Five-step guide to internal marketing

For some reason, the first thing firms tend to think about when it comes to marketing is new business: identifying, targeting, chasing, and closing new clients.

Internal marketing (i.e. cross-selling) is still a largely ignored elephant in most firm’s meeting rooms.

This drives me to distraction because your clients almost certainly have requirements in other areas (as people and businesses) and are more likely to give you that work because they have already chosen your firm and like the work you do.

My suggestion is that marketing priorities should be inverted. Start with selling more to your existing clients, and managing and growing those relationships, then move on to new client acquisition. This will deliver a higher rate of success and deliver more fees in return for the time you invest in business development, and
the improved success rate will enthuse your fee earners to play a more active part in future marketing and they can hone their business development skills in a warmer environment.

If you would like to unleash the financial possibilities that lurk within your client base, here is a simple five-step model to help you get started.

1. Know what you want

What type of clients do you really want? It may sound like a strange question, but applying some focus will make the internal marketing process easier, more worthwhile, and,
as a result, more enjoyable.

Think about the size and profile of the clients you want and the sectors in which they operate, then cross-reference those characteristics with your client base. The matches will give you your shortlist.

2. Know what’s going on

Throughout your firm there
will be departmental and team meetings. If you are going to tackle internal marketing effectively, you need to know which group is responsible for
the targets you’ve identified
and where and when they meet.

Ask the chair if you can attend and have five minutes to introduce yourself and what you offer. Then take a note of the attendees and informally keep
up to date with them around the office.

Attending once probably won’t generate a response so make a note to attend every quarter or, at the very least, every six months.

3. Buddy up

Human nature dictates you will get on better with some people than with others. The colleagues you get on with best will probably have the clients you will get on with best.

Identify those colleagues, arrange an informal meeting
with them, and discuss the introductions you could make
for each other.

4. Have something to say

Think about what you’re going
to say once the introduction has been made and you’re sitting
in front of the client. It’s a cliché, but you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, so be relevant,
be credible, and be interested.

Relevance and credibility is down to due diligence. Know the client’s business (or, for private clients, their family structure and history), know about the work your colleagues have done for them in the past, and be aware of their current and future plans and objectives. You do not need to compile a Mourinho-esque dossier; a quick scan of their website will suffice.

Think about that information and how your practice area could support each strand.
Think about the most recent developments (such as case law or competitor activity) and work out how your skills can help the client take full advantage
of those developments.

Have specific examples
of similar clients you’ve helped to hand. Nothing will make you more credible than the ability
to talk about specifics.
The instruction of a lawyer is primarily about the mitigation
of risk; if you can show clients instructing you is not a risk, the likelihood of getting a trial piece of work will increase.

5. Offer a ‘loss leader’

Some clients may need a practical demonstration of what you can do. However, you need to make sure this practical demonstration does not eat up valuable billing time or set a precedent for unpaid work down the line.

You also need to ‘leave a foot
in the door’, a legitimate reason
to go back to the client and continue your conversation.
This is where a pre-planned loss leader will pay dividends.

What can you do for the
client that is both time and cost effective from your point of view? It may be a review of a contract
or terms and conditions, it may
be a free will review, or it may
be a report or a commentary
on a business plan. Whatever
you come up with – and circumstances and practice areas will combine to dictate what is possible – it should, as much as possible, be template and quick and easy to deliver. It should also clearly demonstrate your understanding of the client, their sector, and your practice area. SJ

Douglas McPherson is a director of Size 10 1/2 Boots