Gilchrist Connell is a leading insurance law firm with five offices across Australia, advising clients locally and internationally, including New Zealand, Asia, Europe, the US and the London market.
The firm’s marketing and business development (BD) team sought objective, industry-wide data to guide decision-making that would strengthen its client experience (CX) strategy. It wanted to ensure it was focusing resources on initiatives most valued by clients, where they would deliver the greatest positive impact for the firm.
“For those of us working in business development and client experience, the report has been a life raft. We operate in what can be a bit of a ‘dark art’ – a mysterious and sometimes intangible space where it can be difficult to prove ROI. Beaton’s empirical data gives us the evidence we need to influence and persuade in an environment full of experts.”
Gilchrist Connell is a leading insurance sector law firm in Australia. It operates across all Australian jurisdictions from five offices and regularly assists clients with claims in New Zealand, Asia, Europe, the US and the London market, as well as global insurers participating in multi-national insurance programs.
Website
Industry
Legal services – insurance and commercial litigation
Organisation size
200+ employees across five Australian offices
Key outcomes:
- Credibility through data: Gilchrist Connell’s marketing and CX team gained empirical evidence to support strategic decisions and influence senior decision-makers in the firm.
- Reallocation of marketing resources: Marketing resources were reallocated to place more focus on the most valuable activities as revealed by data. Among the changes, Gilchrist Connell is now investing in more sustained thought leadership initiatives and educating client-facing teams about better use of personal branding on LinkedIn. It has also modified how it uses sponsorships for brand building and client acquisition, guided by Beaton’s report findings.
- Tailored internal engagement: The report’s insights were shared nationwide in the firm, with tailored presentations to educate partners, practice groups and junior lawyers on how to maximise the impact of their BD activities.
- Client alignment: Many findings from the report were echoed by direct or anecdotal client feedback to the firm. This created a powerful combination of market sentiment and internal data to influence decision-makers toward the most impactful changes.
Gilchrist Connell's experience with Beaton's Marketing, BD & CRM Effectiveness Report
Challenge:
Gilchrist Connell operates in a competitive legal market where Australian law firms jostle for visibility and client loyalty. Traditional engagement tactics such as corporate hospitality and networking events remain widespread, but their true impact on client loyalty and growth is notoriously difficult to quantify. Measuring their return on investment (ROI) has long been a challenge.
For Gilchrist Connell’s client team, the challenge has always been to maximise ROI on marketing and BD activities. However, persuading senior lawyers – who rely on evidence and data for most of their work – of the value of marketing, BD and client relationship management (CRM) tactics was an uphill battle. In drawing on Beaton’s report, the team sought to understand the empirical evidence and use data to help shift the firm’s mindset from legacy engagement models to forward-thinking strategies that are proven to work.
“You've only got a limited amount of time. You’ve only got limited resources. How do we do marketing and BD most effectively? How do we deploy those resources in a meaningful and compelling way? Here is the information to support some of our decisions.”
Solution:
Beaton’s Marketing, BD & CRM Effectiveness Report provided independent insights into the relative effectiveness of a wide range of initiatives.
Gilchrist Connell’s client team:
- Synthesised the findings into strategy recommendations for client teams and practice groups.
- Conducted a national roadshow to share insights internally:
- Associates and junior lawyers received training on BD basics backed by data.
- Partners and senior lawyers were shown how to best allocate their limited resources.
- Validated a strategic pivot away from relying heavily on social networking events for BD and marketing, and toward more effective tactics.
"The report offered nuance in how we deploy the right tools at the right stage of the client journey. It reinforced what we instinctively knew, but with the empirical evidence needed to cut through and influence decision-making.”
Outcome:
Since adopting the report’s insights, Gilchrist Connell has strengthened buy-in from partners and lawyers on its CX initiatives. The firm has continued to achieve healthy revenue growth while refining its approach to traditional marketing and BD activities. Moving forward, the firm is scaling up certain tactics and positioning data-backed activities at the heart of its brand to sharpen its competitive edge in an increasingly crowded legal market.
“Beaton’s report helps us cut through with evidence in an environment dominated by experts. It enables us to say not just what we should do, but when and why. That’s incredibly powerful.”
