Welcome to the new pitching era

Gone are the days of content held in silos and aggregated manually. In a post-pandemic world, it’s now a necessity for law firms to become more virtual and cross border. Those which aren’t making these adjustments risk becoming left behind as we move into a new era for law firm pitching and proposals.

To put it simply, it’s no longer just enough to pitch.

Today, top law firms use analytics to guide them skillfully, they know what works, what doesn’t and more importantly how to use the data to win contracts.

Leading firms have quickly revolutionized to adopt pitch systems and have now liberated business development professionals to focus on fine-tuning other elements of the pitching process, leveling up by coaching attorneys.

Our two reports highlight these key changes, giving insight and thoughts from CMOs of global firms, so that law firms can make simple changes to efficiently win more work.

 

Global CMOS share what law firms need to do to win work efficiently

We’ve been closely following the trends. In our latest report, we’ve got to the heart of the challenges and opportunities internationally, drawing on the views of ten CMOs from across the AmLaw 200.

As demands on BD and pitch professionals are rapidly growing, with time and great marketing resources already scarce, it’s time to implement processes that can ease the burden, allowing efforts to go unwasted, increase win rates, and improved profitability.

Our 2022/23 report looks at exactly how law firms can do that moving forward through 2022 and beyond.

 

The universal trends in the report include:

Virtual centralized teams boost efficiency

We’ve experienced a huge cultural change over the past two years. Thankfully technology swooped in to allow information and tasks to flow across the business no matter where individual teams are. But it doesn’t stop there, the advances in technology provide a golden goose opportunity for law firms across the globe.

Brandon Lulis of Dickinson Wright “RFPs are immediately sent to a central team who segment the process, work on documentation and allow attorneys to pitch to writers to work on the language.”

Failing to have these systems in place means that law firms are left chasing their tail and flagging way behind their competitors.

Jon Brewer of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe simply puts it: “the firm that reacts the quickest and resonates is the one that gets the work.”

 

The scattergun approach is out

Analytics are now taking a leading role in the work of a CMO and in the pitching process itself. Data-informed decisions are propelling law firms forward to win more of the work they love doing.

Cynthia Howard, Chief Marketing Officer at Greenspoon Marder LLP: “Through data analytics one of our attorneys who were under the radar suddenly became the number one viewed attorney on our website. I initially thought it was from recruiters and he must’ve been planning to leave but it transpired he was actually in the middle of all of the global deals for PPE. Once we realized this we were able to beef up his bio, amp up his site, put materials together for him to make it easier for him to complete these deals, and help him with pitches and proposals. It’s just turned into a great success story.”

 

The move towards short signposting summaries

We explore the push from CMOs for change in the format and nature of documents and how they’re reeducating partners to achieve this.
Sadie Baron of Reed Smith suggested that pitch professionals are becoming the ‘storytelling consultants’ With John Brewer from Dickinson Wright agreeing, highlighting a need for law firms to reflect the client’s own words.

Our report includes insights and views from:

  • Gillian Ward, Chief Marketing Officer, BCLP
  • Julia Bennett, Chief Marketing Officer, Brown Rudnick
  • Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing, Clark Hill
  • Renee Miller-Mizia, Chief Marketing Officer, Dechert
  • Brandon Lulis, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Dickinson Wright
  • Liz Lockett, Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, Ice Miller
  • Jon Brewer, Global Head of Marketing, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
  • Mike Mellor, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Pryor Cashman
  • Sadie Baron, Chief Marketing Officer, Reed Smith
  • Chris Hinze, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Steptoe and Johnson
  • Cynthia Howard, Chief Marketing Officer, Greenspoon Marder

Collectively these individuals are responsible for marketing more than 8,800 employees and over 5.3 billion dollars of revenue.

 

How UK firms are approaching process management 2022/2023

As pitching for work becomes increasingly competitive, we bring together the key trends, processes and advice conducted from research among the UK Top 100 law firms, to highlight how law firms can cope with the demand and win contracts.

We look at questions around automation, strategy, new content, demand and people management. Giving special attention to the developments of the past four years, in light of the pandemic and increased technology adoption, that law firms need to be aware of.

 

Download the 2022 report to see:

  • How firms rate the importance of customisation, pricing, branding, key message and technical capability in pitch documents
  • Approaches to determining what to and what not to pitch for
  • The shifting demands around turnaround time
  • Technology use among leading law firms throughout the proposal generation process
  • Practices and experiences around the growing number of ESG and DI questions


Improve your pitching efficiency and win more business. Get in touch today!

Gareth Thomas