Two weeks ago, I re-opened two polls to participants of Martindale-Hubbell Connected. Because we only received a few replies, I aggregated the results from those we collected at the 2009 Marketing Partner Forum. Here is a chart featuring the results from seventeen respondents to the "Barriers to Marketing and Business Development Effectiveness" poll.
There were four choices. Two were tied: "None/Not enough measurement of programs or people" and "None/Not enough communication, training and/or professional development," each at 35%.
Could it be that these two factors are related? And could it be that marketing and business development can be made more effective by simply having people talk to each other and be held accountable to each other? Those two factors appear to be reward enough for law firm marketers and revenue-generating attorneys to work together to improve the productivity of marketing.
The other two choices were "None/Not enough incentives and rewards" (23.5%) and "Poor/Less than optimal systems capabilities (i.e. contacts, databases, intranet) (5.9)."
Here's a sample of comments.
- How lawyers get paid in the typical law firm is atrocious and 1 billion percent counter to fostering smart BD skills.
- Firm cannot surmount pricing obstacles for necessary infrastructure
- People are just happy to have the business they have. Everyone is keeping their heads down and GCs are putting the pressure on them to lower costs so it makes it that much more difficult. For smart bright people, lawyers are so afraid of change and being turned down -- it devastates them.
- Add to that, not enough vision from the top.
For experienced law firm marketers and business developers, these comments reflect well-known internal "structure" paradigms.
But I think change is underway: During these last few weeks as moderator of Martindale-Hubbell Connected, I provided a link to the announcement that at least one more large law firm is reviewing its internal structure (DLA Piper). Perhaps we are witnessing the beginning of the shift of law, as a professional service sector -- responding to the pressures of the marketplace. (Some would say, "Finally!")
Do you think this shift is underway? How long will it take? What will it mean for the effectiveness of marketing and business development?
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