As we all continue to navigate the unprecedented leadership challenges and opportunities created by the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with a wide range of professional services leaders.

Those conversations have produced a wealth of perspective surrounding the unique communications challenges professional services leaders face in this uncertain time. Below is a collection of insights that may prove useful as you continue to navigate these unchartered waters.

Identify, segment and prioritize your stakeholders – In the coming days, leaders are working to exit triage mode and move into a more systematic, sustainable cadence of communication with internal and external stakeholders. It’s an opportune time to think about which audience segments are most important now and how frequently you interact with them. You’ve likely (and rightly) made clients your first priority. If so, now is the time to think more broadly about other key stakeholders and what messages and assurances they need to hear.

Increase your cadence – If it feels like you’re overcommunicating, you’re probably doing it right. The frequency of your communication to the organization should be two-to-three times the norm. Avoid the temptation to overthink your message; instead, focus on being nimble and authentic. Be comfortable making decisions on the best available information and pivoting as you learn more. Take a moment to think about new internal and external audiences who need your attention. This should be a constant exercise.

Expand your feedback networks – In disruptive times, your first team is typically the executive committee or board of advisors – the group that will provide the input necessary to manage through the initial phases of uncertainty. We are entering a transition period; empathizing with the changing needs of clients and internal stakeholders will be critical and challenging. It will require new feedback avenues and greater effort to obtain information from every corner inside and outside the organization. The best intelligence in a crisis comes from the crisis itself – you will need frequent, fresh, first-hand information to adapt and respond effectively.

Prepare your frontline leaders – In the same way that you are being tested so are the executives with direct connections to partners and clients. Those frontline leaders need your coaching and your help to predict what questions and information will be asked of them. For example, following the massive unemployment numbers steadily being released, the question on just about everyone’s mind is, “Is my job secure?” Understanding your team’s top-of-mind concerns and providing as much clarity as possible will be key to keeping them productive.

Be willing to recast your strongest communicators – We all have various strengths and not every leader in your organization is a strong, confident communicator. Accept this reality, identify the leaders who excel at interpersonal communications and be willing to recast them accordingly. In times of rampant uncertainty, you’re better off redeploying your leaders based on an assessment of strengths than trying to re-tool. The stakes are too high to leave things in the hands of weak or ineffective communicators.

Anticipate and prepare for new media narratives – Traditional news outlets are enjoying a day in the sun as audiences rely on and engage with their reporting now more than ever. While initial media narratives centered on business continuity issues in the wake of COVID-19, we are beginning to see the narrative shift toward staff-cost/workforce reductions, confirmations of COVID-19 diagnoses, the myriad implications of a prolonged lockdown, and how the world will change as a result of the pandemic. Be prepared for these shifts in attention and for a new expectation for engagement by leaders amidst an international health crisis.

We’re here to help and would welcome a chat to discuss what we’re learning in real time.

“The only thing that is constant is change.” I was reminded of this quote while attending the GroPro 20/20 conference last month with dozens of CMOs and managing directors at leading law firms and professional services organizations. It’s an easy idea to agree with but a hard truth to fully embrace. Executives across the legal, accounting and consulting industries are responding and innovating (some better than others) in response to changes in client demand, the talent pool, disruptive technologies and marketing trends. It was incredibly refreshing to hear, through open conversations with an impressive audience of senior marketing executives, how different leaders are managing through this period of volatility and uncertainty. The conference occurred just weeks before the release of Greentarget’s first survey documenting the content consumption preferences and behaviors among C-suite officers, who make up the core client and prospect base for the industries listed above. So we listened with an ear toward the ways professional services marketers are striving to cater to those preferences and behaviors. We heard a lot of great ideas and sharp perspectives. Here, in no particular order, are a few highlights: Cultivating Marketing Allies. Getting buy-in and support from influential members of the partnership and executive leaders was a common theme. The panel comprised of CMOs from Bain Consulting, Navigant and Wiley Rein illustrated different strategies to identify and cultivate these “promoters.” One CMO’s strategy hinged on gamification – creating a series of marketing challenges designed to advance new business objectives with prizes for the most meetings secured, articles published, revenue generated, etc. “It’s amazing what you can accomplish through a little healthy competition – especially among a partnership.” Start-Up Mentality. As we’ve documented, legal operations continues to grow as a force in the legal industry, and the findings in an annual survey presented by HBR Consulting feed that perception, depicting a shrinking investment in outside counsel and an increased investment in in-house resources. The panel discussed the notion that growing a legal operations team at a law firm requires a “start-up mentality” as new hires with new skill sets need to be free to challenge processes and bring fresh thinking. As one panelist put it, “How do you materially differentiate yourself based on the client experience?” Data, Data Everywhere. At one point during the event, the room was pretty fired up over data visualization tools, talent and needs. Many of the firms attending deal with mountains of data in Excel and other database tools. One in-house counsel said, “Whenever we see a ton of data in a spreadsheet, we think, ‘How can we make this a map, a graphic or an interactive image?’” In some firms, data visualization has become a billable service that clients will invest in to “learn something about themselves they don’t already know.” Another consulting firm CMO added, “Co-innovation through efforts like data visualization is the shortest path to client connectivity.” Blockchain in Professional Services. A presentation from Microsoft sparked a compelling conversation around the applications of blockchain, a connection that may not be obvious at first glance. However, at its most basic level, the presenter emphasized that blockchain technology produces data that is completely immutable, is verifiable and removes the need for trust. This could have many applications in accounting, asset management, legal and management consulting, especially in billing and auditing. One panelist predicted we’re likely to see blockchain-based invoicing in professional services within the next 24 months. Building a Professional Services Brand. “In professional services, we too often disguise brand as something else – using words like reputation, or client experience. But brands are exciting and unique and should be embraced.” This observation from One North kicked off one of two sessions on branding that focused on how professional services firms too often play it safe using the all-too-common pillars of reliability and trust. “If an organization wouldn’t claim the opposite, it’s not a brand pillar.” In a separate panel led by branding agency Clarity, a panelist discussed an ingenious approach to measuring effectiveness in this area – she creates a word cloud of client feedback to see how many of the brand pillars appear in the language clients deliver back to the firm. According to one marketing chief: “Our goal was to build a truly durable brand — our approach to sharing our expertise was about developing signature thought leadership. It wasn’t about the quantity of content we created, but the quality.” Music to our ears. Disrupt or Be Disrupted. A former Fortune 50 CMO discussed how disruption has never been happening faster, so it’s important for companies to think big. “As the saying goes, we tend to overestimate what we can get done in one year, but underestimate what we can accomplish in five years,” she said. Above all else, GroPro reminded me how important it is to create the time and space to get out of the day-to-day routine and listen to diverse perspectives. The frantic pace of business today creates a challenging paradox – it’s harder than ever to make the time to expose yourself to new points of view but also critical to find the energy to embrace change and expand.

It’s been quite a week for United Airlines, and the company remains firmly on its heels. In addition to video of a passenger’s forcible removal going viral, United’s CEO used a term in his first public statement after the incident that was, frankly, mind-boggling: “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers.” Emphasis mine. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here, but the one we’re most interested in is the tension that exists between legal and communications departments in times of crisis. Please check out my full post for more.