
By using tools such as CRM software, you can automatically identify the cross-selling opportunities that leverage only the strongest client relationships.
Market Your Firm
Make sure all your marketing materials and advertisements look professional. Working with a graphic designer can help you stand out.
Awards
Put your firm forward for awards and promote your success if you win:
- Announce it on social media
- Hold a celebratory event
- Use the award logo on your communications
- Write and promote a press release
Website and Social Media
Your website should be simple and easy to navigate with clear and appropriate calls to action. You should make sure:
- The services you provide are easy to find
- Staff profiles are up to date and actually link to service pages
- You don’t use legal jargon
You should also take steps to make your firm easier to find online. This is done by employing an agency to conduct Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) which we are experts at in the legal arena.
Use specific social media channels that work, for example, Twitter and LinkedIn, to:
- Keep people updated on your firm's progress
- Promote any thought leadership articles/blogs your firm has produced
- Share wins
Build Your Network
Some of the activities we recommend are:
- Arrange drinks, activities or sporting events with contacts at different organisations
- Attend networking events and conferences (depending on cost)
- Employ a PR agency like ourselves to improve your visibility and increase your profile, thus bringing you a larger network.
- Speak at your firm’s events or local or sector-based events
- Write for your website or the local/trade press
Everything we do is designed to help your firm grow. By working with us, you will:
- Increase your Turnover by getting more clients.
- Enhance your Brand by putting in place a brand-aligned online presence and implementing PR activities.
- Increase your Efficiency
- Future Proof your Firm by attracting superior talent, attracting more clients and having a scalable strategy designed to support your firm's growth.
Sales Training
It’s no secret that lawyers aren’t taught how to be salespeople, but as the primary revenue generators for your law firm, that’s what your lawyers need to be salespeople. The firms that recognise this gap and provide sales training or business development coaching ultimately will see their lawyers generate more revenue and grow their client base faster.
In terms of the client’s perspective, they hire legal firms for their legal advice, thought leadership, and expertise. The more firms can share expertise and educate their client’s, the more valuable they become in their client’s eyes, improving retention and loyalty.
If you want to see similar success at your firm, try increasing the frequency of your firm’s business development coaching and client training programs.
Conclusion
If legal practices want to grow their firms, it’s clear that you must invest in marketing and business development strategies but with the right advice and outsourced expertise.
To grow your firm now is the time to begin researching and evaluating new technology and processes that can help increase your reach to new clients and prospects.
For most law firms, the relationships they need to grow the firm already exist within their human capital. Investing in automated and intelligent ways to harvest those relationships is crucial for maintaining growth.
How to get in contact
For a no-obligation, free initial discussion to see how we can assist with your Business Development and for a quote, please call us on 0115 8700443 or email info@marketinglawyers.co.uk
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