PSF marketers' best weapons for leading change? Facts and Data!

During my two weeks of moderating a discussion about the future of law firm marketing on Martindale-Hubbell Connected, I posed a survey question: "What is the most difficult barrier you face in leading autonomous professionals to accept forward-thinking M & BD changes?"

Although we did not have an overwhelming response, the results support what many of us already know: Most marketers and business developers are prevented from leading their firm's lawyers toward improved marketing and BD effectiveness because they encounter a general resistance to change, and they have to deal with practitioners' short-term thinking. Add to that a healthy dose of unrealistic expectations, on everyone's part, and you find yourself facing significant barriers to competing effectively in the marketplace. 

Here is a chart displaying the results (from a dozen respondents).

 
The findings break down as follows: General resistance to change = 41.5%; An atmosphere of short-term thinking = 25%; Unrealistic expectations for what can be done = 25%; and My function is marginalized (i.e. viewed with skepticism) = 8.3%.

Law firm marketers and business developers are not alone in facing these barriers. There are other barriers too. (To diagnose them at your firm, take our Marketing Barriers Assessments.) And these barriers exist in every other professional service sector.

So what's it going to take to get lawyers -- especially those functioning as managers for the firm -- to stop resisting change, and to pursue increased marketplace effectiveness? What will marketers and business developers need in order to lead these very smart people toward forward-thinking changes?

Facts. Data. Any information that displays the real marketplace and its impending shifts. Anything that allows practioners to hear the voice of the client and their emerging needs.

Marketers and business developers will need to carve out time and energy to get real facts. The closer you can get to the client, using accepted research techniques, the better.

Comments

[Russell Lawson]

As one of your responders to the Connected survey, I am disappointed that the results reflect such a small population. I agree that they may be accurately reflecting the prevalence of the issues identified, but one would hope that more responses would define the distribution with more clarity. One of my concerns about Connected is that Martindale Hubbell is not aggressively managing its growth and I think the lack of participation in these important questions is a sympton of the inertia and apathy within the community of users.