Key Business Processes & Legal Tech NeedsSERIES: THE BUSINESS OF

LAW & ACCOUNTINGPremiere Date: October 26, 2017

This webinar is sponsored by: EisnerAmper

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MODERATOR

Deb Knupp GrowthPlay, Chicago

PANELISTS

Sharon Quaintance HBR Consulting

Dave Whiteside CLIENTSFirst Consulting

MEET THE FACULTY

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SERIES SPONSOR

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ABOUT THIS SERIESAt a time when we are bombarded with news and information about the uncertainties of the economy, successful sales professionals (rainmakers) rest in comfort and confidence knowing that their success is not beholden to the ups and downs of the market place. This series will identify essential Rainmaker Best Practices, that when focused on with discipline and intention, distinguish you, your firm and help you gain a competitive sales advantage. These episodes will focus on WHAT works in any market and HOW to implement the best practices to impact your business with increased revenue, increased leverage of time and resources and improved accuracy and predictability in your sales pipeline all while managing your practice so that your level of service to your clients does not suffer.

Each episode is delivered in Plain English understandable to business owners and executives without much background in these areas. Yet, each episode is proven to be valuable to seasoned professionals. As with all Financial Poise Webinars, each episode in the series brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to entertain as it teaches. And, as with all Financial Poise Webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, so that participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the episodes.

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ABOUT THIS WEBINAR

The only thing constant is constant change, and professional services firms are facing unprecedented disruption with innovation and technology. With the ever changing demands on the delivery of professional services, this webinar focuses on how to leverage best practices in business process mapping, how to leverage the latest innovation in technology solutions for service delivery and data analytics and how to create the ultimate client experience for sustained revenue and client loyalty.

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EPISODES IN THIS SERIES

EPISODE #1 Growing Your Practice10/5/2017

EPISODE #2 Key Business Processes & Legal Tech Needs10/26/2017

EPISODE #3 Personnel Issues- Hiring, On-Boarding, 11/30/2017

Training, Retaining, and TerminatingEPISODE #4 Your Niche and Your Brand

12/7/2017

Dates shown are premiere dates; all webinars will be available on demand after premiere date

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Why Business Process and Technology Matters

• The intersection of people, process and technology are at the core of operational excellence.

• Efficiency and effectiveness are distinct requirements to drive profitability.

• Business process and technology are synonymous with maximizing value.

• Clients have an expectation of continuous process improvement.

• Advisor selection and retention is more frequently the result of whether or not there is focus on business process improvement.

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What is Business Process Mapping (BPM)?

• A fundamental way to think about business process mapping is to understand the specific steps or actions in any type of workflow:

Who touches the tasks

Whether it requires multiple reviews or iterations

Whether there are unnecessary steps that are impacting efficiency

• Once a business process is mapped in a current state, advisors can more effectively identify opportunities for improvement rather than guess or engage the wrong solution.

• BPM (whether complex or basic) is a cornerstone for advisors to reap the benefits of continuous improvement.

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Why Advisors Engage in BPM

• There is “technical” BPM that engages very specific methodologies and professional protocols, usually engaged when large scale innovation or business processes are targets for change.

• There is “practical” BPM where we commit to a specific process for how we will do things, often document it and then provide training to any professional who touches the particular process

• Advisors are engaging “practical” BPM every time a new client service protocol is identified, quality assurance process is introduced or any effort that is aimed at increasing productivity.

• BPM gives advisors a discipline to avoid doing the same things the same ways and expecting different outcomes.

• The competitive landscape requires that advisors are staying current to be relevant.

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Key Success Factors for BPM

• Participant buy-in is an absolutely essential success factor.

• Treating BPM with the same priority as you would a client file – not something you do in your “free” time.

• Maintain focus on which business process is the highest priority in lieu of trying to tackle multiple processes concurrently.

• Engage team members who may have a different perspective or point-of-view on workflow and steps to complete a process.

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Best Methods for Advisors Engaging BPM

• Sponsorship – engage leadership commitment by the organization.

• Communication – let people know what you are doing and why with clear, specific and regular updates.

• Training – engage people in the process and make training very user-specific and ongoing.

• Choose a process that fits the task at hand.

• Don’t overly complicate an effort or introduce complexity when it won’t yield a measurable benefit.

• In short, Crawl – Walk – Run.

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Common Pitfalls & Watch-Outs

• Starting the process without buy-in or team engagement.

• Tackling too many things at once.

• Not having a clear vision or articulated goals for what is trying to be achieved.

• Getting caught up in the process for the sake of process.

• Treat new processes as “check the box” during the implementation process and then revert back to comfort zones and old habits.

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Who Should Be Involved in BPM

• Leadership – having commitment from the top is absolutely imperative.

• Users – anyone who is responsible for service delivery, installation, training and communication planning.

• Consider engaging a “key pilot group” who will be enthusiastic adopters of new process and will spread the good word from their experience.

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Innovation and Technology

• Machine learning is an exciting new development in technology.

• Advisors are beginning to use this to enhance contract review.

• A solid document management system has become a foundational IT requirement for advisors.

• Many firms are implement CRM (client relationship management) tools.

• There are add-on features and basic enhancements to they systems to include DLT tagger and Dashboard tools.

• Familiarizing yourself with innovative technology doesn’t mean you have to implement new technology.

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Engaging Technologies

• Legal Project Management (LPM) is a very exciting technology advisors can engage and has benefits that are relevant to professional advisors outside of the law.

• LPM introduces what is known as the “Experience Curve” where experience drives down cost of delivery.

• Effective rates can be established to understand where staffing opportunities, leveraging para-professionals and engaging ancillary service providers may help advisors truly become the low cost provider who can maintain a healthy rate and increase profitability.

• The era of the “unique snowflake” (belief that every matter is different) is being replaced by continuous learning and improvement from the Experience Curve.

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CRM Implementation Best Practices

• There are essential requirements to move your CRM from a contact management system to relationship management system.

• Connecting CRM to revenue generation and client retention is key.

• Building in natural benefits and consequences with CRM use can help advisors develop new habits.

• Success stories and quick wins can aid in adoption.

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Simple, But Not Easy.

• The technology itself is often fairly simple and straightforward and not usually the problem.

• Adoption and buy-in are where the difficulties lie.

• You can have the greatest IT platform on the planet that if no one leverages it to its best potential, it will end up being a sunk cost with no ROI – return on investment.

• Technology ROI is highly correlated to an advisor’s willingness to embrace change and develop new habits that drive efficiency and effectiveness improvement.

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Requirements for Effective Implementation

• Expand the “project” mindset that believes the project is complete upon technology installation.

• Ongoing use of the technology is just starting after installation, hence the project continues as a process.

• Sponsorship, communication and training require long term commitments to see benefits beyond the initial installation or version of the technology.

• Don’t assume that technology alone will be a change maker.

• Technology is a tool and the people and process part are essential to make the tool work to its highest potential.

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What is “Big Data”?

• “Big Data” is when you are able to examine data through multiple data sources across billions of data points to glean insights, answers and solutions.

• Example – medical professionals are using Big Data for melanoma cancer research.

• Closest example in a professional services context would be how e-discovery algorithms have the ability to sort through masses of emails to uncover issues and insights.

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What’s in a Buzz Word

• “Big Data” and “AI” (artificial intelligence) are getting lots of attention.

• “Dirty Data” is a term that references data quality.

• “Clean Data” assumes perfection which is not generally attainable.

• Interesting insights come from investigating and auditing your data quality and then cross-examining it for relevancy and accuracy.

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Common Areas of Data Collection & Analysis

• AI (machine learning) has been used in e-Discovery for years and is making its way into contract review.

• Data mining is moving its way up the food chain to find effective arguments or understanding the judiciary.

• Client data collection as well as website and other digital data collection is also on the rise.

• Billable hour, realization and collections data is having a significant impact on profitability calculations and pricing structures.

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Causation/Correlation of Data

• Be mindful of conflated data analysis when looking for causation/correlation assumptions.

• A key area of focus is the impact of rate increases and impact on demand for services.

• Data is only one input for understanding client demand.

• Changes in service delivery and other client service dimensions may generate more understanding for client demand that rate data alone.

• There are many humorous anecdotes for when causation/correlation gets it wrong.

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Potential Benefits with Data

• Effective use of metrics can really drive operational improvements.

• Data catalyzes an interest (and willingness) to change.

• It is important to start with a baseline, so you can more effectively measure and demonstrate improvement.

• Data helps you make rational decisions on where to invest to make process without having to solely rely on your gut or instincts.

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Positive Ways to Use Data • Selecting data to observe is key - obvious leading indicators versus trailing

indicators.

• Consider tracking proactive client service and relationship engagement data through your ERM/CRM as leading indicators for future predictions of performance.

• Historical revenue data may tell you a story too late to positively impact the keep/grow business with a client.

• Questions you can ask include:

Do front end indicators correlate to actual financials?

Does few touch points with clients correlate to less revenue?

What other data points do we need to cross-check – i.e. was a client feedback survey completed?

• Other positive marketing and business development data that advisors can track includes:

Spend vs. Budget

Email marketing

Websites

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Preparing for the Future

• Larger firms are investing. Some are creating “labs” and separate departments for business process mapping, technology and data.

• Business and competitive intelligence will continue to be important areas on which to focus.

• Machine learning/AI is a real thing and learning how to harness its relevant power for your firm and practice it will be essential for the future.

• There needs to be a critical focus on knowing your data, where it is located, how it is organized, making sure it is accessible.

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Advice for Advisors Just Getting Started

• Keep it simple.

• Complexity kills many initiatives before they have the chance to get off the ground.

• Clean up and understand your data.

• Waiting longer to deal with “dirty data” never makes it get easier.

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Advice for Advisors with a Rocky Start

• Change management is critical.

• Have the courage to call it when it’s not going well.

• You may need to do a project reset to get buy-in and then restart the project.

• Engage third party professionals for advice and help.

• Your expertise as an advisor does not likely translate in subject matter expertise as a technology and data expert.

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Advice for Advisors Embracing Change

• Keep going for it and sustain your positive momentum.

• Please share what works with others as you go.

• Measure every step of the way.

• Measuring allows you to show real progress and course correct if pitfalls arise.

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Summary

• Closing thoughts:• Business process mapping

• Technology

• Data analytics

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ABOUT THE FACULTY

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DEB KNUPPdknupp@growthplay.com

Deb Knupp is the Managing Director of GrowthPlay in Chicago.

She has worked globally with CEOs, managing partners and professionals as a coach and business executive for 25 years. She has helped leaders in the legal, accounting and financial services fields align their people and business objectives to create cultures based on the principles of accountability, integrity and authentic relationships.Her work focuses on making the work environment a place where the best employees want to work, where profitable clients want to buy, and where inspired leaders want to serve a bigger purpose in their communities. Prior to joining GrowthPlay, Deborah founded Akina, a national consulting, training and coaching firm that helps professionals rethink relationship building to increase sales and organizational effectiveness. Akina spent the last decade as an industry leader in business-development training and coaching for lawyers, successfully training and coaching thousands of attorneys at over 150 law firms worldwide. Akina also served insurance advisors, financial advisors, accountants and management consultants.Prior to founding Akina, Deborah was a front-line sales and human resources executive with Alcan Packaging, Frito-Lay and Pearle Vision. Her diverse background ranges from general management of a $75 million business unit to facilitating strategic global leadership and culture-change management initiatives.

ABOUT THE FACULTY

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SHARON QUAINTANCEsquaintance@hbrconsulting.com

Sharon Quaintance, who is based in NY, is a Senior Director at HBR Consulting (formerly Hildebrandt Baker Robbins) where she leads engagements focused on improving service delivery and achieving operational efficiency. Sharon has extensive legal industry experience related to change management, outsourcing, restructuring, innovation and emerging technologies.

An entrepreneur and inventor, she is co-founder and former CEO of a cloud-based legal outsourcing company with a successful exit in 2013. She also has experience as VP Operations for a technology start-up and as a process improvement champion within a Fortune 100 company.

She guest lecturers on entrepreneurship and strategic planning, and has been a judge of multiple MBA business case competitions. She has an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and a BA from the University of Southern California.

ABOUT THE FACULTY

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DAVE WHITESIDEdw@clientsfirstconsulting.com

Dave Whiteside is Director of Client Growth & Success at CLIENTSFirst. Dave’s focus is helping the company grow and expand its CRM, Data Quality, eMarketing and Client Intelligence service offerings, and building alliances that help deliver additional value to Clients. With more than 30 years of sales and marketing experience, Dave offers Clients extensive knowledge of marketing technology and business development in legal, accounting and professional services business environments. Known primarily for his deep knowledge of business development processes and technologies such as CRM and competitive intelligence, Dave is well-respected for the high level of service he provides his clients who call on him regularly for advice. Prior to joining CLIENTSFirst, Dave held numerous sales and sales management roles at Thomson Reuters, in the legal and accounting marketing technology software and services areas. Previously, Dave was Vice President of a project management software and services organization, managing the sales and professional services teams while developing project management expertise. Dave is a well-known speaker in the legal marketing industry and actively participates in the Legal Marketing Association (LMA). He enjoys sharing his expertise with legal industry audiences across the U.S. A graduate of Lake Superior State University with a degree in Marketing, Dave also holds a MBA from St. Mary’s College in California. When Dave is not traveling for Client service or industry meetings, he works from his home base of Jacksonville, FL.

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