Meet Anne Core, Director of Marketing, Lerch, Early & Brewer
I was tasked with profiling Anne Core for this issue of Capital Ideas. The Director of Marketing at Lerch, Early & Brewer and I met at the October half-day event, wondering how we already knew each other. It was because we had just connected on LinkedIn and were overdue for this conversation!
FB: Tell me a little bit about your firm and your role there.
AC: Lerch, Early & Brewer is a 50 attorney firm in downtown Bethesda. The firm has a diverse group of practice areas, serving businesses, individuals and non-profit organizations throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. I'm the only marketing person at the firm, so I do it all: communications, practice group planning, seminars and events, PR, business development, the web, etc. Something we're working on as we plan for next year is addressing the relationships between marketing the firm, practice groups and individual attorneys.
FB: I see you previously worked in real estate and non-profit environments. What from your previous experience prepared you the most for your current role?
AC: Running the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce and working with corporate members at a tech trade association gave me the fundamentals of business-to-business marketing, and much of our firm's work is commercial. Working in professional organizations and real estate made me very focused on client service-they might be called members or sellers, instead of clients, but super-pleasing those you serve is the goal, regardless of the organization. My non-profit experience reinforced the need for compelling messages about what you deliver-and, of course, was excellent preparation for marketing on a shoestring!
FB: What professional advice do you give your attorneys that you might apply to your own professional life, as well?
AC: I try to practice everything I preach about client service. The attorneys are my clients. I think about how I can help them succeed with their business, I keep them up-to-date about marketing initiatives that may affect them, I return messages promptly, I remember birthdays, I look for information about the industries they serve that might be useful.
FB: What big professional challenge or program are you going to take on next year at Lerch Early?
AC: We are in the midst of redesigning our website and a branding initiative, so we'll be launching the new website and rolling out the brand in early 2011. Once the website is up, we'll be getting up to speed on blogging and potentially Facebook. The other new program is creating a business development training and coaching program.
FB: If not legal marketing, what else would you do for a living?
AC: In my next life, I'd like to work for a marketing/advertising firm with a variety of clients.
FB: What brings you the most enjoyment outside of the office?
AC: I'm an indiscriminate reader and I enjoy walking with my dog, a rescue my family adopted from the Washington Animal Rescue League. I also like poring over quilting catalogs and ordering fabric; I'm determined to finish a quilt in 2011 instead of stockpiling my purchases.
Profile written by Faith Brinkley, marketing coordinator at Bryan Cave LLP