Peer to Peer Magazine

70 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | WINTER 2016 FEATURES Positioning Legal Marketers for Strategic Business Growth Being able to successfully execute on this new set of responsibilities can oen be directly related to having the right tools and resources in place. In this regard, technology remains a cornerstone to success, yet many marketing and business development professionals surveyed believe the tools with which they are currently working fall short of expectations. Among the most commonly cited challenges include struggles with client relationship management (CRM) systems; the need for beer prospect databases and tools; the lack of one go-to, integrated resource; and tools to help with pitch books and request for proposal creation. Focusing specifically on CRM, almost all law firms surveyed either have or desire the soware, but less than half (48 percent) of marketers and roughly 61 percent of business development professionals report using the tool. Much of this could be linked to such shortfalls as cost, complexity and a lack of effective integration and/or training. As cited by one respondent: "I don't think the problem is technology falling short. Rather, there is a different technology for every potential issue, and firms have to invest in all of them for the big picture. It is incredibly costly and impossible to have everything, so you work with what you have and try to supplement as needed in the other areas." Overall, the benefits of working with the technology far outweigh the challenges. A majority of those surveyed say that having the technology in place — along with the proper training — is invaluable for helping to acquire new clients and leads, and to help create new opportunities to assist existing clients as a result of efforts to gather client intelligence. Law firms that are making the proper investments in the technology tools and resources needed to train individuals will ultimately be positioned for success. Expanding to the C-Suite As marketing and business-development professionals continue to expand their scope of responsibilities within law firms, new high-level business development/ marketing roles are being established. Four in 10 individuals surveyed by Bloomberg Law/LMA are working in firms with a chief marketing officer (CMO). In addition, a quarter of these individuals are working in firms with marketing partners, while two in 10 are in firms with chief business development officers. In general, such high-level positions within firms are more prevalent as the size of the firm increases. For instance, the proportion of firms that have a CMO grows from 12 percent among those with up to 99 aorneys to 76 percent for firms with more than 500 aorneys. For those firms with chief business development officers, the proportion grows from 10 percent for the smallest firms to 31 percent for the largest. This is a trend that continues to expand into new, more strategic roles within law firms. For instance, the title of director of pricing has shown a steady growth incline, quadrupling throughout the past 10 years. Likewise, the role of chief pricing officer has tripled during that same timeframe. Overall, the trend demonstrates the growing influence that marketing and business development is having at the executive level in commercial law. Your Strategic Partners These days, the idea of rethinking the business model in order to remain competitive isn't just a good strategy, it's essential for market survival. As these demands continue to place new pressures on business development and client service, law firms are increasingly looking to marketing and business development professionals to play a more strategic role in growing the business. P2P BETSI ROACH Betsi Roach, MIM, CAE is the Executive Director at the Legal Marketing Association (LMA). Contact her at broach@legalmarketing.org. STEPHANIE KUSIBAB Stephanie Kusibab is the Director of Marketing at the Legal Marketing Association (LMA). Contact her at skusibab@legalmarketing.org. www.legalmarketing.org

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