Podcast Episode 192: Building an Effective, Flexible Strategy For Your Law Firm

In this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 Podcast, Guy is joined by Kate Pearch. Kate is the Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer at Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP. Kate focuses on her firm’s unique client service to strengthen its brand and position in the marketplace. She is known for her excellent people skills and for leading successful collaborations between the marketing team, executive committee, and practice leaders. Her responsibilities include designing and implementing marketing, communications, public relations, practice growth, strategic development, and leadership succession programs.

1. Why Building an Effective, Flexible Strategy For a Law Firms is Important

Having a strategy that you are using effectively helps you continue to make progress. From personal experience, Kate has seen that a strategic vision and plan can make a law firm a lot more cohesive. It also creates better collaboration within the organization, which then improves client representation, client service, leadership, and management. Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP launched their first strategic plan about 5 years ago, when everything in the world felt upside down. Although times were hard, this helped the company navigate everything crazy that could potentially happen and where they needed to focus their resources. 

2. The Different Components of a Strategy for Law Firms

Strategies can differ from firm to firm, but the most important component is a clear analysis. 

This includes: getting data, getting market research, talking to your client, and analyzing where your strengths and weaknesses are. From there, firms should compare that with where they want to be. This not only helps with determining an accurate state of where you are, but also how you can grow. Having deadlines for goals is also important, as they should have a defined timeframe and be related to the vision of where you are and where you want to be. This creates ownership and responsibility for leaders at firms. Having an effective strategy has buy-in and participation from everyone, from the managing partner, down to the marketing coordinator. Everyone needs to understand where you’re going and how they contribute to that larger whole. If everyone is clear on the goals and the priorities they can all work together to try to move those forward.

3. Why Marketing Leaders Should Help Drive and Evolve a Law Firms Strategy

Marketers and business developers within a law firm are in a unique position because they are not only building connections for attorneys with clients, but they are also building connections within the organization. The nature of law firms and practices is that people have their teams that they work with, but they may not know what others know. Someone in health care may not know what someone in real estate is doing. Therefore, connections are built between the partners, practices and the department leaders. The benefit of having marketing and business development involved in the strategy is that the team can focus their resources and funds to help the firm achieve its goals, making them more effective and successful.

Takeaway: 

When you set a goal, understand that it may be a winding path to achieve it – particularly if it is an ambitious goal. Set actionable steps and measure your progress along the way so you can see advancement over time. Involve others in moving your goals forward. Share your successes with leadership so they can see your progress, too. 

You can find Kate Pearch on Linkedin and the Company Website. 

Check out our newest ebook, A Law Firm Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics, here.