"It's Game On!", law firms say

It is held to be a universal truth in football that it is harder to retain a league title than to win just one.

José Mourinho famously said, “Good teams win titles, but great teams retain them”. Makes sense. And acquisition and retention, albeit in the form of clients, is definitely something we are seeing more law firms focusing on in 2022.

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it?

It is far more complicated for champions to strengthen their side than it is for their rivals. Winning the league means that even a flawed team has a legitimacy, that even those players a manager believes might be improved on most easily have a right to keep their place. Football has always believed that you do not change a winning formula, that if something isn’t broken, you don’t fix it, even when it might be rather more broken than first appears.

The same can be said for law firms. Firms sometimes don’t know there are better ways to work. They do quite well; they’re bringing in fees; so all is well. But not adapting to a changing environment can be costly. And as much as many lawyers and law firms have formed great relationships, and in many cases friendships, your rivals’ desire is to win, to do better, to overhaul the firm that did better than them the previous year.

That is a powerful emotional impulse, particularly when combined with a freedom to change their working practices to address their problems.

A taste for success

Great football managers often talk about a hunger for trophies. Brian Clough always said that the most important triumph in his time at Nottingham Forest was not the league title or the European Cup, but the 1977 Anglo-Scottish Cup, because that was the one that gave the team a taste for success and set them on the way to further glory, including two European Cups. This is called the “Champagne effect”.

For law firms to change and succeed can be difficult. Mainly because, as friendly as you might be with the firm along the high street, you really don’t know what they’re up to internally. You don’t know what they’re planning, the trends they are following or the work the backroom staff are doing to get their team ready not just to compete, but potentially take the title! But what you can do is create small wins to give you that taste for success.

Structured success

Many of the law firms we speak to are gearing up and restructuring for a busy year. One even used the term, “It’s Game On!”, hence the title of this article. The trend we’re seeing is that the introduction and/or expansion of New Business Teams (“NBTs”) will be business critical for law firms.

We’ve heard so many law firms talking about this, and many are now adopting a dedicated NBT to enhance and structure their sales processes. Primarily because the importance of tracking the marketing spend and conversion values can’t be overestimated in today’s market. Firms are becoming laser focused on not only driving new business but improving comms and analysing their client data to ensure they retain clients.

Change your tactics

The general rule successful firms are following is that if the cost of client acquisition is too high for the work the client is paying you for, it’s time to change tactics.

The trouble with law firms is they are normally hired for a one off piece of work for a client, and struggle to sell other services to enhance the income stream they worked hard to sign up. The enthusiasm to try and structure this process and retain business wanes because most firms are busy and believe they don’t have the time. This may be true, but the amount of money being lost and the likelihood of you falling down the law firm league table because you don’t focus on this growth area is going to make or break the long term success of your business.

Here are three key areas you need to consider to succeed in the NBT challenge:

1. Methodology and process – how to do it within the context of your work types, legal knowledge and customers.
2. People and organisation – are you structured in the right way for success, with the right people owning the right things?
3. Systems and resources – using the right tech and resources is critical, as is ensuring your software includes a dedicated way to intake, track and convert enquiries easily.

Denovo’s “Champagne effect”

It’s a law firm leader’s job to teach their team to be hungry for success. It’s Denovo’s job to give your team the “Champagne effect”. In other words, we’ll show you how using the right technology to manage new business and retain existing clients will help your firm be successful. Coupled with great people and a structured process, we’ll give you the efficiency and data you need to see success. We’ll give you some wins.

It’s time to get ready. Game on!