Marketing, Sales, Business Development – What’s the Difference, and Who Does What? By: Nathan A. Darling, Marketing Manager, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP, Washington, DC President-Elect, Legal Marketing Association, Mid-Atlantic Chapter

The Evolution of Legal Marketing

The marketing function in law firms has evolved rapidly and significantly in recent years. Presently, a majority if not all of the firms ranked in the American Lawyer 100 have marketing departments. Small and sole practitioner firms, too, are implementing marketing concepts to leverage attorney time spent on business development activities. Many firms are looking to corporate America or to the accounting and consulting professions for models of how to structure their marketing/business development functions. Long a taboo concept in law firms, the “S” word – sales – is taking hold as a specific function in a growing number of firms.

Just as firms have adapted marketing principles to their diverse cultures, needs and expectations, the marketing function has evolved to include a host of specialized staff positions for competitive intelligence, practice development, proposal support, client services, communications/public relations, event marketing and other tasks. Amidst this evolution, however, one thing is certain: cookie-cutter staffing solutions rarely work in the legal industry. Some firms have created business development, practice development, client services and sales departments in addition to, or instead of, marketing departments. What one firm calls “marketing” another calls “business development.” What one firm refers to as “sales” another firm refers to as “client development and retention.” In the end, nomenclature matters less than the firm’s adoption of the concepts and the results achieved. Nevertheless, administrators who are charged with the organization of the firm should be familiar with the differences (and interrelationships) among marketing, sales and business development roles.

How Does Marketing Compare to Business Development and Sales?

Reasonable people frequently disagree on the role and function of these disciplines in the law firm context. A full discussion of this subject would take volumes (for more information, see Recommended Further Reading list at end of this article). However, to simplify matters, this article will henceforth use the term business development to refer both to business development and sales, and will concentrate on the distinction between marketing and business development. The reason? Many lawyers are already familiar with the term business development and in many firms business development refers to the sorts of activities that are commonly affiliated with the sales process for professional services. Marketing, on the other hand, differs from but is closely related to business development.

Both marketing and business development entail the formulaic or systematic application of processes (e.g., industry research, competitive analysis, lead generation, presentation, follow-up) that are designed to achieve a specific position in the market for the firm, a practice area or individual lawyers. A few examples of these “positions” include being thought of as the go-to firm for a given discipline, being at the top of a short list or group of firms under consideration for a proposal, being thought of as an authority by the media who will regularly call for quotes or interviews or even being a resource for other lawyers who can provide a steady stream of referrals. No matter what the goal, marketing processes focus on groups and industry-wide demographics, while business development processes are principally conducted on an individual level.

To further illuminate the distinction between marketing and business development, it may be useful to metaphorically compare those disciplines to a military invasion. Before the first movement of troops or resources, strategists assess the theater as well as the adversary and develop priorities and targets to advance their objectives. This process is roughly equivalent to strategic meetings of a firm’s attorney leadership (the “generals”) with the participation of marketing and business development executives (the “lieutenants”) who will be charged with carrying out the mission. Then, in the first stages of an invasion, aircraft and battleships stationed offshore begin a long-range, wide-scale assault on the previously defined targets, softening up the enemy defenses for a subsequent amphibious landing. This roughly equates to marketing, in which a given industry sector is the “target” and efforts are focused on achieving general name recognition for the firm in that sector so that future development efforts go more smoothly. Then, during the landing process, ground troops infiltrate the target area and make contact with the enemy – sometimes in hand-to-hand combat. This is similar to the business development function, in which a dedicated team of individuals seeks out their counterparts in the previously defined target industry sector for one-on-one meetings.

Again, while each firm applies these concepts differently, the general distinction is clear – marketing activities tend to focus on a “macro” level while business development activities usually take place on a “micro” level. However, the processes are closely interrelated. Just as business development activities grow out of overall marketing strategies, marketing strategies change over time and must be adjusted in response to feedback from business development efforts.

Who Does What?

While administrative departments dedicated to marketing and business development are a relatively recent addition to the legal landscape, it is helpful to remember that these concepts are hardly novel to law firms. Prior to the advent of nonlawyer executives to direct these functions, they were often carried out directly by the attorneys, ably assisted in many cases by secretaries and legal assistants. Indeed, the concept of a rainmaker – an attorney whose personality, experience and connections serve as a magnet to draw in business and forge relationships that benefit other lawyers – epitomizes this era. Rainmakers aside, law school as a general matter does not train lawyers on how to craft strategic marketing plans, conduct industry intelligence or manage a sales process. Thus, with cost and productivity pressures building, and with the successes of rainmakers difficult to replicate on a wide scale, firms realized that efficiencies could be gained by institutionalizing certain marketing activities. Just as traditional manufacturing companies devote personnel and budgetary resources to marketing and sales processes to bridge the gap from factory floor to end consumer, the existence of marketing and business development personnel in law firms allows attorneys to focus primarily on client work and individual relationship building while the marketing staff concentrates on the firm’s overall market presence.

In some firms, marketing and business development staff conduct strategic analysis and prepare the relevant materials for approaches, setting the stage for individual attorneys to make the actual contacts. In other firms, professional business developers or sales personnel take the analysis and preparatory role further by conducting activities such as lead generation (selection of specific targets from the pool identified by marketing efforts) and prospecting (initial contact with targets to determine their aptitude for a relationship) before turning over the process to attorneys. Some firms have even entrusted initial meetings with prospective clients to non-lawyer business developers, or such personnel accompany lawyers to meetings. In either case, marketing and/or business development staff typically are responsible for following up with attorneys on their activities and managing the overall processes.

In many firms, the business development function is a component part of the marketing function. Thus, the business development executives report to the Chief Marketing Officer (as well as to the lawyers with whom they work). In other firms, these functions are separate but proceed in close coordination, with the head executives for both marketing and business development reporting to a firm management committee, Chairman or Chief Operating Officer.

Best Practices for the Future

The evolution that the legal marketing profession has experienced over the last five years will no doubt continue. As a result, each firm, after evaluating its culture and practice, must decide how best to structure its marketing and business development functions. Some additional points to keep in mind:

• Although their approach strategies differ as discussed above, marketing and business development personnel must work hand-in-hand since they are ultimately focused on the same goal: to enhance the market position of the firm and create or expand profitable client relationships.
• Even in firms where attorneys delegate a great deal of responsibility to the marketing staff, marketing and business development activities – particularly strategy development – should never occur in a vacuum. Attorney involvement and direction, as well as client feedback, is critical at all stages of the process.
• Constant communication, information sharing and feedback loops are essential to a smooth running operation.

Marketing and Business Development Job Titles

As each firm’s culture and approach to developing and maintaining client relationships is different, it follows logically that each firm’s approach to structuring and staffing the marketing function is unique. However, a few norms exist when defining the roles of personnel:

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). This person typically reports directly to the firm’s Chairman, Chief Operating Officer or management committee and is the top marketing, sales or business development executive in the firm. The CMO may also be known as Chief Officer for Business Development, Practice Development or Client Service. Some firms refer to this function as a Director – i.e., Director of Marketing, Director of Sales. In large firms, or in firms where the business development/sales function is a component of the marketing function, there may be a Director of Sales or Director of Business Development who reports to a Chief Marketing Officer. In firms where the sales/business development function is not a component of the marketing function, there may be a separate chief officer or director for those areas who would be on a peer level with the Chief Officer or Director of Marketing. Notwithstanding the above distinctions, some firms may also have a Director of Marketing, responsible for specific administrative oversight functions, who reports to the Chief Marketing Officer.

Marketing Manager. The Marketing Manager typically reports to a Director or Chief Marketing Officer and is responsible for the activities of a specific office, region, practice team or industry sector. Marketing Managers may also be known as: Sales/Business Development Manager, Regional Marketing Manager, Practice Development Manager, Group Business Development Manager, Client Services Manager, Business Developer.

Marketing Coordinator. The Marketing Coordinator provides support and assistance to the Marketing Manager and/or Director. The Coordinator may also be known as: Marketing Assistant, Marketing Specialist, Practice Development Coordinator/Specialist/Assistant, Group Business Development Coordinator/Specialist/Assistant.

Communications Manager. The Communications Manager is at a peer level with a Marketing Manager, and typically handles marketing communications needs for both the marketing and business development/sales areas (i.e., public relations, media, printed collateral, advertising). This position sometimes has one or more coordinators to provide support, and it may also be referred to as: Public Relations Manager, Media Relations Manager, External Communications Manager.

Other positions. Depending on the firm, the marketing department may have jurisdiction over certain initiatives such as events and conferences, website maintenance, database management (including knowledge management, proposal tracking, conflicts, etc.), and client extranets. In this case, other positions may become part of the marketing function, usually reporting to the Director or Chief Marketing Officer. Where the firm’s structure and strategy dictates, they will report to Marketing or Communications Managers. These positions may include: Database Specialist/ (or Assistant/Manager/Coordinator), Webmaster, Marketing Technology Analyst, Proposal Writer, Proposal Coordinator, Client Services Coordinator, Event Planner, Marketing Projects Coordinator, and others.

Works Consulted/ Recommended Further Reading
“The Reality of “Sales” in Law Firms: Who’s Doing What?”, Julie Savarino, Esq., Business Development, Inc. Newsletter, April 2003. (www.busdevinc.com)

“How Sales-Savvy is Your Law Firm?”, Larry Bodine, LawMarketing Portal Article, December 2, 2003. (www.lawmarketing.com)

“Sales Is Not A Four Letter Word,” Anne Malloy Tucker, LawMarketing Portal Article, April 1, 2003. (www.lawmarketing.com)

“Embracing the Sales Function Without Violating the Ethics Rules,” William E. Hornsby, Jr., LawMarketing Portal Article, May 13, 2003. (www.lawmarketing.com).

Marketing The Law Firm: Business Development Techniques, Sally B. Schmidt, Law Journal Press, 2002.

Editor: Debra F. Goldman (DGoldman@GMLJ.com) (This publication is the property of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators. Reproduction or reprint without prior permission is strictly prohibited. Click here to request reprint permission.)

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