Who are you looking at?

Something puzzles me. Why do law firms find it so hard to ignore their competitors? More than that, why do some firms (US ones, typically, I think) dedicate significant resources to finding out as much as they can about other law firms? Is this a lawyer thing or is it more widespread?

The questions come up because I have seen a flurry of interest in Competitive Intelligence in a number of places.

It started with Emma Wood, reporting in Steve Matthews’s blog on a CI session at SLA 2009. The whole thing was a bit new to Emma as well.

Coming from the relatively small Canadian legal market, I was fascinated to hear about the competitive nature of major law firms in United States. I described it afterwards to a friend as it almost being like the rivalry between McDonalds and Burger King. I knew that the American legal industry was bigger and different from ours, but I didn’t realise just how fierce the competition between major law firms is.

So what do these firms get by way of information about their competitors?

McAllister created a newsletter that captures information in seven categories: mergers & acquisitions; office openings/closings; lawyer moves; law firm management trends; finances, fees, bonuses, salaries; the firm in the news; and special reports such as AmLaw 100, etc.

What puzzles me is the result of all this information. In my previous incarnation as a competition lawyer, I was very conscious that the competition authorities were often particularly interested in markets with high levels of transparency (especially with regard to pricing, which I assume is not relevant here). The reason for this interest is that the authorities consider that transparency can often lead to a reduction in pricing and product differentiation between companies where there is a degree of concentration. (For an economics view of the question, see this paper.)

Aside from this, I feel instinctively that a business that focuses as much effort as Emma describes on learning about its competitors is probably looking in the wrong direction. Surely it would be more sensible to concentrate on what clients need, on the directions their businesses are heading, and on more general economic and market trends (outside the legal sector).

Another guest blogger, Laura Walters on the 3 Geeks… blog provides a worked example of CI in action for a law firm, using LinkedIn (originally written by Shannon Sankstone).

A quick search for a well-known law firm listed one of their attorneys as the top result. Although Mr. Lawyer made his connections private, he did not shy away from requesting recommendations. He lists over 40 recommendations, 26 of which are from clients. Some of these clients are (names have been withheld, but are available on Mr. Lawyer’s profile):

• A publicly listed hotel and resort corporation;
• A large biotech company; and
• A private equity firm.

At first glance, the CI pro now knows at least 20 of Mr. Lawyer’s clients (some clients had more than one person recommending Mr. Lawyer). Were a firm considering approaching Mr. Lawyer as a lateral hire, they would include this information, and an analysis of the clients, to determine if Mr. Lawyer’s client base was in line with the firm’s business development goals.

If, on the other hand, a firm was competing with Mr. Lawyer’s firm for work from a company in the hotel industry, then Mr. Lawyer’s recommendations might be leveraged to the CI pro’s firm’s advantage. While Mr. Lawyer may point to his recommendations as proof that he has delighted clients in this industry, the competing firm may highlight this as Mr. Lawyer having a better relationship with a competitor company.

If I were a client, I think I would be more impressed by a firm that highlighted the real benefits of instructing them, rather than raising allegations of conflicts of interest with my existing lawyers. The latter argument tells me nothing about (a) why I should change lawyers at all, or (b) why the pitching firm should get my business. In short, I am not sure that I would be especially impressed by even an implied impugning of my choice of lawyer. This kind of comparative advertising sits poorly in a profession that sets great store by the creation of genuine working trust-based relationships.

Any business that concentrates its efforts on working out what its competitors are doing makes it very difficult to generate new ideas, to find points of difference that appeal to clients or customers. This is the point of “differentiation” — a goal of most businesses. Any organisation can do things differently (although that can be hard too). Real value only comes when those different things (whether they be core legal services, or a way of working) actually resonate with clients — there is real differentiation from competitors. However, an understanding of what will differentiate the firm cannot come from an examination of what one’s competitors do — that can only result in painting the same products in different colours. As this summary shows (drawing on this HBR article), the questions to be asked all focus on the client.

1. Have you researched your clients’ requirements and preferences?
2. Do you know what the points of parity or hygiene factors are?
3. Do you know what the motivation factors are?
4. Do you understand, from the client’s perspective, what the relevant importance of each of the motivation factors are?
5. Can you substantiate how your offering creates value for your clients?
6. Can you deliver a resonating CVP – one that really appeals to the client’s key motivation factors?

Unfortunately, the lack of differentiation that comes from examining competitors rather than clients is extremely visible to outsiders. We should not fool ourselves that it is not. Eric Karjaluoto recently gave a splendid example of how obvious this failure to understand differentiation can be.

A few weeks ago we met with a company that was having exactly this problem. They’re a respectable law firm whose website just didn’t seem to be doing what it needed to. They particularly liked a website that we had crafted for another firm, and decided that they should get in touch with us.

The meeting went swimmingly. They were all pleasant and had a lovely office space. They explained to us that they were quite different from other law firms, and that while others were rather boring and stodgy, they are in fact much younger, more progressive, and “out of the box” thinkers*. They didn’t think this came across in their current materials, and were highly dissatisfied with their existing website. They felt that if we built a site for them like the one we built for their competitor, it would remedy this problem.

…

*Incidentally, Almost every law firm we’ve met with has told us exactly the same thing. I have yet to encounter the law firm that claims to be “boring and stodgy”.

Unfortunately for Erik, the engagement didn’t work out, but he is at least able to draw a wider conclusion from the firm’s behaviour.

Although I’m talking about one specific operation, my point applies to many. In our (nearly ten) years in business, we’ve spoken with a lot of people. Almost all face similar challenges, and they typically lack one of two requirements needed to remedy the situation and spur change. The first and most important is a willingness to differentiate; the second is the allocation of appropriate funds, in order to make this happen.

The law firm in question knew their problem–they came off as “beige” and boring like everyone else. They then looked to all of their competitors and decided to copy the site that they liked most. While I understand what leads to this, it’s a rather perverse notion: “Let’s differentiate our firm by copying the one that we like the most.” (Riiiiight.) They wanted the result without the price–a price which is both monetary and psychological in nature. In order to actually stand out from their competitors, they’d have to find a story of their own to share. With this does come some small amount of risk; it also brings with it the opportunity to create something powerful.

You don’t differentiate by copying the most attractive brand you can find. (If we did, KFC would be marketed like Louis Vuitton, and that would be sort of weird, wouldn’t it?) No, you have to isolate that which is uniquely yours and amplify it compellingly. You need a story that’s plausible (and one that people want to hear) and then you need to share it effectively. Not doing so leads to what one might consider the marketing “doom loop”, in which new campaigns are crafted and deployed haphazardly–destined for failure before they’re even out of the gates.
Although I’m talking about one specific operation, my point applies to many. In our (nearly ten) years in business, we’ve spoken with a lot of people. Almost all face similar challenges, and they typically lack one of two requirements needed to remedy the situation and spur change. The first and most important is a willingness to differentiate; the second is the allocation of appropriate funds, in order to make this happen.

The law firm in question knew their problem–they came off as “beige” and boring like everyone else. They then looked to all of their competitors and decided to copy the site that they liked most. While I understand what leads to this, it’s a rather perverse notion: “Let’s differentiate our firm by copying the one that we like the most.” (Riiiiight.) They wanted the result without the price–a price which is both monetary and psychological in nature. In order to actually stand out from their competitors, they’d have to find a story of their own to share. With this does come some small amount of risk; it also brings with it the opportunity to create something powerful.

You don’t differentiate by copying the most attractive brand you can find. (If we did, KFC would be marketed like Louis Vuitton, and that would be sort of weird, wouldn’t it?) No, you have to isolate that which is uniquely yours and amplify it compellingly. You need a story that’s plausible (and one that people want to hear) and then you need to share it effectively. Not doing so leads to what one might consider the marketing “doom loop”, in which new campaigns are crafted and deployed haphazardly–destined for failure before they’re even out of the gates.

I can see that there is a natural inclination to compare ourselves with the neighbours, but that is not a useful long-term strategy. It leads one down avenues that do not fit our real preferences, or into courses of action that lead to social, emotional or real bankruptcy.

Our competitors do not have the key to improving our businesses, but our clients do. I think we should look (and listen) to the right people, and spurn the siren voices.