Dateline: 06/29/97

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If your firm has more than five partners, the likelihood is that you have an administrative person serving in the role of marketing coordinator or marketing director.   Typically these individuals serve many functions--planning, training, PR, events coordination, publication editor, proposal support, alumni relations, graphic production, database administrator and all-around first stop for anything broadly related to marketing and sales.  There is often an unspoken expectation that the marketing director is responsible for all these diverse areas, and should make things happen.

Not all skills are found in the same person, however.  And no matter how willing and enthusiastic the marketing director is, partners should not expect one person to be all things to all partners in the firm.  This is a surefire recipe for failure in the relationship, and is the single largest contributing factor to the average 18-month turnover in marketing positions in professional services firms. 

Partners with the responsibility to hire or manage a marketing director could benefit from these insights from one who has been in the marketing director's shoes:

1.  Make a commitment to marketing.   Get a commitment from the partners to make an investment in a coordinated marketing effort.  Establish a marketing budget for overall marketing efforts (2-5% of gross revenues is average in most firms).  Assign an energetic and forward-thinking partner to be in charge of the marketing budget.  Let this person guide the partnership in rethinking all of its current marketing activities in terms of effectiveness and return on investment. 

2.  Set reasonable expectations for the marketing director.  Are they an administrative coordinator or a visionary team member? Should they be proactive or simply implement explicit instructions? How committed are you to giving the marketing director decision-making authority and in what areas?  Know the answers before you start to interview.

3.  Define the job clearly for everyone.  Spend time creating a detailed job description before you start to interview.  Is this person going to be in a partner-track position? Make sure all the partners in the office have a chance to buy in on the responsibilities to avoid future misunderstandings.  Contact the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) or the National Association of Law Firm Marketing Administrators (NALFMA) and request copies of job descriptions other firms have shared.  How you define the job determines the skill set you should look for and will determine the compensation level and rank of the person you ultimately hire. 

4.  Look for experience and professionalism.  A marketing director can come from any background and succeed.  The most important skills to look for are:  project management skills, ability to juggle competing and conflicting interests successfully, understanding of how a partnership is different from a corporation, strong interpersonal skills, ability to manage details. 

One final thought.  Marketing is an investment activity, not a bottom line profit center, and hiring a good marketing director is part of a long term investment strategy.  Well managed investments increase firm value and partner income.  The marketing investment, and the marketing director's role, need to be maintained in both good times and bad times if the firm is ultimately to profit from them.

Next week's feature:  Making the Most of Client Meetings and Oral Presentations

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