Buyer guide
How to choose a law firm growth partner
Choose the work before comparing the monthly fee. Ask who will run campaigns, coach the team, check the numbers and finish the agreed changes. Then compare total costs and your access to the people doing the work. A useful proposal makes these responsibilities easy to find.
Start with the business problem
Write one sentence about the problem you can show in your records. Perhaps the firm needs more suitable inquiries. Perhaps it has consultations but few hiring decisions. Or growth has left the owner handling every exception and the team waiting for instructions.
Add the result you want and what the firm can contribute. Paid campaigns need a funded advertising budget and people who can respond. Sales coaching needs time for staff to practice. Better reporting needs records someone can check. A provider should explain those dependencies before asking you to sign.
Ask what should stay as it is. A new partner does not need to replace a useful agency, CRM or manager merely to make its own scope larger. The proposal should identify what changes and who owns the work that continues.
Understand which kind of help you are buying
The label on the website is a starting point. An agency, coach and implementation partner can cover overlapping ground, so compare the actual work promised. One business may provide several of these services.
| Type of help | What to confirm in the proposal |
|---|---|
| Marketing agency | Campaigns, creative, landing pages, reporting and the person who manages them |
| Coach or adviser | Who attends, meeting format, advice provided and who carries out the changes |
| Implementation partner | What gets built or changed, acceptance checks, training and handover |
| Fractional executive | Decision authority, time commitment and management responsibilities |
| Lead provider | Lead definition, exclusivity, qualification, delivery and charges |
Name the people who will do the work
Ask who leads the engagement after the sales call. Then name the person responsible for each service. If someone else runs paid campaigns or checks financial inputs, understand how that person works with the main contact.
A small team can be a good fit for a focused scope. A broader project may need several specialists. Ask how the provider handles absence, extra work and disagreements about priorities. “We handle everything” is incomplete until the proposal describes the responsibilities.
Confirm whether the campaign specialist’s labor is included in the service fee. Keep that separate from advertising spend and any additional specialist work. The written scope should name the person responsible and the costs before paid campaign work begins.
Ask for evidence that matches the service
When reviewing an advertising example, ask which channel, market, practice area and spending period it covers. What counted as a suitable inquiry? How many reached a consultation, signed or paid? Find out whether the provider performed the work or supplied one part of it.
For sales coaching, ask how conversion was defined and which people were counted. A percentage without a starting point, dates and population is hard to assess. A successful process setup also does not establish results in advertising, accounting or every other part of a wider offer.
A provider with limited outcome evidence can still show sample work, explain its method and offer a bounded scope. Have it label demonstrations clearly. Use the level of proof to decide how much work and money to commit at the start.
Make individual support specific
Ask whether sessions are individual or shared with other firms, who attends and how often they happen. Establish whether the meeting is a progress review, staff practice, advice or work performed together. Those formats use your time differently.
Between meetings, agree on the contact method, response window and what happens when something is urgent. Ask who writes the next steps and follows through. Access to a founder is useful only if the promised availability fits the work.
Write the session allowance, response arrangement and responsibilities into the final scope. If your team needs hands-on help between sessions, ask for examples of that work and confirm how much is included.
Compare the full commitment
Put proposals on the same time period. Separate one-time setup from recurring service fees, and list spending paid directly to other businesses. Identify minimum terms, cancellation notice and work that requires another quote.
A lower monthly fee may cover fewer channels, fewer meetings or advice without implementation. That may suit your firm. The question is whether the work you need and the work your staff can carry out are both covered.
Use written amounts and terms from each provider in the worksheet below. “Included” should refer to a defined allowance. Leave unknown costs marked as questions instead of treating them as zero.
| Proposal item | Provider A | Provider B |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly service fee and included work | ___ | ___ |
| Setup fee and launch deliverables | ___ | ___ |
| Media budget paid to ad platforms | ___ | ___ |
| Software, tracking and other subscriptions | ___ | ___ |
| Included specialist labor and extra-work rates | ___ | ___ |
| Your staff time and additional staffing | ___ | ___ |
| Minimum term, notice and exit charges | ___ | ___ |
| Total cost over the same agreed period | ___ | ___ |
Check what your firm owns and keeps
List the advertising accounts, domain, website, analytics, lead records and creative assets used for the work. Confirm who owns each account, who has access and what the firm can export. A reporting login is not the same as control of the underlying account.
Ask what happens when the engagement ends: access changes, files, documentation, active campaigns and unfinished work. Specify the handover time and any fees. If assets use third-party licenses, identify what can move with the firm.
Your final comparison should answer four practical questions: who performs the work, what your firm must supply, how you review progress and how you leave. Resolve blanks before comparing the headline price.