By Alice H. Simons, marketing and communications manager at Hudson Cook, LLPThe 2021 Annual Conference was structured a bit differently this year. Its theme, “Rise, Refocus, Reconnect,” allowed attendees to safely immerse ourselves in the essential, educational content we have come to expect from LMA.
I attended the Saturday afternoon presentation by
Nancy Spivey and
Amy Velhurst on quantifying and communicating your value. What I really appreciated about this session was that there was something for everyone at any point in their career – even for a legal marketer like me with over 10 years of experience in the field. Spivey and Velhurst started by discussing the definition of “value” and what it means in the context of legal marketers – what we bring to our firms, our importance, our worth, our standards of behavior, and how our firms benefit from having us on the team.
Next, the presenters showed the audience that there are multiple opportunities to communicate our value, beyond the initial interview and annual reviews. Why not ask for a raise, promotion, title change, etc. mid-year, perhaps at the conclusion of a big project or after showing how productive you’ve been while working remotely?
In making the ask, you’ll need to know your audience, Spivey and Velhurst advised. Are the stakeholders data-driven? Are the right people at the table? Be sure to communicate the right information to the right people at the right time (sound familiar?).
As marketers, they noted, we should always create a strategy and goals for every campaign. The same applies here – how do your vision and personal objectives align with the overall vision of your firm? Align your goals with the firm’s strategic plan, marketing plan, practice group plans, individual attorney plans, etc.
In addition to internal data, Spivey and Velhurt recommended that you provide additional industry data. They suggested resources such as LMA surveys and industry salary surveys. Another great resource from right inside LMA are the Small Interest Groups (SIGs). Personally, I believe that if you haven’t joined a SIG yet, you are missing out. As a solo marketer, the SIGs are invaluable to me, whether I’m looking for a vendor referral or need a sounding board for a new initiative I am thinking about pursuing, LMA colleagues provide new perspectives.
As with any successful campaign, you’ll need to track your performance, the presenters cautioned. Some tracking tools include:
- Existing firm systems, such as CRM and ERM
- Time tracking
- RFP metrics
- Project management systems
- Quarterly/annual department reports
- Outlook tasks
- Voice apps
- Anecdotal conversations with or emails from colleagues
- Excel or just plain old pen and paper
Once you have crafted your strategy, gathered resources and tracked performance, develop your quantitative and qualitative value statements. Quantitative value statements express value in measurable denominations, such as money, time and resources. Qualitative statements are expressed in apparent qualities or value to the firm and are usually based on subjective values. Spivey and Velhurst provided the following value statement formula: Did
X By Doing
Y Resulting in
Z.
The presenters led several role-playing exercises (I always love when presenters get the audience involved in an activity rather than just passive listening), including a scenario where we prepared to ask for another full-time employee for our department and another where we interviewed for a senior position at a firm.
Finally, we were ready to head back to our firms and put what we learned into practice.
- Recognize the value that you bring and express it in both quantitative and qualitative statements.
- Track your value constantly and consistently.
- Do your research.
- Know your audience.
- Express your value with confidence using a value statement formula, action words and a variety of output.