CMOs Name Today’s 6 Top BD Investments

87% of firms are increasing BD budgets. But this hides the real story:

Law firms are pouring money into business development. They are trying to fix a set of activities characterized by:

Uneven performance across partners
Partner dependency for execution
Widely disparate, informal, partner-specific systems

Firms are attacking the problem from every angle with one goal: to build one high-performing, scalable system to drive new business.

Our survey of more than 130 Marketing/BD leaders tells us where the money is going – and what each investment is trying to fix:

Client Relationship Managers/ Business Development Executives

Clients love their dedicated business professionals (BDE). BDEs support relationship partners and clients. They deliver access, anticipation, and relevance by:

- Maintaining direct dialogue with clients
- Anticipating client needs before they surface
- Asking sharp questions
- Hearing what’s not said
- Deciphering the need behind the need
- Removing the guesswork from client needs and growth

Some firms see BDEs as nothing but overhead. The firms pulling ahead see them as force multipliers.

BD Coaches for Partners

Most partners don’t have a business development strategy. They have instincts, habits, and occasional wins.

Some know pieces of what to do, but few know how to:

- Turn a conversation into an opportunity
- Move a relationship forward intentionally
- Create momentum without being transactional
- Bring discipline to their approach

BD coaches are filling the gap.

They don’t just build plans. Good coaches translate scattered activity into focused behavior. In-house coaches develop skills and structure. External coaches add pressure, discipline, and accountability.

Practice-Specific and Industry-BD Managers

Most firms go to market by practice. They’re adding BD firepower inside M&A, Litigation, and other high-demand areas – embedding support where revenue already flows.

These managers drive pursuits, support rainmakers, and push opportunities forward.

The smaller group of firms going to market by industry is adding dedicated business managers as well. Clients prefer industry knowledge and nuance – good industry-specific BD managers build their approach around this preference – consistently driving outsized results.

Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing used to be a novelty. Now it’s infrastructure.

Firms are moving past content production and toward precision targeting and client development. The goal: reach the right client at the exact right time.

Digital marketing heads have been mostly part-time roles – but the tide is turning. Law firms are increasingly seeing the benefits of a full-stack digital marketing effort – and bringing on the leaders to make it happen.

Content Developers

The world is flooded with content. Clients ignore most of it – which is why firms are investing in resources to curate, refine and target. They are moving from focusing on output to impact.

CRM

CRM is back – with a new promise: intelligence.

AI-driven systems are attracting fresh investment – offering better visibility, coordination and insight. The idea of deeper and more targeted insight is compelling.

But, if lawyers don’t input, share and act – the system doesn’t matter. Firms are betting high-value output will drive adoption.

Every one of these investments is solving the same problem: Business development in law firms is still not a system. It’s a collection of: