Competitive intelligence

By Linda Julian

You need to know how you and your firm stack up against the competition.  Even basic, simple competitive information can be a powerful tool.

Here’s a quick list of useful information to collate about your key competitors:

• areas of work
• firm size and structure
• revenue per lawyer/professional and partner
• profitability
• charge rates and charge bases (time, fixed fee, event cost, etc)
• “stars” on their team
• key clients
• special strengths and competencies
• weaknesses and threats or risks
• recent wins and losses.

Of course, you won’t be able to gather all this information about each competitor, but lots can be assembled or sensibly derived to inform your competitive strategy.