Greentarget, Zeughauser Group and Inside Counsel magazine just released survey data that updates their oft quoted 2010 findings on how corporate, in-house law departments are using social media with The 2012 In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey. (News release below.)

Just 19 months ago the ‘power users’ were the under-40 crowd. Today, the survey shows that, hey, even lawyers in their 40′s, 50′s and 60′s—the decision makers—are jumping onto social media more frequently to, in my words, “better understand their choices.”

What’s new?

That’s right, they’re out there listening, reading and evaluating the private practice attorneys who every day conduct a type of dog and pony show as they post to their blogs, Tweet their successes, and network on LinkedIn. But that’s where it sort of ends. Don’t expect to get the GC to engage in Twitter banter with you nor comment on your blog—they’re not engaging as frequently as they are stalking. The survey’s executive summary states that of the 86 percent of the in-house counsel bar that use it at all, 68 percent use it to listen exclusively, while just 32 percent say they both listen and engage with others. So, the majority of in house counsel is essentially invisible and largely prefer to consume content without interacting on new media channels. (Interestingly, this I believe tracks close enough with the North American population in general. The last available (free) social media engagement data reported in 2008 showed that 48% of online U.S. adults were spectators and only 18% creators, 25% joiners and 44% inactive. From Groundswell, by Charline Li, Josh Bernoff for Forrester Research. These numbers have been updated, but I don’t have access to them.)

Lawyers win.

Though not surprising, it looks like the best new media marketing strategy is to credential lawyers as subject matter experts using social media, blogs and even Wikipedia entries rather than waste time trying to brand the whole firm, or so the data suggests: 

By having articles, decisions, opinion columns, background on precedent-setting cases, and similar material featuring firm attorneys cited as references in a Wikipedia entry, firms can showcase the expertise of their attorneys in front of in-house counsel. It is important to note that Wikipedia has very specific rules on how entries are to be edited, and a very active community of editors who do not tolerate the use of Wikipedia as a promotional tool. This further supports the notion that law firms should use Wikipedia to enhance existing articles by adding to the fingerprint of reference material contained within those articles, rather than promoting themselves via firm-focused entries.

Analysis.

The full report does a good job at logging the tally of responses and goes a step further to offer analysis which should be of help to those law firm marketing pros that seek to gain traction in the inner sanctum of corporate law departments with their social media activity. However, after I digest the report I hope to return with my own analysis on how I believe private practice lawyers and law firms can use the data to their advantage. 

At the end of the day, a big shout out to the report creators and sponsors, Greentarget, Zeughauser Group and Inside Counsel magazine and their teams.  I can’t help wondering what goes through the in-house counsel’s mind after being asked about their social media behaviors.  I wonder why they were willing to participate? Do they want to help lawyers and law firms better understand how they hire lawyers and law firms? Are they encouraging them to continue to reveal themselves through social media as a more efficient means; i.e. process improvement tactic? Or, maybe they just want them to know that “you never know who’s watching!”

In my 2010 book published by WEST, social.lawyers: Transforming business development, I tell the story of Robert Thomas who landed two Fortune 100 clients without ever submitting a response to an RFP, simply because the general counsels both reported that (paraphrased) ‘we read your blog, we know what you know and it’s like getting to hear your lawyer think out loud and we like what you’re thinking!’ Pretty cool, huh?

Certainly, no longer is it okay for any lawyer trying to develop new business to be absent from the social web!

Cheers,

NEWS RELEASE from Greentarget

Social Media Adoption by In-House Lawyers Growing, Signaling New Opportunities to Reach Buyers of Legal Services

Second annual In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey shows generational usage leveling off; prominent blogs influence hiring decisions; in-house lawyers “invisible users” who consume content without interaction

Chicago, IL January 25, 2012 – A survey released today by communications firm Greentarget, consulting firm Zeughauser Group and InsideCounsel magazine finds that older in-house lawyers—those in their 40s, 50s and 60s—are using social media in far greater numbers than they were in 2010. The survey (#GCSocial on Twitter) highlights key factors that influence hiring decisions among buyers of legal services, and provides new insights for law firms to reach current and prospective clients more effectively through digital communications. The results show dynamic progression from the study’s 2010 figures, the first year the survey was conducted.

“The days of the younger ‘power users’ is quickly fading as older counsel are using social media tools with greater fervor and frequency than they were just 18 months ago,” said John Corey, founding partner of Greentarget. “Whether it the continued emergence of blogs, the untapped potential of LinkedIn or the vast implications of in-house counsel listening quietly rather than actively engaging on the social web, the research provides timely new perspective and guidance on how to implement and measure social media strategies geared to the in-house community.”

The In-House Counsel New Media Engagement Survey measures how corporate lawyers’ use and perceptions of new media have changed and what they are using digital communications to do.

The Highlights:

• Prominent blogs influence the hiring of outside counsel. Eighty-four percent of respondents say they think blogs are credible, and more than half think a prominent blog will influence clients to hire that firm.
• Blogs declined in daily readers from 2010, but an increase in weekly and monthly readers more than made up for it.
• General counsel say they read firm-branded or law firm attorney-authored blogs slightly more often than they read blogs written by professional journalists.
• LinkedIn is the most dynamic example of older lawyers increasing their usage of social media, with the majority of respondents of all ages using it at least weekly.
• Communications between law firms and their clients is slowly but steadily going social, as evidenced by a modest increase in respondents who said they were using new media tools to access content from their outside firms.
• Just seven percent of respondents say they have visited the Wikipedia page of their outside counsel. However, 87 percent say they use the platform to research issues, indicating law firms should consider a different approach to the e-encyclopedia.
• Most in-house counsel listen but do not interact online. This suggests that firms cannot accurately measure the ROI of new media by pursuing dialogue and interaction with client-side lawyers.
• Hardware innovation is influencing legal marketing as a growing percentage of respondents are using mobile devices—smartphones and tablets—to consume industry news content.

“By addressing not only where in-house counsel congregate online, but also what they are using digital platforms to do and what kind of content they find most meaningful, this research provides fresh insights into how legal marketers can better adapt and align their new media strategies with marketing and business development,” said Norm Rubenstein, partner of Zeughauser Group

Added Thomas Duggan, Group Publisher, InsideCounsel: “It is fascinating to see how media consumption habits are changing. For instance, blogs—both those that are firm-branded as well as those that are maintained by traditional editorial operations—play an increasingly prominent role as niche media outlets for news and commentary about legal issues.  As the leading publisher serving general counsel and other top in-house legal professionals, we are committed to keeping our finger on the pulse of how the in-house community is using new forms of media to stay informed and connected.”

To download a summary of the research report, click here. For more information, contact John Corey at jcorey@greentarget.net or 312-252-4100.

About the Survey’s Authors

About Greentarget (www.greentarget.com)

Greentarget is a strategic communications firm focused exclusively on the communications needs of highly competitive business-to-business organizations.  We counsel those who counsel the world‘s most sophisticated businesses and direct the conversation among their most important audiences to help deepen the relationships that impact the long-term value of their organizations.

About Zeughauser Group (www.consultzg.com)

Zeughauser Group is the firm of choice for legal industry leaders seeking to increase their competitive advantage and profitability, enhance market position, and strengthen organizational culture.

About InsideCounsel (www.insidecounsel.com) 

InsideCounsel is the premier monthly magazine serving general counsel and other top in-house legal professionals. It is the oldest monthly magazine published exclusively for the in-house community with an editorial mission to provide the strategic tools that general counsel need to better manage their legal departments and fully understand the business risks companies face today.

How can we help you?

How can we help you? That was the message preceding a “request for information” form in the Contact Us section of a noteworthy B2B company website I recently visited. Ten days ago I filled out that form and requested specific information or a return phone call regarding a webdesign project I am directing for a client. I still haven’t heard from the company.

Sure, I could have picked up the phone, there was a main number listed, but I was already on the website, the form was handy, seemed sincere, and I was trying to save a little time. Additionally, (1) I wanted the information and hoped that the right person to answer my query would call me directly (I wrote a detailed message) and save some steps, and (2) I often wonder about the effectiveness of the info@ email address which many of these Contact Us forms go to so I decided to test it among four prospective design firms. In this first case I got the answer to #2: not very.

Meanwhile, I received a confirmation from this company stating that I had been added to their email newsletter distribution list, this despite the fact that I unchecked the box that would sign me up to receive “educational materials.” Obviously a glitch in their system? Or not. Worse was the impression this experience has left in my mind: (1) This company actually sells their expertise for online marketing strategy (isn’t the contact us form an important part of the lead generation process?),  and (2) eNewsletter advice and modules are also in their offerings, so why didn’t their opt out work properly?

At the end of the day, they lost not only a prospect—not responding to an info@ inquiry is a bad move for anyone—but the glitch also put a dent in their overall image. For example, when I told my client that we had not heard back from this company he was shocked. He asked, “in this market how can it be that a company does not even want to entertain a new business opportunity?” I had no answer for him. But I can be pretty sure that should this company’s name come up in a discussion among his colleagues where he’d likely have some influence to make a referral, he’d relay our story.

Technology is a game changer.

Technology is a game changer, and I’m not referring to shiny new stuff like social media, but rather something as simple as a basic business tool: EMAIL! Why would you relegate one of the most valuable, and essentially free, technology tools to a low interest priority?

There are more than a dozen, if not more, pay-per-lead generation directory sites that lawyers and law firms subscribe to on the web today–paying good money for each lead the site generates. The reason these are becoming more popular is simple, more people go to the web when searching for services and products than ever before, getting leads from this traffic is valuable. But the fact is, you actually have a decent lead generator on your own site too but how many firms are giving it due respect? Frankly, in my mind it begs the question: Why would a high profile company (or law firm) pay top dollar for a fancy and informative website but not have a functional lead generation tool on it?  The simple Contact Us form on your website will do, as long as you manage it properly, right?

Do you use an info@yourlawfirm.com mailbox for web inquiries?

So I ask, knowing that many many law firms use an info@ourlawfirm.com mail address on their websites, is this a risk you’re willing to take? How do you manage your Contact Us mail? Who responds to your info@ mailbox?

I wonder how many law firms have an info@ inbox full of unanswered inquiries? I wonder how many of those info@ boxes are monitored by overworked legal secretaries or marketing coordinators who do not have the time to respond or even comprehend the value of an online lead?

Build good will.

Granted, many online leads turn out to be a bad fit or a dead end, but that shouldn’t stop a law firm or company from leveraging the opportunity to build good will (you never know who they might know) by simply sending a brief note in response. Even if you’re not interested or you’re not capable of accepting their case, shouldn’t someone write a quick note to explain that?

The end of the story.

The end of my story is that I filled out four online forms on design agency sites. Of the four, three responded. Of those three, one said they’d get back to me, and didn’t, one wrote asking me for a convenient time to talk and further discuss my needs, and one picked up the phone and called me about 30 minutes after I hit submit. Of the two that made further contact, one, after vetting the project with their team, politely declined the project (via email) saying they didn’t have the bandwidth to start the project until next spring, which was too late for us. The other one, the one that called promptly, is preparing a bid for us and frankly, based on responsiveness alone and grasp for the value of lead generation via their website, has a pretty good chance of getting the work if all goes well, because those two attributes mirror our own objectives!

POST UPDATE:

Today, January 2, 2012, I received a “generic” response to the web inquiry I had sent to design firm one, almost 2 full months from the day I submitted it. Is that an acceptable response time? No, it is not. Meanwhile, my client and I identified another solution.

I need your help.

I’d like to hear from readers about your experience using or managing Contact Us forms. How effective is an info@yourlawfirm.com email address for communicating with prospects or generating leads. How many leads generated via email turn into business engagements? Any other thoughts?

Post Script: (If you are a design agency, don’t even think about spamming the comments with a link to your company site. I will delete it. Thanks!)

David Fraser (@privacylawyer) is not just a lawyer online; he’s a Canadian privacy lawyer—online.  Participating on a panel with David last Friday, it was immediately obvious that he “gets social media” when he flat out told a Canadian Bar Association group of Intellectual Property lawyers that …being a lawyer online does nothing for you. Being anything too broad; and you’re going to get lost.

I couldn’t agree more: It’s getting noisy out there—to think that only three years ago plenty of lawyers had only two things to say about social media: Me? Why? Well, the crowd has arrived.

So, what should you be doing to be present and counted for in social media today?

David had some sage words of advice that echo my own experience in coaching lawyers and share them below, paraphrased from my notes.

• Listen, listen, and listen. If you listen, you have a better opportunity to distinguish yourself from the crowd.
• Don’t dilute the message. David is a Canadian privacy lawyer and he only tweets and blogs about privacy. He doesn’t dilute his message. People who follow him are people who want to know about privacy-simple, right? The dividend is significant; it gives him quality followers and qualified leads. [Note from VMO: you may have a fairly broad practice, but you should pick the most interesting and profitable part of it to emphasize for your online practice.]
• It’s about people. People want to network (converse) with people. Following law firms is not generally helpful. (Well, maybe you should follow your own firm to get the latest news first!). Follow people. Follow the right people; those who want to talk about your subject—which by the way should be very specific….
• Be a part of the community. Once you’re online, by default you’re part of that community. Living your practice online, you have a responsibility to be a contributing member of that community. While David has gotten to know other competitors pretty well using social media, he warns about getting into battles with your competitors—it never looks good.
• Be clear about your message. You need to be clear about what you’re putting out there—it becomes part of your online presence. Know what “it’s” about before you get into anything online. Checking into a client’s office on Foursquare is a bad idea; it can breach confidentiality.
• Watch out for chilling effects. There is a LOT of user-generated content posted to social media sites receiving legal attention these days. It is never wise to enter social media without a comprehensive understanding of the liabilities—both professional and personal.  Facebook alone reported to Newsweek in January 2011 that it receives 10 to 20 requests for user account information per day or approximately 5000 email subpoenas per year. (You can view some of them at ChillingEffects.org, a watchdog, non-profit organization that catalogs lawyers’ cease and desist letters.) Canadian litigants with claims of assets-at-risk or reputations-at-risk are more likely to receive attention from social media services because there is more liability placed on the publisher in Canada. However, in the U.S., the Communications Decency Act squarely places the liability on users for what they post, not the publisher of the social media site. It’s important for everyone (not just lawyers) to know their rights and responsibilities, terms of service and conditions, and live within the boundaries.
• There is no anonymity. Everywhere you go on the Internet you leave a trail. (Dare I risk saying the obvious?) Whatever you wouldn’t do in public, you shouldn’t do online. Hot issues like John Doe Anonymity (fake profiles), protest, parody and criticism, copyright and DMCA, linking, patent and trademark/trade secret are all being vetted in consideration of new legislation specific to new media channels both in the U.S and Canada. If you are hiding behind an avatar,  a stage name handle and a disposable email address, don’t think they can’t find you if they want to.

Of course, if you’re not living your practice online, you’re less likely to be impacted by any negatives but also less likely to benefit from the positives. If you are living your practice online, you may need to do some housekeeping and tidy up your message. You can start by asking, “What does my professional title on LinkedIn say about me?” Are you Jane Smith, Attorney, Smith, Jones & Brown? Or, are you Jane Smith, Miami-based, Bi-lingual Import/Export Attorney Serving U.S and Latin American Markets?

Listen first; then post. Don’t dilute the message.  It’s about people, not push messages: Be community minded. Know your rights, responsibilities and liabilities; there is no anonymity. What else would you add to this list?

Where else on Earth would you find…

• A conga line of ranging 56,800 miles (90,900 km): Equal to 9.76 round trips on the road between San Francisco and New York City.
• 74 Elvis impersonators
• 1.3+ billion potential connections
• 1,091 Chocolatiers
• 79+ million job transitions/changes tracked
• 46 profiles with “beatboxer” listed as a position
• 428% year-over-year membership growth rate in Brazil.
• The most registered users named Lee, Smith and Kumar
• 951 years of back-to-back 5-minute phone calls made by 100 million professionals
• 50% year-over-year growth in iPhone skill index
• A dog or cat psychologist / psychiatrist  [4 listed as a position]
• Target industries with the fastest year-over-year new member growth rates in Education (175%), Facilities Services (121%), and Ranching (112%)
• 100% of Fortune 500 company executives
• A martini whisperer [listed as a position]

Congratulations, LinkedIn on your 100 million member mile marker!

Says Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn CEO,

LinkedIn is used in over 200 countries and territories around the world, with more than half of our users coming from outside of the U.S. You can now connect just as readily with someone in Sao Paulo or Singapore as you can with your colleagues in San Francisco, London or New York.  You no longer have to live in the same city — or even the same country — to build and strengthen relationships that can help you succeed and grow professionally and fundamentally transform the trajectory of your career path.

Impressive!

Fifteen Ways Lawyers Can Use LinkedIn:

1. Create a profile | add to your online footprint—very high page rank on search engines, almost guaranteed first page results for individual name.
2. Use keywords in your profile title, summary, and experience to help you get found in “on site” searches.
3. Prepare and post a well-groomed and complete profile to position your personal brand – people hire lawyers, not law firms!
4. Create a personalized summary that expands on the benefits you deliver, not just features found on firm website page. Attract others to your network.
5. Encourage your employees to maintain complete profiles to show off your solid team.
6. Make introductions and get introductions from others in network.
7. Join client industry related groups.
8. Engage prospects by answering industry related questions.
9. Network in groups with your peers.
10. Use as a contact management system for getting and staying in front of your network via inMail, event announcements and press releases. (Use this in addition to the database used by your law firm marketing department and firm branded email blasts–it’s personal!) Stay top of mind!
11. Add apps to your profile to post docs, publications, feed blog content, JD Supra articles, Twitter updates, and travel schedules on Trip-it. Your activity shows up in your network “stream” keeping you front and center.
12. Share your presentation decks using the Slideshare application.
13. Use sharing and favorite or recommend buttons: Improves on-site traffic generation.
14. Customize links to your individual website bio page, firm’s main page, and blog or other personal website on your profile.
15. Promote and recommend others – the Golden RULE of business relationships!

ENJOY!

Are you still trying to get your arms around social media? Still feeling uncertain about it’s usefulness in marketing your practice or for networking your referral sources?

You’ve probably attended webinars, conference sessions, read whitepapers, articles, blog posts, and maybe even books, to try to find the most simple, direct answer to “what should I be doing?” And, you might even have come up slightly more overwhelmed, right? May I suggest that you…

Establish context.

I’ve spent the last three years speaking on social media to groups of lawyers, marketers, law firm administrators, and more, watching eyes glaze over densely illustrated slide decks with dizzying screen captures of sites and services. I’ve gotten my share of unsettling looks from the risk averse when covering the issues of privacy, policy, ethics, and other do’s and don’ts. I’ve fielded hundreds of questions from lawyers and marketers, only to realize that I’ve created more questions than I answered for them.  Truth is, I study this stuff, it’s my JOB, and even I am often challenged by the unstructured nature of social media.

I determined to fix that. Social media needs a little more structure. To that I said, ahaha! CONTEXT. We need context. Context gives structure to plans, why not social media.  So, if you’re tired of the buck shot approach and want to give your social media experience a little more structure…read on….there’s only one step…

1. Don’t do anything different.

Keep doing what you’ve always done (either consciously or unconsciously) when originating or expanding on business—help the buyer through the purchase process. That process of buying services hasn’t changed since the first day that the very first service was bartered or bought.

Whenever there is a high involvement purchase, you can be certain that the buyer WILL pass through these four phases:

1. Recognition
2. Knowledge gathering
3. Consideration
4. Selection

Your job as an attorney is easy; help the buyer through the stages.

The Buyer’s Process.

1. Recognition – the buyer seeks to recognize their options; i.e., “Who can help me set up a trust fund for my kids?” Now, without being aware that you, an estate-planning attorney, exist, how can they hire you? They can’t. You have to have exposure.  Marketing your practice via things like advertising, sponsorship, speaking, writing, website optimization, or word-of-mouth (referrals) are all good ways to “help buyers” who are looking for your services to find you. (I used the estate-planning example here, which is more B2C, but it is really the same, or similar, for B2B practices as well.)

2. Knowledge gathering – Once the buyer feels confident that they have sufficiently identified a manageable universe of attorneys they will move into the knowledge gathering phase. This is where they start talking to others, ask for specific reasons why they are recommending so and so, AND, they do an Internet search to learn more about you, as well as learn as much as they can about their options—your competition. (Give them lots to look at! Give them more than the one-dimensional website bio page!)

This is the stage where you need to stand out from the others. You can differentiate your self by carefully listening for the real needs then offering proof of your expertise in that regard. Or, you can maintain a high profile reputation among those who can recommend you. You can also differentiate by providing educational content through publishing articles and, hopefully you’ll be able to engage directly with the buyer through substantive conversations while having a get-to-know-you with them.  In this phase remember, you are not selling, you are educating – but really you are closing the engagement – more on that coming up!

3. Consideration – When the buyer determines that they have enough information, they make a short list and enter the consideration phase. This is when they analyze the pros and cons of each attorney based upon what they uncovered during the knowledge gathering stage. If you, the seller, have been helpful in the knowledge gathering stage, you may also be invited to the consideration stage.

In the consideration stage it is your job to stay top of mind with the buyer, dig deeper into their thought process and fill in any gaps or doubts. Manage this stage well and you increase the likelihood that their selection is YOU!

4. Selection – If you did everything right in the knowledge gathering stage, and helped them through the consideration stage, you have already closed the engagement.

SOCIAL MEDIA.

In the context of the buyer-seller processes use social media — social media gives you ample opportunity to hit all the phases: recognition, education, consideration and selection.

First, get to know which social media serves best in each phase, then use it! For example, having a search footprint that is full of content links – not just those that lead to your firm website bio – is great for exposure.  And, if some of those links lead to published content that serves to educate the buyer, not only about your services but also about your topics, you will be helping the buyer through the knowledge gathering phase. Then, if you add value to conversations, post questions and answers, participate in groups, network on Facebook, etc., you’ll not only address the knowledge-gathering phase; you’ll be keeping your name top of mind during the consideration phase. And the beauty of it all is that your online footprint keeps working for you even when you’re sleeping, or playing. Further, online content spreads and there by increases your exposure to new prospects, again, filling in the beginning recognition phase of the process.

Make sense? Hope this helps you in your knowledge gathering stage…let me know!

As always, standing by to help you grow your practice via social media, and more…

Today a package of materials from a new client of mine arrived overnight, first AM delivery. The delivery surprised me and exceeded my expectation as our scheduled meeting is weeks away. There was nothing urgent about me receiving the materials, but it sure was nice to have them in hand so far in advance. Then I recalled how earlier communications with the managing partner and his staff had clued me in that I was dealing with a first class organization with great respect and value for everyone they do business with, even those outside the direct revenue stream. Their treatment of others goes beneath the surface and is the heart and soul of their success.

They are successful not only because the firm has excellent, experienced lawyers, though they do. Not because they discount services or offer alternate fee arrangements, they don’t. They are successful because they have a law firm culture that operates on mutual respect, consideration, and honesty. CLIENTS like that. A successful firm will not take for granted the impact their internal culture has upon its success.

Culture is a law firm’s DNA.

Truth be told, you can actually tell A LOT about a law firm’s culture by the way they treat their vendors. When someone told me this, years ago, I thought it was absurd. Now, after 15 years in the legal profession, both as an employee and a vendor, I can tell you its true. [Too bad more prospects don’t know this or they’d be interviewing a firm’s vendors, not their lawyers, to uncover what they might expect from the client/attorney/law firm relationship.]

I can now predict, with accuracy, client satisfaction levels in almost 100% of cases simply by my dealings with the firm as a vendor. I have found that there is a direct correlation between the degree to which I am treated respectfully and the degree of the law firm’s success.  Weird, I know….well, maybe not.

In a new book by Barry Libert of Mzinga, “Social Nation. How to harness the power of Social Media to attract customers, motivate employees and grow your business,” (Wiley, 2010), Libert posits that the power of culture is not to be underestimated where business and community intersect. (Yes, your clients are a community!) Among many golden nuggets the book has to offer (full review to follow shortly*), Libert proposes that clients can sense when your culture is a healthy one, and a healthy culture is a healthy company.

“If the DNA is healthy, the company is healthy. If it is not, the company, just like your family, will falter and eventually fail. In business, it means your customers will leave in pursuit of a competitor that will care more about them and better meet their needs.”

I couldn’t agree with Libert more. To wit, I’ve worked inside law firms that had a DNA of respect, honesty and action. They respected their employees and their vendors, i.e., valued their expertise, engaged in fair contracts, didn’t haggle, returned calls, and paid invoices promptly. Not surprisingly, they also had a lot of loyal and happy clients and are still going strong today. Conversely, I’ve also worked where it was exactly the opposite. Ironically, in once such instance, the law firm no longer exists!

Observations from the vendor trenches. [ Or, what shoppers can learn from vendors.]

It starts in the evaluation stage. When a prospective client law firm and I are getting to know one another I’ve noticed that the best firms have taken the time to prepare good questions. They might also have an idea for how they want to proceed, and they have determined a range of fees they’re willing to pay.  Some even have an idea of the specific results they are seeking. (They’ve done some homework or they tell me up front that they are clueless. Honesty is always a good start.) Though this often evolves as we talk, their preparedness is a sign that they take the project, my services, and me seriously. Following the logic, these law firms would also be those that are not afraid to tell one of their prospective clients the truth about the prospects for their case. They would reasonably estimate fees and, if necessary, refer them to another attorney or law firm that is better suited for the matter. In essence, they are prepared and preparation is a hallmark of great law firms and great cultures.

Alternately, I can immediately tell when an evaluation call is a fishing expedition for FREE expertise. In these cases I can fairly accurately assess that the firm is not successful enough to pay for expertise or that they believe their own expertise is the only kind worth paying for; both are bad. Avoid these firms and you avoid disappointment.

After the evaluation stage, I learn a lot about the firm by the length of time it takes to return phone calls or respond to emails. It is illuminating.

For example I am often asked to submit a proposal TOMORROW, i.e., “This is an urgent project for the firm. Can you get that to me tomorrow?  Our committee is meeting on Friday.” “Sure,” I say and work through the evening hours to deliver on my word only to hear silence for weeks. Now, I know that my proposal is not always at the top of the list, but is it too much to ask for a quick email response to say; got the proposal, the committee did not have time to discuss it on Friday, but it’s on the agenda for next month? Non-responsive behavior from a firm that has an URGENT need is likely to be a firm that communicates poorly (or even dishonestly) with their clients. (Note: a distinction should be made between lawyer and law firm, i.e. the law firm may be unresponsive but an individual lawyer can be very responsive. However, when you hire a lawyer you essentially hire their law firm. It’s a 360-degree relationship, and it takes both to make it work.)

The pricing stage is also often a very telling sequence. Being the Pollyanna that I am, I assume that once past the evaluation and the proposal there is sufficient understanding of the value of my services and respect for me as a business owner; that I’ve priced my services competitively and that I intend to deliver value along with the price tag. If I say my day rate is X, it is X. If there is variation in what you’re asking me to provide there may be room for a discount, but if the project is as quoted you can be sure that is what I believe the project will cost—and for me to remain in business to help you in the future. The law firm that doesn’t understand this equation distrusts me. And, not in all cases of course, but such a law firm could actually be over charging or under-delivering their services and they are projecting their behavior on me. [Note to shoppers: There are some firms that just can’t help themselves from negotiating everything! While that’s fair, beware; they will likely be tough negotiators when it comes to writing down your legal bill too!]

Finally, much can be read from the payment process. As a responsible contractor I always include terms of payment in my letter of agreement.  When a client signs that agreement I believe they, in good faith, intend to conform to the terms. (Lawyers must understand this, right?) But to my surprise, even when the situation is black and white, i.e. product or service delivered and approved, there are some law firms that purposely sit on the payment for months, ignoring the terms of our agreement. How this reflects a firm’s culture is crystal clear. In one example, I waited over a year to get paid! It was no surprise to me when I learned that the named partner of that firm was found guilty of fraud and his license suspended.

If clients aren’t raining from the sky…

Word of mouth marketing can be the life-blood of a law firm, i.e. referrals. It can also be what’s standing between success and failure. In today’s social marketplace,  people are talking. The insight we receive from social interactions and communications that take place among and between our clients, employees, vendors, and partners reveal a lot. Decisions about purchasing products and services are more frequently based on how the outside sees our “inside” culture. If clients aren’t raining from the sky for you or your law firm, you may want to step away from the sunshine and look inside at your culture.

“Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”– Mark Twain

Perhaps I could have saved a lot of words and simply said “actions speak louder than words.” Or, perhaps corporate culture, like the weather, is impossible to change for anyone but the Heavens. So, our only recourse is to talk about it and make us feel a little bit better-though totally not in control.

Whatever the case, weather happens. So does culture. Only difference is you can influence your law firm’s culture. Like it or not, how you do business with others outside your revenue stream will impact how you do business with your revenue stream, i.e. clients. And, as Libert suggests….”take good care of your personal values and you will energize your customers, partners and employees.”

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*Disclosure: I was given a complimentary copy of this book to review.

Looking back – Looking forward.

Social media and social networking platforms open up doors to new relationships and often work well as tools for marketing – broad distribution, top of mind impact, and exposure for expertise.

However, looking back on my social media involvement during 2010, these two uses actually had the least impact on my business goals.

Interestingly, social media was most helpful to me in 2010 when I was engaging with colleagues and friends with whom I already had an off line relationship at one point or other in time.  This didn’t mean that I ONLY interacted with people I knew in the bricks and mortar world; in fact, I made several significant new connections in 2010 with people I’d only met via social media who became new clients, valuable resources, and generally great people to know. But overall, this was the exception not the rule. I received more new business from mining my known network and from using social media tools to deepen relationships with those in my network who are geographically distant.  Realizing this is helping me focus my social media activity in 2011.

Focus on content and community.

Based on my experimentation with open networking in the very large marketplace of the social web, I’ve learned that the best use of social networks, and even my blog, is to “get together” online with people I already know using smaller communities; so I intend to do more of that in 2011.

Essentially my community interaction revolves around content, i.e. status updates, reviews, ideas, suggestions, quotes, links to what’s being read, and notes about what’s going on in lives, both personal and professional.  For the most part, I care about what my established communities are talking about because I already have a sense of who they are and where they fit into my life. It gives our interactions focus. It allows me to contribute in a meaningful way. The content we share creates a sort of bond. Within this type of community we are all free to do business with one another and indeed we do. What really makes focused communities helpful to me is in knowing that being social online becomes something I want to do and not just another “marketing” chore. It’s authentic. And, when you’re doing something you like to do, the enthusiasm is noted by others and often translates to new business.

This is really important, I think, for law firms who are trying to make sense of how they can leverage social tools for the entity. Casting a wide net may have a place in the marketing mix, but finding or creating smaller communities to engage in is where they will begin to see the most meaningful activity and new business prospects.

Chris Brogan recently blogged about the importance of building your social media activity around an object of focus to stimulate content and community:

You need a campfire…you need that social setting that consists of: object of focus, group experience of that object, and then creative expression thereafter. In literal terms, the party is around a campfire. In more stretched out thinking, the party is around the creative content. It’s content, community, and marketplace, said another way.

Community intersects with business.

As more law firms (and individual lawyers) will be entering the age of social media this year they will be looking for beneficial ways to engage. I suggest you do yourself a favor, skip a couple steps and take note; human behavior doesn’t change: Humans seek connection – in both their personal and professional lives.  Whatever community you want to penetrate, reach, influence, or start, the secret to successful social media engagement is to study human behavior. Humans connect around commonalities, interests, issues, industries, questions, answers, topics, opinion, politics; you name it. Study the behavior of your clients, “friends of the firm,” referral sources, and even partners and employees in far flung offices, whoever you wish reach, because the more aware you are of the fundamental human behavior at work, the more likely your online activity or social media strategies will feel natural and be valuable on numerous levels.

A community within the very large online social marketplace is the most viable source for doing business. The best way to create business opportunities using social media is to be a member of a community where you can engage others, enable relationships, and create trust. How do you do that? I’ve said it before and will say it again…in using social media tools we’re not doing anything different, we’re just doing it differently. In life, we chose our friends based on synergies – we share a love of conversation, family, sports, literature, politics, movies, travel, wine, etc. And, we gravitate toward certain people in our workplace based on like passions for the work and other commonalities like schools, neighborhoods, or even the charities we support.

Whether you are a law firm marketer building a social media strategy or a lawyer executing on tactics, devote your premium time to interacting with people you know and converse about what it is that they, and you, care about most; if you try to force interaction or push content that is not relevant, it just won’t happen. Think about your object of focus, build on the experience of the group, and your social media activity will become meaningful, natural and beneficial no matter what the topic or focus. It’s really quite basic.  Oh, and lest I forget to mention….it’s been my experience in 2010 that engagement that leads to new business does not happen without consistent participation, i.e. work! Those who are new to social media, looking for a short cut or quick fix will be disappointed. Here’s to a great new year with social media!

And, here’s an excerpt from my recently published book, social.lawyers | Transforming Business Development, West, (2010 ed.), that tells the story of how community creates business.

Conversations in the Marketplace

In the purest sense the social Web is a very large marketplace populated by people who come and go for the purpose of engaging in conversations about things they do, make, think about, and care about, and of course to buy or sell things. The majority of your conversations in any marketplace will occur in smaller gatherings of people who share interests, ideas, or work together to solve problems and help one another. And that’s also how business gets done in this very large online marketplace, within these smaller communities.

On the social Web our conversations happen through posts. They can be blog posts, social-networking posts, or a comment post on a news article. They can be status-update posts, video or podcast posts, photos, or just about anything that makes connection and community. If your posts have an authentic voice, relevancy and value, they will enable relationships and trust; i.e. community. So, how do we find community?

Connection and Community

I learned about the role of community in business while growing up in a small Pennsylvania town where my extended family owned a modest but successful grocery store and a produce-distribution company. I vividly remember the day when my mother and father had finally scraped together enough money to buy the grocery store outright from my great-uncle. From then on, my father was the head butcher and my mother was found wherever she was needed most in the store. My grandmother worked wrapping meats and cheeses and dished up pickles from the barrel. My brothers and I counted cans on inventory days or stocked shelves, swept floors, carried out people’s groceries to their cars, and my favorite, arranged the candy shelves. Pretty much everyone my parents knew, and more, came to my family’s store at least once a week to shop for their groceries and buy meats from my dad.  What I now realize is that while groceries were vital, people came to our family store in large part because it met their need for connection. Going grocery shopping was a social event where they found a community.

There was always a fresh pot of coffee behind the butcher counter, along with a baked good or two (shoe-fly pie or sticky buns) that a customer brought in for our family or that my dad took off the shelf to share with others. The women would shop and the men would talk. The bread man, the milkman, the potato chip man and the produce-truck guy (this was before women were liberated!) were all regular fixtures, hanging around the butcher counter long after their deliveries were made. The store was small, nothing close to the mega supermarkets we know today. Still, it could take hours for a family to move through the aisles, and not just because the aisles were narrow. It was because everyone would stop and chat with their friends, neighbors, our family and our employees. Shopping at Cassel’s Food Store was community; it was an event, an experience and a place of connection, and yes, things were bought and sold.

I remember watching Dad interact with his customers, carefully explaining the special cuts of meat and how they might be prepared, or proudly pulling out a fresh piece of fish from the ice-packed display that came in that morning from the New Jersey coast. My mother would often give customers a sample of cheese or ring bologna while they watched my dad make fresh sausage with a hand meat-grinder. Customers conversed with each other about recipes they had tried or suggestions for side dishes, and before you could say Quakertown, another order of meat or fish was sold to test it out. When new products showed up on the shelves, customers would seek out the opinions of employees who had earned their trust over the years.  Arriving at the check-out register they were entertained by the very chatty and personable Mr. White—who worked that register his entire life—offering them bits of news, gossip and town history while ringing up their purchases. He’d often comment on how fresh the green beans looked that day and wouldn’t they go good with this or that, prompting the customer to take one more run to the produce department before their bill was tallied.

People came to my family’s grocery store to buy groceries, sure, but also to connect with others and learn about new things while drinking a cup of coffee and eating homemade cakes. (Think Facebook!) Occasionally, they’d drop a nickel in my hand after I’d carted their groceries to their car two blocks away on a Saturday afternoon when I would have rather been at the movies with friends. Still, I’ll never regret my frozen fingers or forget the lesson my family and friends taught me while growing up in the family business: Humans seek connection. They seek community.

As modern and hip as the Netizens of the social Web may perceive themselves to be, it is the feeling of the old-time marketplace—a valued place where people find connection and earn trust in order to buy and sell their goods and services—that brings them back again and again.[1] In that old-time marketplace, people with intersecting interests, both buyers and sellers, had conversations with each other without the filter of the media, incessant advertisements, or the shading of public relations. Likewise, uncorrupted community and connection are what most people on the social Web want today—even in the midst of our go-go modern world—as evidenced in its astounding growth. Whether bricks and mortar or digits, people want to be a part of a community. I believe, as do many others, that the social Web is growing because it meets our basic human desire for community and connection.

How important are your online communities? Are they valuable to you or are you just going through the motions? Sure, some people get business simply because they do something uniquely sought after and don’t need to build connections and community, but they are the exception not the rule. There is a connection between commonalities, relationship, and trust, and it’s vital to doing business in 2011.

The Social Network, the movie loosely documenting the development and meteoric rise of the popular social networking site Facebook, was a fine Hollywood movie; I was easily pulled into the characters and the story. While I wasn’t expecting anything deep or revelatory, there was one strong take away that the movie illustrated well. The Face Book, as it was originally called, was created as a tool to impress [girls] in real life and promote real life hook-ups. And that, essentially, is still how social networking works best — as a starting point or a touch point for real life.

I am often privileged to speak on social media and networking to groups of lawyers, law firm administrators, marketers, paralegals and others. I chat with them about how they are using the social web and try to learn more about their challenges and help them map opportunities. To my surprise, many perceive the social web as being a virtual world that is an entirely separate animal-that it’s all about the virtual connection and any off-line spill over is just an extra benefit. I assure them that nothing is farther from the truth. Nothing has changed, really…

we’re not doing anything different, we’re just doing it differently.

I like to use the analogy that Twitter is like a cocktail party­­­­­­-the handshake that starts the conversation, Facebook is the country club where business and recreation mix, LinkedIn is a calling card, rolodex or chamber of commerce networking event, and peer-to-peer networks like Martindale Connected are like the Bar association meeting. When lawyers hear this, their eyes light up and the sense that this is a foreign virtual world dissipates.

Then they ask… “But how do you develop new business virtually? Most people want to know the lawyer before they hire them.” That’s true, they do and you don’t exclusively develop new business in a virtual world. I explain that online networking and other social media tools are great for exposure, keeping in touch, and reaching a new or broader audience. The way we use these tools should work together with off-line meetings, phone calls, networking, and introductions from referrals. The fundamentals still remain…what you do with those “introductions” is no different than sending a follow up email after someone hands you their business card at a off line event, only its the other way around…”let’s get together in Houston for coffee – I’ll be in your town next week and we can talk about your company.”

Watching The Social Network really sends this message home. What you do online can be pointing you to an off-line engagement. It’s up to you to leverage the opportunity. To see how this works, here’s an oldie but goodie story about Laura Guiterrez posted by Heather Morse on her blog The Legal Watercooler.

Technorati Tags: The Social Network movie, Facebook, lawyers, Laura Guiterrez, Heather Morse,

Is social media distracting lawyers from the real work of developing new clients?

A healthy little discussion on the Martindale.com Connected social network this week asked the question, “Has Social Media Gotten Lawyers Out of Focus?”

Particular emphasis was placed upon evidence that while it may be more “natural” for the young professional to use social networking and social media, it’s not helping them engage face-to-face in business development settings. [Paraphrased].

Should we blame social online forums for the lack of offline people skills or inability to do the real work of developing clients? I don’t think we should rush to that conclusion, do you?

It is true that many young professionals know how to navigate the social Web quite well; they may even spend a good bit of time there to the chagrin of an outsider who perceives it to be wasted time. But, the fact is their peers are present there—those who could or would one day hire the services of a lawyer—and communication channels are changing.

Communication Channels Change

As a law firm marketing professional for over 15 years, one who continually seeks out beneficial communication channels, I have seen first hand the evolution of various technologies used for marketing communications between lawyer and client—carbon paper, teletype, fax, photo copier, answering machine, mass mail, email, color photo copiers, floppy disc brochures, cd-rom seminar materials, e-holiday cards, websites, intranet, Extranets and more.

Each of these new tools was ushered into the management and marketing of law firms with varying degrees of skepticism so it is only natural that blogs, wikis, social networks, sharing, collaboration, search engine marketing, video, postcast, webcast, and mobileApps are receiving the same sort of attention. They all require degrees of change; and it’s not over yet. (Stay tuned for the semantic web – yikes! It’s really revolutionary)

That being said, what I have not seen change is:

• the need for human voice;
• effective language skills;
• an attractive personality;
• sincerity;
• confidence;
• the need to understand the buying and selling process; and
• the ability to build trust.

These fundamentals do not change, regardless of the chosen communication channel. As I write in my soon to be released book, social.lawyers: Transforming Business Development (West Publishing):

We’re not doing any thing different, we’re just doing things differently.

While some may think that the art of human engagement that leads to business relationships is being lost in the social media shuffle, I’d argue that not a single one of us skips down the road to becoming a rainmaker. It evolves over time with trial and error, coaching, mentorship, and of course simple maturity, both professional and personal, no matter what the forum. And that’s why it’s important to include some basic business training into every lawyer’s schedule.

Tools are NOT a substitute for fundamentals

Maybe it’s time to rethink a few things. Growing up on the social Web is not inherently a bad thing, but having a macro-training scheme can help. For marketing professionals, coaches, and mentors, the key is to make sure young professionals know the tools are not a substitute for the hard work of studying the psychology of sales and honing face-to-face people skills—provide fundamental business development training.

Business basics and client development fundamentals plus tactics that include the nuances of social web placement and best practices can be a winning combination; because this new media of marketing and business communication is not going to go away.

If social media is making you lose your focus, or if you never had focus in the first place, then perhaps its time to re-boot.