In a profession where technical expertise is a given, how can a law firm really differentiate its services in a competitive market? Andrew Powell, director of marketing at CMS Cameron McKenna, argues that it’s about delivering and interacting with clients through the consistent application of behaviours and principles throughout the organisation.
Until recently, law firms have tended to concentrate on similar attributes when setting out their stall. Technical excellence, geographical coverage and size of specialist teams have all been strengths that firms have sought to promote. Industry commentators, especially the legal media with its seemingly endless series of league tables, focus on size, labouring under the misapprehension that big must be beautiful and that all firms must seek to be the largest. Indeed, some law-firm partners believe that to be successful, their firm must be bigger. It’s as if getting larger in itself gives the firm the right to eat at the same table as the so-called magic-circle firms.
Clients, we are told, buy individuals and persona...
