Best of the Brands: Tim Corcoran

Tim Corcoran

I was introduced to Tim Corcoran at a dinner event hosted by a good friend.  Twelve legal marketers sat around a table eating and sharing war stories and successes. For a “salesman,” I thought it was rather odd that Tim was not more proactive in the discussion.

At the time, I figured Tim was merely unassuming and quiet. It was not until subsequent conversations and interactions that I realized his approach — listen and observe, then engage.

For Tim, everything is focused on and centered around the client. His approach and the value he brings to every interaction is unique (dare I say, rare) to the legal industry; it is also the reason I consider him a Best of the Brands.

Jonathan: If I were to ask one of your clients to describe you, what do you think they would say?

Tim: Whether I’m interacting with clients or prospects, deliberating with colleagues or presenting from a podium, there’s not a lot of guile or subtlety: what you see is what you get.

I believe I’m perceived as someone who’s passionate about my field, legal marketing, and that I continually give back by sharing what I’ve learned. For my clients, I certainly hope they perceive me as one of their own, someone who has been in their shoes and who can empathize with their daily challenges. Beyond these credentials, I’ve worked hard to establish and maintain a reputation of integrity and honesty.

Jonathan: Throughout your career, you have worked with some of the premier players in the legal industry–both within law firms and as a consultant. How have this affected your personal brand?

Tim: Without question there’s a certain credibility that comes with leading an important business function in a global organization (in my case a law firm), serving as an executive of a prominent vendor, or advising legal clients as part of a pre-eminent legal consultancy.

I’ve worked with legal businesses that have taken rash actions designed to improve short-term financial performance and in so doing harmed client relationships that took years to develop. In one notable example that occurred some years ago, a brash new CEO of my parent company declared that any law firm client that didn’t purchase product “A” from my sister company would not be allowed to purchase product “B” from my division. I was in the untenable position of having to enforce policies that I didn’t believe in with clients who were merely making sound business decisions and there was serious risk of damage to my reputation. After several such actions I moved on, but at a considerable personal cost.

Jonathan: What have you done to develop your personal brand over the years?

Tim: I work hard, I listen and observe, and I soak up everything I can from people far smarter than I. I’m a voracious reader – of news in my field, of business advice, of current events, really anything I can get my hands on to expand my horizons. I seek out friendships with those in my field whom I respect and admire. I learn to do these things by emulating other successful people.

But I also struggle with managing my time, balancing my personal and professional life, and, most recently as a result of my return to the vendor ranks, navigating the interesting role of selling products and services to my friends and colleagues in such a way that’s mutually beneficial. However, this latter challenge is much easier because I take a long-term view, and my clients know this. I’m in this field to stay, it’s my passion and my calling, and I’m well aware that ill-conceived short-term actions could harm my credibility and reputation in the long run.

Jonathan: What activities are you doing now to take your personal brand to the next level?

Tim: I enjoy talking to law firm marketers and partners about the changing field of law and law practices, and I write blog posts and update Twitter feed with such commentary quite regularly. By sharing what I’ve observed working with law firms and their clients all over the world, I hopefully provide a service to my business community – but clearly maintaining such a public profile helps to promote my personal brand.

I’ve reached a point in my career where I enjoy working behind the scenes to help others succeed more than I enjoy promoting myself. Curiously, however, I’m asked to present more now than ever before, and I am regularly contacted by blog readers asking if I will opine on this topic or that, and sometimes just to encourage me to write more than I do. However, I am diligent about continually adding new value lest I become one of those pundits who has nothing to say and seeks every opportunity to say it!

Jonathan: What promise does your personal brand offer?

Tim: My clients have come to expect that I don’t “pitch” my offerings, preferring instead to spend time clearly understanding their needs before I make any recommendation. In some cases the client is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with such a process and withholds information, and I’ll often walk away rather than try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

When I am engaged to provide a product or service, particularly those that are large scale and complex, I believe that managing expectations and constant communication are critical. I have always allied with companies offering premium services, so while my clients may pay more than my competitors ask, I believe in delivering value that is commensurate with the level of investment. Frankly, it’s this sort of “brand promise” that led to my current role.

I’m deeply engaged in updating business processes and practices with an excellent company that has grown so fast that its infrastructure has struggled to keep up. I’m ecstatic to be helping a company with an innovative tradition maintain its pre-eminent position, and I’m hopeful my friends in the market trust me, and my fantastic colleagues, to get it right.

Jonathan: What have you witnessed other professionals doing that hurts their personal brands?

Tim: Treating clients as the opposition. The economic slowdown has imposed significant burdens on many of us, and this has led some of my vendor and consultant friends to begin extracting as much as possible from clients regardless of the long-term consequences.

Others have benefited from the prior economic boom, leaping from job to job, always seeking a larger paycheck and a better title, when staying put and seeing some things through to completion would have built more credibility.

Still others waiver in their commitment to their field, dropping in and out every few years, calling into question whether they truly have a passion and expertise in their field or whether it’s simply what pays the bills at the moment.

I admire those who recognize the impact of poor choices, even when remedying the situation make look troubling from the outside. For example, having stayed too long in a role or two, I am more diligent about assessing the fit on an ongoing basis, an approach taught to me by a very capable mentor.

Jonathan: Is your personal brand more than what you do for a living?

Tim: It is perfectly acceptable to have a work persona and a home persona, and even if the two rarely intersect, you never know who you might run across so it’s sensible, and frankly a lot easier, to hold yourself to high standards all the time.

While I have many friends in my professional field, I’m like many parents in that I spend time socially with parents of my children’s teammates and classmates. Many of these friends think of me merely as the guy who wears shorts in the winter or who likes to play basketball, and they don’t know anything at all about my career. It would very likely surprise some of these people to learn that I own a suit, let alone that I’m quite comfortable on stage speaking to a thousand people, because they generally find me quite shy!

Jonathan: Thanks Tim! To recap, a strong personal brand:

• Is authentic, what you see is what you get
• Is passionate about what they do
• Has a long-term perspective on relationship building
• Does not “sell out” or “give up” in the face of adversity, like an economic downturn
• Strives to live a well balanced life

Follow