Mr. Jonathan J. Asperger This is Me

Education

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1. 1. Welcome to Mondaq -14 December 2007

   webiis02.mondaq.com/about.asp? - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/1/2007   Last Visited: 12/14/2007

   Jonathan Asperger Director of Marketing & Communications MAYER BROWN ROWE & MAW

2. 2. Welcome to Mondaq -15 December 2007

   webiis02.mondaq.com/about.asp? - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/1/2007   Last Visited: 12/14/2007

   Jonathan Asperger Director of Marketing & Communications MAYER BROWN ROWE & MAW

3. 3. News

   www.legalmarketing.org/news/ne - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/16/2002   Last Visited: 12/16/2002

   Jon Asperger, Chief Marketing Officer of Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw in Chicago.
   
   ...
   It's the critical part of law firm marketing," Asperger said. "Up to now law firms have told marketing directors to organize seminars, help with presentations and get the firm name in the press – but the lawyers would take care of the client contact. Whether marketers coach that activity or become intimately involved in the client contact – these things are coming together. Sales is part and parcel of the marketing process."
   
   The panelists observed that some leading law firms have already hired sales professionals whose job is not to practice law, but to land new clients.
   
   ...
   Asperger also noted that many law firms already have partners – the rainmakers – who are adept at bringing in new business and who are not necessary expected to produce a high number of billable hours. However, many rainmakers know how to attract clients, but may not be especially good at showing others how they work their magic or leading an organized sales effort. These circumstances have led law firms to consider hiring sales professionals.
   
   ...
   Asperger said there is skepticism – among clients and within law firms – that sales professionals would have to overcome. "The marketplace is skeptical of non-lawyers selling them services that a lawyer would perform. It would be difficult for a sales force to establish credibility if they don't have the opportunity to deliver legal services as well."
   
   He noted that clients are not clamoring for law firms to provide them with sales people. "Buyers don't want superfluous people in the sales process," he said. "Most clients will say 'I don't want any salesmen, I want lawyers.'"
   ...
   Within a law firm, Asperger said that a non-lawyer sales professional will have difficulty gaining the confidence of the lawyers. "You'll have a hard time getting a partner to follow a leader who hasn't delivered legal services," he said. Further, he added, "it's a stretch to assume that a sales person you hire from the outside will be quite as adept at manipulating all the resources of the firm." He noted that law firms can be large and complex organizations with highly-specialized services; it is difficult even to find a single lawyer who can understand and manage the entire relationship with a corporate client.
   
   Ironically – clients may have brought the phenomenon of lawyer sales forces upon themselves. Corporations routinely bid out legal work, sending complex RFPs to law firms and requiring law firms to present at high-pressure "beauty contests." RFPs initially arrived with shock at some law firms that had long relationships with the corporations, only to find themselves bidding on work they had been doing for years. RFPs have become so onerous that law firms have hired marketing specialists to respond to the detailed requests and produce polished materials.
   
   Having a sales force puts a law firm in an active stance, seeking out target markets and calling on prospects, as opposed to a reactive position where the law firm responds to RFPs that arrive unpredictably and sporadically.
   
   ...
   The logical starting point for any sales effort is the firm's best clients, according to Asperger. "We should start where we know the clients are absolutely delighted with our services and leverage off that," he said. "What you need is a real client need. Sales should focus on client need rather than on a law firm's available resources."