Today 85% of firms agree that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives are more important to clients than ever before[1]. As this demand builds and it becomes an integral part of doing business, law firm marketeers are also feeling this pressure.

Not only because, as Neil Pearson, Head of ESG and Social Value of Mills & Reeves says, ‘it’s the right thing to do’, but because it is also key to winning business in the first place and then to keeping it.

Marketing not having access to relevant ESG statistics to include in their pitches puts their odds of winning at serious risk. With findings from DWF stating that 59% of firms have lost work due to their answers to ESG questions.  When put next to the fact that large organisations such as BT[2] automatically rehire the most diverse firm on their panel and Centrica grills firms on diversity for panel review we can see just how serious this conversation is.

 ESG pressures influence new business

This commercial pressure has become even more direct and tangible over the past few years, especially where panels and procurement decide on pitch winners with at least 10% of the weight being placed on the Social element of ESG.[3] Today, some firms are even being asked to break down the social impact to the individual or to the practice area[4] and 37% of firms experienced clients asking for ESG information before engaging with them.

The need for ESG standards also stretches far beyond the pitching process, it’s not uncommon for clients to ask firms to monitor the progress against the claims that they make in their pitches and regularly report back on it.[5]

For sophisticated and analytical answers one needs time – which both of our UK Pitch Management Report and North American Review of How Winner Win found to be the biggest bottleneck in the pitching process.

We saw some firms actually turning their ESG policy into an advantage here and standing up to clients to ask for an extension in the deadline because the only way they could meet them is by asking the team to work unsociable hours. But this, of course, can’t be the solution to make sure that the firm keeps winning.

 

How can marketing teams be supported to give the right answers to ESG questions?

Firstly, the right statistics can’t exist without the right actions. Firms need to reassess their ESG plans and commitments and set impact targets against which progress is measured.

They need to make sure that marketing is aware of all these activities and keep them up to date if anything fundamental changes, so that they can always convey the correct and most up to date message.

Even better is introducing sophisticated ESG analytics that marketeers have access to, allowing them to showcase progress and challenges in real time, highlighting the good-faith efforts law firms are making to meet the standards. This can be extremely useful for firms, especially in the bidding process.

From doing this, not only will law firms be able to meet the requirements of the changing environment, but they are opening themselves up to new opportunities, and as Tara Sherbrooke, GC of YouGov put it, ‘if you don’t measure it closely, how can you know that you are moving the needle?’.

Having the freedom to use up-to-date ESG information in their pitches, as well as measuring its impact on win/loss outcomes, means law firms can make the necessary data-led changes to keep clients, secure new business, and ultimately ‘do the right thing’ when it comes to ESG.

 

 

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Sources:

[1] Thomson Reuters; 2021

[2] https://www.thelawyer.com/bt-throws-down-gauntlet-to-panel-our-most-diverse-firm-gets-rehired-automatically/

[3] “The rise of ‘S’ in ESG”; Neil Pearson, Partner and Head of ESG & Social Value together with Surjit Deuer, Head of Business Development, Mills & Reeve; The Environmental, Social and Governance Movement; PSMG; 2022

[4] “The rise of ‘S’ in ESG”; Neil Pearson, Partner and Head of ESG & Social Value together with Surjit Deuer, Head of Business Development, Mills & Reeve; The Environmental, Social and Governance Movement; PSMG; 2022

[5] Tara Sherbrook, GC of YouGov; “What GCs Look for in a Winning Pitch”; Pinnacle; 2022