Influencing Corporate Counsel? Fact or Fiction Approaches

by Micah Buchdahl

If you've seen one Corporate Counsel roundtable, you've seen them all. Yet, law marketers flock to see and hear the same old stuff over and over and over. And, truth be told, the "tips"--while making sense on the face--are far from useful. And if a law firm marketer is writing these down...

Do good work.
Make yourself accessible.
Lower costs.
Keep us informed.

"Do good work" is the mantra of every firm. Accessibility, updates and contact are certainly a must. Lower costs? Most of the time, a GC could make a case go away for far less than it ends up costing once a litigation machine starts churning the wheel. Before you know it, a case with a $20,000 price tag becomes a multi-million dollar debacle. I?ve seen it time and again. In those cases, a corporation should rethink the quality of the in-house personnel they hire. Investment in better in-house lawyers is the best way for most companies to save money and become more effective. Of course, this article is about the law firm getting the business from the GC, not the law firm losing its best people to that corporate client.

Improving your lot with CC is about improving your relationships. In reality, it is all about relationships. In some cases, alumni. Why do you think so many firms are reaching out more and more to alumni? For business, dummy. We?re not talking Classmates.com here. We?re talking targeted approaches to improving your chances with those you already know.

It is one of the smartest and most effective trends. Firms are spending more and more time and money on maintaining relationships with alumni. Not so much the partner that took his caseload and best associates to a competing firm across the street, but the one that is now in-house at a corporation, or in a governmental role, or as a member of the judicial system. The alumni - because the relationship already exists - are one of your best bets to get new business. Firms have built private web sites and extranets for alumni to stay in touch. Others have sleek alumni magazines. And the occasional elbow-rubbing event never hurts either. Of course, when you lose a valued employee and they leave in disgust, chances are slim that you will ever be referring business that way again. You never know where alum will end up down the road.

Of course, there are law firm alumni and law school alums. A huge percentage of the recommendations I?ve made to people seeking counsel have been to classmates from law school and undergraduate. Either way, the concept of alumni is often underplayed.

The use of private web sites and extranets has been good for those that are interested in using technology. For some firms, a web site dedicated to CCs is a branding and image tool, in the same way that an advertisement is used. For others, it helps with the "keep informed/accessibility" requirement.

The occasional and useful e-mail or snail mail newsletter can be a help or hindrance. If it is actually providing value, it has huge retention and branding capabilities. If it is identified as weak, it can have the opposite effect. Firms that send amazingly useful e-mails in regard to substantive issues are always thought of as a good direction to take. No matter how busy I am, I'll always open an e-mail from McGuireWoods or Faegre, because I'm used to knowing it is going to have information I seek. I will not mention the firms that have been identified as sending really weak materials. Or the ones that send the same cookie-cutter collection of articles and newsletters that are purchased from a vendor. That works great for the consumer client, not the educated "lawyer" consumer.

Advertising - whether it is a high-end glossy ad or a "sponsored" article or both - play a role in image branding. They are unlikely to attract a CC that you've never dealt with, but can help keep your name in his or her head when it comes time to referring out business.

What about directories? Those are a topic and a newsletter theme alone. The reality is that the only one that always is mentioned continues to be Martindale. However, others continue to try and carve out a space among either a niche group or approach. Recently, Chambers, recognized as a major directory player abroad, launched a USA version. The key question to ask when evaluating a directory spend is whether people that do what you do use it for finding counsel. I generally throw away marketing materials, surveys, testimonials, etc. from vendors selling listings or ads. Anyone can make these things say what you need them to say. I just ask the question... do I use it? Do the people I work with outside use it?

Trade show and organization participation never hurts, if your prospective audience is there. But, again, it is more likely the beer you have with someone in the hotel bar that will bring you business than the booth in the exhibit hall. Rocket science, right?

So, IMA, stop telling me what I should not do or what barely works and tell me the most effective approaches!

Face Time ? Whether it is an organization, seminar, in-house sponsored educational session, luncheon, golf outing... if you want to monitor increased CC work and added corporate clients, count your "touches".

Send THEM Business ? If you do not think that being a client of their business is one of the single biggest influencers, you?re a fool. It is not unusual for a CC to check with accounting to see how much business law firm X does. And law firms do not hesitate to remind the CC that they sent a few hundred grand in the company?s direction last year.

Same CHARITABLE and COMMUNITY Endeavors ? In materials, your logos often sit side by side. At meetings, you are both there to do good things. And it shows a philosophical and/or strategic bond.

When THEY ask, think about saying yes ? THEY, of course, is the corporation mentioning that their CEO is being honored at the thousand-dollar-a-table Man of the Year dinner. Or that the corporation is raising money for Charity Y and would you like to participate. Do you know when you buy cookies or candy bars from a boss because you are afraid not to? This is the same, except more money.

Nice Things (Wink, Wink) ? Many times you are prohibited from giving gifts or buying meals or providing trips. Many times nobody cares. The "smartest" firms hold very important, strategic, educational, focused meeting?that happen to be held at very, very nice places. The retention rates are incredible. And when one CC tells another CC about his or her tan, they are likely to be referring a future piece of business.

You may now have finished reading this article and are thinking that there is nothing here you did not already know. That should hold true! You know what to do and have always done it. So? Stop wasting time and money trying to figure it out and go buy me a nice dinner.