Survival tips for law firm marketers.

• Author: Hurley, Allysn G.

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I have been fortunate to spend half of my career working for corporations and the other half for law firms. My experience has provided me with a unique perspective on the inner workings, albeit sometimes dysfunctional, of both. My colleagues, both internally and externally, frequently ask me how I manage to be successful at my job and not go crazy--a fair question, you may agree. So in an effort to give back to my colleagues, here are my survival tips--in no particular order.

It is Their Sandbox

I learned this tip while working at a privately held company where the owner was extremely involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. He was very successful, but sometimes we wondered, "Why is he so involved?" The answer to this question was: It was his sandbox. And it was. Translate that into the law firm setting and partners see the firm as "their sandbox;" therefore, they comment on what you do. So the best way to survive is to understand that and act accordingly. Employees at a law firm are there because of the lawyers--not the other way around. I am not saying that you have to take all of their advice, but you do have to pay attention to what the senior partners say and do. If you do not agree, it is OK to tell them that, but remember--it is their sandbox, and we are only guests.

Support Staff are Your Clients, Too

I have never understood why marketing people treat the support staff so badly. We are all in the same boat, and by making friends with the support staff--i.e., the folks in the mail room, accounting, receptionists, secretaries and information systems--you would be amazed at how helpful they can be. For example, I always try to give our copy center as much warning as possible when I have a big project for them. They appreciate the advanced warning so they can make the proper arrangements to get the job done. These preparations and notices make it much easier to go to them with a rush job and ask for their help, because they know you are in a bind and would not ask unless it was important. I hope that many of you read this and think--well, of course you should do that--but the reality is that most people do not. The same is true of secretaries. When they ask you for something that they can do themselves, we tend to tell them that, or worse yet, "That's not my job." For example, we have a database where individuals can order logo merchandise for attorneys to use for business development. I cannot tell...