What do you do when you receive the dreaded call that a Request for Proposal (RFP) is due in 48 hours? This month, we are lucky to have four of our most experienced law firm marketers tell us how they do it. Join us to hear the stories and color commentary.

• How to evaluate RFPs
  •  “Go/no go” decision
  •  Due diligence

• How the Marketing Department can help in the RFP process
  • Resource management
  • Metrics

• Elements of a winning RFP response

• After the RFP
  • Follow-up and next steps

• Common problems, plus the panel’s top tips for living through the process.

Panel:

James T. Austin
Jim is the director of publications at Pepper Hamilton LLP. He manages the firm’s pitch and proposal process, oversees Pepper’s Web sites and the firm’s marketing collateral materials, and has his hand in numerous other marketing projects. Jim has been at Pepper since 1999, and previously was publications manager for Morgan Lewis. Before that, he worked for 15 years as a newspaper reporter and editor. He has been known to  imitacion reloj compare RFPs to colonoscopies and serious dental work, but notes that in the latter procedures, you typically have the advantage of being unconscious.

Cheryl Disch
Cheryl is senior manager of marketing information systems at Duane Morris LLP. She is responsible for the development and maintenance of systems and content supporting the firm’s business development activities, including proposals, research, the experience database and CRM. Cheryl has been with Duane Morris since 2000 and previously handled proposals and marketing communications at Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Labs. Her first RFP experience was a summer job on the proposal team at Grumman Aerospace logging artwork for the then top-secret replacement for USPS mail trucks in the 80s. Without computers.

Sharen Nocella
Sharen recently rejoined the legal community as the director of marketing at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP. She has nearly 20 years of experience in business development and marketing. Prior to joining Obermayer, Sharen was director of sales for Peddler’s Village, the third most visited tourist attraction in the greater Philadelphia region. She was the director of marketing at Stradley Ronon for eight years before leaving the legal profession.

Katherine L. Rebechi
Kathy is a marketing coordinator at Pepper Hamilton LLP. She brings to the firm more than 20 years of experience working with attorneys on marketing and business development. She supports the firm’s general marketing efforts and is primarily responsible for assisting the director of publications. Before joining Pepper, she was a member of the marketing staff at Morgan Lewis.

Mary Beth Pratt, Moderator
replique montre Mary Beth wrote her first RFP in the nonprofit sector a very long time ago…yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. She now consults with law firms and is an adjunct professor at Temple University Law School, where she teaches a course in law practice management.