You can buy in advice, but not organisational change

Organisational change is in the headlines everywhere this summer. The NHS is a particular focus with BHS boss Sir Philip Green being asked to make recommendations for change. In a recent Radio 4 Today programme interview on this issue, businessman Sir Gerry Robinson and Professor Colin Talbot's comments on Sir Philip’s task ahead could equally apply to the challenge facing law firms, as they struggle with real change in their organisations.

Professor Talbot caught my attention with the phrase ‘identifying what's needed isn't the difficult bit – it’s actually making the changes that’s the problem’. Sir Gerry followed that with ‘it's easy to get advice on what to do so why is it so difficult to change?’.

Their two concluding points also had echoes for solicitors. First, they said, it's difficult to change because ‘long established [business] machines can be very good at protecting themselves’. Although for legal services this protection has changed in the past few years and the market is open to competition, the profession still has a strong protective instinct based around current reserved activities.

The second point highlighted was that change brings ‘genuinely radical ideas’ to those working in the sector. This is particularly true for law firms. Radical to the extent that most senior and managing partners have not needed to understand the details of marketing management in a way that can help them change their firm in the face of growing competition. While many of the marketing management elements are in place, few firms draw the information together to use it constructively as they would for accounting purposes, or developing and managing legal knowledge through training and CPD.

From my experience, this has led firms to a focus on the easier-to-grasp elements of marketing, like advertising and PR. It is easy to buy in the skills or services from established agencies that can be seen to achieve results. Raising 'profile' is often mentioned when considering local newspaper editorial or advertising. While this area of marketing has its place, it does little to address the core marketing management questions all firms must answer first. These questions include: who are our clients and how will we make profit in the future? And how do we organise our firm to achieve it? Once these are understood, it becomes easier, cheaper and more effective to achieve the change in the firm required to capture the clients you want, through whatever promotional mechanism best suits.

Unlike Sir Philip's mammoth task with the NHS, solicitors can achieve the radical change necessary to compete now and in the future. Instead of looking for the easy quick fix of buying in a solution, look first at what you have and how better to organise it for future profits.

You will need professional marketing management help, either from a qualified marketing person or consultants, to bring in the ideas and knowhow that can see the marketing value you already possess. Professor Talbot's final point continued the connection.

The drive from change must come from within the organisation by those people 'doing it'. So here's the easy bit to get you started: your firm needs to manage the process of providing valuable legal advice and services to identifiable groups of clients with funds or funding to be profitable. Now please be radical within your firm.

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