Quite Possibly The Most Effective Thing You Can Do To Differentiate Your Firm in 2016

By Steve Gluckman –

As competitive pressures accelerate, law firms continue to look for new ways to differentiate themselves from competitors. Offering training resources to clients is a proven and accepted practice among firms of all sizes and has done much to help differentiate them in the marketplace. However, is there more we can be doing to stand out and become an even greater, and increasingly indispensable resource to current and prospective firm clients?

“The law firm is constantly looking for ways to add value to clients without increasing client bills. Providing relevant, timely, and free education to clients is one way to do so, and it has the added benefit of highlighting the firm’s expertise.”
– Chris Boyd, Tris Brown, Larry Brown, and Janice Weekes

A survey commissioned in 2011 by the West LegalEdcenter and NALP Foundation found that 85% of all responding firms, and 98% of those with more than 500 lawyers, offered some form of training for clients, with the number of client programs expected to rise in the years that follow.

However, despite the incredible adoption and proven effectiveness of client training programs, in a Fall 2015 survey conducted by the Professional Development Consortium (PDC) in partnership with LawFirmElearning, only 35% of respondents indicated that they currently offer on-demand, online training to their clients – with even fewer (26%) offering on-demand learning to prospective clients.

This means that there is room to be a stand-out, early mover and get ahead of the crowd. We predict that within 3 to 5 years, nearly every firm will be offering on-demand self-paced learning resources to their clients. It will simply be expected.

Across industries, one of the fastest-growing – and most impactful – marketing trends in recent years has been “content marketing,” with 95% of business-to-business marketers using it. Content marketing is about marketing your firm to others by sharing meaningful content (for free) that provides value to the client or prospective client. Creating on-demand programs featuring your attorneys and their incredible knowledge about the field is a great way to seize this growing trend.

If you are not already offering content in the form of online client training to build, strengthen, or establish new client relationships, Forbes.com recently offered two important tips to keep in mind as you plan your approach:

1. Invest in making the content highly visual – it is worth it.
2. Repurpose for maximum value.[i] You are already capturing the extensive knowledge of your subject matter experts; look for creative ways to stretch what you already have to help your firm stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Like many law firms, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR) is very interested in working with clients to spot legal issues early and deal with them efficiently. To “help clients do the initial spotting and issue resolution on their own,” and to differentiate their firm in a competitive marketplace, WSGR offers a robust on-demand learning resource for clients and prospective clients.[ii] They state the offering is designed to “help in-house attorneys and their teams keep current with the ever-changing legal and regulatory landscape and get MCLE credit in available states.” Built to highlight the expertise of their lawyers, the WSGR online library includes over 90 on-demand education courses offering clients “exceptional flexibility to increase their practical legal knowledge and get MCLE credits wherever they are and whenever they need it.”[iii]

In their publication, “51 Practical Ways for Law Firms to Add Value,” the Law Firm Value Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel listed “on-line training that is available to both the firm and the firm’s clients” as their top recommendation in the “Technology and Library” category of the report.

If your firm has a few key clients that are significant to your business, you might consider tailoring your on-demand client training specifically for them. This could include co-branding the learning modules with both your firm’s logo and the client’s logo – or even adding a brief video introduction from the client’s general counsel or other leaders to further customize the experience.

To our friends in law firm PD, we recognize that you may not have primary responsibility for client training. However, is there a way for your group to work with the Marketing / BD organization to get even more benefit from the projects the firm is already undertaking? Can you create on-demand learning resources that can be leveraged for internal AND external audiences? And how about possibly sharing the expense? It may be worth a conversation.

[i] The Only Six Content Marketing Tips You Need for 2015, Forbes.

[ii] Increasing the Relevance, Adoption, and Impact of Law Firm Training, Thomson Reuters.

[iii] https://www.wsgr.com/WSGR/Display.aspx?SectionName=events/ondemand.htm

Blog Author

Steve Gluckman is the Founder of Law Firm E-learning, LLC. He is also the author of the ABA and Amazon.com best-selling book, “E-Learning for Law Firms” (published by the American Bar Association) and has advised scores of AmLaw 200 firms regarding their online learning efforts.