Dare to be different: Gaining the competitive edge on a behavioural level

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 personalities matter. This is undoubtedly true, but should never be used as an excuse to avoid structured law-firm differentiation or branding. Clients buy from individuals they trust and respect, but nor should this preclude a law firm from examining ways in which it might present itself to its markets as a unified team, espousing similar values.

However, the legal profession is changing, albeit slowly. Firms are beginning to see the benefits of building a distinct persona or brand. Clients, often through the growing influence of procurement departments, are increasingly asking law firms to set out what makes them distinctive, what unique benefits they can deliver and even what their corporate values are. Equally, clients are beginning to monitor the performance of their law firms against formal service standards, not just against the quality of legal advice.

The difficult lesson for firms is that, until such time as they are able to distinguish themselves from their competitors in a meaningful way, clients will have no option but to select on the basis of functional attributes or price. This is particularly the case in a competitive-tender situation where the feedback can sometimes be that all the firms taking part were very much alike, except in some cases on fees.

Identifying your points of differentiation

Beginning the process of differentiation requires a degree of introspection, coupled with data analysis and strategic thinking. The starting point has to be an understanding of precisely what it is that law firms sell. The immediate response to this tends to be 'legal services' or 'people' or 'expertise'. The reality is that any law firm may be able to deliver against these. It's far more productive to think in terms of law firms selling solutions, relationships and reassurance, as well as outsourced legal resources.

Armed with this understanding, you will need to ask yourself a series of key questions:

• What type of firm are we and what do we want to be?
• What do our clients value and how do we perform against this?
• How will we compete in a more aggressive marketplace?
• How can we improve the client experience and add value?
• What benefits do we bring to the client and how can we build upon these?
• What are clients going to be looking for in the future? How can we make sure that we are placed to deliver against this?

The answer to these questions may rest in part with functional or structural attributes. If your clients require access to services in a number of jurisdictions and are using your competitors because you cannot deliver, then you may have an issue to address. Equally, if they buy a particular service from another firm because they perceive it is stronger, you may have to consider whether you need to act on this and how.

Functional attributes, however, will not provide you with a sustainable point of differentiation. Unless, of course, you are in the enviable situation of having a pre-eminence in a field of law that few, if any other, firms can emulate, or where the barriers to entry are too great.

The real key to differentiation lies in emotional, cultural and behavioural attributes. It's how you deliver and interact with your clients that will provide the basis for your competitive edge, and it is how your lawyers behave on a day-to-day level that will define the client experience.

Start this process by interviewing your internal audience. You may be pleasantly surprised by the number of common threads that emerge from just a few discussions. Few organisations, including partnerships, will be so dysfunctional as to have no common, positive behaviours.

The real work begins, however, with discussions with your clients and an analysis of readily available market research on client-buying patterns and expectations. It's still relatively uncommon for law firms to systematically seek client views and to then act upon them, not just on an individual basis, but also in terms of shaping the firm's service delivery as a whole. Equally, a body of publicly available research would indicate that firms have a long way to go in managing and meeting client expectations.

The key point here is that reputations or brands are built on strengths over time. They should not be purely aspirational. Be ambitious, yes. But your ambition has to be founded on a core ability to deliver.

My own firm, CMS Cameron McKenna, began this process several years ago with in-depth interviews with clients. Very quickly, some key attributes began to emerge that we then tested in subsequent discussions. These attributes were all about behaviours, particularly our strength in building and maintaining long-term relationships founded upon understanding, commitment and trust. The words 'friendly', 'accessible', 'warm', 'flexible' and 'approachable' came up time and again, while some competitors were described as 'aloof', 'arrogant' and having a 'one size fits all' approach.

Armed with this feedback, we began the process of defining our competitive strengths and setting out precisely how we plan to compete in our chosen markets. We analysed carefully what the benefits of our approach are to our clients and even took the decision to involve them in helping us frame our overall strategic direction.

As a result, our strategy is founded on the principle that growth and success will come only by delivering value to clients. Today a key element in our decision making is the degree to which clients want us to undertake a particular programme and the impact it will have on our ability to meet their needs and deliver value.

Do not assert, demonstrate

It's important to note that your work does not end with a carefully crafted brand story or a revamped visual identity. Too many firms go through the process of defining their brand or points of differentiation, only to then pass this to the wordsmiths in marketing to reflect it in brochures and on the firm's website. By all means, invest in making sure that your 'shop window' matches your desired brand position and that your people can talk knowledgeably about your values '“ the so-called 'elevator pitch'.

But do not ignore the equally important task of ensuring that everybody in your firm can deliver consistently.

What you do internally will have a distinct impact upon how you are perceived externally; to borrow a phrase from a recent TV series, 'you are what you eat'.

To achieve true differentiation, firms must be able to demonstrate, not simply assert, their values and the distinct benefits clients derive from them. For example, read any law firm's proposal material and you are sure to find statements such as: 'We will make every effort to understand your business and to tailor our advice accordingly.'

This statement is directed at addressing a clear client need: tailored advice. But how many firms can show how they do this, let alone what the resultant benefits are? What processes do they have in place to ensure that this approach is applied consistently and that, as markets change, they are able to adapt their approach accordingly?

Brand management is not just about policing your visual identity and it should not be the sole responsibility of your marketing team. Rather, it is about ensuring that every aspect of your business reinforces your brand and helps deliver against its promise.

Is CRM the answer?

Many firms have embraced the concept of client-relationship management (CRM). They assert that they have CRM systems in place and point to a feedback mechanism and software to enable them to deliver against this promise.

Can CRM help a firm differentiate itself? In theory, yes it can. A good CRM programme will help a firm identify and meet client needs. In reality, I suspect that many law firms pay lip service to the concept. They confuse having a few processes in place with what should be a matter of culture and behaviour. CRM is about tailoring your offer to clients and managing your relationships and interactions with them effectively. CRM processes can assist with this but cannot be relied upon to deliver in isolation.

The law firm that truly embraces CRM in its entirety will quickly be differentiated in the marketplace. Not because it has a programme per se, but because it exhibits behaviours that have been moulded by the output of that programme.

By all means espouse the virtues of seeking feedback from your clients. But true CRM demands that you act upon it, not just in terms of dealing with individual client concerns, but also in terms of examining your processes and behaviours to benefit all clients and meet broader client needs.

Equally, how many firms measure partner and fee-earner performance against client feedback? How many include feedback as a key element in their appraisal processes? Does feedback lead to 'just in time' training or coaching for those that evidently need it? Does the firm's HR department reflect the lessons from client feedback in its recruitment criteria, helping to ensure that valued behaviours are reinforced?

Client feedback is a rich source of data on how the firm is perceived by its external audience. It should be one of the key metrics that a firm uses to manage its business. At CMS Cameron McKenna, we publish quantitative client-feedback scores alongside financial indicators to each team, and managers are held accountable for their team's performance.

Of course CRM is not just about feedback. It can also mean ensuring that your fee earners have a solid understanding of the world of business in general, and industry sectors in particular, to enable them to frame their advice. Delivering against the CRM promise means investing in systems and processes to build and maintain that knowledge. Formal training programmes, e-learning, coaching and access to industry data can all have a role to play. Often this can be alien to lawyers who have focused on honing their legal skills and who might traditionally have measured their own performance against these criteria.

What is the point of a CRM system if your finance team issue bills that come as an unwelcome surprise to clients or that do not adequately convey the value you have delivered?

In short, if you seek to differentiate on the basis of CRM, you will need to consider its impact upon your full range of business processes.

Daring to change

Law firms that choose to embark upon a process of creating a compelling point of differentiation must recognise that it is much more than marketing spin or the establishment of a handful of processes such as CRM. Sustainable differentiation will be achieved only through the consistent application of behaviours and principles throughout the organisation. In addition to reviewing and enhancing existing operational matters, leaders may need to consider what new concepts or changes need to be introduced into the business to reinforce the brand.

In addressing these issues, law firms should not consider themselves pioneers, alone in the wilderness. Many organisations, including professional-services partnerships such as accountants, have embraced these principles effectively. Change management and organisational development are recognised terms outside the law. They are led by professionals with experience of helping an organisation succeed in its desired behavioural and cultural-change programmes. There are tried and tested methodologies and a wealth of academic studies on the subject.

Daring to be different can mean daring to change. It should not be a decision taken lightly but, in the legal profession at least, it presents the willing law firm with a distinct opportunity to build a truly valuable brand for itself and for its clients.

Andrew Powell is director of marketing at CMS Cameron Mckenna. He can be contacted at andrew.powell@cmck.com<

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