By: John D. Barber, Marketing Coordinator, White and Williams LLP
On Thursday, March 20, 2014, the Legal Marketing Association – Philadelphia Metro Chapter met to discuss Pricing, Project Management, and Procurement. The featured speakers were Matt Todd, Executive Director, Global Head of Legal Business Solutions, JP Morgan Chase and Donna Wren, Director of Project Management, Dechert LLP.
Matt and Donna answered questions from the audience and covered a variety of issues pertaining to Request For Proposal (RFP) responses, efficiency, and client satisfaction. The theme of the discussion focused on clients wanting their legal needs met competently and efficiently. Matt and Donna both agreed that the firms that are best able to specifically outline their strategy and approach stand the best chance of acquiring and retaining business.
A majority of the questions from the audience pertained to the most effective way to answer RFPs. What are the most important RFP questions from the client’s perspective? How can law firms differentiate themselves? Who are the final decision makers regarding the procurement of legal services? What is the evaluation process like?
The best RFP submissions do several things very well. They directly address the specific practice area for which the RFP was sent by clearly demonstrating the capabilities the firm has when working on that specific type of matter. They demonstrate a deep bench in that practice area. They answer matter specific questions, if the RFP is for a specific engagement. And, they give precise, tailored, justification in all answers but specifically when addressing questions pertaining to project management, budget, AFAs, and the possibility of secondees.
Through out the discussion it became obvious that the one thing to stay away from is boilerplate language, never addressing the specific concerns of the client. Clients want detailed submissions that clearly identify the law firm’s experience dealing with the legal issue, industry, and market. As Matt pointed out, JP Morgan Chase wants to see examples of a law firm’s experience with large banks, similar in size to them, and not small or regional banks. Understanding your firm’s capabilities and their place in the marketplace can go a long way in making sure you are going after the correct work.
It is also important to remember that a RFP will never contain enough information alone to answer all questions in the best possible way. By asking good questions of the procurement team, you are better positioned to answer the questions. Sometimes, clients distribute guides for law firms that can be helpful to you. For example, JP Morgan Chase has an outside counsel manual that details its expectations of its law firms. And, at times it will be important for questions to be asked directly to the client regarding the parameters of the specific matter if it is not spelled out in the RFP.
Once all the work has been put into answering every question in an RFP in the best way possible, who sees it? Who makes the final decision regarding which firm to choose? What is that process like? The client has any conceivable number of RFPs to review and consider. If your answers are specific to that RFP and well justified, it has a better chance of standing out, and that is the first step. As far as who is going to look at an RFP, that is client specific. At JP Morgan Chase, Matt’s team will consider all RFPs, then give a recommendation, but it is the in-house counsel handling the case that makes the final decision on who will receive the work.
After work has been assigned, keeping that work must become just as important as pitching for the work. Two major aspects of keeping clients happy are effective project management and communication. Effective project management means that the right person is always doing the right work in the right way. A partner isn’t doing the work that an associate could do just as effectively. Effective communication means that there are never any surprises. The client is kept up to date on any trends or developments in both the matter and the handling of the matter.
The RFP process can, at times, seem like an exercise in frivolity, as though no work will ever come out of it and the most you can hope for is being put on a preferred provider list. But, you never know where even that could lead, and as Donna stated, “If you’re not on the list, most companies, they can’t even consider you.” It’s important to make the most of opportunities that your firm is well suited for and answer each question as well as possible.
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THIS EVENT WAS SPONSORED BY:
Love Court Reporting, Inc