March 2010 Big Wednesday

Australian Law Firms - Sell, Sell, Sell

Graham Seldon, Managing Director Seldon Gill

The Seldon Gill job board makes one thing clear; law firms are hiring – big-time! We have been very busy in the last month!

Since February 1st we have been instructed by no less than 10 Australian firms hiring a range of roles but mostly in the areas of BD and CRM/Account Management.  The brief from Directors is specific, they want experience and, in the main, it is in coaching fee earners to better understand the pipeline-sales cycle.  Yes, that’s right, the dirty word “sales”, still not mentioned on job descriptions – heaven forbid – but its there, for those with eyes to see.

After years of bemoaning the fact that lawyers don’t ‘get it’ – I’m telling you now that they do.  Not surprising really - they are after all intelligent people who have built successful businesses by selling knowledge.  Not a tangible thing like a bridge or a tax return, but grey matter.  And they have sold it well.  Last year the top 10 law firms earned over $1.5 Billion in profit.  Not bad for a sector that apparently doesn’t understand BD.  Oh yes they get it, they just don’t feel the need to advertise the fact.

I have been recruiting marketing and BD people for law firms for 13 years, so I guess I could count myself as a bit of an expert in this area.  I am guilty of joining in the chorus of disapproval aimed at lawyers by the marketing community, and yet the old rhetoric of “they don’t understand us” has recently started to sound too much like whining teens.  The GFC showed us that actually our "legal guardians" might actually know what they are doing. 

As the accounting, consulting and engineering sector cut marketing spend and retrenched marketers, the majority of Australian law firms held firm and protected the jobs of their marketers.  Yes there were casualties, but not as many as in the UK or USA and arguably not as many as in other professional services sectors.

And now that the market is gaining confidence, who is doing the hiring?  

So I declare a moratorium on bad mouthing lawyers. Certainly they need help with process, just like marketers need help taking legal action, but let’s not assume that because they don’t know the etiquette of press release writing or the latest strategy in spin-selling, that they don’t understand the importance of marketing to their business. They do, and for that professionals services marketers have a lot to be grateful for.