When times are tough, the tough get going
For the first time since 2000 the economic outlook is unpredictable at best and even looks likely to become tougher and more challenging. During difficult economic times, law firms throughout the world typically search for answers to the question: “How can we develop business in order to see our way out of trouble?”
Predictably, many come up with the same old solutions. Equally predictably, there’s a high casualty rate as firms learn, too late, that doing more of what works in good times doesn’t necessarily help in bad. Different strategies come up again and again in marketing plans, which have such a disappointing success record that they almost constitute a recipe for how to fail when times are tough.
The most frequent, and least successful of these strategies is to do nothing and wait until the economy improves. Inaction, of course, has always been a favourite failure strategy for marketing losers throughout history. But it’s a seductive one in a typical climate when hopeful politicians join with inept economists to insist that good times are just a few votes around the corner. All too often, substantial law firms across the world have gone under because they predicted that the difficult times couldn’t last. As N. R. Towie, Chairman of Northern Mining, once put it during a recession, “For some of us, the light at the other end of the tunnel was a train coming the other way.”
Nevertheless, for those who are prepared, this can be a time of opportunity, and one where you can firmly position yourself ahead of your competition. Through our research we have identified the skills and strategies, which enable you to retain and develop existing clients as well as develop new clients in difficult economic times.
Why not read our paper, Retaining Business in Difficult Times, which you can use as a checklist to review your current business development activity and identify what changes need to be made to respond to the current economic climate. Then you may find that these times aren't as tough as you might expect.
