I was tempted to say welcome to the new LFMC website, but actually, the website is ‘just’ a by-product of a much wider revamp.
The LFMC was launched in November 2020 by me. My aim was (and still is) simple – I want to help law firms to ‘do’ better marketing. Better marketing results in more clients, income, improved skills and know-how. In short, better marketing helps your law firm to get better results.
I am so proud of what we have achieved in the 9 months since the LFMC was launched:
Webinars & events
20 webinars have been delivered
Attended by more than 100 different professional services firms and 700 people
3 networking events – attended by 120 people
Members & subscribers
We have 14 law firms that are members of the LFMC e.g., ‘paying’ to be ‘in the gang’ and benefiting from all we offer. They come from all over the UK and range in size – from c. £1.5M t/o right up to 25M+
We have an additional 54 law firms signed up as subscribers to the LFMC e.g., ‘free’ access to updates
Collaboration & Community
Our members have met monthly for ‘Chatham house’ style chats and collaboration.
Our partners have supported and promoted events and initiatives plus offered ‘value add’ benefits - from mystery shops, workshops and training through to roundtable discussions and ‘free’ software and audits.
Random other stuff – from serious to fun
We’re all about creating a community that is supportive of each other, but we also want to have some fun, including sending out:
Chocolate orange, coffee and socks
Over 100 business books have been distributed to law firms across the UK
We’ve run coffee tasting events
We’ve sent out pizza and pasta making kits, scones and coffee
Basically – we have created something very special. Something unique. Yes, we support law firms to ‘do’ better marketing, but we also bring them together so they can collaborate and grow.
And we have done this with support from some of the best legal sector suppliers and experts. All of the LFMC partners involved are involved because they have been invited to be a partner, and they are invited on the basis of me assessing them in terms of the value they can bring to a law firm.
My test is simple – would I choose them if I was still a marketing director in a law firm? Will they support me and my firm? Do they ‘get us’? Will they be a reliable partner?
The ultimate test of whether we are helping must come from our members. And to date, the feedback is positive. Including a glowing reference from Helen Freeston, the Marketing Director at Paris Smith, a mid-size regional law firm on the South Coast.
I am a Marketing Director who has worked in professional services for nearly 20 years and during that time I have been part of many networking and business clubs. The LFMC has been the best. Highly recommend.
I think we have created a very special, supportive, engaged and forward-thinking community.
A community focused on supporting each other and delivering whatever it is that is needed to help.
Which leads me to now.
We have been successful to date, but we need to keep moving forward, to keep offering. So we have worked hard in the summer months to put together something special for law firms.
And please note the change in language from ‘I’ to ‘we’ … I am delighted to share with you that I have an incredibly experienced and supportive ‘new’ team member as part of the LFMC. Caroline Pritchett, who I worked with at Moore Blatch for several years has joined me. Caroline is a very experienced legal sector marketer, and I am delighted she has chosen to join the LFMC.
Together we have reviewed and revised our membership package. We think we have come up with something that will be even more attractive to law firms, and we hope it will entice more law firms to join our community.
So here goes, this is what we have lined up for you:
A new website with more resources, links, downloadable items, research and information about the support available from our partners.
A wide-ranging events programme with 30 events planned over the next 6 months that will help you to grow, learn, be inspired, collaborate and network. Comprising a mix of experts - including an international line up - we are covering things that will tell you ‘how’, inspire you to ‘do’ and will support you through some upskilling programmes for everyone on your firm – lawyers, accountants, marketers, managing partners and your trainees and young professionals.
New research into ‘What Clients Want’ is being conducted as we speak – over 700 people from across the UK have participated. The questions asked are relevant and topical to the world we are in (what do they think about remote meetings, lawyers working away from offices, how have their wants and needs changed etc.) We are also collaborating with the team at My Customer Lens to bring the results and analysis to you in an interactive (as well as a summary) reporting format. Think analysis by age, geography, region, experience of purchasing legal services, expectations etc. Insights that should really inform and guide you with your approach to marketing AND your firms’ strategy.
Ongoing member collaboration in a secure, safe, supportive community with our monthly Chatham House style get togethers.
A new members section on our website providing access to:
All webinar and podcast recordings (including the ability to download them to share internally to ensure maximum legacy value right across your firm).
A market outlook section inc. latest research, trends, market data and supported by a regular summary report and document providing insights and opinions on things law firms need to be doing or thinking about (backed by research)
Access to over £1,500 worth of guides, templates and checklists to help you ‘do’ better marketing e.g., a guide to effective legal directory submissions, an effective law firm marketing checklist, client persona templates, a ‘cost of lost leads’ calculator and many more items.
Plus we have:
Unique offerings from all our partners (workshops, mystery shops, training, live chat trial and much more); and
Unique events – we get guest experts to talk about the things that you need to hear about (these are not available to non-members)
The Law Firm Marketing Club is serious about helping law firms of all shapes and sizes.
We have some mid-sized law firms with varying levels of sophistication to their in-house marketing set up, right through to smaller law firms with either no dedicated marketing resource, or just 1 person looking after the whole shebang. We have something to offer each and every one of them.
I would love to get more firms involved. We have created a very special community. If you are the sort of firm that wants to grow, learn and improve your marketing. If you want to learn and develop your young lawyers, if you want to have research to help inform and shape your strategy, if you want to have a team of experts at your fingertips to call on and sound out or run things past, then you really ought to join us.
We offer a full year’s membership for just £1,000 plus VAT. This price will be going up at the end of 2021 for new members as the value we are giving simply doesn’t justify keeping the price so low. Existing members will have their annual membership fee retained for at least 12 months.
And no, this isn’t a sales ploy … it’s a genuine ‘heads up’ that prices will go up!
I will keep pushing to deliver value to members. We now have a track record. We also have an impressive team of experts lined up ready to help (check out the events programme on our website). And even more importantly, we already have a wonderful community of member law firms.
Want to become part of our community? Please do get in touch with me, I’d love to hear from you.
Clare