The future of marketing & business development: new models for success.

• Author: Johnson, Doug

During this downturn--the Great Recession or the Big Reset, as some call it--sales and marketing organizations in the corporate world have come under intense pressure and scrutiny to deliver more for less.

This economic swing has come with a renewed organizational twist: Corporate leaders are again trying to tear down the walls and eliminate silos that tend to form between sales and marketing.

Consequently, law firm leaders (similar to corporate leaders) are dealing with economic pressures forcing cost-cutting and a laser-like focus on providing a return on investment, as well as on org-chart revision efforts to bridge the chasm between sales and marketing--a divide that has been a frustrating hallmark at many companies.

Adding to the pressure of tough business conditions, constantly changing technology developments require sales and marketing workforces to adapt or develop new skill sets.

Critical challenges spurred by technology and our economic times include:

* Salespeople engaging prospects deeper in the sales cycle and facing much more sophisticated and informed buyers.

* The marketing pendulum swinging strongly toward analytics versus creative requiring the ability to track results and pin a specific return on marketing investments.

* Cost-cutting measures including outsourcing, sales and marketing process re-engineering and sales force-effective-ness programs.

The bottom line on these corporate machinations? Companies under intense pressure expect to increase the return on their sales, marketing and personnel investments.

So what does all this have to do with legal marketers? Simply, these changes and challenges are impacting the work marketers do in law firms, because management committees expect similar returns.

Shifting Roles and Trends

Even as legal marketers feel the brunt of a recession--a first for some--they must adapt, just like the companies their attorneys serve. Often, trends and changes in legal marketing tend to lag behind the corporate world.

But, that lag period, like the chasm between sales and marketing responsibilities, may be closing. In-depth conversations with a number of AmLaw 200 leaders reveal that they are seeking changes in their marketing organizations.

Consider the hint at a shift in the comments from the chairman of an AmLaw 50 firm that has been without a CMO for more than a year: "... We need a growth and strategy leader who can help us fine tune and execute on our strategy--someone who can command respect and lead our partners. We don't need someone with a lot of traditional marketing or branding expertise."

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Others see a shift of operational or organizational roles as well, including an AmLaw 200 executive director: "Our old CMO was strong on branding, advertising, promotion, but our need for this is diminished. What we need in our new CMO is more (business development) ability to lead BD efforts, ability to coach partners on BD. We need more help on strategic issues and competitive intelligence. We need help determining what practice areas to invest in for the future, what geographic areas are important for expansion."

The challenge for legal marketers is to rapidly study and analyze cutting-edge practices emerging in the corporate world and determine those that will translate...