In recent recessionary times many companies appear to have completely forgotten this philosophy.

In the rush to cut costs, the first two budgets that have been cut are the marketing budget that creates awareness and a true differential and even worse the staff training budget that invests in the firm's most valuable assetts.

Before you make any knee jerk financial decisions, ask yourself if this is what leading companies like Apple and Google would do. I think you know the answer. Believe me, businesses of all sizes both great and small are suffering from this. Don't become another one of them.

It was at a Manchester Law Society Firms Forum event last Summer that Shefali Talukdar, Managing Partner of Bury firm Clough & Willis, first met Alistair Marshall, a specialist in Professional Business Development.

Like many management teams of small and medium sized practices, Shefali and fellow partner Tim Gray had grown increasingly frustrated by the flow of work from traditional channels being in increasingly short supply. Not only that, but they were investigating significant amounts of resource, both in time and cash, without seeing the return on investment they had hoped for. There was something in the no-nonsense presentation surrounding ‘How to Attract New Clients and Win more New Business’ that made them realise it was time for a fresh approach.

Following a short meeting to decide on how the two parties might best work together, it was agreed that Alistair should undertake a thorough review over 2 or 3 days, of the existing marketing and business development budgets and processes. His first task was to find savings that would ensure that his involvement was at least cost neutral to the business.

After in depth interviews with key personnel and implementing a staff survey for both fee earners and support staff, a comprehensive plan involving dozens of measurable action points was introduced. Regular visits over 6 months has seen significant improvement in motivation and employee engagement start reaping rewards. Following appraisals to outline forward objectives, a change in attitude and behaviours has lead to an increase of Business Development activity and last month saw the highest number of new client instructions in over a year.

The measurable results gained are raised activity levels focused on building relationships with potential clients and intermediaries, the conversion of those opportunities, as target clients and partners better understand the expertise and capabilities of Clough & Willis as a firm and improved client satisfaction. Best practice in marketing the firm both on and offline via an increased number of routes to market is now in place. Partners and staff alike have been empowered to convey the ‘differential’ to potential new clients and this enables the firm to maximise results from networking and be able to better cross sell its services to existing clients via accurate database management.

Shefali describes the experience “ Alistair makes a real, practical difference. We wanted a consultant who would 'get his hands dirty' and not just sit in front of us and give us the theory. He has helped us implement the necessary measures to bring about practical change. His insight and support has been invaluable to me.”

AMC develop detailed firm wide business plans to help achieve growth goals. They help, support and train solicitors and in house marketing staff to successfully execute those plans. It’s about practical help to achieve goals, not just to envision them. A new 286 page book entitled ‘The Complete Business Development Guide for Law Firms’ will be available in the Summer.

The research, carried out in association with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, found that despite 87 per cent of SMEs acknowledging the positive impact that marketing has on sales, many are letting it ‘slip off the radar.'

While three quarters see marketing as important to business success, a third admit to rating their efforts over the last six months at less than five out of 10. A further 11 per cent admit to doing none of the marketing they had planned.

Time (21 per cent) and money (36 per cent) were cited as the biggest barriers for SMEs achieving adequate marketing activity.

According to the research, the average business owner juggles seven different roles on a daily basis but puts buying stationery ahead of marketing. As expected, established SMEs are more likely to achieve their planned levels of marketing compared to younger SMEs.

Entrepreneur, Jo Behari, said: "This research clearly shows that when marketing drops off the radar, it costs businesses significant revenue. A small business owneralways has to be mindful of the bottom line and while it's rare to carry out a marketing plan to the letter, with just 39 per cent getting done there is room for improvement. Putting that extra effort in really will make all the difference to the profitability of your business, or even its survival."

What is our largest business development challenge?

How are we dealing with it?

How long have we had the problem?

What have we done to address it?

How is it impacting the organisation?

What is it costing us?

If it continues, what will the effect on the business be?

What are we good at and should do more of?

What are we poor at and must stop doing?

What will we do different Tomorrow to ensure we hit our Financial and lifestyle goals?

Do not under estimate the importance of addressing these issues. Let me know how you get on.

MH: I think that now they are looking for lawyers who will go that extra mile.  So for me it’s ones that don’t just give a range of options and then sit back and say what do you think?  It’s ones that would say if it was my money you’re doing this or you’re doing that.  They want proper advice, commercial advice.  I think they want transparency – the years of just racking up the hours and sending them bills are long gone.  Everything is now a lot more structured, you have got to quote for things; everything is done at a fixed fee.  That is the reality now. Even if you can't give a fixed fee, you have got to give a range of prices; how much you think it is going to cost, but then constant updates to say how are we doing against that quote, that target, that estimate, which again is better.

AM:Is the billable hour dead?

MH: It's pretty much dead I would say,but I still think it is an amazing tool to manage with.  It is a very good tool for internal use.  You actually get to see how effective and how efficient your lawyers are.  It is clocking on and clocking off isn’t it, as it used to be and there aren’t many industries where people still do that.  A timesheet is a diary of what somebody has done during a day so you can see who is working efficiently and who is not so it is a great management tool I think, but from a client point of view they don’t care.  They want a job doing and they want to know how much it is going to cost, who is going to do it and when it is going to be done by. It is all scoped out now. Lawyers have got the data to look back and say, ‘Well, did I get the quote right or wrong, how much margin am I making on these sort of jobs? Could I be more efficient next time I get a job like that?  Can I delegate/pass work down to a junior?  Can I delegate it to a computer?  How can I make the margin better? But these are things that were completely alien to firms a few years ago.  But client’s demands have driven a lot of that. 

AM: How do you train customer service or is that based on your recruitment of the right people? 

MH: Well you have got to demonstrate it haven’t you?  So you have got to live your values so to do that,we are constantly looking for new people because we are ambitious and we want to grow so yes it is important.  I interview everyone that comes in here and I never ask them a legal question because they might tell me the answer and I wouldn’t know if it was right or wrong!  It is more important to try and see if I think they will fit in. When we were in the old building, it was so poor that to be honest at times you didn’t even want to show a new recruit where they might end up working, you would wait until they had signed the contract.  So I would take them down to Starbucks and within that two minute walk you had a really good feel for somebody and it kind of talks to you at a human level, because they all thought they would come in and go straight to the meeting room, but I'd say let’s go and get a coffee and see what they are like.  Do they open the door?  Do they barge in?  Do they offer to pay?  Not that I would let them, as we are interviewing them and it is as much about them feeling comfortable with us, but just little things like that, you get amazing details from people within two minutes of meeting them that have nothing to do with their intellect or their ability to act as a lawyer, but just how they are as human beings.People who are clever enough to get a 1^st probably had to work really hard and might not have spent as much time having fun and trying to communicate with people and may struggle in a firm like ours of this size, but equally you go down to London and some of the really big firms you need to be of that intellectual level because you are writing the precedence that the rest of us buy and use.  Its horses for courses. For me it is more a cultural feel we try and get.

AM: From a Business Development perspective, how have you gone about that process of getting the  message across of this is who we are and we are good at this and better than the others?

MH: Just spending time with people, a lot of time. Many Managing Partners probably don’t like recruitment consultants.  They are like football agents, if they have got a good player why wouldn’t I want to talk to them.  If they understand your firm and where you want to get to, they are actually our front line sales people, they are going to be out there meeting the talent that is out there in Manchester that might not have heard about us because we were this best kept secret.  They are out there promoting the firm and they find the talent that you don’t know is maybe looking to move.  A lot of people don’t want to pay their fees, but if you actually spend a lot of time with them they just bring you the right people for your firm. It is the same with football.  If you say I am looking for a left back that can play with somebody who is Spanish, then you communicate with them and they will do that for you.  You could go to do all the scouting yourself and you might find the odd person, but they are part of the game.  Recruitment consultants are part of the legal industry.  Get on with it and use them to the best of your advantage.

AM: Looking to the future of the profession, do you see lots of mergers and acquisitions?

MH: If I look downstream, I don’t see a lot for us, acquisitions and mergers of smaller players.  The problem with the law is that you are taking on all the insurance risk.  You become a successful practice, you can't possibly do the due diligence you need to see whether or not there are skeletons lurking there and the cost of insurance is so high, the reality is, that when you are looking at firms, that there are probably a few good people you want and they control the majority of the clients and that is the challenge, to pull that out so it is more about lateral hires.  But those firms are desperate to get taken over because the Partners have got capital in there and the only way to get it out is if somebody takes the business on so working progress is converted into debts and bills and bills get converted into cash and that’s how the balance sheet works.  And so if they haven’t got succession, then someone has got to pay off their running cover as well so I think you are going to see a lot of blood on the carpet in the next few years of the smaller firms because why would you take them over? 

 AM: Any advice for young people entering the law?

MH: I did a course for the College of Law recently. I started off by saying well who would work at Clifford Chance?  Most of the hands went up. Who would work at George Davies?  The hands stayed up.  Who would work for the Coop?  And not one of them put their hands up.  At the end of it I think the talk was get real ‘cause the Coop are coming, they are here, they are going to be a big employer and do certain aspects of law really well so don’t think you are too good to go and work there, ‘cause it will be a good place to go and work.  Everything is changing.  It is still a good profession.  You can still have fun.  It wont be good old days that probably existed five years ago but they were too good, so if people are coming in thinking Daddy did it and he made a fortune and played golf all the time, it is not that profession anymore, but if you are interested in the law then still do it.  It is a very rewarding job, but equally it is a good place for business people now. 

The full transcript from this and all the other interviews with the leading 'Rainmakers' will be available in a book format later in the Year.

NH: Good people, more good people, and more good people.  The definition of “good people” has changed.  Pre-recession, it perhaps meant good lawyers, nice people, who got on with clients but who weren’t necessarily able to build relationships with clients and intermediaries.  Four years on, good people now means so much more.  It means people who will go the extra mile, obviously, for their clients; will really invest in listening to clients and building broader and deeper relationships with clients, the same with intermediaries.  It means people who have business development & profile-raising and CRM as part of their DNA; it means people who price for profitability, but price for client certainty, giving clients pricing options; it means people who’re devoted to giving the best possible customer service; it means people who are adaptable to change; it means people who are prepared to accept change as one of the constants in their lives.

They’ve got to be committed to process improvement; they’ve got to be committed to efficiency; they’ve got to be committed to coaching and developing the people behind them.  I take it as given that they’re good lawyers.  But if they’re going to be assets to the organisation, they’re going to have most of those skills. Of course, we have to play to people’s strengths and recognise their weaknesses.  Not everybody’s going to be brilliant at all of these, but those soft skills are vital to the organisation.  They’re absolutely essential.

AM: Okay, so that’s what’s required.  The next part of that question is what do you think the client looks for today in their legal provider?

NH: Again, they take the legal ability as absolutely given.  So they want people who listen to them, who will understand, who have some familiarity with & understanding of their business, their sector, their concerns, what’s keeping them awake at night, and so on and so forth.  They want value for money services, and value for money means giving your client some choice, some certainty…giving them something that they never used to have in their relationships with others, which is control.  If we say to a client that we can price it this way or that way, the client gets the choice.  The client’s in control of the financial side of our relationship.  They like that.  And we’re very good at that.  We are ahead of the curve on pricing.

AM: So what’s your view on the way services are charged for?

NH: The billable hour isn’t dead, but it’s…you know, it’s under threat and we’re moving away from it pretty damn rapidly as I think I’ve just illustrated, (Whispering) but it’s not dead.  And there are some jobs or parts of jobs that kind of have to be done on a time basis.  You might need some…have an initial meeting; I can give you 200 quid or whatever it may be.  But we now offer somewhere over a dozen different pricing models.

AM: Okay, so given that business development is such an important aspect of how you’ve built the practice, how do you invest in training and skills development with particular emphasis on BD and service?

NH:  As well as  having a slightly higher than average spend per percentage of turnover on marketing than most, we’ve got a good team which is built around Laura Parkinson, our BD director, who’s absolutely first-rate; and she and her team are constantly out and about in the offices, having BD meetings with colleagues…either by location or by practice group.I don’t think they know it, but they’re being trained in these meetings.  And we are augmenting that.  The one area that she thinks we’re a little bit, still a bit deficient in, and she’s absolutely right, is that we make all the right noises, we’re quite good at meeting people, and building realtionships but asking them for a job, please!.  Sales training is what we need and so we’re buying some sales training in, which started in the new year.

The full transcript from this and all the other interviews with the leading 'Rainmakers' will be available in a book format later in the Year.

AM: There have been some high-profile failures in the personal-injury market recently yet you appear to be going from strength to strength, why is that? 

MJ: I have a passion for what I’m doing  and that passion runs right through all the staff in the firm. We constantly adapt and change to the challenges in the business. Passion has to involve more than just a way to earn a living and includes having an eye for detail, ensuring that your processes are as efficient as they can be and you also have to have the right management team around you who between them have the necessary skills to run the business. We have a great team of people here as we recognise that the business is much more than just one man or one woman, you can’t run a successful business without having great staff. Success is more than just making money; success is creating an excellent working environment. We also put back into the community, which we believe to be important. 

AM: What do you think people look for in their PI firm today?

MJ: No win no fee and knowing that  they will be treated in a friendly and sympathetic manner and receive an excellent consumer service. I know many good lawyers who find it difficult to communicate and at a basic level that can be as simple as not returning people’s calls on time. In my view that person is not a good lawyer, as they are not keeping their client updated. People are looking for the right settlement within the right timescale. 

AM: Why do you think people come to you rather than go anywhere else?

MJ: We get our work in a number of ways, many of them through referral as we have done a good job on somebody else. We advertise, so I guess many people like our advertising ,but I genuinely feel that the staff here are friendly and get on very well with all clients who approach us.  We successfully advertise on television under the name of First Personal Injury.We also have a Polish translation on the website having identified a niche for this service.

AM: What are the main drivers of business development?  Is there any training for staff?

MJ: We have specialists here. You wouldn’t expect lawyers to be the best business development people in the firm, as you wouldn’t expect engineers to be the best business developers in an engineering firm. We have a dedicated team of sales staff who amongst other things visit roadside recovery agents who recommend clients to us, in other words we separate the business development function from the legal function. All businesses that are process driven require finders, minders and grinders.   We also have  a separate new business department  who  handle all the incoming leads generated from the TV and Internet advertising. They vet the quality of the leads  before passing on to the case handlers.  We  get a lot of private recommendations  from the staff who are individually incentivised, and from previous satisfied clients.

AM: Do you think the ban on referral fees will be rigorously enforced? 

MJ: I don’t believe for one minute that there will be a way around it and anybody who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.The SRA will come down heavily on anybody looking to abuse the system.  If there are firms out there still prepared to pay referral fees I’m sure there will be whistle-blowers in the form of solicitors firms who will see it as not playing on a “level playing field” and therefore report those flaunting the ban to the authorities.

AM: Very interesting times if you’re running a claims Management Company!

MJ: A claims management company faced with not being able to sell claims may set up a firm of lawyers.  They will have to understand that it can take say two years to get paid and therefore work in progress has to be funded so cash flow and capital become critical. Many claims management companies will be used to receiving referral fees for cases shortly after the case had been generated. Solicitors don’t get paid until the end of the case.

The full transcript from this and all the other interviews with the leading 'Rainmakers' will be available in a book format later in the Year.

What appears here is a small glimpse in to why Bill and his team have continued to show significant growth despite the challenging market conditions in recent years. A longer transcript will appear in a book later this Year.

AM: What do you think people look for in their law firm Today?

BJ: This is really interesting, as you can no longer just claim that your service is somehow different as so many do. People now want to put their trust in ‘Doers that actually achieve’. The process starts with the recruitment of the right people who fit into the ethos and culture of the practice. We hand pick our individuals to ensure we have the right team in place. You have to be able to demonstrate client service not just pay lip service to it. We constantly train our staff to be better practitioners and deliver efficient, friendly service. We are constantly investing to give our staff the edge in Customer Services and Business Development.

AM: Why do you feel that you have succeeded in an era when so many firms have found it difficult in recent years?

BJ: We have a very positive outlook here. We realise we cannot change the market or regulation that effects us, so instead we change our offering so we can grow our revenues in different areas. Back in 2006 we launched our ML Solutions4u model offering money laundering education to other firms and in 2008 we bought the You Claim business. We have made no redundancies throughout the recession having instead asked a number of our employees and partners to take pay cuts instead. As trading conditions improved, we were able to share our success with our staff once again.

AM: What are the main drivers of business development success? 

BJ: Any partner who does not buy into Business Development shouldn’t be one! The BD Culture runs all the way through our business and we are proud of our results in this area. Training takes place at all levels of the practice to ensure revenues can be sourced from anyone in the firm. All staff enjoy financial incentives to encourage them to talk to friends and family members. 

AM: What role do you see technology playing in the future? 

BJ: We are very modern minded when it comes to this as we appreciate this is more and more key going forward. In conjunction with iCom our web designers, we have created a mammoth working IT monster that is our website. It is a true information portal for our clients. 

AM: What are your views on the way that services are charged for?

BJ: The market will move towards more fixed fee and creative pricing solutions. We use what we call ‘Blended’ time whereby we endeavour to give the client some certainty as to what their final bill may look like. If we have research staff on say £100 per hour and senior staff on £400 per hour we will look to work out some sort of average that suits both sides. We also offer certain flexible cap and collar arrangements to share profits where possible.

AM: What’s your view on the future of the profession and developments such as Quality Solicitors?

BJ: These are ever changing times and as I said earlier you need to adapt to them rather than fight them. As for Quality Solicitors I just don’t get it. Why would you put the identity of your firm, built up over decades, into someone else’s hands? If you have investment funds surely you should invest them in your own brand and routes to market.

1. Without clear expectations of what is required and regular feedback you will end up with an inconsistent effort across your team. Business Development activities and expectations need to be formally written into job descriptions and reviewed on a quarterly if not on a more regular basis.

2. Without the required tools and resources to do what is necessary you will experience frustration. Don't ask staff to take people to lunch without providing the necessary expenses. More importantly, if you insist on individuals spending all of their time doing their normal day job, how much time can they realistically commit to developing the business? In certain professional firms I see targets for in excess of 1000 billable hours per annum and more. To be successful you need to build in allotted time in your diary every week for BD activities.

3. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Sounds obvious but without incentives and consequences for non achievement, many firms struggle to make progress. Many firms have financial incentives in place yet haven't paid out for a long time and many more accept non achievement for far too long without addressing the subject with individuals. In a team environment it is not fair to have some team members working many hours on this whilst others offer nothing.Resentment is often the result and if left to fester can make the management look weak in the eyes of the doers.

4. If you don't take the time and effort to train your teams with the necessary skills for BD they will be very anxious and indeed reluctant to go out into the big wide world and engage new potential clients and intermediaries. You must empower them with the answer to the question of 'Why should clients come to you rather than a competitor?'. I cannot stress how much easier their life becomes when armed with this detail.Do not ask them to present, talk in public, write marketing text, network, do social media etc until they are ready.

5. Ensure you have the right people taking on the right tasks most suited to them.Play to their strengths. For example, selecting the wrong people to go networking or talk in public can be disastrous for both the individual and your business. Most firms have people with a mix of strengths and weaknesses in these key areas. Choose wisely or the exercise may prove counter productive and you will chronically underachieve.

6.Ensure you have at least one individual who is seen to champion the cause.They must lead by example and avoid mediocre results by instilling motivation and positive attitudes throughout the group. They must make themselves accessible to others and provide direction and when the going gets tough.

If your looking to build a culture of business development, make sure you attend to all of the factors that effect human performance. Miss one of these factors for any reason – inattention, lack of time, unwillingness to invest, political differences –and you will severely limit your chances of success. Fortunately for you, very few firms focus on all 6 factors.

The list here is far from exhaustive yet provides a framework to help you get the basics in place and start making progress towards your 2013 growth goals.

What appears here is a short snapshot of a much longer conversation which is available on request and should appear next year in a book featuring the North West region's Top Rainmakers.

AM:What do people look for Today from their legal services provider?

AD:  I think this idea that lawyers are here to practice law, I think is a dying perception. We have to regard ourselves as being business consultants who happen to specialise in law and by being business consultants, that means we understand the environment in which our clients operate, we understand their sector, we understand them, their business and we are able to give advice whether it be employment or property or corporate, we have to give advice which is framed in that context. We have to be able to be part of their team. Every website or law firm always talks about providing commercial solutions, what does that mean? You really have to get to grips with it and get under the skin of the client to truly give the support that they really want. So I think that fundamentally…they need to understand the results they will receive.

AM: What does this business stand for? You talked earlier; you used a fantastic word, which was culture, which I’m a huge believer in, because culture is branding in professional services.

AD:It is. Although culture is arguably very difficult to describe and very difficult to shape because you can’t change your culture. You can change the behaviours which will impact on the culture. What does this business stand for? Well I’m going to use some phrases, which were kicking around when we were doing some business plans a few years ago. It is about premium. It’s about high quality, we don’t accept second best. Everything we try to do is based on premium. We are not the cheapest firm in our market area. We are a high priced commercial law firm for a place like Chester but it’s based on doing premium work, premium quality of staff and hopefully premium relationships with clients. A lot of what we do is bespoke, we don’t do processed, we don’t do any work for clients where its lots of instructions which are exactly the same as the previous one. So it’s bespoke and it’s premium and I guess that means we’re a little bit individualistic as an organisation…

AM: Where do you sit with the marketing director should be in charge of HR in a professional services firm on the basis that your people are your product because I think if you go across the pond, you`ll find that in big professional organisations, marketing is run by HR. Not here where HR runs the marketing guy.

AD: Yes, I am responsible for all of HR. There are HR processes that marketing aren’t that interested in, in terms of documenting health and safety procedure and that kind of stuff but I think what you’re getting at is having responsibility for the types of people who are employed by the business.

AM:What role do you see technology playing in the future?

AD: Well technology has two phases to it. How do you use technology to improve your internal processes? How do you cut out unnecessary tasks that you undertake whether it be round the whole file opening procedures of gathering ID, producing stuff on money laundering. All those things that take up time that we can try and streamline and ultimately do a lot better than perhaps we do now. So it’s the internal use of technology. But I think the big one which we are looking at really closely is if there is an emerging market for a level of document self-assembly by clients. Some of these tools are out there already either to be sold to clients directly or to be used…

AM:This is Zoom Legal?

AD: Zoom Legal, obviously they do it with Quality Solicitors but you have got Rocket Lawyer coming under their own steam as well. The difference about Rocket Lawyer, because Zoom have done it an easier way by just putting it through Quality Solicitors, so they have their market through how many people have signed up for that franchise, Rocket Lawyer are doing it directly. If you’ve not come across them, they are backed by Google as they are invested by Google Ventures and they are coming into the UK and therefore could be the game changers for that type of product. But as I say there are a lot of people like LexIs NexIs offering it internally to law firms for us to use in intelligent assembly of documents, which you can also sell to your clients.

AM: I’ve got to try and get an opinion on Quality Solicitors, it’s so topical.

AD: I admire the way that Craig Holt has built the business model and to get this external investment of, what was it, £10 million for his marketing budget. You have to take your hats off to him. I think fundamentally it falls down though because none of these solicitors’ branches are in any way connected to the next one. We have talked about problems of one partner within any firm being different from the next one and therefore isn’t part of the brand. But take that further and compare Oliver & Co here in Chester with Forshaw’s in Warrington. Complete different animals. There’s absolutely no consistency across them, so in terms of how they’re building their brand, in the true understanding of a brand, no they absolutely are not. They’re sharing a name and sharing a marketing budget and that’s it. I don’t want to be scornful of them for the sake of being scornful, they aren’t really in our space so it’s….