What does it take to develop and sustain a culture that values marketing, business development, and client care as shared responsibilities across the firm? Drawing on decades of experience advising law firm leaders, chief marketing officers, and partners, Building a Business Development Culture and Strategy provides senior management and practice leaders with actionable strategies for integrating business development into their organization's fabric.
Through practical frameworks, candid interviews with firm chairs and CMOs, and real-world examples, the book shows how to empower professionals at every level to contribute to the firm's brand and growth. Not only does it demystify how a strong marketing culture is built – from leadership vision and governance to talent development, systems, and incentives – it helps readers understand how to do this in the context of complex, partnership-based environments.
Now more than ever, firms are recognizing that isolated efforts, such as one-off trainings, CRM implementations, or inspirational retreats, won't transform behaviors. What's needed is a holistic approach driven from the top. This book fills that gap by offering managing partners, COOs, CMOs, and practice leaders a blueprint for building marketing cultures that align with firm strategy, reward collaboration, and sustain client loyalty.
Introduction
By Deborah Farone
Part 1: Core Marketing and Business Development
Chapter 1: Building a firmwide marketing strategy aligning marketing goals
with firm vision and client needs
By David McClune, Davis Polk
Chapter 2: Brand positioning and differentiation how a clear value
proposition shapes client perception
By Brandie Knox, principal and creative director, Knox Design Strategy
Part 2: Getting into the Tactics
Chapter 3: Client relationships as strategic capital building enduring key
client account programs
By JeanMarie Campbell, Jenner and Block
Chapter 4: Reframing cross-selling as cross-investing breaking silos to
increase revenue across practices and offices
By Julie Henson, Decipher Partners
Chapter 5: Cross-selling and collaboration
By Heidi Gardner
Chapter 6: Thought leadership and content strategy elevating the firm's
expertise through articles, webinars, podcasts, and events
By Jamie Diaferia and Andrew Longstreth, Infinite Global
Chapter 7: Embedding a business development mindset helping lawyers see BD
as part of their professional identity
By Trish Lilley, Barnes & Thornburg
Part 3: Developing Human Resources
Chapter 8: How internal communications impact behavior, knowledge-sharing,
and engagement
By Allan Schoenberg, chief communications officer, and Renate Wagner,
director of internal communications, Vinson & Elkins
Chapter 9: The link between BD culture and wellbeing
By Renee Branson
Part 4: Operations and Change Management
Chapter 10: Innovation and technology adoption leveraging AI, automation,
and analytics to enhance BD outcomes
By Jennifer Leonard, Creative Lawyering
Chapter 11: Budgeting and ROI measurement ensuring marketing investments
deliver measurable value
By Monica Rodriguez Kuniyoshi, Gundersen Dettmer
Chapter 12: Lateral integration and onboarding using marketing strategy to
accelerate success for new partners
By Jessica Grayson, Stradley Ronon
Part 5: Client-Centric Focus
Chapter 13: Succession planning and knowledge transfer ensuring BD
continuity when leaders retire or move on
By Ida Abbott, Ida Abbott Consulting
Chapter 14: Partner compensation and incentives how compensation models
influence BD behaviors
By Tim Corcoran
Chapter 15: Digital presence and online reputation
By Jaron Rubenstein, tech strategist
