ROSS FISHMAN

Ross Fishman
THOUGHT LERADERSHIP

The Top Ten Associate Marketing-Training Programs

Legal marketers often ask what I think associates need to learn about marketing and business development. So here's a simple list of ten associate-marketing programs that provide a comprehensive client-development education designed to improve their skills and set them on a strong path to becoming effective rainmakers.

So, what are the most-important marketing-training presentations for law firm associates?

I always suggest starting with a (1) Niche/Industry Marketing program, which helps them find a specialty target area that they can work to dominate over time. Seeking to become the market leader in something small and specialized is a significantly more-effective approach than running around marketing “general business litigation.” Generic categories like that simply bury them in the middle of the pack as just one more smart but forgettably non-differentiated lawyer.  I wouldn’t want them working as fungible full-service associates when the next recession hits.

Once they have identified the narrow focus that can help them stand out, I suggest (2) Developing an Individual Marketing Plan, which directly supports that effort and identifies the group or organization they can get active in. This also determines the specific steps they need to take to help them attain market leadership.

Then, once they’ve identified their target audience and the associated trade association, it’s important to provide training on (3) Networking and Working a Room, to teach them what to do when they’re in a room full of those targets and at conferences. This includes specific, tangible tips like where to put their name tag, how to give out business cards, and what questions to ask, and how to get into and out of a conversation with a new contact. It should also emphasize listening skills―beginner rainmakers tend to do too much of the talking. Let’s help them focus on learning about the prospects more than talking about themselves and their law firm.

Next, show them how to use social media to spread their name and build their online reputation as credible professionals. I suggest (4) Telling Your Story Online: Ten tips to Improving your Google Results, to influence hot prospects who are searching for them online. We can guide what these people learn about your lawyers at a particularly critical time in the buying process. Let’s ensure your lawyers are leveraging the power of Google and the full array of internet platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) to tell a robust, comprehensive, and positive story.

Most interested prospects will read a lawyer’s LinkedIn profiles at some point, so make it a great one; offer (5) LinkedIn for Lawyers to teach them how to write a compelling LinkedIn profile that tells their story persuasively, using all the right search-engine keywords.

Also useful is (6) Business-development training, to show step-by-step how rainmakers turn contacts into prospects and then clients.  This should also reinforce the listening skills techniques learned in the previous Networking training. Skilled rainmakers know that selling comes from listening and asking good questions―so should your associates.Further, all associates need to learn about (7) Client-Service Strategies, which details the importance of service attributes like responsiveness, clear communication, timeliness, and accessibility, and how to keep the firm’s clients happy and interested in using the firm next time. Many associates need to be taught the critical difference between technical skills and client service. We can help them step into the clients’ shoes and empathize with the stress they may feel in dealing with lawyers or legal matters.

It’s also helpful to teach them about (8) Cross-selling, particularly how to use the phone calls and emails they’re regularly having with clients to find new business opportunities. This should also cover how to turn their peers at firm clients they’re working with into their own clients when that person leaves to move to another company.

We don’t want most associates thinking too hard or too early about “asking for business” as much as forming the relationships that will help them generate business later, when they are more established and skilled.  So, I like to teach them (9) Business Development Techniques, which walks them through the sales process, how to gradually turn contacts into prospects, and prospects into clients. What do effective rainmakers really do? FYI, it’s not pressuring executives and “closing the deal” like an aluminum siding salesperson.

Finally, law firms can feel like a black box to associates, and it can help everyone to give them some perspective, i.e. to show them the business side of the legal profession. I like (10) How Law Firms Make Money, to give them the big picture in terms of overhead, pricing, hourly and flat-fee billing, and the cost of money.

That’s a nice comprehensive marketing education. I generally suggest offering the training either (1) in 2-3 half-day mini-retreats, or (2) roughly quarterly. Offering non-billable programs more than every 2-3 months can cause attendance to decline. I like to offer one or two hour-long programs per session, either during lunch or at 4:30.

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