LGBT: Law Firm Asset or Liability?

Fifteen years ago, I attended my first law firm diversity roundtable. I was relatively new to the legal industry and just coming into a solid understanding of the problem:  law firms are hardly, if at all, diverse. Caught up by the enthusiasm of the speakers, I walked away feeling upbeat.  I thought that the speakers would turn things around through sheer force of will. It seemed to me that by forming associations, growing awareness of the problem and launching internal and external initiatives, law firms would recognize the issue and take steps toward amending it. Geesh, was I wrong.

You don’t have to look far to discover that not much has changed. A recent Washington Post article by Deborah L. Rhode sums it up eloquently with the title, “Law is the least diverse profession in the nation. And lawyers aren’t doing enough to change that.” With decades of discussion and action on behalf of minority communities and law firm leaders alike, you have to wonder, “Why such little change over some many years?”.

It isn’t completely due to fewer minority students entering law school. It certainly isn’t for lack of intellect on behalf of the legal community: lawyers spend their days and nights unraveling complicated financial, emotional and physical problems….so what gives? Why can’t lawyers apply those problem-solving skills to the diversity riddle?

By narrowing the issue down to the LGBT community, at least part of the resistance becomes apparent: you can’t welcome minorities into your ranks with one hand, while pointing fingers at them with the other. It is a contradiction unique to the legal industry in many respects, corporate firms are responsible for advising companies of potential risk related to the same community which they are trying to recruit. This contradiction shows in content.

Over the last couple of months, the United States adopted a sea of laws and guidelines surrounding the LBGT Community including Obergefell Et Al. v. Hodges in June and recent OSHA and EEOC guidelines. With new laws and guidelines comes questions from employers about how best to navigate new policies and therefore analysis from law firms in the form of client alerts, blog posts, newsletters etc. Reading through the analysis, the contradiction is apparent: many alerts call out transgender people as a potential source of liability (i.e. – Implement this new bathroom policy today so that Adam, now Amanda, won’t sue tomorrow). Of course the content isn't that blatant but the sentiment is obvious. The same firms issuing these alerts have diversity tabs adorning their websites and sponsor local diversity initiatives. It begs the question, do communications teams run LBGT content by their diversity committees prior to publication? Would calling on a member of the LGBT community to read an alert about LGBT issues help firms identify unintentional bias? It might, at least, be a good way to foster a more inclusive culture.

There are a handful of authors who’ve navigated the recent changes beautifully. Such alerts typically provide a historical background on LGBT legislation, are longer form and provide a hearty summary of why the legislation was enacted illustrating what it means to employers and employees alike. These firms aren’t just saying they believe in diversity, they're proving it with thoughtful, objective analysis of complicated issues. It's obvious that this content isn't written in haste as a way of participating in a news cycle.

Companies will continue to call for greater diversity among relationship partners, just check out Microsoft's recent announcement. As your online, 24/7 brochure, content can help potential clients determine whether or not your firm has the experience and values to help their business. Taking the time to craft inclusive content is one way to make certain potential clients (and recruits) see you in the best light.

Image Courtesy of By chtfj21 ("chtfj21"'s Flickr account) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What will it take to Earn Social Media Respect among Law Firms?

Picture a smiling young mother with her smiling young daughter sitting happily in her arms. The associated LinkedIn Update reads: “Enjoying lunch with my cutie pie! So grateful to my firm for supporting on-site childcare and working mothers.”

Now, picture a glossy brochure with infographics, stock photos and a compelling pull quote from the managing partner extolling the firm’s long-standing efforts to promote work/life balance.

Both are recent examples from the same firm: one came as the result of a happy parent sharing her experience working as an associate at an AmLaw 200 firm, the other the result of countless dollars and hours spent on a marketing piece to garner publicity for their commitment to the cause. Which is more compelling? Would the happy mother’s message be amplified by a like, share or comment from the firm’s managing partner? More to the point, what is the return on investment for each kind of publicity?

For a long time publicity could generally be counted in two buckets: paid or earned. Paid media was much simpler to identify during the print era. It was either a display advertisement, positioned and marked in a special paid advertising section or buried in the back of the book as a directory or classified ad. Earned media, on the other hand, held a special sway and more respect. Earned media was that which, well, an organization or person earned through their efforts in the form of a journalistic article. Of course there has always been a lot going on behind the scenes as in-house and external PR teams work hard, make pitches and deliver experts to a reporter pre-deadline earning coveted spots on short-lists of people to call. Quotes from high-powered attorneys and article placements aren’t always earned on merit, sometimes it’s the right person at the right time.

But as social media and other technologies that make it easier for reporters to easily cull a wide variety of sources for their stories have grown, the definitions of earned versus paid media (especially in the legal industry) remain largely the same. It’s time for a new definition of earned media that includes credit for authentic and organic endorsements of a service or product on social media.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Consider last week’s Bloomberg BNA post from the Global Chairman of Baker & McKenzie, Eduardo C. Leite, “Why Social Media Matters for Law Firms”. Mr. Leite is proud to be part of the 5% of AmLaw 100 Managing Partners on Twitter. He cites, among many reasons, the fact that in five years, “…50 percent of the global workforce will be members of Generation Y and Generation Z. They have grown up connected, collaborative and mobile.”

Jennifer Risi, MD of Ogilvy Media Influence captures the sentiment in an article about a recent survey. She says, “Our savviest clients know they need to have a mix of traditional, social, and paid. It all needs to work together. They’re seeing the power of earned, and they’re seeing the return they’re getting because it’s very cost-effective, and when people tell your story for you, without having to pay for it, that’s very powerful”.

Social media enables people to tell your story without having to pay for it. It enables the good work your firm does to see the light of day. If guided correctly, social media can grow in power and take your story further. Managing Partners like Mr. Leite will be glad to see a continuation of the status quo: as his competition postpones and discounts the use of social media he will go about earning the powerful stories of tomorrow.

Anything they can do, law firms can learn to do better (including CRM)

The next time you host a meeting related to implementation of a new cross-selling or CRM plan and sniff out the slightest resistance, you might consider sharing news about Google’s new timeline feature, this recent post about Amazon’s intimate knowledge of your personal life or popular privacy content on JD Supra. Why?

Google is a “free” service and Amazon sells plenty of items for less than $5 yet these companies have dossiers on each of their hundreds of millions of customers and know way more about each individual than many law firms know about the few hundred clients they serve.

Clients expect you to know who they are in relation to your organization – not just when you have a scheduled meeting, but when they call to speak with you by surprise. CRM tools are ubiquitous, relatively inexpensive and highly mobile. Sure, they require time, care and direction from leadership but the payoff far outweighs the associated cost.

If technology companies aren’t muse enough to inspire action, there is always fear. Consider this article from The Economist in March, “Attack of the bean-counters”.

Further reading:

• Discussion on Lawyerist re: Cloud-based CRM
• Anecdotal evidence that CRM helps generate revenue
• Follow Chris Fritsch, who’s written about CRM for years on JD Supra

Cross-selling as a Client Service: Why didn't you call me?

Cross-selling is often positioned as a relatively easy and cost-efficient way to increase revenue:  by reaching deeper into the pockets of existing clients, you extract more money and strengthen relationships without exerting as much as you would to acquire a brand-new client. Apart from the internal political strife cross-selling often causes, this view tends to place the burden of education and purchase squarely on the shoulders of the potential client.

Case in point, related to a matter of personal finance, a broker recently asked my partner and I, "Why didn't you call me about X? I could have helped you with that." My question back, "Why didn't you tell me you could help me with X so that I could have called you?".

From the broker's perspective, he was absolutely correct. It would have been mutually beneficial to call upon his additional services: we'd already filed most of the necessary paperwork with his office and established the relationship. However, the broker's question placed the responsibility of knowing his line of work on our shoulders. Without regular communication from him or his firm, how were we to know that in addition to A, he also offered X, Y and Z? He has the responsibility to educate existing clients about his expertise and that of his firm making future transactions more seamless all around.

Are you positioning cross-selling activities as a client service? Are your client alerts and newsletters regularly communicating your full suite of services to existing (potential) clients?

Some examples of cross-selling content on JD Supra include:

• Content written or translated into languages other than English  to communicate cultural expertise (see recent posts by Littler or Bilzin Sumberg)
• Consistent industry or geographic updates that focus on business rather than practice area - Are you familiar with the Northern Long-eared bat, for example? Firms that do work in the Northeastern United States certainly are.
• Continuing Legal Education like this upcoming CLE webinar from Foley & Lardner

Educating clients about your full range of services can improve your brand and the sales potential for each individual practitioner. This can alleviate internal strife and deliver value to your clients while increasing revenue. It doesn't mean you should attempt to become everything to everybody rather, as you craft content remember that your clients can only know as much as you share. More simply put, clients can only buy what you offer for sale.

Content as a Client Service: it's easier talking to someone you know

 Second only to, "Advertising doesn't work...", "What should I write about?" is a common refrain of attorneys and the death of many a great business development opportunity. One successful technique for turning this question on its' head is to start with who you know and think of content as a service to existing clients rather than an expansion into new relationships. This makes it easier to identify potential topics and less intimidating because you are speaking to a familiar audience.

1. To begin, have your authors identify their best (most lucrative clients) or the areas of practice they are keen to grow. Identify clients based on industry, size, title and any other demographic detail unique to the decision-makers in this target group.

2. Using this list, have them flesh out need to know topics for these clients. This could be new regulations or court decisions that impact their businesses.

3. By subscribing to any combination of news syndication email alerts or following social media feeds, capture news and information related to the topics identified in Step 2.

4. As your attorneys read through the email digests and feeds for these topics, have them capture their reactions and analysis of the news in written format and voila! a client alert is born.

Client alerts take many forms these days (blog posts, articles, LinkedIn Posts,…) but the sentiment is the same: to make certain that you are a valuable source of information and analysis for existing clients. To get your editorial juices flowing, here are examples of news from June that translated into content (and visibility) for JD Supra contributors :

• SCOTUS was busy in June handing down major decisions including the Affordable Care Act Decision and Same-Sex Marriage Decision. Scroll through the preceding topic pages to learn about the impact these decisions will have on employers and families in the U.S.
• Caitlyn Jenner graced the cover of Vanity Fair and trended all over the month of June. Simultaneously, OSHA announced new guidance for employers and transgender rights in the workplace. Contributors responded with both thoughtful analysis and quick updates on what it means to employers and employees alike.
• The Great American Pastime always makes headlines in June. This summer, the Cardinals' made the news for all the wrong reasons: hacking. Check out legal coverage here.

You can subscribe to follow any of these topics from JD Supra here. 

Image Courtesy of "Contre-jour talk" by I, Alvesgaspar. Licensed under CC

Social Media: the New Hold Music of Customer Service

Do you remember the "greatest customer service story ever told"? It happened back in 2011 and involved a long day of flying and meetings, capped-off by a steak dinner hand-delivered to Peter Shankman at Newark Airport by Morton's steakhouse. I've been thinking of that story a lot lately....

Time reports that both Twitter and Facebook are looking at ways to curb the public nature of client service interactions over their platforms. Additionally, Marketing Land reports that Facebook is testing ways to allow companies to save and send canned replies to customers - allowing for quicker, less personal responses.  Adweek reports that customers don’t expect much from social media inquiries anyway: "…social media is a last ditch choice when a customer service issue is urgent, but customers don’t believe it’s a fast way to resolve an issue".

Further to the point, in summarizing an American Express survey that found similar results, Guillaume Seynhaeve, says: "So while 89 percent of companies continue to wrestle with how to engage their audience effectively through social media, many have yet to understand how to deliver superior customer service holistically with social media as one component."

Social media will likely not take the place of direct forms of fast communication like text, phone or email for professional services. If you are considering joining social media with an eye toward client service, consider these case studies.

Image Courtesy of "Dialog gr 1972" by Holger.Ellgaard - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - 

What's up with Client Service this Week? Empathy

Ever try walking a mile wearing a 65 lb. backpack?

Ok, it isn't quite as dramatic as that but USAA's customer service training goes quite a way toward putting their customer representatives in the shoes of their clients (military families). In addition to wearing 65lb backpacks, training includes reviewing deployment instructions, eating MREs and reading letters from deployed soldiers to their families back home to better understand the unique challenges these families face.

USAA's number 1 finish on Nunwood's 2015 USA Customer Experience Excellence Report is one measure of the financial service company's success. You can read more about it in The Golden Rules to The Six Pillars: Empathy. Bonus: check out the Nunwood Customer Experience Excellence Centre which is a goldmine of case studies and research.

USAA is an exception to the financial customer service rule according to a new study reporting global customer satisfaction with banks is only 23%.

In other words, :( for banks: a Penn State study reveals that emoticons in text communication may improve customer satisfaction as they translate empathy. Speed of response also earned high marks.

Zendesk's Q1 2015 Benchmark Report reports that customer satisfaction for live chat is higher than any other channel including email, webform, Facebook and Twitter. But be careful not to discount the public pressure imposed by Twitter: “If you’re not listening in social, it’s like telling your call-center staff to take the next month off,” says Lucas Vandenberg, founder of Fifty & Five, a Redondo Beach, Calif.-based digital marketing agency."

Finally, an indication that customer satisfaction can be just as much art as science, Chili's is spending millions to visually enhance its food and make it more shareable online. The idea: inciting a virtual race to keep up with the Jones' will lead more hungry people to dine at Chili's. Let's just hope they put as much effort into cooking your meal.

Image Courtesy of "Jack purcell" by rando111us