On Wednesday, May 12th, I was fortunate enough to attend a couple of sessions at American Lawyer Media’s Law Firm Marketing and Business Development Leadership Forum. The ILN was a marketing partner for the event, and I spoke on a panel called "Going, Going…Global? The Worldwide Marketing for Legal Services." Unfortunately, I have not yet mastered the art of tweeting from a panel I’m participating in (and so don’t have comprehensive notes for a re-cap), but the first session of the morning on the changing nature of in-house and outside counsel relationships was full of great takeaways for law firms and their marketing departments.  If you’re interested in the full list of tweets from the conference, you can check out the #LCMO hashtag transcript.

On the panel were:

Continue Reading Re-cap of ALM’s Law Firm CMO Forum: Inside/Outside Counsel Relationship

Last night, I caught the end of Neil Cavuto’s show, when he told a story that made me think – he said that he was shopping for a Mother’s Day gift and went into a store.  Both the store owner and his wife came over to him within the first few minutes to see if they could assist him with finding a gift to purchase.  He told them both politely that he preferred to look by himself, that he didn’t have anything in mind, but was in a hurry, so he wished to be left alone.  They did so, but only for a minute.

As soon as he picked something up to look at it, they both immediately came over to him again, giving him information he hadn’t asked for, insisting that the gift he was looking at must be what he wanted, and continuing to badger him.  He again asked them to let him look for the gift in private, and they continued to ask him what he was looking for and let him know that the gifts in the section he was standing in could all be mailed.  As he was getting more and more exasperated, his phone rang. It was his daughter in the store next door, saying that she had found a gift.  So he walked out of the first store, leaving the patrons in shock.  His message was that "no one is listening." 

That message got me thinking:

  • Are we guilty of the same thing?
  • Do we bother our clients or potential clients with information that they’ve asked not to receive?
  • Do we help them when they need it and let them be when they want some solitude?
  • What is our customer service experience really like for them – are we overbearing, like these store owners?
  • Or are we facilitators, business partners, trusted advisors?
  • Do we insist that we know what’s best for them, without finding out what it is that they really want and need?
  • Does that ultimately push them away?

I think Cavuto’s message is a good reminder that part of being great at our jobs, whether as legal marketers, as attorneys, or in any other field, is really listening to our clients, their needs, and even the underlying needs and wants they have that they might not be expressing. Ask yourself today, are you listening?

Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network.

For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Michael Samuel of Miller Samuel LLP in Scotland.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
A bespoke niche practice offering quality and specific services to clients at competitive rates.

Who would be your typical client?
Not easy to categorise, but we like to act for successful business entrepreneurs, medium to high net worth individuals, and for quoted and unquoted companies.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
We would like clients, potential and otherwise, to know that we care primarily about their needs and requirements, and that this is a fundamental part of our philosophy.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
I deal with private clients. My most challenging case some years ago was when I was able to achieve a result favourable to my clients, in a question of succession to an Estate, contrary to the opinion of the foremost legal authority. Simply put, he said, "you can’t do it!" Well, we did it!!!!!

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
I was appointed Dean of our local Faculty for three years in 2005 – the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow (its proper Title). It has 2,000 members. What was important is you can’t apply for the job – you are asked by your peers. I looked upon this as kind of a legal Oscar.

What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
I read as much as I can, play tennis as much as the weather permits, watch soccer, and of course, there are many family commitments.

What would surprise people most about you?
I am as old as I am.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
I have wonderful memories, but hosting the European Meeting some years ago at Loch Lomond has to be the best of these. The stunned faces of the delegates and companions that cold grey misty Friday night at Stirling Castle when the pipers and dancers emerged from the swirling mist to put on their display was unforgettable.

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
I think my father earmarked me as a lawyer from birth.  He was a dentist. I qualified at 21, so there wasn’t much time to think about anything else. I’ve not really come across another career in that time which I think I might have preferred.

If a movie were made out of your life, who would you want to play you?
Billy Connolly (joking perhaps, but at least he has a sense of humour).

How would you like to be remembered?
Not for a long time!!!!!

Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network.

For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Tore Hjelseth of Hjelseth, Kilstad & Borgen DA in Norway.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
Our law firm, Advokatfirmaet Hjelseth, Kilstad & Borgen DA ("HKB") is a small firm having its specialisation in corporate law, particularly Mergers & Acquisitions (including cross-border transactions), stock exchange/securities law, tax, and general contract law.

Who would be your typical client?
Our typical client is a Norwegian mid-sized corporation acting in Norway and internationally, being owned either directly or ultimately by a larger foreign company and thus forms part in an international group. Our work will consist both of counselling for the Norwegian entity and for the owner (or ultimate parent), then relating to doing business in Norway through the Norwegian subsidiary.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
That we, as a small and expedient law firm, are known for providing efficient services with top quality, that the internal communication within HKB leads to quick deliveries not involving a number of lawyers pulverizing the responsibility to respond or enhancing of the legal fees.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
Dealing with all legal aspects on behalf of a listed restructured company with an overseas management, carrying with it complicated inherited pre-restructuring issues, particularly related to erroneous accounts (in need of restating) dubious actions taken by the previous board of directors, hidden control mechanisms, loss making contracts and possible disloyalty.  The challenges in respect of clarifying historical facts from a regime under a management no longer in place, were numerous.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
Every time I can call a client late a night (when the client has gone to bed "knowing" that the deal was off), and say the following "we have solved it – they agreed."

What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
Tennis, long cooking sessions accompanied with great wine, skiing/playing monopoly with my daughters, Wilma (8) and Andrea (6) in the mountains of "Norefjell" where I have a cottage.

What would surprise people most about you?
That I am an Ayn Rand libertarian, and the compatibility I feel this has with philanthropy and social consciousness (yes, actually!).

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
I will never forget the first visit with ILN in San Francisco and the exceptionally friendly way in which we were met, and the positive energy this created.

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
Teacher – love to teach and the feeling of hitting the right string with pupils/students/audiences.

If a movie were made out of your life, who would you want to play you?
James Dean (alive!)

How would you like to be remembered?
Fair, friendly, helpful and with integrity to take on the burden to go against the majority and political correctness.

Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network.

For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Ricardo Cordero of Cordero & Cordero Abogados in Costa Rica.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
Our law firm is a general practice law firm specializing in corporate and business law.

Who would be your typical client?
International corporate clients and individuals doing business or investing in Costa Rica who require general assessment in areas such as corporate law, financial law, and insurance law, as well as real estate and development law.  In addition, our firm also deals with issues related to civil litigation, labor and immigration law, competition and regulation, intellectual property, and telecom law.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
That our law firm has the sufficient experience and we are professionals with strong legal backgrounds and a set of standards that will help them to achieve their goals in Costa Rica, whether for a particular investment, transaction, or a long-term business.  In addition, we work closely with all of our clients in order to make sure there is a sense of teamwork and co-participation.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
Our most challenging cases have been a couple of international project finance facility projects that we have worked on during the past year.  Due to the economic crisis, both lenders and borrowers are more cautious and the sources of funding have been very limited.  Thus, we have had to go the extra mile and use a lot of legal creativity, long work hours, and careful strategy to be able to secure such transactions.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
I think I am living my proudest moment as a lawyer. Together with my firm’s partners, we have managed to continue the expansion of our firm’s practices, international clientele and exposure as one of the most renowned law firms in Costa Rica. I have also been able to achieve my personal goals as a professional and as co-managing partner of the firm.

What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
During my spare time, I try to have a balance between my family, traveling and playing golf.

What would surprise people most about you?
My age.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
Since we recently joined the ILN, I would have to say that the most memorable ILN experience has been the Annual ILN Meeting held in San Francisco this past June. On a personal level, I was surprised by the good environment, which seems to be the common denominator for all ILN meetings.  We were greeted very kindly by existing members. On a professional level, I was very impressed by the professionalism and reputation held by all ILN members.

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. However, if I had to choose another career, I probably would have chosen Business Administration/Entrepreneurship.  I have always enjoyed the business side associated with the practice of law.

If a movie were made out of your life, who would you want to play you?
Tom Hanks. I think he is a great actor who has always chosen the parts he plays very well.  In addition, he seems to be a down to earth, personable guy who lives his life working hard and close to his family.

How would you like to be remembered?
I would like to be remembered as someone who enjoyed life, his family and work; as someone who always tried to do things the right way in the pursuit of excellence. I would like to be remembered as someone affable, who passed on good moral values and the sense of hard work to my next generations.

In the legal industry, we know how important it is to keep our clients happy, to find ways to work with them that show them we understand their business and their pains.  But how good is your firm’s customer service, really?  Generally, you’re not the only one interacting with your clients, so do the other people at your firm who work with your clients give them the same level of attention and service that you do?

You may ask, how important is that, when I already work so hard on my relationship with my clients? Well aside from comments from general counsel like we heard at the LMA conference, when they said that surprises in their bills made them wonder if their relationship-partner was reviewing them at all, I have two non-legal stories that I think illustrate why good, and bad, customer service can really affect your relationship with clients.

A couple of weeks ago, I was returning from Social Fresh in Portland. For some reason, I’d chosen to take the red-eye flight, which meant that because I’d been there for less than 24 hours, I felt like it was 2:30am when we were supposed to board.  The incoming flight was delayed because of weather on the east coast, and when they got there, it turned out that they were having some difficulty with the de-icing light on the plane. The Jet Blue agents at the gate made an announcement, told us what the problem was and that they didn’t know how long we would be delayed. They continued to update us at regular intervals until we finally were able to board and take off (on the same plane).  I slept for a bit on the plane, and woke up when they turned the cabin lights on. That was also when they announced that the de-icing light had come back on, and because of the weather in New York, we had to land somewhere that wasn’t experiencing icing conditions – Buffalo. 

Continue Reading How Important is Customer Service?

 

I finished my Twitter coverage of Social Fresh Portland (because I was locked out by too many tweets!) with the Branding within Social Media Panel, with Kim Brater of Ant Hill Marketing, Steve Parker of Levelwing Media, Matt Singley of M80im, Kristy Bolsinger of RealNetworks, and Andrew Sinkov of Evernote.  Fortunately, although Singley threatened to liven up the panel by making it "pants optional," the whole panel staye fully clothed as they gave the audience some great advice.

The first question was about how branding is defined in each of the panelists’ organizations and translated to social media. Sinkov said at Evernote, they ask themselves, "what is the impression we want to give people?"  Their answer is that they want to be a company that people trust and believe in.  In Brater’s mind, your brand is your business.  Bolsinger said that she considers social media channels to be a way to strengthen their brand and make it something "living."  She encourages using the same brand and message across all channels in marketing, including social media.  Social media can also help to define your brand, because through engagement, you can learn what your customers think your brand is.  Singley said that while he promised not to use these buzzwords for the remainder of the panel, it’s true that branding is about consistency and engagement.  To make sure everyone was listening, he suggesting using liquor to transition the Old Guard to this new media.  More seriously, he said that one of the main questions he gets about using social media is how you can effectively measure it.  He said that he responds by asking how you can measure the effectiveness of a conversation or a relationship – you can’t.  Social media requires a leap of faith.  For bigger brands, this can be a little bit easier because they’re used to being sued for being transparent.  For smaller brands, this might be more difficult.  But Singley pointed out that it’s more about opportunities lost because of not being a part of a conversation, and those brands that ignore social media will lose.  He did agree that at some point, it’s necessary to show the value of social media and Bolsinger said that ROI can be more about what you save the company than what you bring in.  Singley added that persistence and education is how you get people on board.  An audience member asked if there was value in trying to measure the effectiveness of social media. Singley said yes, but he has yet to figure out how.  "Metrics are a necessary evil of agency life," he commented.  Bolsinger commented that if there isn’t a lot of differentiation between your company and your competitors, social media can be a way to differentiate.  Depending on your brant/product, you can show how social media has a better return on investment than traditional channels.  For showing how pervasive social media channels are, the panel recommended Do You Know 4.0.  Brater also recommended looking at Olivier Blanchard’s presentation on ROI in social media.

 

Continue Reading Recap of Social Fresh Portland: Branding within Social Media

Another great session at Social Fresh Portland was the afternoon panel on Corporate Blogging with Mike Volpe of Hubspot, Kristy Bolsinger of RealNetworks, and Andrew Sinkov from Evernote.  Starting the panel off with a bang, their first question was “should you, as a business, be blogging?”  The short answer was “yes.”  The long answer was “you’re an idiot if you don’t.”  Sinkov said that blogging is an incredibly important part of getting your company’s voice out there.  The panel discussed whether blogging should be considered a part of social media, or in its own category, and Sinkov commented that it’s a “long form of social media.”  Volpe agreed, saying that a blog should be the first step in social media, before Twitter or Facebook, because you’re not that interesting without it – it’s your social media home base.  They took an informal poll of the room showing that pretty much everyone in the audience had a corporate blog. 

Volpe pointed out that blogging is not about you or your company, it’s about your customers.  And if they segregate, you should similarly have separate blogs.  Bolsinger cautioned that from an SEO perspective though, they should all be on the same site.  Sinkov added that the more content you put on the blog, the more you see spikes of people coming to it.  So as soon as you have good content, put it out there, don’t wait for it to stack up. Bolsinger said that in her case, she does have a calendar of certain types of posts, which helps to get people coming back and set audience expectations.  She suggested Outspokenmedia.com/blog as a great blog to be reading to help audience members learn how to blog better. 

Continue Reading Re-Cap From Social Fresh Portland: Corporate Blogging Panel

 

One of the sessions I was most excited about at Social Fresh Portland was the keynote speech by Peter Shankman of HARO – "It’s Not Social Media – It’s Simply Life."  Shankman’s speech had a lot of great takeaways, and focused on the four rules he follows in business and in his life: 1) Transparency 2) Relevance 3) Brevity 4) Top of Mind.  He started by saying that the smart ones are all saying the same thing – social media isn’t going away; it’s entering the lexicon. 

Shankman learned some valuable lessons at the start of his career, which he shared with the audience.  In 1995, when AOL was "the internet," Shankman was working with them and helped to found the AOL newsroom by asking "is there a better way to solve this problem?"  He said that they would go into work every day and try something new – if it worked, they did it again. If it didn’t work, they didn’t do it again – a lesson that’s applicable now in social media. Shankman commented that learning to constantly ask – "is there a better way to solve this?" – has served him well. He said that one of the best things you can ever do is to find a better solution to a problem, because if the solutions that everyone already had already worked, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore. 

 

Continue Reading Re-Cap from Social Fresh: Keynote: It’s Not Social Media – It’s Simply Life with Peter Shankman

The third session of the day for me was "Social Media for Small Business – A Fresh Conversation" moderated by Ryan Lewis of Bonfire Social Media.  He took an informal poll of the room, which was made up of mostly small businesses, with some agencies.  Since the format of the session was a roundtable, we went right into questions from the room.  An audience member asked, for a small business strapped for time, how do you find a balance between hiring an outside consultant to handle social media versus doing it in-house.  Another audience member responded with a success story of how doing social media in-house has really worked for them, with their preferred medium being Twitter.  There has been a lot of debate recently about this very issue, and I also fall on the side of doing social media in-house – when people engage with someone on Twitter, Facebook or other social media channels, even when they are engaging with a brand, they want to be talking to someone who represents the voice of that company, and knows the company well.  There’s an implied sense of trust that comes along with following or becoming a "fan" of something, and if those clients/customers find out that they’re dealing with a consultant and not someone from the company, that trust can be broken with serious consequences.  I talked about this issue in a little more depth with respect to ghostblogging.

Another audience member asked about who is using Facebook applications, adding that there’s huge success there for those who are.  Someone commented that Facebook adds a layer of demographic targeting that can be extremely useful, though it’s sometimes necessary to test different advertisements to find success.  Another audience member wanted to know if there was an average price point for the products that are selling, using tools like Facebook. He’s found that social media tools are better for branding, because he sells an expensive product.  He wanted to know if a company would be throwing money away if their product is expensive and so they’re only using social media for branding.  The room seemed to agree that the answer was no – even if the sales process is not happening through these tools, developing a reputation for a certain expertise is useful in leading to an offline sales process.  (*Applicable to law firms)

The group then talked a bit about whether Facebook or Twitter was a more useful tool for companies.  Someone commented that Twitter is a great tool for communications, but for indexing and critical mass, Facebook will become a much bigger player.  It was suggested that companies incentivize their fans to join their Facebook pages, which we’d heard in the previous panel.  Incentivizing them to become a "fan" of your company and product is one step, but leveraging this group to build a database is what’s really important.  HubSpot was mentioned again as a company who does this very well.  To get "fans" to sign up their email addresses and information with a company, an audience member suggested reserving some content for release when they give you this data.  Another audience member cautioned that some small businesses think you go right from getting someone to become a "fan" to getting a sale, and said that it’s important to remember to build the relationships further first.  (*Great lesson for law firms)

Continue Reading Recap of Social Fresh Portland: Social Media for Small Business – A Fresh Conversation