As a legal marketing veteran with over 12 years of in-house experience, Tara is now a partner and one of three owners at Wicker Park Group. She focuses on helping law firms build stronger and deeper relationships with their clients with two primary tools, client feedback interviews and business development training around the voice of the client.
In her role, listening to the client’s voice and what they value is critical. Tara aims to start the dialogue and encourages firms to allow their clients to be part of that conversation. For too long, law firms have operated on assumptions and without any real input from the client – something no other business or industry does.
Tara is a firm believer that client feedback should be a factor in strategic decisions. She says, “Companies [that her law firm clients serve] are innovative and amazing and are forcing the law firm to compete…think and behave differently. [Law firms] are learning best practices from their clients.” Tara loves being part of that conversation.
Tara emphasizes the Wicker Park Group tagline, “One Size Fits One,” a phrase she picked up from the general counsel at Clorox. She also stresses the need and desire for collaboration beyond the billable hour. Tara sees a lot of opportunity for law firms to add value beyond the billable hour, and collaboration is a huge piece of that. She says, “Successful law firms understand what matters to their clients because they talk to them.”
When it comes to internal relationships and cross-selling, Tara says it’s, “every firm’s number one goal.” While most firms are still trying to figure out the best way to cross-sell, the most successful are the firms who view a client as firm client rather than the individual lawyer’s client. Those firms are focused on client teams that engage every generation and support staff – everyone that touches the client – to deepen their client relationships.
Tara has been a member of LMA for over 18 years, served on various committees, as co-chair of the annual conference in 2013 and as a member of the Capital Chapter board for three years, including as Program Chair in 2012. She has presented at nearly every local group and at several annual conferences, including the most recent.
She has seen the legal marketing industry grow and evolve over the years. She predicts, “We’re on the verge of change. We’re finally seeing law firms look in the mirror…the action and the bigger risks.” After a lot of talk around the billable hour, she’s excited to see firms start operating like strategic businesses instead of fraternities.
Tara attributes much of this growth to the evolution of the legal marketer. “We have real professionals with many years of experience [in legal marketing roles],” she comments. She believes that professionals with outside industry experience have helped to enrich the legal industry, bringing best practices from other industries into the legal world.
Tara is energized and excited about the future of the legal and plans to continue to drive innovation in our industry.
By Ashley Smith, Marketing Coordinator, Gordon Feinblatt LLC