Marketing Strategies & Measurement Techniques

Use this tool to maximize the results of your professional services marketing efforts.

There are myriad ways in which to market your law firm or financial services firm. However, you need focus. More than that, you need to know that you are investing your time and money in activities that will produce marketing results. This tool will help you determine how to measure the return on investment of many different marketing activities. Organized around The Four Pillars of Marketing™, How to Measure the ROI of Marketing will allow you to apply quantifiable, measurable techniques to the fuzzy and amorphous world of services marketing. Before you embark upon your next marketing activity, ask yourself how you will measure the results before spending a lot of time and money. You will be glad you did!

Client Satisfaction and Retention

Duration of client relationships (years)
History of increased revenue with client
Client has multiple relationships within the firm
Percentage of clients who would refer the firm
Strong base of regular and ongoing client referrals
Positive responses to a client survey or focus growth

Client Service

Very few client complaints
Clients pay bills on time
Ability to respond daily to emails and phone calls
Clients actively refer others to the firm
Client service guidelines that are followed by everyone

Cross-Marketing

Clients utilizing multiple services of the firm
Professionals actively introduce clients to other lawyers
Clients know of the breadth of services offered
Professionals are aware of services a client needs
Compensation system rewards growing existing relationships

Referral Source Development

Strong base of people refer business to the firm
Having concise materials for referral sources to make it easy to be referred
Loyalty of referral sources – you are on the “short list”
Ability to summarize what your best referral sources have in common (industry, profession)
The firm’s willingness to seek out and make referrals for them
Professionals actively engaged in meeting with current and prospective referral sources

Networking

Increased referrals of A-level clients
Having two to three networking meetings each week
Loyal friends and contacts who always return your call
You actually enjoy staying connected to great people
You always make time to meet with someone who was referred to you
You find ways to open doors for others regularly
You realize effective networking is more about looking for ways to help others (versus what’s in it for you)
You stay in touch with people “just because” versus only calling them when you need something from them

Targeted Business Development

Maintaining a Top 10 list of prospective clients
Having a plan with each prospective client on what next steps to land their business
Number of proposals submitted to A-level clients each year, and won
Number of beauty contest presentations made each year, and won
Number of new clients attracted
Revenue of new clients
Strong sales pipeline with dates, action items and next steps

Proposal Development

The existence of a proposal archive to avoid reinventing the wheel each time
Current examples of representative experience for all attorneys
Number of proposals submitted to A-level clients each year
Having a client-focused approach to proposals that starts with a summary of the client’s situation and your approach to meeting the client’s needs (and not with firm history and bios)
Proposals tell a story because it’s about the music, not the words
Number of new clients attracted from competitive bidding/RFP process

Market Research

Taking the time to research a new client or prospect before a first meeting (website bio, LinkedIn profile, Google search)
Keeping an electronic “dossier” on top prospects
Tracking the activities of key clients or prospects via Google Alerts

Trade & Professional Involvement

Regular attendance at meetings
Member of the firm serves in a high-profile position in the organization
Regular speaking engagements for the group
Contribute articles to the association’s publication
New clients who hired the firm because of its perceived industry expertise
Strong network of contacts within the industry

Advertising

New clients who cite specific advertising as one of the reasons they hired the firm
A measurable call to action in the ad (like registering for a seminar, or in other ways making contact with the firm because of its advertising)
Higher name recognition in the marketplace based on independent market research
Increased search engine rankings (due to web-based advertising)
Inquiry calls into the firm

Brand Statement Development

Work with key leaders to uncover the “unique essence” of the firm
Develop a brand statement, which isn’t the same as a slogan or tag line
Ensure everyone in the firm, including support staff, understand the brand and know how it relates to their job and dealings with clients
Ensure that website copy and other marketing material reflects the brand statement and conveys the firm’s “unique essence”

Corporate Identity

Professional looking materials including logo, letterhead, brochures and website
All materials are consistent and have the same visual identity when viewed together; everything looks related
Your firm “becomes known” for some element of its branding or identity
Higher level of overall professionalism conveyed through the firm’s brand and resulting identity materials

Public Relations

Cost of commensurate advertising – then multiplying that number by three or four
Number of media impressions – how many people had the opportunity to see the article, hear the interview
Number of bylined articles published per year
Number of times firm professionals are quoted in the press
Number of reporters each lawyer knows and has a relationship with
How often the firm gets substantive coverage in publications read by A-level clients

Trade Shows

Number of new client or referral source leads generated as a direct result of the firm’s participation in a trade show
Number of visitors who leave their card or ask for additional information
Number of firm professionals who participate in the event
Also being a speaker at the event (not just a trade show vendor)
Level of proactive follow up after the event

Community Involvement

Number of attorneys serving on non-profit boards
Number of lawyers delivering pro bono work (hours per year)
Firm creates an environment and culture where volunteering is encouraged and rewarded
The firm’s good name in the community as a “community leader”
Lawyers are volunteering for organizations they are committed to and passionate about

Social Networks

Number of social networking sites the firm is actively involved in
Number of relevant groups the firm and its lawyers engage with regularly
Willingness to share expertise and not use social networking to directly sell or self-promote
Amount of time spent each day or week on the one or two social networking activities deemed most worthy of such time
Number of new relationships developed because of presence on social networking sites
Name recognition that results from more people visiting and engaging with your social pages
New clients generated, or new business partnerships developed because of social networking involvement
A fully completed profile and updates posted at least weekly

Strategic Communications

Communications developed for specific audiences – not broad based “firm newsletters”
Ability to target various segments of client base with targeted messages relevant to them
Responses from clients to various communications
Level of client retention and flow of referrals into the firm
Number of direct responses from clients and referral sources because of a communication
Opens and click through of email alerts is monitored

Marketing Database

Everyone is committed to keeping the data current
Database allows segmenting of client type for targeted communications
It is easy to make changes and updates to client information
The marketing database interacts with other firm data (like client revenue numbers)
Billable time is saved by not needing to send individual lists to professionals for updating
The database makes it easy to communicate with various groups of clients, contacts and referral sources
The database contains email addresses for each person

Website

The content is regularly updated with new blog posts at least every 10 days reflecting “thought leadership”
The site provides a steady stream of client inquiries
Clients comment on the relevance of the information contained on the website
The website reflects the brand statement and corporate identity of the firm
Website is updated with new online features, high quality images, and useful resources for clients
The site is search engine optimized resulting in higher rankings on Google and other search engines
Use Google Analytics to track and measure visitors, activity on the site, direct client inquiries from it, webinar or seminar registrations using a web-based registration option

Client Events

Number of clients who attend the event or view the webinar
Results of the event evaluation
Number of clients who would attend the event next year (from evaluation)
Number of clients who attend an event every year
Number of professionals from the firm who attend and actively build relationships
Number of new clients or new matters generated from the event
Commitment by all to proactively follow up with attendees
Adding attendees to the firm’s marketing database
Relationships built from the proactive follow up done by lawyers at the event
Clients ask “When is the next one?” and “Can I bring a colleague?”