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GAZETTE
N E W S
MAY/JUNE 1995
The Law Society Annual Conference
1995
LAW SOCIETY CONFERENCE 1995 - BUSINESS
SESSION
Left to right: Aidan Canavan, President of Northern Ireland Law Society; Charles Elly,
President Law Society of England & Wales; Paddy Glynn, President, Law Society of
Ireland; Kenneth Ross, President Law Society of Scotland; Maurie Stack,
President
Law Society of New South Wales and Richard Haynes, Keynote
speaker.
A most successful Annual Conference
was held in May in the Hotel Europe,
Killarney, Co. Kerry. The conference
was attended by over 200 participants
including guests from the Law Societies
of Northern Ireland, England and
Wales, Scotland, New South Wales and
Queensland. The conference opened
j with a very successful dinner on
Thursday evening. The dinner was
followed by entertainment provided by
the world renowned Bunratty singers.
On Friday morning the business session
was held. The keynote speaker was
Richard Haynes.
Mr Haynes is
Managing Director of Haynes
Consulting, which provides a business
development and training consultancy
to solicitors, accountants and other
professionals in the UK. He advises
professional firms on developing a
marketing culture within their practices
and teaches them the skills they need to
| sell in today's intensely competitive
environment.
I The keynote address was followed by a
panel discussion. The panel members
were
Aidan Canavan,
President of the
Law Society of Northern Ireland;
Charles Elly,
President of the Law
Society of England and Wales;
Kenneth
Ross,
President of the Law Society of
Scotland and
Maurie Stack,
President of
the Law Society of New South Wales.
The discussion was chaired by
Patrick
Glynn,
President.
I
| Keynote Speech - How to Develop
Your Business
The keynote speaker commenced by
explaining what marketing is:
anticipating and satisfying the needs of
your clients and prospects profitably.
Client Care
The following is an outline of the points
j which he made. Marketing will help you
to expand your practice, increase client
satisfaction and increase staff loyalty.
There is a recognised oversupply of
professional hours for sale. What is the
result of this? - an increase in client
power. Clients will now shop around.
Every solicitor is running a business and
must face up to marketing the firm.
Choosing a professional is difficult
because there is no product to show.
A client makes a decision based on what
he sees and hears. A professional makes
an impression on clients by his/her own
behaviour. If someone has a bad
experience they tell more people than if
they have a good experience. Looking
after existing clients is fundamental to a
successful business.
Building Relationships
The keynote speaker identified four
factors which people take into account
when deciding on which professional to
use: awareness (they must have heard of
you), trust (they must trust you), need
(they must need the service you are
offering), the solution (you must offer
the client a solution). The reality is that
the most powerful way to increase
business is by selling yourself.
You
must sell your practice. Building
relationships with prospective clients
takes time. It is not a sprint it is a
marathon. One must develop a strategy
for keeping in touch with potential
clients. Methods of doing this include:
• sending a newsletter and following it
up by telephone
• meeting them through intermediaries
• inviting them to a seminar
• writing to them with new information
• inviting them to a social or hospitality
function.
You must ensure that you are the first
firm potential clients think of when they
need a solicitor.
Marketing Culture
A marketing culture does not create
itself. It starts at the top of every
practice and permeates downwards.
Everybody in the firm must be client
conscious. Every solicitors firm should
have a client database. This should
include all existing and potential
clients. What work are you doing for
them? What work are you
not
doing for
them? The database should include a
profile of each client. There should
never be a key account. To every client,
his account is the key account.
Why do clients complain about
solicitors?
Solicitors often take on too much work
and do not live up to the expectations of
the client. There is often inadequate
supervision of work given out to
juniors. Solicitors are often guilty of
bad communication. They do not let
clients know what they are doing on the
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