What Clients Need and Want Today – Key Takeaways From the 2019 Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference

I recently returned from Atlanta where I attended and spoke at the 2019 Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference, which is the annual industry gathering for legal marketing and business development professionals.

If your experience was like mine, you gained many new insights that you’re excited to implement at your firm, you made new valuable connections, reignited existing relationships, participated in online conversations at #LMA19 and spent time in the exhibit hall talking to service providers about their products and technologies.

I always try to attend the sessions that will enable me to obtain insights into what clients need and want, as well as anything that will help me gain an advantage over competitors, and with that in mind, I’d like to share a few key takeaways and insights from my LMA19 experience.

This year, one of the major highlights for me was the general counsel panel, which is usually among my favorite sessions. But this year's GC panel was by far the very best yet. The speakers had so much to share and what they said was eye opening because the legal industry is experiencing major changes and clients are demanding that their outside counsel adapt to these changes and find ways to incorporate them to make their firms more efficient, more innovative and to embrace what they called "disruption" in the marketplace.

My latest JD Supra article, “What Clients Want and Need Today From Law Firms – Key Takeaways from the 2019 LMA Annual Conference" includes a compehensive look at highlights from my two and a half days in Atlanta (I took a lot of notes!). Read the full article for much more from #LMA19, but below are some of the key points.

• Competition is everywhere, especially beyond the traditional law firm model. A law firm’s competitors are no longer limited to another law firm. Alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) and litigation funding companies are changing the way business is conducted in the legal industry and Big Four accounting firms continue to try to move into the legal space in the United States. This enlarged playing field will drive law firms – both large and small – to be more open to change and “disruption" (which was the buzzword of LMA19, and find new and innovative ways to provide greater value to clients.
• Show clients that you are seeking to disrupt the antiquated business model of the traditional law firm. Some firms are doing this by including project management professionals in pitches, incorporating project management into matter management and procedures, and using technology to enhance processes. Hopefully more firms will catch on and find other ways to innovate.
• Get to know the CFO at your clients because they now hold the power. The CFO (and his/her team) has never been more involved in key decisions than he/she is now. The in-house counsel panelists said that law firms need to quickly become more comfortable talking directly to chief financial officers and other key decision makers on the business side at their clients.
• Taking this one step further, clients expect their outside counsel to have a fundamental understanding of the operational side of their businesses in order to truly comprehend their needs. So ask the right questions, conduct an in-depth diligence process – do whatever you need to immerse yourself in your clients – it will make you a better advisor to them. Show them how much you care and demonstrate how much time you took to understand their pain points. As Rihanna says, "I want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world..." - well, you get the point.
• Always take a client-focused approach to the way in which you staff and bill matters. Clients are growing tired of the billable hour, which they say incentivizes law firm attorneys to work more hours rather than to efficiently complete client matters in a business-minded fashion, or to devise creative client-focused pricing solutions. Firms need to be more proactive in offering alternative fee arrangements, fixed-fee retainer agreements, staffing and make innovative pricing models the norm. Be open minded so that you don’t lose the client to another firm that is willing to be more flexible than you. Also, there’s lots of opportunity for small- and mid-size firms due to their pricing flexibility and ability to more easily adapt to change.
• Go the extra mile during the pitch process. One of the GC's recounted a story of a firm that took it upon itself to provide a two-page analysis of a case, including an analysis of the judge, opposing counsel, a proposed strategy and budget is the one that got the business and stood out from its competitors. Now that's how you stand out from the pack!
• Guess what? For the most part, clients are hiring a specific lawyer, not the firm. So that big fancy name on the door, sure, it matters, but only a little bit. What matters much more is the actual human being who is doing the work rather than the firm at which he or she works. This underscores the importance of cultivating and maintaining relationships. It also underscores the fact that the elite firms charging top rates can’t just rely on their brand names.
• Think less like a lawyer and more like a business person/entrepreneur. Your clients want business advice to balance risk against the law, so their outside counsel needs to act like a business adviser and an entrepreneur. They want their lawyers who can help show them the path forward to what they want to do - or not. And always aim to explain it to them in terms that they will understand. Throw the lawyer terms out the window.
• Good content should always be written in non-legalese terms. Remember, many of your clients are not lawyers. Don’t write for lawyers at other firms.
• Today, real social media success is so much more than receiving a like, comment or a share. It’s about aligning your content with your business development efforts.So many marketing and communications professionals are not attuned to the business development strategy of their firms. They don’t know who are their top clients, key industries or most significant practices, and this information is crucial in order to create a successful social media strategy that can bring in leads and engage with existing clients. In our immersive workshop, Jennifer Simpson Carr and I delved into how firms of all sizes can directly tie their social media efforts to their business development strategy and goals. Most firms aren’t doing this so, you’ll be at an advantage if you do.
• There is no substitution for in-person, on-site client visits. Make sure that you have enough quality time with your key clients and referral sources during the year. This is how you build close-knit relationships. Email, social media and phone calls will help supplement this throughout the year but those kinds of contact will never take the palce of face-to-face contact. It's called the human touch. So many law firms organize themselves both internally and externally by their practice areas instead of thinking about themselves in the way that would make the most sense for their clients – which is by industries. Only a handful of law firms do this, and it would make a world of difference in helping your current and prospective clients learn more about what you do, engage more with your content and if your firm could organize itself by industry, you would be more aligned to your clients’ businesses. 
• Immerse yourself in your clients. Learn their businesses inside and out. When you do this, you’ll learn their pain points and the areas where they need the most help. This will enable you to devise solutions to effectively advise them.
• As in-house counsel are being tasked to do more with less, and as a result, that responsibility is trickling down to their outside counsel. Clients want their outside counsel to be more efficient (while providing superior client service and value-added benefits) as budgets across the board are tighter. Learn how to delight the client while saving them money and they will be loyal to you for a very long time.
• Always make your clients look good inside and outside their organization. If you make them shine, they will call on you again and again. It's that simple!

The only way forward is to adopt a more client-centric professional service mindset. The only constant in life is change. The traditional law firm model needs to be more flexible, open to change, get CFOs engaged in the client relationship, offer advice and counsel that solve business problems (just like the Big Four does) and adopt more innovative approaches to legal services or run the risk of being left behind.

And finally, understand your client’s business inside and out. Think like a business person at all times. Always provide strategic counsel and go the extra mile. Be an entrepreneur. Show how you will save your client money. Make your client look like a hero, period. Make them look good inside and outside their organization. These are the true keys to winning and retaining clients today. Don’t be left behind as the industry continues to innovate.

Read the full article with lots more takeaways and tips from my #LMA19 experience. I hope to see you next year in Denver!

[Stefanie Marrone helps law firms effectively tell their stories and find their unique voices. Over the last 17 years, she has worked with some of the most prominent and innovative law firms in the world, developing and executing global revenue generating business development and communications strategies. She is very passionate about helping lawyers and law firms effectively use social media for lead generation and brand building. She has a diverse range of experience in both Big Law and at mid-size-/small-law firms. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow her latest writing on JD Supra as well as her blog The Social Media Butterfly.]

#leadgeneration #LMAmkt #clientdevelopment #businessdevelopment #LMA19