Your directory submissions, whether Legal500 or Chambers comprise three important elements: the submission itself, the client and peer or market feedback.
Most firms invest the majority of their time into the submission itself as it requires the most effort – getting the work highlights together and crafting compelling bios – and the next thing is the client referees.
Peer and market feedback is often not thought about at all, yet it’s a really helpful part of the process to help researchers understand more about your competitors and intermediaries you work with, which in turn, helps showcase your relationships and demonstrate the level at which your firm is operating. In fact, those who have interviewed with a researcher will notice that 90% of the call is aimed at getting market feedback.
What most firms don’t realise, is that there are things you can do throughout the year that will boost your peer or market feedback for the next round as well as your firm profile and client relationships.
Here are six of those activities that you should be doing to boost your peer and market feedback throughout the year:
1. Warming up your clients
Okay, so this one doesn’t strictly relate to peer feedback but your clients may be listed by other firms as referees. The goal is to leave such a positive impression that when asked by a researcher, “Are there any other firms you’d recommend?” your name is the first to come to their minds.
So, keeping in touch with your clients and making sure they are happy are still considerations when it comes to feedback – as well as being essential to your BD efforts in general of course. A client who receives excellent service and a check-in call every two months is more likely to act as a referee and provide positive feedback (whether you or your competitor nominated them) than someone who hasn’t been in touch for months.
Incorporate this into your process, and it will alleviate some of the stress during the submission process.
2. Write articles
Researchers look beyond your submission when researching your firm, looking at things like your website and online presence (see below), and evaluating your online activities to gauge your expertise in the field.
By consistently producing well-researched and relevant articles, you are demonstrating to the researcher (and the wider market) that you are an expert in your field and that your firm is an authoritative and knowledgeable player in the industry.
3. Boost your market feedback with LinkedIn
Similarly, LinkedIn is a fantastic way to bolster the market profile of your firm, and is a brilliant space to showcase its activities through the company page, providing insights into the teams, and the sectors it’s active in.
However, the impact goes beyond the firm, with LinkedIn also being a great opportunity for individual lawyers who are looking to be ranked in the upcoming submission. Personal brand counts for a lot nowadays. By sharing updates, and articles, and offering insightful commentary on your specialism, you are demonstrating your expertise to the researcher beyond the word count of the submission.
4. Update your website bio
Your website is one of the first places your researcher will look when looking into the firm and your leading individuals. The website serves as a digital showcase, offering a comprehensive view of your firm’s capabilities. The individual and team bios provide an excellent opportunity to include additional information that might not find its way into directory submissions.
Incorporating awards, qualifications, and notable successes in the relevant profiles adds credibility and reinforces the expertise of your team. In the eyes of researchers, an up-to-date website profvides a clear view of the firm’s achievements and strengths, which may not feature in the submission but is still valuable to understanding the firm’s positioning.
Pro tip: Schedule a bi-yearly meeting with your BD team to make sure the sector information, team and individual bios on your website are regularly updated (and time this in line with the research period!). Most firms link to website bios in their submissions if you’re listed or nominated as a leading individual – ensure it doesn’t let you down.
5. Be proactive and present in your industry
Identifying and maintaining connections with your peers, intermediaries, and clients is a strategic move that can contribute to a successful submission round. Remember, the researchers speak to your client referees and other partners at your competitors (your peers).
Attending conferences, and seminars, and joining professional associations and committees provide a platform to become known to your peers and establish a visible presence within your industry and adds to your market profile.
It’s all about being at the forefront of their minds when a researcher asks about you, directly or indirectly.
6. Proactively warming up peers and intermediaries
While attending events, and engaging with your peers on LinkedIn is a great way to boost your peer feedback throughout the year, feel free to be more direct with it too.
Don’t have time or the budget to do the circuit? A successful partner we work with actively reaches out to friendly competitors and intermediaries, demonstrating the power of proactively building positive relationships within the industry.
If you have a great relationship with a few of your peers, why not reach out to them directly and ask them to put in a good word for you?
BONUS TIP: Get bragging!
Something that law firms are consistently not great at is bragging about their achievements. Being prepared to boast more about your firm is a fantastic way to boost peer feedback. It’s not uncommon for exceptional firms with impressive clients and matters to fall short in rankings due to a lack of market feedback or visibility. The correlation between market visibility and ranking outcomes underscores the importance of actively showcasing your firm’s accomplishments.
Make sure you are sharing your success stories, notable cases, and significant milestones – shout about how great you are throughout the year!
The success of your legal directory submissions to Legal500 or Chambers depends not only on a fabulously written submission but also on the often-overlooked peer and market feedback. Recognising the impact of year-round efforts will really make a difference, and take (some of) the pressure off when it comes to the next round of submissions.
