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At tax time, review marketing endeavors along with deductions

By: DOLAN MEDIA NEWSWIRES//March 26, 2012//

At tax time, review marketing endeavors along with deductions

By: DOLAN MEDIA NEWSWIRES//March 26, 2012//

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By Carolyn Lavin
Dolan Media Newswires

As business people gather the necessary financial documents to prepare for tax filings, they often analyze earnings and expenses in comparison to goals and projections. Lawyers, too, assess the fiscal implications of the previous year from a perspective of billable hours, per-lawyer revenue, realization and other factors.

But as you undertake a thorough review of 2011 in terms of brackets and deductions, don’t miss the opportunity to incorporate some basic marketing parameters in your walk down recent fiscal memory lane.

Since evaluating profit and loss is a quantitative process, it may be simple to list the five or 10 biggest and least profitable matters that crossed your firm’s collective desk in 2011. Note from where the matter came and how that process was handled. You may have to do some digging to get to the heart of the referral and surrounding set of circumstances.

As you identify the great and the not-so-great matters of the past year, recognize that the long and winding road of new business often veers toward paths that are not within your control.

For instance, did you participate in an RFP process where you unknowingly bid too low or too high because you did not have an accurate understanding of the parameters of the legal engagement? Did you sign on to a matter that took a series of unforeseen steps with related negative consequences?

Conversely, a small lead from a sporadic referral source or corporate legal matter for a client for whom you serve as quasi in-house counsel might have provided an unexpected abundance of substantive work for your firm and a successful outcome for your client, a win-win for all.

It is also valuable to assess where you spent your marketing hours, what events you attended and with whom you had lunch, coffee or drinks during the past 12 months.

Take a few minutes to carefully scrutinize your calendar on a month-by-month basis. If your firm hosted a stellar celebratory bash last year to mark a years-in-business milestone that garnered lots of face time and generated a positive buzz, what are you doing to connect with those clients, referral sources and prospects this year?

Your calendar might also alert you to a charitable event or bar association function that was very rewarding in terms of business-building or afforded you the opportunity to see many in your network of colleagues at one time. Investigate if that event is happening again this year and be sure to sign up.

And don’t forget to review your LinkedIn connections for reminders of individuals with whom you have lost touch in the hectic life of a busy law practice.

Whether you have clients who need some courting, referral sources to invite to lunch, or prospects you would like to advance in some way toward a fee-generating affiliation, use your previous efforts as a stepping stone to marketing success.

We know that planting the seeds and nurturing their growth is the best method to create strong and lasting business relationships, so it makes sense to follow up with your lunch dates and others with whom you made significant connections.

Technology-centric attorneys may want to create an Excel sheet of activities and next steps to examine yearly. You might implement the tracking features in Microsoft Office or other Customer Relationship Management databases.

No matter the complexity of your approach, some thoughtful review and analysis of your marketing endeavors from the previous year will produce as much critical business-building information as the actual income-and-expense figures on your accounting ledgers.

Carolyn Lavin is president of Lavin Marketing Communications and has worked with lawyers in Boston and Providence for more than 25 years. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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