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Building for the future
Peter ScottPETER SCOTT CONSULTINGwww.peterscottconsult.co.uk
Where are we now?
The economy Legal Services Act implications Greater regulation and compliance PI insurers’ attitudes Technology Client needs are changing Greater need for resource A fragmented profession A need to become more competitive
The need to be more competitive
“Competition is a process by which …services that people are not prepared to pay for, high cost methods of production and inefficient organisations are weeded out and opportunity is given for
new…services methods and organisations to be tried” *
Could this apply to the legal profession today?
*Everyman’s Dictionary of Economics
The greatest danger?
- complacency!
“Our strategy is to keep a lid on
expenditure and weather the storm. We
cannot reinvent ourselves as something
we are not”
Managing Partner of a major London law firm – Autumn 2008
An alternative view…
“there seems to be a disturbing strategy of hunkering down, cutting some fat and hoping that business will return to normal. That is not good. The terrain will look very different when this is over. This is not a minor blip, but a discontinuity”
“the problem is that most senior lawyers think only two months ahead. They have no coherent picture of the future. The planning is not being done. And it is senior lawyers who need to be driving change”
Professor Richard Susskind – May 2009
Forward planning - focus on the fundamentals
The kind of firm you want to be Your clients Your people How you can achieve your goals
Where are you now?
What are the most important lessons you have learnt from this recession?
Which of those lessons will you use to
build success for the future?
There may never be a better time to face up to your sacred cows
ENTER ZONE OF UNCOMFORTAB
LE DEBATE
MAKE DECISIONS
FACE UP TO REALITY
FOCUS ON BIG ISSUES
MAKE IT HAPPEN
Strategy is a continuous journey…
is a process of finding out:
What your (current and prospective) clients value
What your partners value
Identify key skills and behaviours which enable
the consistent delivery of your value proposition
Developing a strategic vision in a partnership …
Your clients
Core issue to add value
More than the competitors In a way which is regarded as valuable
by clients Needs to be value clients care about - clients’ perspective - not yours
What do client’s want?
“They always try to sell to us on price – but what we really want is to have a good job done at a reasonable price”
Client feedback from a perception survey commissioned by
a law firm
You will add value that clients care about if…
You provide clients with what they need – and more
At prices they perceive to be value for money; and
You do this better than the competition
Position your firm to provide value for money
Client
Perceived
Added
Value
Client Perceived CostBowman and Faulkner 1994 Long Range Planning
High
HighLow
Low
Ave
Ave
X
Suicide Zone
How can you find out what clients need?
Ask them Commission a survey of clients and
referrers
Do your clients say you are adding value?
Your people
Your people / your values?
What is valued in your firm? Do you reward what you value? Do you invest in what you value?
What does it take to succeed at your firm?
Is this a block on developing your
business?
“The only thing this firm values is personal billing!”
Are some of your people holding you back?
Are you presently unable to add value to your clients because of: internal attitudes and behaviour? Lack of skills?
How to achieve your goals?
You have developed a realistic plan, but…
this will require RESOURCE - resource which
many individual firms cannot realistically and at
an economic and acceptable cost provide
themselves
It is a fast changing world and law firms need to constantly adapt
The economy Legal Services Act implications Greater regulation and compliance PI insurers’ attitudes Technology Client needs are changing A fragmented profession A need to become more competitive
Law firms need greater resource to be competitive
Is lack of resource making you uncompetitive?
Often a lack of resource of expertise
(client perception surveys will show if this is the
case)
Often a lack of financial resource
(inability to invest in your people and in the
business)
The resources to be competitive
Will you have the resources on your own
to achieve your goals?
If not, then merger may need to be
considered
How can merger help to provide us with the necessary resource?
NB – merger is not a panacea
- often just a better platform on which to build a more
competitive law firm
- not about size for the sake of size
Merge for the right reasons
Merger is not a strategy – it is a means to an end – to gain competitive advantage
Merger can help build RESOURCE – to enable a firm to provide its clients with what they want at a price
which the clients regard as ‘value for money’
The scale of a new firm may help to enable…
the new firm to be developed at an
acceptable economic cost to each
constituent firm
which the individual firms could not on their own provide
Quality Resource to enable the new firm to…
Attract and retain the best
talent
Quality Resource to enable the new firm to…
Provide clients with the depth
and breadth of expertise they
now require, where and when
they need it
Quality Resource to enable the new firm to…
Build the quality management
which will be required to
successfully compete in the
future
Quality Resource to enable the new firm to…
Provide the necessary infrastructure to underpin
the effective provision of high quality
professional services demanded by clients
A Vision
To build a BRAND which can begin to
compete with larger, more developed
firms for better quality, higher value
work leading to greater
competitiveness and profitability
Is this a Vision you share?
Any questions?