What I learned at the 30th Annual Marketing Partner Forum in California

To kickstart the year, in January 2023, I travelled with Steve Tyndall , CEO & Founder of ERM solution, Client Sense , to California to attend the Thompson Reuters 30th Annual Marketing Partner Forum at Terranea Resort on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

It was – by far – the highlight of my career in law firm marketing and the best possible way to start 2023!

It would be remiss of me not to share some of my learnings.

But first, why was I there?

As a former client of Client Sense, I know first-hand the value this solution represents to firms.

So when the opportunity arose in September 2022 to work with Steve and the team to better understand and articulate how his clients can utilise the solution for marketing strategies specific to their firm – I jumped at the chance.

After all – in legal marketing and BD – it takes a village. It also takes smart tech.

Fast forward to December and when Steve invited me to help them do this with US clients at the Marketing Partner Forum – it was what I would call a ‘no brainer’.

<< REWIND >> ?

What is Client Sense and how does it help firms drive revenue?

Client Sense provides a 360? view of your firm’s contacts. It’s the ultimate ‘who knows who’ – automatically capturing any and every person that has engaged with your staff electronically.

The strength of this engagement is measured, mapped, and displayed in clear, clean, lists, graphs and graphics.

The value I got from Client Sense can be summarised in two words – insight + credibility.

As a Head of Marketing & Business Development, I was privy to the biggest client and referrer relationships in my firm, but I only knew what the Partners told me.

This made things like identifying the most appropriate Client Relationship Partner or validating whether we had (or hadn’t) done pre-positioning for a tender somewhat tricky – or worse, combative.

But you can’t argue with data. Particularly, your own firm’s data.

There are many ways I used Client Sense in my role and there are countless more ways you can use your firm’s contact data to identify and empower revenue-generating strategies.

I find it very fun to work with firms from the ‘outside’ and help them get the most out of Client Sense. After all, #relationshipsdriverevenue

So what did I learn at MPF?

Where to start.

Firstly, I learned that CMOs of the biggest firms in America have similar challenges to what we have in Australia.

I also learned this group of highly intelligent people are extremely professional, practical and kind.

The sessions I enjoyed most highlighted the following points/themes:

-???????If you want to add value, be specific. ‘Be structured and specific’ and ‘be tailored and targeted’ were common themes for content creation and adding value to clients. The time for ‘random acts of marketing’ and scattergun eDMs is over.

-???????Client Visits FTW. A reminder that visiting your clients is THE MOST valuable use of your Partner and Lawyers’ time. 9/10 client visits (client ‘listening’ or otherwise – produce work).

-???????Quality data is paramount. It might not be the sexiest of topics, but without accurate data you may as well pack up and go home. Getting your data right is fundamental to the success of every marketing strategy.

-???????People are buying people, not firms. There is a huge strength in being a niche firm (with a clearly defined specialisation or industry focus) and these firms can take (and are taking) on the big firms.

-???????You must add value beyond legal services. ‘High value is strategic warm introductions’ was one of my favourite statements. Knowing your client well enough to connect them to another expert who can genuinely help them goes a long way. ?

-???????You can’t hide from LPM. Clients are demanding Legal Process Management - the way you manage and service your clients directly impacts your brand.

-???????Firms must measure the effectiveness of activities. When asked who measured the effectiveness of their marketing and BD activity, there were few hands in the air. Firms must measure the effectiveness of marketing activities AND the effectiveness of time spent by partners on business development activity to ensure return on investment.

-???????Being a ‘trusted advisor’ is still the ultimate goal. Partners with a curious mindset about their clients are succeeding. If you don’t know what’s important to your client and what impacts them in their role, how can you help them??

-???????Get comfortable with the phrase ‘Seasoned salespeople’. Apparently, 30% of Am Law 100 firms have ‘at least one’ dedicated salesperson. Having witnessed first-hand the challenges of sales professionals in law firms, I was interested to learn what it takes to succeed.

-???????Marketing is still under-resourced. This is the story of my life – but the market data showed on average firms have dropped marketing spend to 1-2% of revenue (I believe down from about 3% in previous years). By comparison, big corporates spend on average 8.7% of their revenue on marketing.

In addition to the above, I learned about some incredible legal tech solutions (many of which integrate with or complement Client Sense) that help firms supercharge their marketing and business development. I’ll be reporting on those separately.

Otherwise, Steve and I introduced many people to the ‘Tim Tam Slam’ and Aussie phrases like ‘Best on Ground’ (which is sort of like Most Valued Player for non-Aussie readers) and enjoyed asking people what you get when one platypus is joined by another platypus… two what?

I’ll be diving deeper into my take-aways above in the coming weeks.

Be sure to also follow the Client Sense LinkedIn page – linkedin.com/company/clientsense – which will unpack these and other ‘lessons learned’. ?

As always – reach out if you’d like to hear more about this incredible conference.