Today's Boston Globe features an article "Law Firms Learn How to Compete" that is sure to cause a roar amongst local and national law firms alike: it's the sound of copycats revving up their competitive engines.
On one hand, I'm thrilled to see a journalist writing things like "Rivalry forces attorneys to act like a business," and "At last, law firms are studying their market." Yippee, and kudos to staff writer Sacha Pfeiffer for putting a focus on this very important issue. This could have been an article for architects, management consultants, executive search firms - well, pick your sector. They're all waking up to the power of competitive intelligence.
On the other hand, I'm concerned. While professional service firms are beginning to understand that there is "competition" out there, I fear that there could be too much focus on rivals. Competitive intelligence is great, but it's not enough to drink the competitive intelligence Kool Aid® without studying the rest of the market -- the clients!
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