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THE LITTLE THINGS COUNT AS MUCH AS THE BIG THINGS: DAVIES ARNOLD COOPER

The importance of sound data management in the running of effective marketing campaigns and driving CRM is very important and Rachel Penfound, Director of Marketing at Davies Arnold Cooper has a clear view that the firm is closer than they were a year ago thanks to the work the firm and Shamrock Marketing have undertaken together.

Rachel believes that there is now an understanding in the firm that you can actually demonstrate value for money from marketing and that marketing can be seen as a profit and not a cost centre. “Effective marketing demands effective communication with the right people at the right time in the way that suits them. You cannot effect this without putting in place a clearly defined and executed data management strategy.”

Rachel goes on to explain why effective targeting is so important for the firm. “Davies Arnold Cooper works primarily in litigation and dispute resolution. Opportunities for repeat business in this field are limited so the onus is very much on the firm to win new business, from new clients and new markets. That means we have to make sure that we are very much "front of mind" for potential future clients.

Rachel was determined, when she joined the firm in 2002 to adopt a best practice data management model. She wanted to move from a repository for different bits of data to a strategic information and knowledge tool that really supported effective targeting and relationship intelligence. “We had a good, basic "contact management system" but nothing really valuable that would support better decision making in relation to business development. It was therefore very difficult to get an accurate picture of who were clients, targets or prospects and consequently how to target them and build effective communication strategies.”

The data management project comprised various stages. Stage One was a data audit. “Here we looked at the data we had and compared it to our strategic markets. We found we had a relatively good fit but it was not ideal. In many instances we did not have contact details for potential clients in target sectors or clear targeting strategies for clients already on the database.”

Stage Two was to prune the database and fill the gaps. “Shamrock undertook an extensive telemarketing project to check the information that we had was correct and fill the gaps. One of the most significant pluses of this approach was adding a large number of in-house counsel responsible for dispute resolution. It’s so difficult to get this information from public sources. This is why Shamrock’s approach of phoning the legal departments directly and asking permission to obtain and hold this information on our behalf was so effective”.

“Now that the data is on the database the most important stage is underway, namely reviewing the data with partners to ensure that they are bought in to the content of the system and to ensure that any of their personal contacts are included. We’ve always had commitment from the Executive committee but now we need to really drill down into the detail with the practice.”

The benefits of the firm’s work with Shamrock are already clear. “ By building information on target clients we have been able to use information in marketing programmes much more effectively. One really good example is our business magazine. Improved targeting has enabled us to identify opportunities for cross selling via the client feedback form. Specific feedback from the April issue has led to six concrete business opportunities. It is great for the marketing department to pass on real business leads to the lawyers, the conversion is down to them.”

The importance of selling the benefits to partners is a clear challenge, however Rachel has a clear and increasingly effective strategy. “ No one likes sitting down to keep their data up to date, however partners are very happy to discuss lead generation and how an effective database can help.” She goes on to add. “ I am very lucky to have the support of the managing partner and the executive group who have really bought-into the concept of effective targeting and see real tangible benefits of the approach we have taken.”

Rachel first came across Shamrock when she was working at Andersen. “They did a fantastic job; they were so effective and efficient and worked extremely well the marketing team and the lawyers so when I joined Davies Arnold Cooper I knew they were the obvious choice to help with the data management strategy. They are now very much an extension of the marketing department. They feel like real partners in the equation. They regard issues and challenges as our joint problem not "my" problem and they have really helped the marketing team to shine.”

“They have added value by having the technical expertise that we could not buy in. We used database administrators in the past but outsourcing the work to Shamrock is a far better, more cost effective approach. They help us make the best use of technology, they draw relationships between different types of data from across the firm and have helped us develop and implement a clear plan.”

Going forward the challenge for Rachel and her team is to implement CRM across the firm. “ We are working hard to help partners understand that good data management leads to good client management. Our first step however is to get the data right. It is important to get the building blocks in place first, we can then start on a clear CRM strategy.”

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