The Pulse

Thanks to the pandemic, law firm marketing, sales, and business development (BD) efforts took a massive hit in 2020—much like other commercial functions. As the latest 2021 LexisNexis InterAction Marketing & Business Development Survey reveals, 66% of law firms found their BD and sales to be more difficult, requiring professionals to devise new strategies to win new business and retain existing clients. Interestingly, the firms that overcame challenges and found growth approached marketing differently versus the firms that found themselves in the status quo camp; i.e., those that achieved no business growth.

As part of Covid-19-led re-organisation, many law firms, including Linklaters and Clifford Chance are reducing or evaluating the PA, legal secretarial and support function in their organisations and how they can make the most of this valuable resource.

Some marketing and business development (BD) teams struggle to engage with the fee earners in their firms in a meaningful way.

With market conditions remaining challenging in the legal sector, considerable M&A activity is expected among law firms in the next few years.

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in law firms growing through mergers and acquisition of other firms. However, despite operating as a single brand, they have continued using their own separate versions of InterAction.

Far too often in large law firms, the business development (BD) and marketing functions are way too siloed and are even broken down into sub-functions such as email marketing, events, online marketing and so forth.

For law firms, how we bring in new business continues to change and evolve. While COVID-19 adds additional considerations and even challenges, it certainly wasn’t the catalyst for the changes that have been taking place in our industry’s business development processes.

In a year when most marketing plans had to completely change, it can be daunting to think about planning your 2021 marketing. COVID-19 altered the landscape for most industries, including the legal industry in 2020, and it’s not clear how long those effects will last.

As 2020 closes, and what a year it has been, it is important to embark on disciplined planning for key processes and technology of the firm.

Strategic business development (BD) is critical to support firm growth and achieving individual objectives, but BD techniques are typically not taught in law school. At its core, BD is about building and proactively managing authentic professional relationships.

Need some Data Quality inspiration? I’ve recently witnessed a 180° turnaround by one of our clients. Their results were so inspiring, I knew immediately I needed to share their journey.

Of course, data management is important to ensure the quality and integrity of the database that resides in a CRM system.