Before meeting with the new hires, I review their resumes, trying to glean as much information as possible before meeting my new co-workers. I arrive about 10 minutes before the start of the meeting in order to set up a nice arrangement of Sterne Kessler logo items for each attendee.
I begin by introducing myself and my role in the firm and in our marketing department. Since our department is small, I can easily cover each member's name, title, responsibilities, and where to find us in the firm. From there, I briefly explain the "three sides" of legal marketing (marketing, business development, and public relations) and how each will be relevant to the new professional-even if he or she doesn't know it yet-as tools for the building and strengthening of a law practice.
Next, we go to the website. I highly recommend using your firm's website in a marketing orientation. Normally, it's engaging and information-packed-if it isn't, I recommend an overhaul of the site-and I have received wonderful feedback concerning the information Sterne Kessler is looking for in a biography, whether the shorter version or the longer professional profile. If attorneys are in the orientation, I pull up a few attorney biographies. If there are patent agents in the room, I display patent agent biographies. Each orientation is tailored to the attendees, so each one is different. After we've reviewed the biographies online, I show the attendees other key portions of the site. I review the publications section and remind them to notify me of any publications they have authored or news clips they may be featured in so that they will be placed up on the site (with the proper permissions, of course!)
After the meeting, the new hires are given "Guidelines for Writing Your Professional Biography" in an outline format as a takeaway so that they don't forget what we discussed. I tell them that if they have any questions, they should simply call me. Since I've been around for five years, I get questions about the dress code, air conditioning, places for lunch-you name it. That's part of what I enjoy-being a resource and someone whom new attorneys can trust and feel comfortable around.
One would think that giving the same speech over and over would become quite dull, but it's not. I love learning about people and where they come from and what brought them to Sterne Kessler. But the best part is that our firm is growing rapidly, and I am one of the very few people who knows everybody.
About the Author
Tara Parker is marketing coordinator at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC. She is a member of the board of directors of the LMA Capital Chapter and co-chairs the Chapter's Future Leaders Roundtable.
