Aaron Garcia
Aaron Garcia is the Marketing Coordinator at Ackert Inc. Aaron comes from a varied background that has included working as a professional photographer and music producer as well as running an amateur sports team. At Ackert Inc., he is responsible for many processes including marketing campaign execution, video / blog content creation, and graphic & web design. His role also includes product troubleshooting and vendor relations, go-to-market planning and market research. Aaron started his career in eCommerce bicycle retail industry sales, which later led him down the marketing path. During his role at an industry-leading retailer he was instrumental in a large-scale rebranding initiative. He managed and executed product photography for the company as well as a wide variety of original content including video, blog and social. His efforts contributed to unprecedented growth in the company during his role. Aaron holds a BA in Economics and Administrative Studies from University of California, Riverside.
Is smaller better? It most definitely can be.
Small law firms, broadly defined as boasting a lawyer count of 20-200 attorneys, tend to specialize in a smaller number of practice and industry areas and often command a very strong local presence, with innate ties to their local communities.
Small firms capitalize on their size to provide a strong balance of a more intimate client experience than what midsize firms can offer, combined with more bandwidth than boutique firms. Small firms can command strong regional expertise and a nimble organizational structure to the table. However, they often suffer from a lack of internal resources to run larger-scale initiatives, such as expensive marketing campaigns.
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How can small firms capitalize on their market?
Our 2018 Market-Wide study of Business Development Demographics reported some interesting statistics: law firms that considered themselves "small" found several distinct patterns in business development strategy that, when coupled with a specific strategy for each lawyer vintage, drove the most revenue.
Strategies for Small Firms by Lawyer Vintage
Lawyer vintages play strongly into which BD activities will bring the greatest return – the primary influencing factors being (1) the scope of the lawyer's experience and (2) the size of their network.
Best Business Development Strategies for Senior Associates at small firms
Senior associates' books benefit most from sales and BD coaching. A boots-on-the-ground approach is key for firms that might not have the marketing budget to do extensive marketing campaigns. Senior associates at small firms are best served by getting their hands dirty and devoting specific and dedicated time to pursuing meaningful business development relationships in their local community. Cross-referrals with service firms are also another area where quick wins can be had, not only increasing client "stickiness" but generating a larger referral net as well. Client education is another area where senior associates can get more entrepreneurial with their existing client base – these types of outreach often generate new business from existing clients without a lot of bandwidth cost for setup.
Best Business Development Strategies for Junior Partners
Junior partners are also good candidates for coaching but they tend to mature into client-focused business development methods earlier than junior partners at smaller firms. Client visits were cited as a strong source of new business – and this is where being at a small firm really shines. With much of a smaller firm's work coming from small to mid-sized businesses in the local community, client visits not only strengthen existing relationships but can help strongly with developing new business where there may not already be a large market.
Best Business Development Strategies for Senior Partners
An interesting data point here is that for senior partners at small firms, sales/BD coaching is not even close to being in the top 5 most effective strategies. It ranked 11th on the list. Small firms that are considering investment in costly coaching programs should take note that coaching is highly effective for younger lawyers. However, respondents reported that senior partners are most effective when focusing on their existing clients, whether asking them for new business, going on site visits, conducting interview programs, or giving CLE presentations.
Learn More
Download our free BD Demographics White Paper to learn more. The full white paper includes complete statistics on the most successful industry groups, practice areas and business development strategies, from "most effective" to "least effective."
Click below to download the white paper.
