Build Your Profile; Grow Your Practice
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by Shelley Dunstone, Legal Circles
Introduction
The legal profession is becoming more and more competitive. There is price pressure from cost-conscious clients. Many fields of practice are increasingly regarded as commodity services. Clients are less loyal and they shop around more. To avoid competing on price it is imperative to differentiate yourself and your firm from others in your category.
A very effective way to do this is to engage in “thought leadership”.
1. What is thought leadership?
The term “thought leader” was originally coined in 1994 by Joel Kurtzman, the founding editor of Strategy + Business magazine. He used the term to designate the kinds of people he wanted interviewed for his magazine – people with business ideas that merited particular attention. He said:
“A thought leader is recognised by peers, customers and industry experts as someone who deeply understands the business they are in, the needs of their customers and the broader marketplace in which they operate. They have distinctively original ideas, unique points of view and new insights.”
In the professional services world, the term “thought leader” has come to mean a subject-matter expert who has unique insights or perspectives to share in his or her area of expertise. Their ideas are packaged in an accessible and attractive format, and are distributed to a market that is eager to hear what they have to say. Their ideas can change the way people think, and sometimes can even influence the future direction of an industry or community.
How does thought leadership help you to build your legal practice?
Engaging in thought leadership can help you and your firm to:
- build a client following
- gain more work from your existing clients
- stand out in a crowded market and differentiate yourself from other lawyers in your category
- showcase your subject-matter expertise
- develop “trusted adviser” status
- position you as the expert, “go-to” person in your field of practice
- build your “profile” so that you become known for your particular expertise
- develop new services based on the needs of your market
- achieve competitive advantage based on your unique capabilities.
A law firm becomes a thought leader through the thought leadership efforts of its lawyers.
What is not thought leadership?
Thought leadership is not purely:
- Thought – it also requires you to lead with your thinking
- Reporting – it also requires your own perspective
- Opinion – it also requires your specific expertise
- Criticism – it also requires a positive call to action
- Search engine optimisation – although thought leadership can certainly improve your Google rankings
- Social media – although social media is a good tool for disseminating your thought leadership.
Thought leadership combines all these elements.
Sending out articles written by other people is not thought leadership, although it can support your thought leadership if the articles are well-chosen and relevant to the area in which you want to position yourself.
2. In what ways can thought leadership be disseminated?
You can convey your thought leadership through:
- Presentations at conferences and seminars
- Articles in newspapers, magazines and journals
- White papers, e-books and physical books
- Conversations with your clients, either individually or in groups
- Audio or video recordings
- Training programs for your clients
- Webinars
- Your firm’s web site
- Internet blogs, discussion groups or article directories.
3. How does thought leadership fit into your firm’s marketing plan?
Marketing communications fall into four broad categories:
- Advertising
- Public relations
- Personal selling
- Word of mouth
Thought leadership builds upon all of these and provides an additional, powerful weapon to your communications armoury. Thought leadership works by positioning you as an expert so that clients come looking for you, instead of your having to chase them.
Thought leadership is not advertising
Your advertising is paid for and controlled by you, and people know that. Although it builds awareness of your name, advertising is a relatively weak form of communication, because it is seen as self-serving. Conversely, thought leadership is based on providing valuable information, original insights and ideas to your target market. It is about demonstrating your expertise, rather than merely asserting it. It’s important to keep this distinction firmly in mind.
Thought leadership differs from public relations
Public relations activity generally focuses on getting a lawyer or law firm mentioned or quoted in the media – for any reason. Here, the journalist is in charge. You have no control over what gets published; the journalist decides on the angle of the report and selects the quotes to be used. Quotes are usually quite brief and can be superficial. Of course, any positive publicity is valuable, but such activity provides limited scope for a lawyer to convey the true value that he or she can offer.
Thought leadership puts you in control of building your profile as an expert. It’s based on having something original to say, and being a consistent source of valuable information and insight relating to your field of expertise. There’s a big difference between being an expert and being perceived as one.
Thought leadership is not selling
Personal selling is about “getting the sale”; converting a prospect into a client. When a person comes to you for initial consultation, or when you are presenting to a selection panel in support of a bid proposal, you’re in a personal selling situation. Selling is necessary, but it tends to be short-term and transactional. Thought leadership, on the other hand, is a longer-term strategy to position you as an authority. It supports your personal selling efforts by creating a “body of work” that is available for potential clients to look at when they are selecting a lawyer. When they check you out, they find plenty of substance behind the name. Thought leadership makes it easier for people to buy you.
Thought leadership drives word of mouth referral and recommendation
Most lawyers say that their work comes through word of mouth. Word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing communication, but it is also the most difficult to influence. By positioning you as an expert in your field, thought leadership makes it easier for people to refer and recommend you to others. Thought leadership makes you “famous for something”. People then become more willing to refer and recommend you, because:
- They are better informed about what you do, and
- They feel reassured that you really are an expert.
Strong “positioning” attracts clients to you, instead of you having to chase them
Lawyers who are widely known for their particular expertise attract clients, and are able to choose their clients. They also have control over the type of work they do.
Unfortunately, it can take many years to achieve this position, and some lawyers never reach it. Many lawyers find themselves having to work on matters outside their main field of interest, with clients they would rather not have to work with. It’s very common for lawyers to simply fall into an area of practice and get stuck there.
Thought leadership helps you control your destiny, and accelerates the process of getting known for your expertise. It helps you elevate yourself out of your category. Perhaps you could even invent your own category.
4. Thought leadership helps clients choose you
What makes someone choose one legal adviser over another? Why would someone change their legal adviser? It’s not a decision they would take lightly. They need to get to know you and recognize what your name stands for.
Thought leadership is not a “magic bullet”, but over a period your body of work accumulates, building your profile and reputation, getting you known amongst people who may become clients in the future.
Most people, when they buy something, are not loyal to any one supplier. They usually consider several possibilities before they decide on one. It’s the same with choosing a lawyer. Clients certainly shop around more than they used to. To have a chance of being chosen, you have to get onto their “radar”, and find your way into their “selection set”. When someone needs a lawyer, there’s usually a small window of opportunity over a specific period. It’s easier to be chosen if you have already made the effort to build your profile, than if you simply meet someone and try to sell your services to them. The more widely you disseminate your thought leadership, the more people can observe your activity and see what you have to offer.
5. How can you and your firm engage in thought leadership?
There are four main steps:
- Choose your strategy
- Find something interesting to say
- Say it in an interesting way
- Leverage your work.
5.1 Choose your strategy
Decide how you want to be positioned. Focus your efforts carefully, with a view to achieving competitive advantage. Strategy is “the choice of how and where to compete”. This means you must decide:
- What do you want to be known for?
- Amongst whom do you want to be known?
Don’t spread yourself too thinly. Expressing a view on every subject, and forwarding all kinds of articles to your clients could be a way to “keep in touch” with people, but it’s not thought leadership. Pick a theme and stick to it.
5.2 Find something interesting to say
Content is king. The quality of your content is the foundation of your thought leadership. Your informational content directly shapes people’s perceptions of you, your firm and what you can do for them.
Mine your experience. Plenty of lawyers already publish informational articles and give seminar presentations. This does not necessarily make them thought leaders. Thought leadership is more than simply reporting on recent developments in the law. That is also a competitive area where many lawyers and firms rush in to be the first to publish. Most lawyers rely on external catalysts such as new decisions or legislative amendments. Instead, draw on your unique experience and understanding of your market to develop new insights.
Offer practical guidance. Your piece needs to include some valuable advice that a person can adopt or implement. It’s not enough to say, in effect “This is very complicated; contact a lawyer for help”. This makes the reader or listener feel cheated, and gives the impression that you are simply advertising yourself, not offering value.
Be prolific. It’s not enough to publish one article or give one presentation. To build profile, you need to produce a consistent flow of material. Maintain a list of ideas for topics, and add to it whenever a new idea comes to you. This way, you will never get stuck trying to think of something to speak or write about.
Break it up. Lots of short articles are better than one long one. Short articles are more focused and more likely to be read.
Make it relevant. The things that interest lawyers are not necessarily the things that interest clients. Make it clear from the outset why what you are going to say will be helpful to the reader or listener. Don’t start with what the law says. Ask your clients what is going on in their world, and address those issues.
Here are some suggestions for finding topics for your speaking and writing:
- Identify trends; issues on the horizon that could have an impact on what your clients are doing, and help them to anticipate and prepare for the changes
- Tips and traps – common misconceptions or mistakes, and how to avoid them
- Solve a problem – one that you commonly see people struggle with
- Advice for success – your unique wisdom
- Recommend a new approach – challenge the usual way of doing things and show how a different process or mindset can produce better results
- Present a case study – either naming the client with their permission, or keeping the client details confidential
- Conduct a survey and report the results – people love to know what others do and think
- Be a client advocate – bring attention to an issue where reform is needed and lobby for it on behalf of your clients
- Be a campaigner – champion a cause, e.g. refugee rights, democratic government, social justice, etc.
5.3 Say it in an interesting way
Make your information accessible and easy to understand. This does not mean simply using plain language and avoiding legal jargon, although of course that is very important.
People are busy. If your message does not make an impact, it won’t get any attention. You need to be able to summarize your point very succinctly. Then, expand your point to explain it and make it memorable.
Here are some ways of expanding your point:
- A diagram to illustrate your point visually
- A metaphor to reinforce the concept
- A case study
- A memorable quote
- A statistic
- A set of action steps
- A process to solve a problem
- A thought-provoking question.
Allow your personality to show. Don’t focus on sounding like a lawyer. Build a rapport with the reader or listener.
5.4 Leverage your work
When you have made the effort to produce a piece of thought leadership, it makes sense to leverage it. You can leverage your content and your time.
Leverage your content
If you have written a large paper, break it into bite-sized chunks.
A speech can become an article, and vice versa.
If you have developed a list of short points, expand each point into a separate piece.
Each piece could become:
- an article
- an e-book
- a book chapter
- an MP3 audiocast
- a video on YouTube
- a question for discussion at a client luncheon
- a module of a training program
Distribute your work as widely as possible. Opportunities to publish in mainstream media such as newspapers, magazines and journals are valuable but limited. The Internet offers many opportunities to self-publish and showcase your expertise.
Leverage your time
The Internet (including social media) enables you to get your work in front of a large audience without your having to be there in person.
Publish your thought leadership material on your own web site, and post it elsewhere on the Internet with links back to your web site. This encourages people to visit your web site to find out more about you and how you can help them. It also increases the likelihood that you will be found through Google searches.
Here are some ways to harness the power of the Internet to maximize the return on your thought leadership efforts
- Publish a regular blog
- Post your articles and other thought leadership material on your LinkedIn profile.
- Post them to LinkedIn discussion groups
- List them with online article directories
- Use Twitter to update your LinkedIn status and also to disseminate your information beyond your existing network
Remember that the Internet and social media are simply tools for publishing your thought leadership content. To be recognized as a thought leader, the quality of your content is paramount.
6. Summary
Thought leadership is a great way to build your profile and build your practice. It makes you more valuable to your clients. It helps you to design your career by attracting the work you want to do and clients you want to work with. It provides a path to greater career fulfilment for you and also for your staff, thereby helping you to attract and retain good lawyers.
References
Thought Leaders: how to capture, package and deliver your ideas for greater commercial success (2011) by Matt Church, Scott Stein and Michael Henderson
Thought Leadership for Lawyers group on Martindale.com – here you will find articles, blog posts and discussions about thought leadership for lawyers:
Shelley Dunstone is an Australian lawyer, a former law firm partner and is the principal of Legal Circles, a specialist consultancy practice which helps lawyers to have better businesses and more satisfying careers. She is also an accredited Mentor with Thought Leaders Ltd. Shelley presents at conferences throughout Australia and internationally, and offers training to help lawyers to develop their skills of thought leadership. Visit www.legalcircles.com
© 2011 Shelley Dunstone September 2011  |
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