alumni 4 c's
TRANSCRIPT
Alumni 4 C’s (Community, Culture, Connectivity & Cash)
Matt Parfitt
President
Vuture US
Vikram Gupta
Director, Marketing Technology & Operations
Crowell & Moring LLP
#LMA15
Agenda
• What is an alumni network?
• The importance of an alumni network in Professional
Services
• The case for an alumni program
• Executing a law firm alumni program
#LMA15
Definitions
• Alum: Singular. An alumna or alumnus
• Alumnus: Singular. A former associate, employee, member or the
like
• Alumni: Plural. Former associates, employees, members of the like
• Alumna: A female former associate, employee, member or the like
• Alumnae: Plural. Female former associate, employee, member or
the like
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What is an alumni network?
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There are three types of alumni network
1. Independent grassroots
2. Company supported grassroots
3. Company managed associations
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The importance of an alumni
network in professional services
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Growth challenges faced by professional services
• Takeovers/Mergers
• Lateral hires (at scale)
• More work going in house
• Work going to non traditional players
• Technology
• Fortune 1,000 company spend on legal services NOT increasing
• One firms growth = another firms decline?
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Professional servicesThe Retention & Business Development Challenge
• Retain existing clients
• Grow existing clients
• Acquire new clients
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The challenge faced by professional servicesFueling Growth
• Alumni are the “low hanging fruit” in the business development of any
professional services organization:
– You know them, they know you
– They enter every area of existing and potential business
• The trick is to stay engaged with Alumni and leverage the relationship
• Then for sharing actionable intelligence among marketing, business
development and partners alike – for the entire business
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The importance of an alumni networkCrowell & Moring
• Executive Committee driven, ownership given to Marketing
but all internal support functions (HR and IT) played key roles
• Need for a cohesive and comprehensive Alumni initiative as
oppose to ad hoc events every few years
• Site to be part of a larger umbrella of alumni outreach
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The case for an alumni program
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How firms benefitTalent recruitment and recruitment savings
• Talent acquisition – Alumni networks are the second best source for strategic
talent hire, after your own employees
– Rehires (“boomerangs”) – Speed to productivity is up to 50% higher vs. new
hires
• Deloitte had a 20% rehire rate in 2013
• Per recent research, up to 40% of alumni would be suitable to return to a previous
employer
– New employee referrals
• Source of leverage to attract the best
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How firms benefitBusiness development opportunities
• Referrals
– Lawyers who move on to other firms may be a good source of
referrals in the case of conflicts or matters outside of their area
of expertise
• Engagement
– Exiting lawyers moving into in house positions may be
influencers or decisions makers when is comes to firm
engagements
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How firms benefitRetained intellectual capital
“Senior Managers should set up formal programs and processes for tapping alumni
intelligence before the need for their contribution arises – these could include alumni
advisory councils, topic specific mailing lists and regular alumni events where execs
mingle with alumni. Such tools should be a standard part of the problem solving
process within the organization.”
The Alliance
Managing Talent in the Networked Age
by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh (2014)
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How firms benefitBrand advocacy & brand building
Connected, loyal alumni can become brand Ambassadors:
• Corporate image
• Market influence
• Thought leadership
• Internal brand ambassador
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How alumni benefit
A survey of the most prominent firms with alumni programs found the following to be important to Alumni:
• Job/Career opportunities, professional development
• Access to expertise – share thoughts without risk
• New business ventures
• New market opportunities
• News about company/firm initiatives
• Talent management
• Influence company thought & policies
Connections, knowledge and innovation, company initiatives, job opportunities and mentoring matter
most to Alumni
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What matters to both firms and alumni
Alumni
• Career opportunities
• Access to expertise
• New business ventures
• News about company/firm initiatives
• Talent management
• Influence company thought & policies
Firm
• Talent recruitment
• Business development opportunities
• Access to expertise
• Brand advocacy/building
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What matters to both firms and alumni1. Directories & profiles
2. Career marketplace
3. Network events
4. Useful information
5. Personalization
6. Access to company knowledge
7. Knowledge sharing
8. Personal development discussion groups
9. Business development facilitation
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Making the case for an alumni programCrowell & Moring
• Alumni identified as an untapped resource within the firm as
a referral source, employment repository and goodwill
ambassadors.
• Needs assessment list created outlining the key goals of the
initiative.
• Financial metrics, referral targets and integrity of network
were key variables in establishing the success of the initiative.
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Executing an alumni program
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Establish Key Stakeholders/Working Groups
• HR/Recruiting
• Marketing/Business Development
• IT/Infrastructure Services
• Partner Representation
• Professional Staff
• Champions (Chiefs/Executive Committee)
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Core Requirements/Primary Functional Needs
• HR - real time ability to push open positions to network & employment
referrals
• Marketing/BD – events, business referrals, promote firm thought
leadership & value-added communications
• Branding – promote firm culture, celebrate the quality & success of our
people, connect alumni with both each other and the firm
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Proposed Solution – dedicated Alumni Site
• Password protected
• Allow registration and updating of contact information, including the ability to
sign up for a range of communications
• Peruse and update Alumni directory (including current attorneys)
• Automate feeds of firm news, alerts, events and thought leadership
• Promote direct alumni submissions of pictures, stories and personal updates
(promotions, job movement, marital status, market recognition, etc.)
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Proposed Solution – dedicated Alumni Site (as part of a larger initiative)
• Alumni specific events (as well as tag-a-long meetings surrounding larger firm
established events)
• Quarterly Alumni newsletters featuring lead stories and social updates leading
to increased overall communication
• A top down communication plan to increase awareness internally about this
initiative and suggest ways for lawyers to follow up these efforts
• A bridge built between established LinkedIn Alumni working group and site
• Secession planning and exit resource platform
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Alumni High Level Timeline
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Key vendor attributes
• Connection to existing CRM database (InterAction)
• Ability to display different content to different people, for example:
– In-house counsel
– Rival firm
• Creation of pages that clearly reflect our brand and the ability to easily edit layout, text
and imagery using a point and click method as oppose to rewriting back-end code
• Responsive design
• Tracking and reporting mechanism for alumni site activity
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Results so far
• Launched Oct. 1st, 2014
• Two quarterly “Alumni Alerts” have been pushed out to distribution list
• Numerous suggestions for future feature stories and social updates
• 57% of alumni contacts have actively updated one or more of their contact
fields (job title, e-mail, etc.)
• Provided a soft landing spot for numerous retiring founding partners in
2015
• On track for established financial and employment referral targets
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Phase Two
• Alumni specific event (VIP – star status outreach)
• Promote firm pro bono and mentoring efforts
• Quarterly Alumni Newsletter pushed out to distribution network
• Social Media integration (LinkedIn/Twitter)
• Message board (who to moderate?)
• CLE offering
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CRM
Alumni websiteAlumni events
Analytics and Dashboards
Alumni Experience
Reasons to stay engaged
Business Development
Recruitment
Brand Integrity
Ease of Use
Flexible Content
Alumni emails
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Q&A
Vikram Gupta
Director, Marketing Technology & Operations
Matt Parfitt
President Marketing Technology & Operations