Reposted with permission from AALL Spectrum, Volume 28, Number 3 (January/February 2024), pgs 40-41
By Josh Farley, Coordinator Competitive Intelligence, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Why balancing tactical and strategic intelligence is vital to building a successful competitive intelligence function.
Competitive intelligence (CI) can help law firm marketing and business development (MBD) teams gain insights, identify opportunities, and avoid threats in a dynamic and competitive legal environment. But how should CI professionals approach their work? Should they prioritize tactical intelligence support for MBD activities—like profiling potential and current clients, gathering information for requests for proposals (RFPs), and matching conference attendees with the firm’s list of clients? Or should they devote more time and resources to strategic planning—such as monitoring industry trends, assessing competitor capabilities, and developing thought leadership?
The answer is not “either-or” but “both-and.” CI professionals possess a unique perspective that transcends firm silos. They have the ability to connect dots that may not be immediately evident to the MBD team, which is often focused on the day-to-day activities of their specific practice or sector. This insight also differs from the C-suite’s perspective, which, while maintaining a high-level view of firm operations, often lacks the bandwidth to monitor day-to-day activities firm-wide. As CI professionals, it is important to incorporate both roles into your position in a way that aligns with your firm’s goals and priorities. Below, I will explore the relationship between tactical and strategic intelligence in legal CI and provide a framework for finding the delicate balance necessary to thrive.
What Is Tactical And Strategic Intelligence?
Tactical intelligence is information that supports immediate actions or decisions, such as responding to an RFP, identifying companies affected by the latest breaking news, or preparing for a client meeting. It is often reactive, specific, and time sensitive. It answers questions such as: “Is this company a current client?”, “Who are the key decision-makers in this organization?”, “What are their pain points and preferences?”, and “What are the best practices and lessons learned from similar engagements?”
Strategic intelligence is information that supports long-term planning, such as identifying growth opportunities, anticipating disruptions, or shaping the industry agenda. It is often proactive, broad, and forward-looking. It answers questions such as: “What are the emerging trends and drivers in this sector?”, “How are our competitors positioning themselves for the future?”, “What are the gaps and niches in the market that we can exploit?”, and “What marketing events are our competitors hosting in the cybersecurity industry?”
Why Do We Need Both?
Competitive intelligence is a valuable tool for any law firm’s marketing and business development team aiming to gain an edge in the complex and competitive legal industry. Tactical and strategic intelligence, as key pillars of CI, are both complementary and interdependent. Lacking tactical intelligence, MBD teams may lose out on immediate opportunities or make costly mistakes. Conversely, without strategic intelligence, MBD teams may miss out on future opportunities or fail to adapt to changing conditions. Both types of intelligence can inform and enhance each other. Nevertheless, CI professionals should balance their focus between tactical and strategic intelligence, depending on the needs and expectations of their stakeholders. By integrating both tools into their day-to-day activities, CI professionals can boost their effectiveness and make a greater impact in both roles.
EXAMPLES OF TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE IN PRACTICE:
| Tactical | Strategic |
| Analyze the Risk Statements from a client’s Annual Report to determine their legal needs ahead of a partner’s upcoming client meeting. | Analyze broader legal market data from Thomson Reuters’ Market Insights against internal metrics to evaluate your firm’s standing among peers. |
| Create a tailored company profile for a company that recently announced plans to relocate its headquarters to a city housing one of your firm’s offices. | Group clients by the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) they are headquartered in to determine potential expansion cities for your firm. |
| Review recent bankruptcy filings, identified through Courthouse News Service Bankruptcy Case Reports, to determine firm clients among the creditors for your firm’s restructuring group. | Search and analyze results from the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) database for recent municipal bond filings involving school systems in a select state to look for growth opportunities for your public finance group. |
| Utilize LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify and gather bios on the full legal team of a prospective client. | Utilize Leopard Solutions to track changes in in-house counsel for opportunity spotting. |
| Use the Fuzzy Lookup Add-in for Excel to match a list of event attendees to your firm’s client list. | Compare a list of an incoming lateral partner’s clients with current firm clients to look for cross-selling opportunities. |
| Determine the market share held by a client operating in a niche industry for a partner in your antitrust group. | Identify opportunities for antitrust business development by utilizing Law.com’s Legal Compass to compile a list of mid to large law firms that do M&A work but lack an in-house antitrust group to assist with the regulatory review process for mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. |
On Firmer Ground 