Measuring the ROI of Business
Development — Even if it’s Possible,
Does Anyone Care?
Timothy B. Corcoran
Corcoran Consulting Group
August 7, 2013
© CCG 2013
Who am I?
• Over 20 years of expertise in law firm management,
marketing, business development and technology,
product management and consultative selling
• Advises law firm leaders in business development,
legal project management, process improvement.
Also advises legal vendors on product development,
market strategy and sales force readiness
Timothy B. Corcoran
Principal
Corcoran Consulting
Group, LLC
• Formerly a senior consultant with Altman Weil;
Director of Practice Development for a global law
firm; CEO of a NASDAQ-traded legal technology
company; and a senior executive with both
LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters
• Fellow, College of Law Practice Management
• Fellow, Center for International Legal Studies
• President-elect, LMA International Board of Directors
• Author of Corcoran’s Business of Law blog
• Columnist, Marketing the Law Firm journal and
PSMG Magazine (UK)
• Host, In-House Legal podcast
• Yellow Belt certification, Legal Lean Sigma
© CCG 2013
Who moved my cheese?
© CCG 2013
Remember when everything was working well?
Demand
PPP
Rates
© CCG 2013
Or was it?
“Post hoc, ergo propter hoc”
“After it, therefore because of it”
Cause
Effect
© CCG 2013
Law is shifting from a demand to a supply economy
Location, location, location
© CCG 2013
Have the R.U.L.E.S. changed?
Old school
New school?
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Envisioning a different future
© CCG 2013
What matters now?
• Client focus
• Predictability
• Communication / managing expectations
• Efficiency
• Yada, Yada, Yada
• Legal expertise
© CCG 2013
New rules, new vocabulary
I Love Lucy, “Paris at Last,” S5E18, 1956
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Lawyers and marketers and CFOs speak different dialects
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ROI = return on investment
ROI is relative, not absolute
© CCG 2013
Measures of ROI
© CCG 2013
Where does ROI matter?
• Prospecting
• Events and Sponsorships
• Pitches, Proposals & RFP responses
• Social Media
• Resource allocation
• Departmental reporting
© CCG 2013
Which dollars do we chase?
© CCG 2013
Identify and repeat efforts that win business
Stage 1
Initial Contact
Bay Bank, Joe Reed;
Catch up lunch
Mitre Inc, Sue Glade;
Met at ABA CLE
NoCal Power, Jeff
Lisso; Ref by ASD&R
Convo Destin, Gene
Inello; New GC mtg
City Construction, Ed
Flister; RFP rec'd
Raytheon, Lucy Arroz;
Webinar attendee
Clifton Pubs; Neil
Nolan; inbound call
GE Aircraft; Bo Little;
Network referral
Stage 2
Fact Gathering
Lazlo Mendel et al,
Tony Monte, ptnr
Lit co-counsel oppty
Brighton Bank Ltd
Stuart Grady - London
debt restructuring
Sun Apparel
Chas. Marin - Atlanta
RIF
Quantralis
Silber - NYC
option backdating
AirPeru
Jose Denon - Atlanta
class action defense
Stage 3
Needs Analysis
BioVate Labs
Antitrust defense
Ron Keltner - NYC
next mtg 7/23/09
S'western Power
Water filtration plant
Brent Day - Houston
proposal due 7/20/09
Major Ventures, LLP
xchange delisting
Torango, Silber - NYC
meet CFO 7/7/09
Stage 4
Proposal
Stage 5
Close
Banco de Espana
Airport development
Kent Linert - NYC
Tolliver Industries
Patent litigation
Steve Testke - Chi
$725,000 / Aug 09
$110,000 / Jul 09
Ritter Corp
Whistleblower def.
Aimee Mann - Atlanta
$275,000 / Jul 09
80% probability of closing
within 3 weeks, leading to
$100k billables in Q1,
$150k in Q2, $50k in Q3
© CCG 2013
Propose solutions to business problems
Business Issue
 BioVate has several high-growth
products at risk of IP infringement in
growing 3rd world markets
 BioVate ex-VP of Engineering filed
sexual harassment claim, seeking
class action status
 Additional round of P/E or VC
financing needed
Impact to Business
Recommended Actions
 Loss of revenue ($____) from clones
 Expensive to file ($____) IP protection
in all markets
 Difficult to enforce valid IP protected
in some markets
 BioVate to vigorously protect IP in key
primary markets
 Potential negative PR impact with
customers, suppliers, trade press
 BioVate to monitor IP infringement in
3rd world using 3rd party tool
 Selective high-profile enforcement for
deterrence
 Aggressively pursue summary
judgment
 Expensive to defend ($____), though
allegations are unfounded
 If fail, seek settlement over trial
 Cash flow/liquidity squeeze by Q4 at
present run rate
 Explore financing alternatives and
issue offering
 Inoculate against future actions by
presenting employee training
Capabilities statements and brochures are often a waste of
time and money. Customized proposals win business.
© CCG 2013
Which practices deserve attention?
There is an inevitable and inexorable migration of products and services from
leading edge to common place, whether the provider likes it or not
Strategic
Rates
Supply
Important
Repetitive
Repetitive
Repetit
ive
© CCG 2013
Which partners deserve attention?
© CCG 2012
Where should we spend our time?
• Plot all activities
• Plot all practices
• Track marketer time
against all practices
• Compare to strategy
plan
• Review resource
allocation with firm
management
© CCG 2013
Memberships and Associations value chain
Leading Expert
Board
Committees
Visibility & Credibility
Submit Articles
Demonstrating
Expertise
Speak at Conferences
Networking &
Education
Attend Meetings, Educational sessions
© CCG 2013
Event ROI: What do we need to know?
© CCG 2012
Event ROI: A lot more than we track today!
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Event ROI: The numbers don’t lie!
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Which publications generate traffic?
2500
2000
1500
Alerts
1000
500
0
Sep. 15
(5067)
Sep. 16
(4908)
Sep. 18
(8642)
Sep. 19
(8643)
Sep. 21
(8658)
Sep. 22
(8664)
Oct. 6
(9805)
Oct. 7
(7936)
Oct. 16
(8847)
Oct. 22
(8658)
© CCG 2013
Share of Voice
© CCG 2013
Pitches, Proposals, RFPs – The Great Time Suck
The usual process
• Always in a rush
• 95% about us
• Deal lists, representative matters, bios
• Never call to clarify
• Last second drop-in of mystical pricing
The usual result
• Who cares? We pitch what the partners tell us to pitch!
© CCG 2013
Pitches, Proposals and RFPs – Model of Efficiency
Regression analysis – an
internal Chambers?
Winning Characteristics
• Potential alternative solutions
• Early
• Proposed project plan
• Client prep call/test close
• Proposed budget
• 95% about the client
• Clear problem statement
© CCG 2013
Measure & report on metrics that matter to clients
The ACC Value Challenge
Understands Objectives/Expectations
4.5
Legal Expertise
4.6
Efficiency/Process Management
4.2
Responsiveness/Communication
4.4
Predictable Cost/budgeting skills
4.0
Results delivered/execution
4.4
© CCG 2013
The death of asymmetric information
Repetitive
Repetitive
© CCG 2013
The death of asymmetric information
Repetitive
Repetitive
© CCG 2013
The death of asymmetric information
Repetitive
Repetitive
© CCG 2013
The death of asymmetric information
Repetitive
Repetitive
© CCG 2013
The death of asymmetric information
Repetitive
Repetitive
© CCG 2013
The death of asymmetric information
Repetitive
Repetitive
© CCG 2013
For more information
© CCG 2013
Timothy B. Corcoran
Principal
Corcoran Consulting Group, LLC
609.557.7311
tim@corcoranconsultinggroup.com
CorcoranLawBizblog.com
Twitter.com/tcorcoran
© CCG 2013