Retreats ::

Sally Schmidt brings energy, leading-edge industry information and pragmatism to her engagements, whether facilitating or presenting at law firm retreats. Considered by many to be the foremost authority on law firm marketing, Sally regularly receives high praise for her participation in firm retreats.

Unsolicited client feedback following firm retreats shows an ability to reach the audience through a blend of credibility, humor and flexibility. Our job is to help the firm accomplish its objectives and make the people planning the retreat look good.

Depending on the firm's needs, any number of issues may be the basis for presentations or discussions at retreats, including:

  • Firm marketing
  • Practice/industry group or niche marketing
  • Individual lawyer marketing
  • Client retention and loyalty-building strategies
  • Internal marketing and cross selling
  • Networking
  • Business development

Client Comments

"Thank you for your excellent presentation on Saturday at the firm retreat. I think we definitely inspired a few attorneys…it’s particularly challenging because everyone is in a 'different place' on their path to client development. I heard some very nice compliments after the meeting"

Director of Business Development and Marketing
Minneapolis, MN Law Firm

"Hi Sally, Thank you so much!! I heard rave upon rave about you throughout the day yesterday and again this morning. My biggest regret is that I didn’t get a chance to spend any one-on-one time with you! Thank you for the slides. I can’t tell you how many people asked me if they would be available!"

Director of Marketing
West Virginia law firm

"It was great seeing you at the retreat. Your presentation was very well received, and people seemed 'pumped up' and enthused about business development."

Marketing Director of Minneapolis law firm.

“Dear Sally, Thank you for coming to speak at our retreat. A number of our attorneys (who aren’t often complimentary) have approached me to express their appreciation of your presentation. I really think you got them thinking about some of the points you made and stats you quoted. As it is, the marketing 'mumbo-jumbo' I’ve been pestering them with has been validated through your reinforcement. Thanks again. We all look forward to working with you in the future. Keep up the great work!”

Shareholder
Houston, TX law firm

“Your presentation was full of information, well developed and to the point. I thought we covered a huge amount of territory and we (you) literally worked for 5 hours straight with a very short lunch break. Your ideas and professionalism are very impressive. I learned a lot and I am sure that the other attorneys did as well. I have heard favorable comments about the meeting from all who attended. I really liked the way you stayed on message and kept the information moving along so that we were able to finish your very well prepared PowerPoint. I hope to see you again soon. We appreciate your suggestions and materials. Thank you again.”

Director of Marketing
Boston, MA law firm

“Sally, You were a highlight of our retreat. Thank you so much for making what could be an odious project a real delight. It has been a pleasure working with you and the firm couldn’t be more pleased. Your professionalism is unsurpassed. I look forward to more of the same.”

Marketing Director
Baltimore, MD law firm

"Hi Sally, you were a great hit and provided a 'blow torch' start for the rest of what was our most successful retreat. We exceeded my most optimistic wishes, and set the stage for some significant changes in the next few years. Our next step is detailed planning, but the platform is in place. Please accept the thanks from our entire organization."

Managing Partner
Cleveland, OH law firm

"THANK YOU! for your participation in the firm's all-attorney retreat last weekend. I personally felt that it was a perfect presentation for the firm at this time. There were many, many positive comments and hopefully we'll see the real results in all the groups' plans!"

Director of Marketing
Lansing, MI law firm

"Just a short note to thank you for presenting at our Regional Management Meeting last week. The group expressed real pleasure and value in your presentation and material. A number of them commented on how fortunate we were to have you participate in the meeting. Again, my sincere thank you."

Regional Chief Operating Officer
Global law firm

"Sally, thank you, once again, for your participation in the Marketing Forum. I have had nothing but extremely positive feedback from members. They really got a lot out of your presentation and thought that you were a great presenter. You did a wonderful job on Saturday. You provided just the right mix of teacher-facilitator. Thank you again for a job well done."

Director of Administration
Los Angeles law firm

"Sally, thank you for participating in the firm's retreat. Your presentation and your facilitating of the firm culture panel was outstanding. You actually helped to make the whole process tolerable. I have attended about 25 or so of these retreats and we have had some real stinkers."

Partner
Orlando, FL law firm

"People are STILL talking about your presentation! Which is awesome. Thanks again for coming on such short notice and for doing a wonderful job."

Director of Business Development
National law firm

"Thank you so much for being with us on Friday. At the end of our meeting on Saturday, our managing partner said it was the best retreat they had ever had."

Director of Marketing/Business Development/Public Relations
130-lawyer firm

"Thank you for making our retreat worthwhile. You universally received high marks for your presentation."

Chair of Business Section
Grand Rapids, MI law firm

"Thank you for the great job you did for us at the retreat. Your presentation clearly got the full attention of our attorneys and had direct impact on their subsequent group plans. Their response and buy-in to your ideas was all we had hoped for! We are so lucky to have access to your knowledge and guidance. I look forward to our continued association."

Communications Director
Kansas City, MO law firm

"Thank you so much for your excellent presentation at High Hampton for our firm meeting. I have heard nothing but wonderful comments from everyone who attended. In fact, it is my opinion that you have received the highest marks of any speaker we have ever had for any occasion. The information you presented was very well received and I have seen a lot of evidence that many of your ideas have already been put to work. It was truly a pleasure to have you at this meeting."

Administrator
Greenville, SC law firm

"We enjoyed very much having you participate in our retreat. Your presentation was right on target and set the stage for the remainder of our program. In fact, most of our time on Saturday morning was spent discussing some of your ideas about marketing legal services. I only heard positive comments concerning your presentation."

Office Manager
North Carolina law firm

"I wanted to send you a note of tremendous thanks for speaking at our attorney retreat! I really think your talk jump-started many of our attorneys into action as far as marketing. Everyone I spoke with had nothing but the highest praises for you and your ideas, which is evident in their actions since. I look forward to working with you again."

Marketing Assistant
Raleigh, NC law firm

"Thank you for all of your help with our retreat. Your presentation was very well received and from all indicators it was a success. I am optimistic that we will make progress and look forward to working with you in the future."

Firm Administrator
Portland, OR law firm

"Thanks for this morning Sally. As usual, you did an excellent job in presenting the material and interacting with our group. I look forward to working with you again."

Director of Marketing
Minneapolis, MN law firm

"Sally, we appreciate your good work last Saturday, and I think the other people attending agreed that you did an excellent job. You provided many good, practical 'how to' ideas, and then made us hone in on some specific plans. I hope we can follow up on those plans now, and I think we will. We have enjoyed working with you and look forward to continuing the relationship. And thank you again."

Managing Partner
Iowa law firm

"Sally, I must commend you on a job extremely well-done. Your time spent with me was extremely helpful. Even more important, we have already heard very positive feedback from the partners in attendance. So, in short, thanks!"

Marketing Director
New Jersey law firm

"Thank you for your very well received, informative, and professional presentation. The associates responded well. I appreciated our private conversation on the broader issues involved, and I hope you take my interest as a sign of my own reaction to the materials and to the parts of the presentation to which the partners were exposed."

Chair, Litigation Group
3,000-lawyer global firm

"Thanks again for a great presentation yesterday. You made me look good and presented the committee with some specific strategies. In addition, I appreciated your effort to customize your presentation for the firm lunch at the last minute to include the comments and approach recommended by the committee. Thanks for your flexibility."

Marketing Administrator
Phoenix, AZ law firm

"Sally, you and your message were so well received, I think we should consider getting you to come back next year. Thanks again for being the best part of our mid-year meeting!"

Business Development Manager
Atlanta, GA law firm

"Just a quick note to again thank you for making the trip to speak before our group. Everyone I spoke to raved about your presentation. I truly believe that all of the women who attended came away with at least something that will help them in their professional and personal lives. Thank you again."

Partner
Providence, RI law firm

"I want to thank you again for all your help in putting the firm's marketing seminar together. I can't begin to tell you how positive the response has been about the seminar and especially your expertise! I can say one thing--you sure did manage to get everyone 'all fired up'! Thanks again and it was nice getting to visit with you!"

Marketing Director
Beaumont, TX law firm

"I didn't want another day to slip away without letting you know how much I appreciated your support and talent for our retreat in January. Your style and words were perfect. Thank you."

Administrator
Virginia Beach, VA law firm

"I just wanted to write a quick note to you to thank you for working with us on our retreat. As you could probably sense, you were very well received by our people. You provided many good ideas and they certainly assisted us in the small group sessions Saturday afternoon. We do look forward to working with you further."

Managing Partner
Minneapolis, MN law firm

"Your marketing presentation to our attorneys on Tuesday was excellent. You got rave reviews! Thank you for taking the time during your busy day to work with us. We look forward to having you come again."

Administrator
Washington, D.C. law firm

"Interestingly (perhaps a better word would be amazingly), I heard uniformly positive comments about your presentation from everyone I spoke with. I expected more of a range of reactions because, as you know, it is almost impossible to get a group of lawyers to agree unanimously upon anything. Again, thank you very much for an excellent and very helpful presentation."

Partner in Charge of Marketing
Muskegon, MI law firm

"Thank you very much for your excellent presentations at our law firm this week. The feedback that we got on the sessions was very positive, and I think it was highly useful to have you visit with our attorneys in order to sensitize them to realities of law practice today."

Partner in Charge of Marketing
Washington, D.C. law firm

"You received raves! Thank you for a professional and most informative presentation."

Partner in Charge of Marketing
Buffalo, NY law firm

"Thank you for giving such a great presentation today. I have received a lot of positive feedback on both the information you offered and your speaking style. One of the attorneys said, 'She was great, I think we should have her speak every three months.' I still can't believe the exceptionally high turnout we had or how attentive they all were."

Marketing Director
Minneapolis, MN law firm

"Thanks for your contribution to our Annual Attorney Meeting. The Client Relations Panel was again the highlight of our meeting. The success of this panel was without a doubt because of your dedicated effort and hard work. All of us at the Annual Meeting thank you for the outstanding presentation. We hope that you will be able to join us again next year."

Executive Managing Director
Chicago, IL law firm

"I very much enjoyed your presentation last Saturday and especially the discussion in the afternoon. I think everyone agrees that you were the right person to lead our meeting and the feedback I have received is that people feel it was not only a worthwhile experience, but that hopefully this was a good kickoff to our more aggressive marketing program. Thanks for giving up your weekend for us. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of an effort which will pay off many times for our firm."

Executive Director
Newark, NJ law firm

"I wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed your seminar last night. I found many of your insights into marketing strategies for legal services to be most helpful, and I thought your presentation was very well done. I believe that members of our firm will benefit from this instruction."

Attorney
Saint Paul, MN law firm

"We received very positive feedback from our partners on the Saturday morning presentations and very much appreciate your effort and hard work. Thank you for helping to make our retreat a success."

Retreat Chairman
Saint Louis, MO law firm

"Thank you for your participation in our Winter Planning Conference. We have been told that this conference was the best they have ever been to."

Marketing Director
Milwaukee, WI law firm

"Your presentation was perfect and I think gave the attorneys many good ideas to apply to our situation."

Executive Director
Nashville, TN law firm

"Thank you for the time you spent with us. I found it extremely informative and I know it will have major impact as we go forward with our long range planning and marketing plans."

Executive Director
Boston, MA law firm

"Once again, my thanks and appreciation for your participation in our Shareholders' Retreat. We have received feedback that your presentation was excellent and reinforced our goals and activities under our strategic plan. I have always found your presentations to be helpful, and they have personally helped me develop the firm's marketing activities."

Director of Administration
Akron, OH law firm

"On behalf of all of the Firm's lawyers, I want to thank you for the outstanding assistance you gave recently in conducting our retreat. Everyone is charged up to do a better job marketing!"

Chief Operating Officer
Albuquerque, NM law firm

"Thank you again for your very professional, as well as personal, attendance to the firm's needs. You should know I have received many compliments on how well the retreat went and, particularly, how satisfied everyone was with your services. Again, many thanks."

Managing Partner
Charleston, WV law firm

"Thanks again for your excellent presentation yesterday! The managing partner also mentioned to me last night that he was very pleased with your approach/content."

Director of Marketing
Minneapolis, MN law firm

Attorney evaluations following a presentation on client service at a Tampa, FL law firm partner meeting:

  • "Remarkably well done presentation. I think she can really increase our business."
  • "Gave me a lot to think about. Impressed with advice to start marketing with existing clients."
  • "Very good presentation."
  • "Finally--a consultant who is worth what we're paying her."
  • "Presentation was extremely valuable in explaining what 'client service' and 'quality improvement' really mean."
  • "Excellent presentation--it's helpful to focus on our existing clients."
  • "Good instruction."
  • "She is wonderful--smart, organized, attractive. Let's continue to use her services."
  • "This may be the most important thing we did this weekend."
  • "Excellent presentation--very valuable information. I was particularly interested in comments about time billing and client reluctance to call, etc. because of billing."
  • "Good points made well."
  • "Excellent--very impressive."
  • "Provided good insight to client service."
  • "Good speaker; good delivery."
  • "Very insightful. Made excellent points and conveyed ideas to think about."
  • "Excellent presentation/a critical success factor for the firm."
  • "We should continually reinforce the principles Sally discussed."
  • "Great presence."
  • "Wonderful delivery, very impressive."
  • "Excellent job!"
  • "Very professional."
  • "Excellent delivery. Well-organized and presented."
  • "She does a nice job."
  • "Articulate and very good."
  • "Delivery was excellent."
  • "We need to keep Sally closely involved as we move forward with the client service program."
  • "Best speaker yet! Quick, concise. Thanks!!!"
  • "We need to implement all of Sally's suggestions. She's obviously very informed and has the correct focus for what we need to do."
  • "She was very impressive and effective."
  • "Excellent speaker."
  • "Excellent."
  • "Excellent delivery."
  • "Very good presentation."
  • "Great delivery."
  • "Extraordinary. Clearly and forcefully presented in such an attractive style. I'm in love."

 


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