If You Build It, They Will Come

In the movie “Field of Dreams,” farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice in his corn field saying “If you build it, he will come.” His interpretation of that voice was to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his corn field. There were risks: losing his family’s income and his reputation.

In law firms, the voice in every lawyer’s head should be the voice of marketing. The message: “If you build your practice, they will come.” The risks for not following the message – your income and reputation.

The easiest and most effective way to “build it” is by creating a simple, no nonsense professional development plan focusing on relationships and expertise. But, getting attorneys to agree to write plans is a tough row to hoe. Why?

Money talks. And, most law firms still base attorney compensation on billable hours. According to a September 2006 survey conducted by the Legal Marketing Association (LMA), less than one-third of participating firms included non-billable marketing as part of the compensation equation for associates and only about two-fifths for partners. Although many larger firms are building non-billable marketing into their compensation programs, this trend is not expected to change dramatically in the near future.

Unlike “Field of Dreams,” clients don’t just appear out of the blue and hand over their trust and money. Simply being a great lawyer isn’t enough to survive happily in our competitive market. David Maister wrote in True Professionalism “The better you are at marketing, the better the chance you have to work on fun stuff, and the less trapped you become in being forced to take on work and clients you don’t truly enjoy.”

You determine your own future, you can “wing it” or you can plan for it. For the sake of this column, we will pick the latter. Expertise and reputation must be developed and communicated.

How To Build It

• Write short and long term professional goals that are aligned with your firm/departmental goals. (Remember KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.)


• Set realistic timelines for achieving these goals and schedule short periods of time 5 – 10 minutes here and there to work toward goals.


• Refer to your plan monthly, check off accomplishments, update as needed.


• Keep your eye on the ball. If you are investing time and efforts that aren’t taking you toward your goals, you’ll strike out every time.

 An effective plan that is simple and easy to consult serves as a roadmap to reach goals, focus efforts and assess your accomplishments. A Basic Professional Development Plan should include:

• Personal and professional goals which compliment one another. They must be written down and include a rough deadline. Long (2 – 5 years) and short (2 – 24 months) term goals should be incorporated.
  
• Individual “practice style” with marketing activities that you are comfortable with and align with that style. (Consult Timothy G. Leishman’s Sustaining Practice Styles.) Not everyone is a rain maker, or natural networker. But, everyone has something to contribute to marketing.
  
• Plans for developing/strengthening relationships (80%) and expertise (20%). Remember, people buy from people they know and like. Every attorney should dedicate time each week to develop both.
  
• Accountability. Hold yourself accountable. If you find yourself off base, assess why and adjust the plan, in writing.
  
• Tools to evaluate and measure accomplishments and effective practices. This will prompt revisions to the plan.

Starting a professional development plan is common sense. Plus, there are many resources available, beginning with LMA. Sticking to a plan takes determination and keeping your eye on the ball. If you have the discipline to follow through, your marketing efforts will hit a home run every time!

This op-ed column is written by Nancy Harrison Parker, APR, Director of Marketing for Vandeventer Black LLP. Parker has over 18 years experience in professional services marketing, eight of which are in legal marketing. She is a past president and founding board member of the Legal Marketing Association – Virginias Chapter and is one of only 5,000 in the U.S. and Canada who are Accredited in Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America. LMA is a resource for marketers, attorneys and administrators and is dedicated to promoting ethical marketing in the legal industry. For more information on this chapter, visit www.lmavirginias.org. You may contact Parker at nparker@vanblk.com or 757.446.8682 for more information or to submit ideas for future columns.

Reprinted with permission from NPBA and the Norfolk Law Library.