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Link to All Presentations from One North's Experience Lab
A couple of weeks back we were hyper-focused and engaged, playing 'The Relationship Game' with 115 other marketers as part of One North's 2nd annual Experience Lab. One North Interactive, a creative/ interactive agency focused on digital marketing for law firms and other professional services, organized the relationship-themed event with a detailed eye on 
facilitating and encouraging relations and bonding between participants and presenters. There is no better way to start a relationship event than with a casual networking reception, in this case, with attendees and staff at One North's Chicago office over cocktails and hors d'ourves. In keeping with the relationship theme, One North set up a photo wall of their employees divided by account teams to help clients put faces to the names. Bonding continued with team dinners afterwards.
The day and a half program was equally relationship-focused since a majority of the presentations, 8 out of 10 on day one, took up no more than 20 minutes, and post-session 'table talks' encouraged participants and speakers to further explore salient points discussed during the sessions.
So why hone in on relationships? Firm-client relation strain is at an all-time high, much of it due to firms simply not listening to what their clients are asking and, increasingly, demanding. Case in point, according to Altman Weil’s fifth annual "Law Firms in Transition Study", ninety six percent of law firm leaders say they believe price competition is a permanent reality, and 80 percent think non-hourly billing is here to stay. In contrast, only 29% of leaders report that their firms have significantly changed their strategic approach to pricing since the 2008 recession. Some GCs might argue relating with their law firm clients is like talking to a wall.
When asked "why do clients leave their outside counsel?" during a Lab panel discussion on day two, Wicker Park Group's Nat Slavin cited economic pressures (firms not adjusting pricing strategies!), new legal needs and service failures as three top reasons. Fellow panelist Deborah Knupp of Akina added that with all things equal, clients want the 3 Cs – caring, creativity (in providing legal solutions) and camaraderie (among their own). The bottom-line … close interactions and the degrees of meaningful, trust and competency-based relationships that suppliers and clients have, greatly determine account longevity and how well both sides can endure a crisis and general 'growing pains'. Lastly, the ultimate strength of your client bond is demonstrated by you clients' willingness to refer and recommend you to others.
Consider this useful background information. Next, we decided to channel Dr. Phil and offer up some relationship rules based on the session topics and conversations during this year's One North Experience Lab.
Relationship Rule #1: The Network is Your Customer
“In customer networks, customers are no longer viewed as isolated individuals, but are seen as dynamic and interactive participants in a network. These customers are constantly responding, connecting, and sharing among themselves and with businesses they care about,” stated Experience Lab keynoter David L. Rogers. According to Rogers, executive director of Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership and author of “The Network is your Customer”, there are five customer network behaviors and corresponding value creation strategies:
- Access: There are no more ‘store hours’ – no more ‘9 to 5’. Companies need to be faster, everywhere and ‘always on’. [Example – Delta and other airlines are now offering gate-to-gate media connectivity.]
- Engage: Become a source of valued content. [Example - value-added content provided by McKinsey and other management consultancies; specific blog content by Amazon Web Services and others]
- Customize: Make your offering adaptable to your customers’ needs. [Examples - Lancôme’s ‘magic mirror’ virtual makeup tool and My Affinia customized hotel room/guest experiences.]
- Connect: Become part of your customers’ conversations. [Example - SAP’s Community Network, developed by SAP AG, is used by software users, developers, consultants, mentors and students to get help, share ideas, learn, innovate and connect with others. There are currently over 2.5 million members who create over 3,000 posts a day.]
- Collaborate: Invite your customers to help build your enterprise.A great way of engaging clients-ask them what you can do to improve. This can lead to valuable new products/services. [Example - Doritos asks customers to create Super Bowl ads each year. Doritos Snack Attack was most viewed TV ad ever.]
Relationship Rule #2: Build digital relationships by focusing on experience-rich interactions
This sounds sort of counter-logical but during his session, One North CEO John Simpson shared the premise that our current relationship era demands personal interactions versus a focus on 'generic service delivery' and hiding behind the traditional 'shouting your message' approach. After all, the best form of marketing is the kind that does not feel like marketing. He noted that today, "your brand is your client's experience" and shared an unscientific yet effective test demonstrating brand relationship loyalty. Google "I love Apple" and find 828 million search matches; 152 million for "I love Starbucks"; 88 million for "I love United Airlines" (and bizarrely, 106 million for "I love Satan"). The point is that brands like Apple have made relationships – digital or otherwise – fun, rewarding, interactive and enjoyable resulting in the impressive 'I love' loyalty quotient.
As mentioned in a previous Experience Lab post, one of the biggest takeaways from John’s session, and really the central theme of the entire Experience Lab, was the introduction of the relationship cycle, a representation of how law firms and professional services organizations can engage their clients to build long lasting relationships that build trust and – over time – advocacy. One can argue that it is extremely impersonal to capture our client relationships via a static and sterile graphic but when you hear statistics like “57% of purchase decision are completed BEFORE a supplier is contacted”, you realize it is worth 'theorizing' our client relationships before we practice what we preach.
Relationship Rule #3: Pay attention to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when striving for transformational client service: Segment your clients in order to promote client satisfaction, loyalty and evangelism
BTI Consulting's latest 'Client Relationship Scorecard' states that 87.1% of clients today admit they will replace their current primary law firm if given a compelling reason. And, of those who did so, 60 – 80% said they were satisfied or very satisfied before defecting. Presenter Alyson Fieldman suggests to avoid the 'shock and awe' of losing work this way by identifying and segmenting your clients (a la Maslow) from the 'naysayers' to the 'raving fans'.
Relationship Rule #4: By better understanding digital marketing metrics and data, you can create actionable information … and a better understanding of client relationships
A recent Adobe Survey revealed that only 9% of surveyed marketers think their company's digital marketing efforts are working while 75% concede they are concerned with marketing ROI and campaign effectiveness. One could argue that given the proper statistical insights and metrics (derived through the use of services like Google Analytics), marketers could pinpoint which digital marketing efforts are working and where they are failing. One North presenter Chris Wrigley proposed using analytics to not only gauge marketing effectiveness, but really understanding client engagement and the overall relationship. If site visitors spend an average of 5 seconds on your 'About' page versus 30 seconds on your other content, there's obviously a bigger issue that needs to be addressed.
Relationship Rule #5: Relationship marketing is about context and timing
As thoroughly researched and then detailed by One North presenter Jen Bullett, professional services firms need to understand the different types of ‘context’ that should be considered when communicating with clients. "When are they most motivated to listen to you? How should you communicate so they will listen? What specifically are they looking for and how can you deliver on that?" The bottom line: You need to do your homework and get to know your audience on their terms, based on their likes and dislikes, not based on your ability to easily Google information and scan their social networks.
Relationship Rule #6: Calling all storytellers … a good story can break any ice
Storytelling connects people and if done right, can provide magical moments. Firms can combine different media to create an immersive story telling experience for clients and build stronger relationships. According to speaker Kalev Peekna, effective stories have context, are authentic and leave an impression.
[…Tune into our Part Two Post for the remainder of our Relationship Rules from One North's 2nd annual Experience Lab.]
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