Editor Rips Marketers and the LMA for Failing to Grow into a Profession
In a controversial op-ed article entitled "Law Firm Marketing: Is It So Over We Need a New Word for Over?" Elizabeth Tursi, the Editor-in-Chief of Marketing The Law Firm, takes legal marketers -- and the LMA to task -- for failing to grow into a real profession. "Things are starting to look even gloomier," she writes.
For close to 20 years, I have been one of the supporting voices for law firm marketing, hoping against hope that the profession would come to be accepted and that over time, law firm marketing would come into its own and garner the respect it so richly deserved. Simply stated: For the most part it has not and things are starting to look even gloomier.
| "I dropped my [LMA] membership because as time went on, I found the organization to be lacking the type of educational give and take that an organization is supposed to provide its members." -- Editor Elizabeth Tursi. |
Yes, there are firms that have embraced marketing and as a result of targeted marketing programs, these firms have prospered. Many of these firms appear on the annual MLF 50. But for every firm on that list there are countless others that have been unsuccessful in putting forth the premise that marketing works. I have watched the revolving door of marketing professionals and have taken note of many firms that have no marketing programs at all. You’ve got to wonder. What’s up with law firm marketing and after a somewhat good run, is it in the throes of going the way of TQM — remember that?
Where did it all go wrong? My contention is that there are several factors at work that have contributed to the current state of law firm marketing. I know I am not going to make any friends here, but this is after all an Op Ed, so here goes.Exactly the wrong person for the job
| "Betiayn is indeed ignorant. Through that ignorance she spreads insidious disinformation, hurts our profession as a whole, and, unlike most responsible Op Ed columnists, utterly fails to offer anything resembling a solution to an identified problem." -- ex-LMA president Nat Slavin. Click here to read his full comments. |
To begin, we have the selection of the actual person leading the marketing efforts. Time after time, in firm after firm, the individual selected as CMO has been exactly the wrong person for the job. Many of these individuals had been chosen based on a resume of other law firm experience. Did anyone ever stop to check to see if these candidates were successful in their prior position? The resounding answer is “no.” The reason: Because law firms thought that candidates with resumes replete with other law firm positions obviously made them marketing geniuses. Wrong again. On the other side of the spectrum is the choice of individuals from outside the world of law firms. These are the candidates who have never worked in a horizontal management structure and are completely baffled as they walk into a room of 20 or more owners. Disastrous results followed because with no political savvy (a prerequisite for working in a law firm), these individuals were clueless as to how to work within the structure. The other part of the problem is gravitas. I have been preaching about this forever. Without the ability to have a “seat at the table,” make your case, stick to it and go head to head with management, a CMO is doomed to fail.
Problem Number Two: There are certain questions that a candidate prior to securing the position must ask. It involves doing one’s own due diligence and asking those questions. Will I have autonomy to do a needs assessment and when the results are produced, and when I do create the plan and develop the strategy, will I be provided with the resources and buy-in from management to implement that plan? Without the answer being “yes” on the part of management, the success ratio — zero!
The wrong approach to implement marketing
Next problem: Many firms chose the wrong approach to implement the marketing plan — marketing by committee. Again, what do attorneys know about marketing — not very much. Therefore, why would a CMO be forced to sit in a room filled with attorneys giving their opinions on how to market the firm? Clearly, at the get-go, the CMO is in a no-win situation because, after all, the committee members own the place and it was their money that was being pumped into the marketing program. If a committee has to rubber-stamp each marketing activity, the overall program once again is doomed to fail. Marketing by consensus is just not the way to go.
To finish reading the article visit the LawMarketing Portal.
As the author of this blog, I am posting this comment by former LMA President Nat Slavin, which was originally published on the LMA Listserv.
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From: lmalistserv@lmalistserv.org [mailto:lmalistserv@lmalistserv.org]
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 3:55 PM
To: Johnson, Marcie
Subject: [lmalistserv] Clarity of Opinion - NY Lawyer Op Ed piece
As a former journalist and editor, I cherish accuracy and champion free speech.
As someone of strong convictions, I value the notion that opinions are just that, opinions.
While we all might lament the distance our industry must still travel to fully realize the potential of law firm marketing, I must take a moment to acknowledge a column that appeared in today's New York Lawyer's Op Ed section authored by Betiayn Tursi. Furthermore, I want it to be known that I have known Betiayn for more than a decade, and trust that she will not view my commentary as a "nasty email". Ironically, her request in her column to not receive "nasty emails" is well heard. But like any columnist, when one steps up on the soap box, one is indeed inviting response.
I primarily want to respond to her scurrilous attack on LMA, but before that, I need to challenge her on several assertions.
First, I want to ask Betiayn to point to some degree of support for her assertions that law firm's don't check references of the CMO's they hire. She states:
"Time after time, in firm after firm, the individual selected as CMO has been exactly the wrong person for the job. Many of these individuals had been chosen based on a resume of other law firm experience. Did anyone ever stop to check to see if these candidates were successful in their prior position? The resounding answer is 'no.'"
Second, she continues in her Op Ed piece to criticize the the hiring of professionals from outside the industry, the inability of candidates to understand what their job will be, the problems inherent to marketing by committee, challenges in reporting lines, mismanaged and outsized expectations of firm leadership, the risks of having too-large a marketing department, the lack of educational offerings for marketing professionals and the lack of modernization and value of those offerings that do exist. But while there is a degree of truth in the reality of what she says, I find her dramatic characterizations to be lacking in context and over the top.
And finally, in the section where she asks not to be the recipient of any nasty emails, she "takes issue with LMA."
In her disclaimer, she admits to not having an LMA membership, but does acknowledge her early participation as a member, and speaker at the New York chapter and the early annual conference. She then goes on the attack. She claims to have:
"found the organization to be lacking the type of educational give and take that an organization is supposed to provide its members... And one more thing, it is really a shame that for some time now at the national level, the top CMOs are nowhere to be found on LMA's Board. Why is that?"
In answering her rhetorical question, let me say the following:
For the most part, Betiayn is indeed ignorant. Through that ignorance she spreads insidious disinformation, hurts our profession as a whole, and, unlike most responsible Op Ed columnists, utterly fails to offer anything resembling a solution to an identified problem. She does note that when she dropped her LMA membership she joined the ABA's Law Practice Management Section. (Disclaimer: I, too, am a member of the ABA's Law Practice Management Section). Her point in proving the value of that organization over LMA was either edited out, or, well, there wasn't one.
So, here are a couple of points that I would like to make in response to Betiayn's capricious attack on LMA.
At the 2007 LMA Annual Conference there were more than 350 law firm CMOs and Directors in attendance from a wide-ranging number of firms, and the quality of the programming has never been better. Keynote speakers last year included Maya Angelou, Harry Beckwith & Keith Ferrazzi. At the 2008 Annual Conference, keynoters include Cherie Booth Blair, Guy Kawasaki and Sherry Lansing. All of whom are international recognized figures who are inspirational, have fought battles that have opened doors for too many to count and are indeed leaders who have fought tirelessly to succeed against nearly impossible odds. The quality of programming matches the quality of the keynote speakers. As someone who has attended all of the annual conferences for more than a decade, I know from whence I speak.
My issue with Betiayn's assertion is that she is attacking something she admits to not participating in with no support for her claims. Furthermore, she says, "it is really a shame that for some time now at the national level, the top CMOs are nowhere to be found on LMA's Board."
And here is where she if pathetically wrong.
In addition to this year's conference co-chair being the CMO of Akin Gump, the current LMA president is the CMO of one of the nation's fastest growing firms, and the 2009 LMA president is the CMO of the very firm where Betiayn served two years as CMO. In the past decade, the presidents of LMA have been the top marketing professional at such firms as Winston & Strawn, Kirkland and Ellis, Baker & McKenzie, and many other top firms. In fact, the presidency has been filled with such diverse individuals as marketing professionals from firms that aren't just AmLaw 100 firms, but regional firms from the Southwest as well as national firms from Canada, and, alas, a lowly service provider.
The current Metro New York chapter has board members who serve as the CMO's of Proskauer Rose as well as Milbank Tweed, and its president-elect is the CMO of Latham & Watkins.
Oh, and the co-char of the 2008 Annual Conference is the CMO of Akin Gump.
With Respect,
Nat
2007 President, LMA Board of Directors
___
Nathaniel Slavin
Wicker Park Group
Office: 312-988-4898
Cell: 312-404-5175
nat@wickerparkgroup.com
www.wickerparkgroup.com
Dear Betiayn,
I too dropped my LMA membership for the same reason. They do need to focus more on bringing in attorneys and CEOs to discuss what they feel they need and want. AND LMA needs to focus on getting influencing and educating attorneys about the roles of marketing and business development.
My comments below are a copy of what I posted recently on the LMA listserve
Ms. Tursi made a couple of good points about CMO access to firm management but on many other issues seems to be out of touch with reality. She unfairly criticized large groups of people who work very hard, who are having great success at their own firms, and who have truly elevated law firm marketing and PR with fresh ideas that work. (It's truly a different world today than it was when I first got involved with law firm PR/marketing in the early 1990's).
But here's the real problem I have with Ms. Tursi. She proclaims to be a law firm marketing leader/consultant, but doesn't seem to practice what she should be preaching.
Most law firm marketing consultants advise their clients about the need for a real email address that is connected to a domain name and an active website.
Ms. Tursi and her company appear to have none of the above, except for an AOL email account. I also could not find her biography anywhere (except for a few sentences for speaking engagements) and that would have helped me decide whether she's qualified to write about the issue. Yes, I know that she is "editor-in-chief" of a law firm marketing publication but that alone doesn't convince me that she is a trusted source to be the expert on the future of law firm marketing.
As consultants, we have to practice what we preach if we are to do business with law firms today. And if we are not helping the CMO/marketing/PR people do THEIR jobs more effectively, we will not survive, either.
Finally, Ms. Tursi could have written an article that gave more real advice for improvement of the industry. Unfortunately, she spent way too much time identifying the problems but offering few solutions.
Sincerely,
Rich Klein
President
Riverside Public Relations LLC
Tel: 888-257-7436 or 646-330-5903
Cell: 917-470-3073
rich@riversidepr.com
www.riversidepr.com or www.lawfirmspr.com
Blog: www.riversidepr.typepad.com
1562 First Avenue, Suite 316
New York, NY 10028
Bethel, NY office:
845-468-1134 (local) or 888-257-7436
On 3/7/08 10:48 AM, "lmalistserv@lmalistserv.org" wrote:
Matt
When the Managing Partners' Forum Finance Panel carried out a survey of its members this month on the role of the Finance Director, we asked MPs and FDs which functions were the most influential and value adding disciplines in a professional firm. Both parties consider finance to be most influential. However, MPs credit the HR function as having more influence than marketing/BD (which is seen to have only limited influence), whilst FDs see marketing/BD as more influential than HR.
In our view, the key to change is to influence MPs to recognise that management requires expertise. The MPF has been campaigning on this agenda for years to the extent that a number of UK firms have now appointed marketing people to CEO roles. We are professional communicators - let's use the skills.
The MPF believes that partners should justify their presence on a management committee, whilst management experts with suitable experience should be invited as of right. A good KPI for the campaign might be the number of US law firms with a non-lawyer on the Board - currently near zero according to the Yellow Book.
Branding is critical. An MPF sponsored campaign is far more likely to be effective than one instigated by an association of marketers such as PM Forum or LMA.
Join the MPF movement!