Non-legal Professionals

The practice of the law is in many ways a relationship business primarily because the service is delivered in person by a person , legal marketing is by referrals and the bedside manner of the firm's lawyers significantly affects the level of influence with the clients. It is just like the hospitality business or being a consultant, you have got to have serious social and emotional intelligence. And on that note let's look at a vital aspect of relationships: those with non-legal professionals. We're talking accountants, PR, marketing people and others who are not in the legal sandbox. The good news is that the connection between some of these guys is natural and even sanctioned by law such as accountants, then the line between legal and financial services is blurry as legal is very fluent if financial services (think UK and US law firms),as is the connect between legal and consulting and finally between legal and all sorts of business. They sometimes seem joined at the hip.
The potential to secure and generate business, influence and goodwill is there and it is major so what is your law firm about on this front? Is there a program, are you winging it or is there a mix? Recently at the NBA-SBL roundtable with the CAC, the chief official at the CAC made a telling point on the issue of planning. He said that a reason lawyers lack a consistent client base is lack of follow through, noting that after lawyers had initiated and completed company incorporation process very few ever checked back to file annual returns months later when they were due. The general laughter of derision and sullen silence from the lawyers present was a stark demonstration of this insight. But he had a point and we at IBARU-McKENZIE further venture to add that a lack of a client engagement plan and framework is why this happens. How do you plan to stay in touch, how do you plan to apologise, how do you plan to expand your share of business from the client, what investments will you make to make this happen?
And the very same thing goes for working relationships with non-legal professionals because out of sight is out of mind and these professionals are potential clients, major clients or can make referrals.
The Chinese call it Guanxi and for good or I'll while relationships are sometimes used for cronyism, they also make you aware of potential, potential problems and potential opportunities.