How Attorneys Can Build Client Relationships Through Professional and Trade Groups

SUMMARY

Membership in professional groups can improve relationships with existing clients as well as provide the opportunity to meet new ones. Careful selection of a group that personally appeals to the attorney as well as holds existing and potential clients is the best choice.


This article discusses why attorneys should and should not choose to join professional groups, types of groups suitable for joining to demonstrate attorney expertise, and a method to avoid duplication of effort among attorneys from larger firms.
One often-overlooked and yet potentially valuable opportunity for an attorney to increase visibility among a chosen client group is through member ship in some sort of client professional organization.

Membership in groups is a well-established tradition in American society. The nineteenth-century writer Howard Penn Hudson perceptively noted that the concept of a business or professional association is a highly civilized one. He wrote, “ It calls for what people do least well, subordinating their self-interest to the betterment of all.” And when members of the group are competitors, it seems an unnatural alliance that won't work. Yet it does, as the proliferation of associations demonstrates.

Whether through full membership, associate membership, or just regular attendance at meetings, an attorney can show an active interest in the client and his or her needs. The presence and participation of the attorney is proof that the attorney is client centered (as opposed to practice centered) and interested in the real-world issues in the client's day-to-day business dealings. Memberships can improve the attorney's overall knowledge of what is happening in their client's business in order to serve them better.

Virtually every type of business, institution, nonprofit organization, and type of profession has several trade groups affiliated with it. With careful selection and judicious use of time, an attorney can benefit tremendously from involvement in these groups.

There are basically four types of client organizations that attorneys can join.

• Professional associations and societies are established for individuals, such as the National Education Association and the American Society of Foresters.
   
• Cause groups are associations of individuals with a common interest or goal. Examples are the National Rifle Association or the Sierra Club.
   
• Trade associations are usually representatives from companies or organizations engaged in similar activities. Examples are the American Electronics Association or the McDonald's Franchise Owner's Association.
   
• Producer associations such as the American Dairy Association or the Western Wood Products Association represent the interests of their members to promote the sale of their products.

Labor attorneys may also establish links with similar structures among organized labor. Unions represent individual workers, as in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or the Screen Actors Guild. Al though attorneys in most cases cannot join these groups, affiliation with them through associate memberships (if possible) and participation at group events can build relationships in ways not otherwise possible.

One land use attorney had a mobile home park as a client, helping them prepare leases and resolve related conflicts. The attorney found this work interesting and became involved in the local mobile home park owner's association. Through monthly luncheon meetings and occasional volunteer work on committees, the attorney eventually became counsel to the trade association itself He has also provided services to several other mobile home parks on various issues such as land use and zoning.

This same attorney was retained by a sign manufacturing company as a client, helping with problems involving various sign ordinances in local jurisdictions. He was able to parlay his work and connections with the owner of a sign company to an opportunity to discuss the topic at a regular meeting of the trade association. The attorney later began to attend all association meetings, got to know other owners of sign companies, and has increased his client base because of it. The attorney also utilized some of the client-development techniques, particularly by sending general communication to group members on legal issues of relevance to sign companies.

Using resources effectively

As with clubs that are joined for social reasons, involvement with a client professional group provides the opportunity to establish personal relationships that ultimately build trust and credibility. It also provides a network with a large amount of people in exactly the target area the attorney wants. When the attorney becomes involved in activities with the group, it shows leadership and commitment.

Frequently, this involvement also demonstrates professional ability when the attorney works with the group on a project outside the legal area. Association with some groups can also carry with it a certain amount of prestige.

Firms of even a few attorneys can benefit from use of a membership grid. By identifying desirable groups for membership and ensuring that the firm is represented within them, the attorneys will systematically avoid any duplication of effort and ensure that their time is used effectively. A membership grid works well for professional as well as social memberships.

The main disadvantage for attorneys is that memberships can be very time consuming. In addition, it is often hard to "stand out" among several competitors. There is no single solution to these obstacles other than to research carefully the groups in terms of members and activities to deter mine if involvement would be beneficial. The key is to make sure that a significant number of clients (or potentials) are involved.

It is also important that the attorney really wants to do this. When marketing committees mandate membership in trade groups for all attorneys in a firm, the activity backfires to a certain degree because of the lack of enthusiasm of some attorneys to participate. The goals of this business-development activity are met through active involvement, not merely membership.

The attorney must therefore "work" the group. This means that the attorney seek out opportunities to work together with members. Examples would be to work on committees that are involved with (if available) labor relations, local/national liaisons, publicity, and special event coordination.

Other active ways that any attorney can increase visibility quickly with a group is to develop and publicize case histories that describe the teamwork between attorneys and that trade group type. The attorney could request opportunities to present overall law firm capabilities to group members as a way of explaining what legal services can do for members of the trade group and increase the number of trade group members on lists to receive white papers and other attorney opinion pieces.

Because of the time commitment involved, this sort of memberships are of value only if the attorney (1) truly enjoys the area of law being practiced for this group and (2) truly enjoys the people he or she works in their day-to-day practice. If these criteria are met, then the activity becomes not only enjoyable but also successful in terms of building client relationships and establishing new ones.

Attorneys will also find their group membership successful if they look for these other characteristics of the group they are considering joining:

• The group has a membership that could be called prestigious.
   
• There is a good likelihood that in the future the attorney could assume top leadership in the organization.

(Being an active member or even a board member of a group is okay, but being the president or leader reaps greater benefits. Most attorneys can name the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, but who are the board members? They may be equally powerful individuals, but their name recognition is nowhere near that of the leader.)

Senior citizen law firm

One law firm in the southwest United States effectively used one of these forms of membership to their fullest advantage, primarily to develop a new client group.

The firm had reached a plateau of 35 members and was at a crossroads because they foresaw no significant growth on the horizon in their general practice except through mergers, which the firm members did not perceive to offer any financial incentive. Following two weekend retreats in two consecutive months, the firm members agreed that growth could only occur through emphasis on limited areas of the law, concentrating their business development efforts among a few yet-to-be-selected target groups. Careful budgeting and projecting established that the firm's existing clients would provide adequate income to support new business efforts.

The firm hired a marketing consultant to help with their analysis of future areas of the law and to gather information for decision making. Information was obtained through interviews with attorneys to determine that any new business thrust would be compatible with existing attorney capability and, more important, would satisfy personal and professional needs.

Research was also conducted by analysis of the news media, interviews with financial consultants, reports from economic development groups, and others to develop facts on the social and economic future of the region.

The consultants were looking for a new business area that fit all the criteria established by the firm. They found it in what the lawyers soon referred to as "elder law."

Interviews with the attorneys had formed a pattern of solid expertise in areas such as wills and probate, inheritances, and trust funds. They also found a strong sensitivity among the firm members toward the senior market, and a genuine compassion for the plight of an aging population in issues such as life styles and health care.

The secondary research indicated that this was a probable growth area for the practice of law. A significantly aging population, due mostly to immigration of retirees from other regions, was predicted. In interviews with leaders of local groups as diverse as chambers of commerce and Associated General Contractors, the research pointed to increasing concern and efforts to deal with an older population and their unique needs, ranging from buying habits to housing needs, from health care to insurance.

Once the interests of the attorneys were compared with population trends, it became clear to the firm that a practice serving older citizens was appropriate. But since the attorneys had done relatively little prior work in this area and only for isolated clients, they needed a coordinated business development pro gram to enter this market.

They initiated research activities to understand this client group. They also continued research, which included subscriptions to senior citizen publications to stay aware of current issues. Those partners who were eligible joined the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

The primary method of introduction to this market was through trade group memberships. Specifically, the firm identified business and professional groups already serving this market, which included health care associations (especially nursing home associations), funeral home operator associations, and a committee of the local home builders association.

The attorneys then set about an organized program of active participation in each of these groups. They assigned two attorneys in the business group with a genuine interest to become associate members, and to become involved with various committees within the organization. In doing so, the attorneys became vitally aware of issues facing the senior market. Their membership in the groups enabled them to develop name recognition among the target audiences by capitalizing on opportunities to demonstrate their expertise in speeches, seminars, and related activities as appropriate.

In addition, firm attorneys sought out opportunities to reach the senior market through other methods outside of the trade group membership, such as donations to senior centers, volunteer work with "meals-on-wheels" groups, and limited pro bono legal services to nonprofit groups servicing senior needs. With a year of a concentrated effort, the firm was well recognized in the city as the "senior citizen's friend," providing services not only to many individuals, but also to funeral home associations and several individual funeral homes in issues ranging from land use to construction liens.