“I meet excellent technical lawyers who struggle to make a practice work financially,” Mr Marshall said.

“Conversely, I meet really ordinary practitioners who drive Ferraris.”

The difference between them, according to Mr Marshall, is embracing the understanding of how to do sales — something lawyers hate. 

Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, Mr Marshall said that when talking about the entire client facilitation and intake process, lawyers hate the “s” word — selling — so much they call it business development or marketing. 

However, Mr Marshall has empathised with Australian lawyers because they never learnt any of this in law school.

“In the UK, they are trying slowly starting to get it into the syllabus with law schools,” he explained.

“In the seven years of being in Australia, there is a very small amount of people who have even learnt about this.”

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A problem in attracting new clients is that lawyers aren’t encouraged to do sales training and, according to Mr Marshall, that is the difference between winning and losing.

Firms are facing increasing challenges in many areas such as changing technology, but acquiring new clients is a problem that continually remains for many lawyers. 

Phrases such as “I am not a salesman” and “We are professionals in a noble profession” are commonly echoed by lawyers and practitioners alike.

However, without sales or new clients, a law firm can’t exist, and it becomes a dilemma for lawyers in understanding their roles in the process of gaining a new client. 

“In a traditional sense, there is too much dichotomy built around the partner as well in a practice,” Mr Marshall said.

“When you’re in a firm, the partner may take you under his wing but on the chance that he/she doesn’t, then they are by themselves and will find it tough to get new clients.

“If you’re not a partner in a firm, you’re a second-rate citizen.”

Building more credibility to win clients

It is not an unknown fact that firms are increasingly specialising themselves in specific practices, with generalists in a difficult place. 

“In 2020, the reality is becoming clear that no one wants to buy from a generalist and everyone wants an expert.

“In some ways that’s good because experts don’t charge low fees and generalists are discounting to win work when they shouldn’t.”

According to Mr Marshall, clients are willing to pay the fees if you are able to demonstrate your expertise, but you can’t just say you’re better than the next lawyer or law firm and expect them to believe you, because they won’t.

This leads to how a firm needs to be perceived as an expert in this modern day and it can be utilised to drive new revenues.

“I’ve always told my clients that it is better to be a big fish in a smaller pond and that it is much better to gain a market than the market,” Mr Marshall said.

Firms should embrace a well-planned strategy including understanding the profile of the ideal client, whether they’re going to make the money and if that will increase their reputation in the specific practice. 

Thought leaderships are also very important in driving practice expertise. Although it is widely used in the BD area, lawyers should incorporate thought leadership carefully and structure it not just like a brochure on the website but to clearly engage and advocate for clients, according to Mr Marshall. 

This can create more recognition among clients, reinforcing relationships, and improve lead generation, but most importantly, establish yourself as a credible leader in the specific expertise.

Not enough efficiency in referrals 

Lawyers are also way too reliant on referrals coming back to them, according to Mr Marshall, and will rarely rely on getting one themselves. 

The best time to ask for referrals is to find a trigger moment, and this moment comes when firms understand how their clients perceive them.

Mr Marshall’s experience working with firms in both the UK and Australia has found a stark comparison. 

“In the UK, 95 per cent of law firms do client satisfaction surveys,” Mr Marshall said.

“In Australia, that is completely reversed; 94 per cent of firms don’t do client satisfaction surveys.

“If your firms aren’t understanding the clients, then the result is that trigger moment doesn’t arise.”

BigLaw firms, on the other hand, have conducted surveys but, according to Mr Marshall, most partners will pick and choose who they send the questionnaire to and vet them in the process.

Mr Marshall recently surveyed 150 firms in Australia and found out the three things that weren’t working well in law firms: brand advertising, sponsorships and hospitality.

Clients are being savvier nowadays and want to seek a value for money, responsiveness and quick turnaround time.

But the most important thing is a four-letter word starting with “F”, and that is feel. 

“Much about what a client remembers is not in what you say, in what you do, but they will remember how you made them feel.” 

Legal professions are essentially a professional service and how you deliver that service is the difference between winning and losing, Mr Marshall told Lawyers Weekly.  

“Law firms are 80 per cent people and 20 per cent everything else,” Mr Marshall said. “Yet not enough focus is put on motivating people who deliver the service.

“The ultimate difference is the people who are good at this can dictate what they charge, people will come to them and they won’t need to cold call.

“If a lawyer can gain aspects and knowledge of the sales process, even though they hate to put themselves in that way, it will be a major game-changer to drive new clients in the new decade.”