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Recent Trends in Legal Services New Business Competitions Slide 1
Home
Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Recent Trends in Legal Services New Business Competitions
Presentation by Ann Lee Gibson, Ph.D.By Invitation of LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell At Simmons & SimmonsLondonJune 7, 2007
Recent Trends in Legal Services New Business Competitions Slide 2
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Recent Trends on the Client Side
EN
HA
NC
ED
PR
OD
UC
TIV
ITY
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
HOURLY RATE REDUCTIONS
LAW FIRM CONVERGENCE
APPLIED TECHNOLOGY
WORK PROCESS REENGINEERING
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS
VALUE-BASED BILLING
RISK/REWARD SHARING
Source: A New Era—The DuPont Legal Model, page 17
Productivity Curve
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 4
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
More RFPs issued lately
1. In the last 2 years, most Am Law firms have received 2 to 3 times more RFPs than before.
2. RFPs are being issued by banks, manufacturers, pharmas, telecoms, investment funds, etc.
3. Clients now start with a short list of firms.
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 5
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
RFPs expensive for clients too
1. A few bad consultants are out there advising companies – creating RFQs (not RFPs) that don’t distinguish among firms and too-long, onerous processes.
2. Some companies are fascinated with really bad Excel worksheets as RFP response templates.
3. Recent RFP horror stories – consultants fired and rehired, RFPs with hundreds of questions, no interviews conducted, winning firms fired months after being hired, etc.
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 6
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Clients want …
1. Lower legal costs
2. Great firms, not just hot lawyers
3. Legal knowledge systems
4. Improved legal processes
5. Lawyer diversity
Recent Trends in Legal Services New Business Competitions Slide 7
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Recent Trends on the Law Firm Side
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 8
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Entrepreneurs still distinguish themselves
1. Those with inside knowledge have a big advantage.
2. Savvy solutions (not just qualifications) can beat incumbents.
3. Still boils down to sales ability – however that translates well to the client.
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 9
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Firms investing in tactical competitions resources
1. Proposal writers, editors, project managers
2. Researchers and competitive intelligence analysts
3. More business development managers
4. Expertise and qualifications databases
5. Proposal templates and boilerplate
6. Proposal and document automation software
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 10
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Firms starting to get more systematic with competitions1. Is this RFP worth the effort?
2. If we do decide to compete, what should we do first, second, third … eighteenth?
3. What role must firm management play in determining pricing decisions, business conflict assessments, staffing?
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 11
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Firms still not strategic enough
1. How does this RFP (and this client and this type of work) align with our business plan?
2. What is the firm’s appetite for managing its business plans?
3. Who in the firm is answering the hard questions:
Where is the money?
Who’s got the most interesting work?
What are clients paying the most money for?
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 12
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Pricing still hard to talk about
1. Most firms discount fees, even those that deny it.
2. Hourly rates are still rising – many Am Law firms’ top partners’ hourly rates pushing $1,000 / hour.
3. Clients still lobby for alternative pricing, but most accept discounted hourly rates and volume discounts.
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 13
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
What firms are doing (a little) better
1. Research and competitive intelligence – everybody’s doing research, and some firms are actually developing actionable intel.
2. Interviews – create two-way conversations about this client’s issues.
3. Proposals – offer solutions and legal approaches responsive to this client’s challenges.
How to Win New Business Competitions and Beauty Contests Slide 14
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
What firms still need to (greatly) improve
1. Don’t wait for RFPs – go pitch your best clients now.
2. Decide if RFP is worth the effort.
3. Interview prospective client to learn vital intel before they compete.
4. Use RFP opportunities to pitch higher value work.
5. Debrief all competitions, win or lose.
Recent Trends in Legal Services New Business Competitions Slide 15
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Productivity Curve
Client Trends
Firm Trends
50 Tips
Download atwww.annleegibson.com