Law Firm Marketing & Business Development Audit

The HTMLawyers marketing & business development audit provides an opportunity for your firm to reexamine current plans, to evaluate what is working, and where there is room for improvement. The report provides an analysis of the present and a roadmap for the future. This process includes meeting with individuals and/or practice groups within the firm to help determine where to best focus efforts and resources.

In today’s economic climate, it is more important than ever to make sure that your law firm’s investment in marketing and business development is being utilized correctly. You can spend your entire life working on social media, ratings and rankings, blogs, organizational involvement, media placement and advertising, speaking and writing, sponsorships, advertising and networking—where is your time and money best invested?

When is the right time to conduct a law marketing audit?
  • Prior to determining the year’s budget and strategic plan.
  • A perfect exercise in advance of making staff, budget or other significant changes to the firm’s marketing department.
  • Following a merger, or addition of new offices or practice groups.
  • If you’ve never truly examined the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing.
What does the law marketing audit involve?

The audit is used by different firms for different purposes. In many cases, AMLAW 200 firms use the audit process as a way of advising firm leadership and management as to the effectiveness of current efforts. Is your budget too high or too low? Do you have the right staffing in place? Where can the firm get the best bang for its buck? Is the reporting structure correct? What areas of marketing is the firm strong in and conversely in need of improvement? Why do we seemingly have so many failed or stalled efforts in this area of our business model? Should we consider adding or removing office locations, practices, or head count?

Midsize firms often go through the audit process as a precursor to changing or expanding marketing resources. For small law firms, the audit is more about developing a business development road map for spending valuable time, money and resources. Firms of all sizes, practices and regions have benefited immensely from undergoing a periodic audit of marketing efforts.

We approach each audit as a confidential endeavor, with the end result equating to a strategic plan as it relates to your marketing investment. We base recommendations on actual and anecdotal data and experiences of similarly-situated firms—perhaps based on practice, geography or client base. This is not about examining numbers or surveys, but identifying firms that mirror aspects of yours.

Every audit process is customized to your law firm. These are not generic cookie-cutter reports that are sold to your competitors. These are not designed to upsell you on other services. We implement a Chinese wall in our business to retain a level of objectivity and confidentiality that is unparalleled in legal marketing. Our business is in selling consultative guidance exclusively to law firms and solely in our core area of expertise—business development.

The audit will include the following:
  • Review of current business development efforts, evaluating cost-effectiveness and return on investment.
  • Analysis of marketing staffing, including budgets and salaries, credentials and responsibilities.
  • Review use of technology for marketing functions.
  • Audit conducted by a licensed attorney with a business and marketing background.
  • Provide both recommendations for moving forward, along with suggested next steps for execution (including budgeting, staffing, resources, etc.).
Optional:
  • Client interviews (on-site or via conference calls)
  • Input from attorneys in regard to firm wide, office and practice specific efforts.
  • Review of financial data, including billing rates and revenue.
  • Examination of online portfolio, including web site traffic, social networking and related search criteria.
  • Ethics compliance review
  • Hiring of marketing personnel
What makes our marketing audit process unique?

No other law marketing consultancy can offer the level of objectivity and authenticity we provide. All audits are conducted by Micah Buchdahl, an attorney with a level of insight unmatched in the industry. His understanding of marketing department organizational structure and roles helps evaluate internal operations. However, it is his first-hand experience as a lawyer, as a former in-house corporate counsel, and practitioner that allows him to blend the marketing function with the actual effective delivery of legal services.

If you seek an honest, no-holds-barred appraisal of where you are going right, and where you are going wrong in your marketing efforts, contact us for a no-obligation conversation today.

READ AUDITING YOUR EFFORTS IN THE ABA’S LAW PRACTICE MAGAZINE
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(856) 234-4334