I recently stumbled upon a great online webinar showcasing some research from Hinge based on their 'High Growth Study' for law firms.  During the webinar, each element of the findings was broken down whilst the perspectives of Michael Michaelides from Norton Rose Fulbright and Nadine Leighton of Lexis Nexis were called upon.

The research and indeed discussion started with covering off the biggest business challenges of the last 12 months. Michael suggested that his firm have actually embraced digital quite well especially amongst fee earners, with particular attention also focused on bringing in new skills like price negotiation and holding price with clients.

With more of a client-centric approach adopted by many firms, this has also meant that there has been an acceptance of new skills such as digital marketing.  It has also been identified that there needs to be differentiation in the market with communications and brand and this has a direct correlation with client base and also the people narrative with retention of existing and the attracting of new talent.

The second section covered digital and how it has been embraced as a form of generating and driving business and commercial outcomes at law firms.  Both Nadine and Michael suggested that when drilling down into attribution and specifically digitally generated leads, this should be taken with a pinch of salt as it just isn't cut and dry in the legal space.  The sales cycle can often be long and have many touch points.  Michael did however point to the fact that Linkedin and online digital events have both been highlighted as leading to fee earning work.

The next section of the research hammered home the point that high growth firms are actually carrying out regular research on their target audiences.  Once they can understand what their clients want, they then have the ability to back up and cement their expertise.  Michael suggested that they have some brilliant fee earners that are experts in their field but they simply just need to showcase it on a regular basis to clients and prospects.

Most people don't wake up wanting to buy legal services.  The research suggested that law firms that were growing rapidly, were adopting a mix of various marketing techniques to be successful and again they have needed to make sure they have the right mix of skills and know-how within the marketing setup.

The final area of focus touched upon the tactics that marketers could utilise and leverage to drive the highest impact but with the lowest effort.  Demonstrating amazing service and keyword search took the top 2 slots but after that, the research pointed to the fact that tactics showcasing the firm's wealth of expertise were certainly a safe and relatively easy bet.

Michael concluded that within Norton Rose Fulbright, fee earners that have shown authenticity whilst showcasing their expertise and free-flowing views to the market, have really benefitted as ultimately, their clients have been rewarded.