In our miniseries on “retention” we’ve looked at separately at both client and talent retention. That sounds like everything, right? Keep the clients and keep the talent. Almost, but not quite. This lesson picks up on the issue which follows naturally in this flow — retaining market position.

The reason the AmLaw 100, 200, mid-market, PEP tables and every other index exists is because law firm leaders care. We can debate how much it means to clients — less than you’d assume — but it matters for sure to law firms.

So, at a time of client volatility, when Big Law is losing business among themselves and to the midmarket, in-house and ALSPs, the focus on retaining market position has never been more acute.

Retaining market position in a challenging climate is a familiar theme for us at Lean Adviser. Take our very popular discussion on future proofing as an example, and you can see how it’s the rationale for so much of what we do here. (We summarized the start of the Future Proofing series thusly: “Future Proofing is about reframing the way law firms align themselves to clients, deliver services and support talent. This lesson starts with Future Proofing fundamentals for law firms — technology, real estate and people — and how to anticipate the future and protect against it.”)

Our steer for law firm leaders looking at retaining market position, is to think in terms of long-term sustainability, not short-term profitability or rankings. Any firm can have a spike or a dip for a host of reasons, but what matters is trends over time, not this year’s tables.  

In his book “The Infinite Game”, Simon Sinek explains it like this: “An infinite mindset embraces abundance whereas a finite mindset operates with a scarcity mentality. In the Infinite Game we accept that ‘being the best’ is a fool’s errand and that multiple players can do well at the same time.”

The point for us is that the difference between a blip and a sustainable trend isn’t about having clients and talent, it’s about having the right clients, the right talent, and how you invest in them. Here’s an easy quiz to help you see where you are on this journey:

  1. Are we a client-facing organization that looks to solve problems and build durable relationships, or are we willing to churn and burn to keep up? 
  2. Do we achieve profitability by investing in people and tech or by making cuts?
  3. Do we see our associates as learners or just earners?
  4. Do our clients exist to support our rankings, or do we exist to support their businesses?