I had the honour and pleasure of hosting a panel session at The (virtual) Lawyer 'Marketing Leadership Summit 2020'.  I was joined by three brilliant panellists in the form of Sharon Evans (GC at disrupter fintech company Totally Money) Jeff Langlands (GC at BT's Global Division) and Dan Kayne (GC at Network Rail Routes)

The overarching theme to the session was around what good communication looks like and how law firms should, and could speak with their clients.  I have summarised in brief, the salient points made by our panellists from some of the questions I put their way.

Question:  The Last Six Months Have Been Challenging, How Has The Relationship & Support Been With External Advisers?

• Efficiencies have been noted with reliance and adoption of technology a great help
• Law firms coped pretty well with being pushed out of their comfort zones.  BT, for example, ran their whole panel firm pitch process via zoom and it drove better collaboration than it might normally do

Question: How Would You Like To Be Communicated With & What Differentiates Advisors From One Another?

• Tailor communication and demonstrate that you understand their industry and business
• Be authentic & transparent
• Being technical is a given adding empathy and showing that you are human is just as if not even more important

Question: ''People will forget what you said and what you did but they never forget how you made them feel'' How are you hoping your legal supplier relationships make you feel and how do you know if they are the right fit?

• Trust is very important in a people business
• Chemistry and an ability to understand one another
• Being creative and taking a chance
• Urgency where appropriate and timeliness always

Some great learnings to take away and thanks to all that took part.