spotlight: Logan Tracey

today we are honored to shine a spotlight on Logan Tracey, Head of Business Development & Marketing - Real Estate at Herrick, Feinstein LLP.

we applaud Logan's emphasis on a holistic approach to individuals and her intentionality around compassion.

the new way to be “professional”

There has been a shift in what is considered professional and how clients want to see their lawyers.  The landscape is changing to allow permission for more personalization. Being authentic is key, allowing for a greater connection with your contacts, colleagues and clients.

Share your genuine insights, personal stories, and expertise with your audience.

Authenticity builds trust and trust builds lasting client relationships.

If you are unsure of how to show up as your authentic self, start small, with micro and intentional activation of relationships.

On a beautiful fall day, cannot resist sharing this one "just as an acorn contains the mighty oak tree, the Self has everything it needs to fulfill its destiny. when the inner conditions are right, it naturally emerges."

Jen Ramsey presents at LMA NEXT Pre-Conference 11.13-11.14

Defining your personal brand is no easy feat. Join Jennifer Ramsey at the LMANEXT Pre-Conference at Tech West in November to hear best practices for practical steps and actionable strategies in "Channel Your Superpowers into Your Personal Brand."

If you are a legal marketing professional with less than seventy years of experience, the LMANEXT Pre-Conference at Tech West is designed with you in mind.

In two dynamic, fun, and informative sessions, participants will learn practical steps and strategies for personal branding on LinkedIn, and an overview of and uses cases for ChatGPT in legal marketing.

In "Channel Your Superpowers into Your Personal Brand," Jennifer Ramsey, co-founder of stage, will lead attendees through a workshop to define their personal brand, create an effective LinkedIn profile, and model best practices for LinkedIn engagement and metrics tracking.

In "ChatGPT Unveiled," Jylian Ibsen, a senior solutions consultant with Pitchly, will dive deep into the multifaceted world of ChatGPT, shedding light on its capabilities, risks, ethics, and transformative potential within the realm of legal marketing.

The LMANEXT Pre-Conference program is complimentary with Tech West conference registration or $235 Member and $260 Prospective Member.

Register here https://lnkd.in/gBkPgHEG

stage’s dedication to working parents

stage's core values include a dedication to supporting parents in the legal industry.

becoming a parent is already tough, and layering on becoming a parent in Big Law can be even tougher.

with stage's launch, we introduced "corduroy" - our free parental leave business development coaching package for any lawyer going out or returning from a parental leave.

we want to ensure our company is tied to our core values.
we want to empower parents with concrete and actionable resources to excel.
we want to amplify the voices of working parents while also building confidence around developing business.

if you can't find that support internally, come to us.
if we might supplement your current resources, come to us. we love to collaborate.

if you are interested in what #businessdevelopment can do for you, brand amplification, or your book of business, come to us.

your sector-based approach: specificity drives strategy

In today's dynamic legal landscape, staying ahead of the curve is not just about providing top-notch legal services. It's about understanding your clients on a profound level and crafting a strategy that aligns with their needs. The sector-based approach is one such strategy that is gaining traction across the legal industry. But why should law firms consider this approach, and how can they embark on this transformative journey?

Why Should a Firm Consider a Sector-Based Approach?

This is an excellent question and an important one, particularly if law firms are approaching this as a strategic imperative versus a business development or marketing activity. Firms should consider a sector-based approach for three compelling reasons:

1. Client-Centric Focus: First and foremost, a sector-based approach is designed around the client. After all, it's the client companies that make up sectors/industries. So there is a shift in mindset from a firm-focused perspective to a client-centric conversation. It's about answering the question of how a law firm can best support clients in spotting opportunities and addressing pain points.

2. Effective Collaboration: Second, a sector-based approach is an effective collaboration framework. Collaboration is the gateway to higher-value matters, greater client loyalty, and increased firm profits. Fostering collaboration is achieved through a sector-specific strategy, which brings together lawyers from different practices and with different specializations with the sole purpose of helping solve problems for clients in a particular industry.

3. Competitive Advantage: It makes good business sense to understand a client's business, and it can give a law firm a huge competitive edge, particularly those willing to treat it as a strategic imperative. Once sectors, sub-sectors, and key clients within those have been identified, the roadmap for a law firm to target and position itself in front of those ideal audiences becomes all the more clear. Firms that have embraced this approach are consistently among the top-grossing in the world.

The strong "why" behind a sector approach prioritizes clients, brings together lawyer teams to collaboratively solve problems, and gives firms an edge in the marketplace.

How Can Law Firm Leaders Get Started? Where Do They Begin?

Once the "why" is answered, the "how" comes into play. It's critical to do some internal heavy lifting first. For that, we use a Design-Build-Run Framework.

• Design: This phase includes mapping the firm's entire client base to an industry classification system, conducting a SWOT analysis of the firm's sector strengths, and establishing a financial framework for incentives and compensation for industry/sector leaders, dedicated budgets for teams, and KPIs to measure success.

• Build: This involves identifying and appointing team leaders, recruiting working group members with industry expertise, and rolling out a firm-wide communications campaign that clearly articulates the "why" and "how" and offers opportunities for contributions.

• Run: Once the infrastructure is in place, industry teams are empowered and operationalized as functional business units responsible for going to market, driving demand, and delighting clients.

To design, build out, and run a holistic, enterprise-wide sector approach takes time, approximately 9-12 months for the internal infrastructure piece.

How Do You Go-to-Market with a Sector-Specific Strategy?

Once the internal infrastructure has been set up, it's time to go-to-market with a sector-specific strategy. We utilize the segmentation-targeting-positioning (STP) framework as a guide.

• Segment: Analyze which segments to prioritize and focus on, typically 3-5 max. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's focus on tech, energy/infra, and finance is an excellent example of this approach.

• Target: Edge your investment toward attractive sub-industries within promising sectors. The more granular, the better. Kirkland & Ellis' focus on private equity within the broader financial sector is a successful example.

• Position: After fully understanding your buyers, their position in the industry, and their opportunities and pain points, position your products/services to be accretive to the client's business and solve their problems.

How Do You Measure Success?

There are several quantifiable metrics to gauge success:

• Percentage growth year over year in a particular industry

• Individual client revenue and profitability statistics

• Performance at the client level, such as the number of sustaining and growing clients year over year in a particular industry

• Track the number of cross-selling opportunities that have been realized by the industry program. Measure the percentage of clients who have engaged multiple practice areas within the firm

• Regularly survey clients within the industry program to gauge their satisfaction

• Assess the program's thought leadership recognition within the industry

• Document and share success stories and cases studies from clients within the industry program

Biggest Opportunities and Challenges

The biggest opportunities of implementing a sector-specific strategy include a client-centered focus and the framework it provides for involving specific lawyer teams within a law firm. It also facilitates lateral partner integration and a BD mentoring framework for partner-track counsel.

The biggest challenges include resource allocation and hesitancy to focus on a few sectors and sub-industries within them. But, remember, specificity paves the way for success.

In conclusion, Zig Ziglar said, "Don't become a wandering generality. Be a meaningful specific." Firms should be bold and get specific about sub-industries where they have significant strengths or compelling market opportunities. Specificity sets the #stage for success, stronger client relationships, greater collaboration, and a formidable competitive advantage.

Megan Senese authors article in Bloomberg Law: Win the Tug of War for Law Talent with These Strategies

Brian Carrozza, Courtney Cook Hudson, and Megan Senese say Big Law firms should re-evaluate their firm management and strategy to retain top talent and build a culture of transparency, communication, and collaboration.

Increased competition for shrinking profit margins has only escalated the war for talent. Forty-four percent of lateral partners cite a lack of confidence in firm management and strategy, according to a recent Major, Lindsey & Africa report.

It’s imperative for legal marketing, business development, and other business operations professionals to be equipped with the right strategies, tactics, and tools to integrate new partners and other attorneys.

How can law firms attract, integrate, and retain top talent across all levels while gaining a competitive advantage?

Recruit

The Major, Lindsey & Africa report found a lack of confidence in firm management and strategy to be the number one reason why law firm partners consider leaving their firms. Effective integration of laterals into their new firms was the single best predictor of satisfaction.

Stakeholders should collaborate to craft messaging that speaks to the firm’s differentiators, value propositions, and core principles, emphasizing how a particular attorney or practice fits into the firmwide strategy. They also should explain how the firm allocates resources to support growth, enhance client service, and drive revenue, and why the firm’s culture and reputation are unique.

While an enthusiastic and upbeat tenor is essential, it’s critical that firms not overpromise but rather use the initial opportunity to set a tone and manage expectations.

Throughout the process, openness, honesty, and transparency are essential.

Integrate

To prepare a successful lateral integration plan, it’s important for the new partner’s business development liaison to work from the same foundation of information as the legal recruiting team, which includes the lateral’s resume, lateral partner questionnaire, and offer letter.

Arming business development liaisons with billable hours and origination goals for new lawyers will help position the liaison as a strategic adviser on day one. A liaison’s first meeting with a lateral should include an assessment of immediate needs about their book of business to ensure seamless client service and surface opportunities to expand portable relationships.

Consider why the lateral was hired—their niche expertise, specific client needs, regional presence for example—and make internal introductions accordingly. The business development liaison and the lateral should have incentives to work collaboratively to map out a client development plan, estimate revenue, identify potential service gaps, and support goals with specific strategies and tactics.

Create a written process to ensure consistent lateral experiences. A 12-month integration plan for new lawyers may include:

• Probing questions to ask during each integration session/meeting

• Guidelines for time-boxing goals

• Templates for organizing and prioritizing client outreach

• Business mentoring resources

The business development liaison should provide status updates to firm leadership and other stakeholders after each meeting. The most successful laterals are engaged and actively participate in regular coaching/integration calls.

During these calls, the liaison should have or obtain a grasp on resources provided to support the lateral, satisfaction with the firm, sense of being valued, client growth opportunities, bandwidth and utilization, and cross-selling successes or frustrations. Flagging issues in real time allows liaisons and firm leaders to remove roadblocks.

Retain

The legal landscape is witnessing an all-out battle as firms vie to attract fresh lateral partners and attorneys, simultaneously grappling with retaining their existing talent pool and navigating competing pricing demands. As legal expertise evolves across generations, the playbook for retaining lawyers is transforming.

Delving into the motivations and core values of why a lateral partner is looking for a new opportunity is paramount to pursuing high retention levels. It’s important for the hiring committee and other stakeholders to understand these motivations.

Understandably, many law firms are hyper-focused on onboarding, integrating, and growing relationships with new clients that have ported over with a lateral. But firms also should be thinking about how to integrate laterals into at least a handful of significant existing client relationships.

One of the best ways to ensure lateral longevity is to think of cross-selling as a two-way street. To whom can the new lawyer introduce new colleagues, and vice versa? The idea of cross-selling should be broadened beyond client relationships to include adding the new lawyer to business development initiatives, affinity groups, and client teams without jumping through bureaucratic approval processes. These steps should help new lawyers feel a sense of inclusion.

Gone are the days when law firms could merely rely on their brand reputation to ensure that newly onboarded attorneys would be satisfied. Taking a moment to understand why lawyers are leaving or remaining with their current firms will illuminate the competitive landscape and help build a better lateral program.

The current climate requires a substantial investment of time and resources beyond front-loaded messaging with little impact. Firms need to build a culture of transparency, communication, collaboration, and dedication to turn retention strategies into actions and actions into loyalty.

Click here to read on BloombergLaw.com

Reproduced with permission. Published September 26. Copyright 2023 Bloomberg Industry Group 800-372-1033.

spotlight: Lora Krsulich

stage supports business development from behind the scenes to guide lawyers to help their clients shine.

today's spotlight features Lora Krsulich (Litigation Associate Susman Godfrey LLP). Lora's energetic and empathetic approach shines through in her legal work and with her clients.

we are ecstatic to share Lora's spotlight today.

podcast: megan senese + powerhouse women show

Aliza Freud and SheSpeaks Inc. created a platform with The Powerhouse Women Show for women to talk and share their stories in an authentic way.

Authentic storytelling is a core pillar of how stage works to support our lawyers and legal marketing departments who want to show up differently.

leveraging existing clients for revenue growth

Acquiring new clients is a challenge; the time and investment can be significant.

But here's a game-changer: instead of constantly seeking new business opportunities, why not tap into the goldmine already in your client base?

Start by engaging with your existing clients to discover how you can provide more value. Ask them what challenges they are currently facing or what additional support they might need.

By initiating these open-ended questions, you not only strengthen your existing relationships but uncover your clients' core needs, demonstrating that you care.

Investing in your current clients isn't just about retention; it's about driving growth through understanding and meeting their evolving needs.

read more here