Knowing as much as you can about a client, prospect or industry is fundamental to being successful, yet many lawyers jump at an opportunity before understanding what that opportunity truly is. By putting time into research, the insights gained often reveal keys to a successful strategy.

As marketers, we often speak with lawyers who feel there is a new target client or market that is ripe for business development. Their feelings may be based on a hunch, what other firms may be doing, or information that has been shared with them. They want to jump right in, speak to people . . . [more]

These days, I’m being asked to do a lot of presentations and training on law firm leadership. People with a marketing background tend to gravitate toward this area because so much of what we do focusses on helping to improve the leadership skills of the lawyers we work with – be if for practice groups, client teams, or simply to improve management of their own practice.

I’ve been focussed on this for years, but it’s taken a while for law firms to get here…to understand how critical strong leadership is. Back in my days in a national firm, I created . . . [more]

“The value we create is directly related to how much valuable information we can produce, how much trust we can earn, and how often we innovate.”
– Seth Godin, Author

I have been thinking a lot about value lately. For so many of us, work is busier than ever and our social calendars are finally starting to fill up again. But, as legal marketers, it can sometimes feel like you are doing everything in the world but, accomplishing virtually nothing at all. How does one maximize and demonstrate their value? How can a law firm provide meaningful value to . . . [more]

“Any idea can be a great idea if you think differently, dream big and commit to seeing it realized.”
– Richard Branson

I would consider myself an idea person. It’s not a gift. I see it as experience coupled with enthusiasm, curiosity, and most importantly, a complete understanding of how to execute. Surrounding yourself with other idea people and consistently exercising the muscle helps too. Given the nature of the role, legal marketers must be skilled at generating new ideas and supporting other ones across the firm. At Lenczner Slaght, our marketing team is fortunate to have more new ideas . . . [more]

I was speaking with a colleague the other day who was celebrating a significant wedding anniversary. For fun we started looking up the modern vs. traditional anniversary gifts. As I’m sure you can imagine, they vary! But as much as we may like the gift to celebrate the moment, it is the sentiment that is really important.

Milestones and anniversaries should be fun. In our world, law firms have special histories that should be celebrated. Milestones also offer an opportunity to look forward.

For a firm celebrating a milestone, the first questions to ask is who do we want to . . . [more]

Based on a SLAW post I wrote in 2017, I was recently asked to speak at a conference for women lawyers on leadership. The article focussed on how to effectively lead practice groups and client teams. The date of the original article serves as evidence that I’ve been encouraging leadership skills development in lawyers for a long time, but it really began in the early 2000’s when I developed my initial processes for practice group management. Back then, I quickly realized that most of my training and support would need to be with the practice group leaders. They set the . . . [more]

“Set your business plan to win; raise the bar or you’re not going to be prepared.”
– Swizz Beatz

Anyone else working on their 2022 business plan? If you’re like me, you’re in the thick of it right now – pulling data, plotting year-to-date results, analyzing what’s gone well and what hasn’t, and reflecting on why certain things just couldn’t get done. Business planning can be motivating when the exercise is aligned to a clear and simple process.

Know your firm’s strategic plan inside and out – Marketing and business development are generally a focal point of a law firm’s . . . [more]

In over 30 years of working with law firms on improving productivity and profitability, I’ve seen countless marketplace surveys on the incredible value of client feedback mechanisms. In many instances it’s been labelled as one of the fastest and most effective ways to boost firm revenue. So, you’d think that law firms would be all over this business practice as a standard operating procedure. But…not so much. Two decades ago, law firm management expert Jim Durham conducted a survey of 100 MPs to see how many of their firms had client feedback programs. Around 20% of them did (or were . . . [more]

Persuasion and law go hand in hand with the use of language that is often very complex. Writing has long been a go-to option lawyers use to build their personal brands. Some of their writing is meant to be consumed by other lawyers while other content is written for client and business development purposes. Writing for a file, however, is very different than writing for business development. Below are nine tips for improving business development writing. Understanding these tips—and the differences in writing styles—will make writing for business development much easier.

1. Have a purpose: Create content that is useful and

“I’m glad I didn’t win it in an individual [event] because this just makes it 10 times sweeter knowing that I’ve accomplished this history with girls that are also making history.” – Penny Oleksiak, Canada’s Most Decorated Olympian

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were full of lessons – ones of perseverance, patience, and teamwork. There were countless stories of teams having to adjust training schedules, transition to virtual coaching, manage endless health and safety rules, and more. Watching them rise to the occasion was inspiring and had me thinking about some of the obstacles that my own marketing and business . . . [more]

As I write this, there is a very positive look on where we will be in September. Many firms are looking to a new hybrid work model. Companies are doing the same albeit maybe a little later in the year. We have gone from jokes about touching our faces, to complete lockdown, to a progressive work environment many have been asking about for years.

What does this mean for your relationships with clients and co-workers? No longer will you have to meet on Zoom. It will be possible to meet for a coffee. Once again you may “bump” into someone . . . [more]

My son recently announced that the small law firm website design company he works for will be giving up their trendy office space in Vancouver’s Gas Town and permanently moving to a remote work environment. He was ecstatic, as he LOVES working from home. But my husband (a school teacher near retirement) insists that most workers prefer the sociability of a traditional face-to-face workplace and that despite expert predictions, remote work won’t be a serious thing after the pandemic. It made me wonder where law firms might fall on the scale. (I learned that the answer has significant marketing, HR, . . . [more]