Inspired again by the Cluetrain Manifesto, I had an idea this morning.

Too many times I find myself trying to justify a new marketing initiative by pointing out that “this is what other firms are doing.”

Allow me to make a sweeping generalization: Law firms are resistant to change. There. I said it. Law firms are resistant to change. Yep. I said it again.

By showing that other firms are doing the same thing, you are showing that your idea isn’t just some wacky new way to promote your firm. But at the same time, the result is sameness.

Here’s a little mental exercise I try to use whenever I’m trying to implement something new: pretend you know nothing.

For example: Your firm wants to send out client surveys to find out client perception.

The first instinct would be to see how other firms are doing it. I would go to Google and look for client survey strategies. I may look for a consultant who specializes in conducting client surveys.

Instead of going this route, pretend you know nothing about client surveys. Pretend you’re the first firm to even try this. This fundamental shift in thinking brings about a number of questions:

• 1. What are we hoping to accomplish with the surveys?
• 2. What are we trying to find out from our clients?
• 3. Who are we going to ask?
• 4. What questions are we going to ask?
• 5. How do we get clients to respond?
• 6. What’s the motivation?
• 7. What are we going to do with the answers we get?
• 8. How are we going to change what we do based on the feedback?
• 9. If a client gives a suggestion and we can’t make the change, what are we going to say to the client?
• 10. Will this help us, or hurt us?

Instead of jumping ahead and starting to formulate questions based on what other people are doing, pretending to be oblivious to the status quo changes everything.

Here’s another small shift in thinking that can be a real eye-opener.

Say you’re a law firm marketer. Your main question would be: How do we get more clients, or how do we get more work out of our current clients?

Flip that.

Instead of being a marketer, think of yourself as “Client Advocate.”

Rather than working for the firm, think of yourself as now working as the liaison between clients (both current and potential) and the firm. What new questions does this change bring?

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