Are RFPs a valuable tool or a waste of time? What if they were both?

Ken Robbins' "Why we quit participating in RFPs" on his blog, Ken Robbins: thoughts on business strategy, marketing, ideas. Robbins is a marketer, not a lawyer (and not even a legal marketer), but his post on RFPs is no less relevant to the legal profession. It's clear that more and more clients are using RFPs as a tool for hiring lawyers. And it's equally clear that they aren't going to stop anytime soon. You may love RFPs or you may hate them, but sooner or later, you're going to have to decide whether or not a particular RFP -- or RFPs in general -- makes sense for you. Robbins' perspective, and those of his readers (as articulated in the comments), will help you sort through the pros and cons of that decision.

Sorry, Edison: for lawyers, it's 99% preparation.

Janet Ellen Raasch's "How to 'pitch' your legal services: The preparation factor" on her blog Constant Content. Winning new work isn't always about being cheaper or being in more cities or having a bigger team. Most of the time, winning comes from just being prepared, from knowing what the client needs, from knowing what your own firm can do, from articulating -- in terms the client understands -- how you can help them achieve their business objectives. This post (and parts one and two in the same series) provide good, practical, advice on doing just that.

Have you read these?

A smattering of interesting and insightful posts from the blawgosphere and beyond

• "50 Web Resources for the Suddenly Solo Lawyer” from ABA Law Practice Today. Whether you’re suddenly solo, facing the possibility of becoming solo, or just looking for resources that will help you improve your practice, you need to read this piece. Jim Calloway and Allison Shields have put together a valuable list that has something for everybody. You used to have to pay to get access to this information. The bonus? This article is part of an entire issue devoted to the “Suddenly Solo” lawyer, where each and every article is chock-full of invaluable advice from the likes of Ed Poll, Jay Shepherd, Grant Griffiths, Dennis Kennedy, and others. Find it here.
  
  
• “The Answer to How is Yes” from Conversation Agent. I try to avoid recommending the same blog in subsequent posts, but when I saw this post from Valeria Maltoni, I couldn’t help myself. Perhaps it has something to do with the advice for out-of-work lawyers @JeenaBelil provided when I interviewed her on 22 Tweets this week: “Stop saying I can’t….” Whatever the reason, you need to read this post. And read it again. And then print it out and tape it to the wall next to your monitor so you can read it every day.
  
  
• “Prove Your Worth (and Profit) as a Results-Oriented Agency” from PR New Online. This post isn’t about public relations, it’s about value, about service providers finding ways to provide greater value to their clients, about changing the way things have always been done to meet the demands of the new marketplace. While the suggestions in this piece do not apply across the board to the legal profession, the message does: it’s time for a new business model.
  
  
• “10 Reasons Why PR People Need to be on Twitter” from Social Media Today. I’m a firm believer in Twitter as a communications tool. It is changing the nature of business relationships, for good, and whether or not it is around in 10 years, the changes it brings about will be. For this reason, I am convinced that lawyers need to be on Twitter: to know it, to be able to communicate via the tool, to meet others doing the same thing, and to gain exposure to people and ideas that will add value. This post is written for PR pros, but a number of the ten points raised apply directly to lawyers. Read it and you’ll agree.
  
  
• “Seller's Remorse in the Marketing Business” from Trust Matters. This is a story about how an advertising agency reacted to being eliminated from consideration in an RFP process by Zappo’s. But it’s much more than that. One reason is that it reminds us of a valuable lesson: “One of the biggest fallacies sellers make is that buyers buy based on their own stated rational criteria.” Another? It has sparked some very interesting and insightful comments (including one from David Maister!) about the RFP game.

Have you read these?

A smattering of insightful and useful posts from the blawgosphere and beyond.

• “Draft Horse” from Belgium Knee Warmers. I don’t often get the chance to recommending a cycling post in the context of legal business development and marketing. This is a great post about working hard, satisfying the needs of your client, and the satisfaction that comes from being a true team player. Lawyers: don’t make your clients tell you what they need. Know their business, know their industry, know their objectives and strategies and challenges, so that you can smell their need and satisfy it before they ask. Then you know you’re adding value.
  
  
• “You Need to Be Proactive to Sell” from Alan’s Blog at Contrarian Consulting. I’ve featured posts from Alan Weiss before. This one features stories about selling, value and how one vendor makes their client feel important, special and valued. Guess who’s going to get repeat business?
  
  
• “Decision making defines the leader” from Harvey MacKay. This article doesn’t need much in the way of introduction, because you already know who MacKay is and why you should be reading his weekly column. My favorite part of this one? The quote from Harry S. Truman: “Whenever I make a bum decision, I just go out and make another."
  
  
• “Tips for Pitching Your Firm to In-House Counsel Without Going Overboard” from Law.com. It may seem like you’ve heard these before. After all, you have a lot of experience on the buyer side making purchase decisions based on how people pitch their services. Then why do you need to read this post? Because you’re probably not using your “buyer” experience when wearing your “seller” hat. Read this post and put what you learn into action.
  
  
• “What do recruiters want from a resume?” from MN Headhunter. I feature a lot of posts for job seekers that offer valuable lessons for all who sell themselves (including the fortunate ones who currently have jobs). Don’t let the title of this post fool you: it too is for everyone. Yes, it is full of very practical advice for job seekers writing, updating, or merely circulating their resume. But there’s a broader lesson here: don’t deal in generalities. Find out precisely what your buyer is looking for, and tailor your materials to communicate your ability to meet those needs.
  

Have you read these?

A smattering of valuable and relevant posts from the blawgosphere and beyond

• “50 Tips to Help You Win Client Competitions” from Ann Lee Gibson. Good ideas never lose relevance: the advice in this article is as valuable today as it was in 2001. Lawyers and legal marketers, this is a must read. The bonus? You don’t have to implement all 50 to see results. Making just a handful of changes suggested by Gibson is enough for you to improve the pitch process, the first step on the road to winning more work.
  
  
• “Key Account Management” from David Maister. When you read this article, you’ll think it was written in response to the challenges facing lawyers in today’s dismal climate. Think again. It’s hard not to wonder what the profession would look like today if more firms had adopted in 1997 the program outlined by Maister in this piece. There’s really no excuse for not heeding these lessons today, is there? 
  
  
• “10 Tips to Build Trust with Social Media” from Sometimes it’s better to be socially creative. A lot has been written about optimizing your Web 2.0 presence to gain readers / followers / traffic / hits / etc. But it’s not just about ears and eyeballs, is it? Isn’t developing clients a function of building trust? Your Web 2.0 activities aren’t any different from your other trust-building activities, and this post will help you frame the discussion in those same terms.   
  
  
• "A merger followed by a decimation of the acquired company’s law department” from Rees Morrison’s Law Department Management blog. If you don’t have this blog on your RSS feed, add it right now. Why? Because Morrison writes for in-house legal departments, and outside firms can gain a tremendous amount of insight from what he says. This post is a good example. Read it as a reminder that even if you do everything right and make your clients happy and provide them with value that goes beyond all expectations, you can't control everything. Plan for it. 
  
  
• “Tips for Delegating Marketing on the Cheap” from Nolo’s Legal Marketing Blawg. Written with sole practitioners in mind, this post provides extremely practical advice on how lawyers can maximize the value of their marketing time. Don’t let the context fool you, though. Even if you’re not on your own – even if you have marketing staff – this post will very likely help you better manage the time you spend marketing your practice. 
  

Have you read these?

A smattering of interesting and timely posts from the blawgosphere and beyond

• “10 Clues Your PR Pro is Worth the Dough” from David Mullen’s Communications Catalyst blog. Lawyers: don’t let the title fool you, you need to read this. Your clients are evaluating you using these same criteria. Doesn’t it make sense to get ahead of the curve?
  
  
• “L.L. Bean Understands “Perceived Value” Versus Discounts” from Idea Sandbox. L.L. Bean gives a good lesson in value. Hint: it’s not about playing games with prices. The added bonus? L.L. Bean also knows how to use social media: here’s their reaction to the first Idea Sandbox post.
  
  
• “Law firms question cost of responding to corporate RFPs” from The National Law Journal. According to a new Altman Weil report, RFPs typically cost firms $35,000 to $65,000, or 100 to 200 partner hours. That’s a lot of money for an effort that fails 70% of the time, and probably doesn’t even take into account staff time, supplies, and other “hidden” costs of responding to RFPs. Do clients really think this is in their benefit?
  
  
• “The Problem with Most Fixed Fee Proposals” from In Search of Perfect Client Service. Patrick Lamb doesn’t just criticize the problems of the billable hour, he built a firm around providing realistic solutions. So it makes sense that this isn’t just another chapter in the ongoing “the billable hour must end” saga. Read it and you’ll agree.
  
  
• “15 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started My First Blog” from Quick Sprout. File this in the “it’s never too late to learn” category. You can also file most of it in the “useful ideas for relationship-building, no matter what the medium (but especially Twitter)” category. One more? How about the “I now have Quick Sprout on my RSS feed reader, and you should too” category.