spotlight: Roy Sexton | LMA President | Clark Hill Director of Marketing

stage supports lawyers behind the scenes and BD/marketing teams with our co-sourced model to help OTHERS to shine brighter.

today's stage spotlight is on THE Roy Sexton (Clark Hill Law and Legal Marketing Association), who embodies stage's ethos of leading with empathy. we are excited to share Roy's stage spotlight.

a handwritten note is a powerful differentiator

Cost to send a handwritten thank you note ($.99 card + $.63 stamp) = $1.62. Gift of gratitude = priceless. Gratitude can enhance trust which is foundational to building business relationships for B2B professional services providers.

Acknowledgment and appreciation play an important role in building trust & business relationships. The art and act of thanking clients, prospects and colleagues for their time, support and attention conveys gratitude, increases trust and makes the journey all the more delightful. Plus, a handwritten note is a powerful differentiator.

It’s an opportunity to spread a little bit of joy, personalization and connection to the recipient of the written word. While this might seem obvious, not everybody does it. Think about the last time you received a handwritten note, or sent one.

This creates a huge opportunity to stand out. Everybody is busy … which is precisely the point of taking time out of a hectic day to put pen to paper.

Opportunities present themselves everyday to send a note of gratitude to someone who:
extends an invite to attend a social gathering, work function or charitable event
refers business
gives a recommendation
sends a gift
makes a donation
lends a helping hand
checks in just to see how you're doing

When was the last time you sent and/or received a handwritten note? Did it put a smile on your face?

gifting as a CX superpower

Today’s customers universally demand a customer experience (CX) that is authentic, inclusive and unscripted. A high bar.‍ Tap into the universal power of gifting to flex your CX superpower, delight clients, increase revenue and drive brand recognition.

‍Inflation, layoffs, political turmoil, and recovering from the pandemic...heavy topics that don't lend themselves to spare time for selecting gifts. However, people, clients, and companies remain interested in spending on a feeling or an experience. Corporations want new employees to feel welcomed by onboarding gift boxes; lawyers want their general counsel clients to feel appreciated with a congratulatory gift, and financial institutions want their summer associates to feel included and celebrated.‍ So…how can you use gifting to spark Proustian memories and elicit a specific feeling for your clients?

‍Know your client. Really know your client. Their passions, their pain points, their hopes and dreams. Tap into that knowledge when gifting. If your client is highly dependent on technology, but constantly out of power for their laptop, mobile, etc. Gift them a powerful charger. Part of stage's work is collaborating with lawyers to understand their audience and their clients. This approach has immediate applicability to gifting.

‍Timing. Try for “happy day” or seemingly random gifts to cut through the noise around traditional holidays – [unless your client lives for traditional holidays]. Is your client going on a journey that entails a long flight? Gift a weekender bag, filled with luxe cream, travel size perfume sampler and special magazine or 2 for the flight.

‍Inclusivity. Tap into Accent’s beautiful mission to celebrate people’s identities through representative gifts that speak to your clients and employees. Browse their products and case studies. It was super tough for us to pick a favorite, but we will bring it back to client experience and connection. When we saw the retrospekt film camera, we envisioned creating an immersive event where guests can collaborate taking photos and making memories – creating another trustpoint for engagement while building community.

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Don’t suck. Gift Better.

Check out Accent, a corporate gifting company on a mission to celebrate people’s identities through representative gifts.

competitive advantage for law firms

Size and scale can be a competitive advantage for a law firm, but it can also probit collaboration. It can be difficult to truly collaborate if #lawyers don't know where to start or who to turn to for answers.

And why bother collaborating? Glad you asked.... "Smart Collaboration" by Heidi K. Gardner shows that firms earn higher profit margins (who doesn't like that?), inspire greater client loyalty (critical in today's market), attract and retain the best talent (talent wars are still ongoing), and gain a competitive edge when specialists collaborate across functional boundaries.

What does this mean for lawyers, their practice, and the firm?

Get to know your fellow lawyers and their skillset. Introduce yourself! Understand the kind of work they do, the work they like, and the clients they serve. Learn your colleagues' work styles and approaches and discuss how you can work together. A collaborative approach provides seamless service to your clients (win-win 🏆 for all).

theRIPPLE[effect] - purposeful activation of relationships

theRIPPLE[effect] - purposeful activation of relationships  

ripple | American Dictionary

a small wave or a slight movement of a surface, esp. the surface of water: The stone hit the water and caused a ring of ripples to spread out. A ripple is also a sound or feeling that is slight but is noticed: A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd.

when you activate relationships you immediately kick off a wonderful ripple effect - leading to deeper authenticity, helping others to advance their objectives, activating referrals and super fans, and a myriad of other growth drivers.

hack - toss a wide net when fishing 🎣. when someone in your network asks “hey, do we know Sosie at Shake Shack, you may not know Sosie, but you may know Shake Shack’s general counsel or chief sustainability officer.  your kid or your kid’s friends may know someone who nannied for Danny Meyer’s kids.  your relationships may know people intersecting with Danny Meyer’s investment funds.  someone from your place of worship may know someone from Shake Shack’s board.

introducing stage

Imagine working with a company that is doing the work they love 💜 and where they excel. Imagine working with a company that is woman-owned and focused on implementing a relationship-centered approach to growth. Imagine working with a venture that supports both lawyers and marketing/BD teams.

Imagine collaborating with a company that offers a free month (up to four sessions) of 1:1 marketing, branding, and business development support for parents returning from parental leave.

With co-founders, Kathleen Hilton, Jennifer Ramsey, and Megan Senese, the imaginary is now becoming a reality. We are thrilled to announce the launch of stage, a women-owned business development & marketing venture focused on relationships, revenue, and #growth for legal services.

from touchpoints -> to TRUSTpoints

When stage was first conceived, one of the core values that we kept coming back to was the paramount importance of supporting lawyers in the creation of genuine relationships - with clients or prospects - to lay a solid foundation for fostering trust.

Building trust takes time, much like sowing seeds. With proper care, patience and consistency, eventually the seedling will take root and sprout into a beautiful bloom … tall oaks from little acorns grow, one touchpoint at a time.

Each and every touchpoint with a client or prospect presents a unique opportunity to create and build trust.

This led to our A-HA!💡 moment …. we help lawyers transform touchpoints into #TRUSTpoints!

Here are a few acorns on how:

🌰 It’s the little things. When speaking with a client/prospect, listen to what they are sharing with you. Do they have a birthday coming up? A big work anniversary? Are they headed to a family member’s soccer game over the weekend? Make a mental note or jot it down so the next time you speak with them, you can ask about it. Most people are usually touched (and shocked!) when someone remembers something special and specific about them.

🌰 Create a ‘next time’ to connect. Create a thoughtful reason to reach out that does not involve an ask of your contact or require them to do anything. Share information and draw a direct correlation on relevance like “I saw this article and thought of you because …”

🌰 Need inspiration? Setting up Google alerts is a simple and powerful way to stay connected to what’s happening with a client or prospect’s business. Pay particular attention to headlines that involve positive news like winning an award, launching a new product line or raising capital. Take time to celebrate with your contact and say CONGRATS!

4 C’s to keep your client center stage

“Is there anybody really alive out there?” ~ Bruce Springsteen

Business and client development can sometimes feel like this in a law firm setting (or any professional B2B setting for that matter) - for lawyers and BD/marketing professionals alike.

When you are short on time and to-do’s never seem to get to-done, here are 4 simple C’s to keep your client center stage:

🎤 Check-In. Connect, say hello, ask how they are doing. Every interaction doesn’t have to be that deep. If there is something more substantive to share - a solution, a proactive update, an invitation or article - then do it. Extra credit if you are on a text string with your client. You’re really in the circle of trust at that point. #trustpoints #goals

🎤 Care. There are a myriad of ways to show your client that you care. How better than to send a care package personalized to their interests (if gift giving policies allow of course). There are several creative companies that cater to corporate/client gift giving and will handle all of the details for you.

🎤 Consistency. Always deliver on your promises. I love Seth Godin’s take on this: “We call a brand or a person authentic when they’re consistent, when they act the same way whether or not someone is looking.”

🎤 Cadence. Commit to a manageable schedule for relationship-building outreaches with clients and prospects that works for you (e.g., dedicate 30-minutes every Friday or whatever cadence you choose). This helps take the work out of the work, knowing you have set aside dedicated time to connect on a non-work related basis.

If all else fails and you’re still having one of those days, stream your favorite tune, turn up the volume and sing at the top of your lungs. 🎸

CATHARTIC.

ways to win client feedback

Approach client feedback holistically. This does not mean you have to go full tilt at gathering feedback via multiple channels right out of the gate. Rather, build your business case for feedback holistically, then execute via discrete channels and tactics.

Bringing the voice of the client into your law firm is transformative, enabling you to co-design and shape your #strategy with buyer inputs – whether around talent retention, launch of new services and products, growth that is specific to a client or group of clients, industry sector considerations, DEI and a myriad of other cultural and economic drivers.

Your competitors are asking for #feedback - do not let the competition own a 🔑 key advantage.