Posted by Jyotika Malhotra, Marketing & Communications Consultant & AIMS Blog Correspondent
As part of my ongoing look at 2007 Professional Resolutions from key industry leaders, I spoke with Chris Koressis, Managing Partner, Koressis Legal. Chris is a business lawyer who has been involved in the eBusiness and marketing communities for many years. Information technology law is among the many areas of law practiced by his firm.
Jyotika Malhotra: I wanted to know what key business leaders have on the agenda for next year – what are some things that you’d like to do or things that you’d like to try professionally in 2007?
Chris Koressis: In terms of my marketing strategy, I’ve decided to put on my website a Call Me Now button. It’s not as if people don’t have my phone number on the website but this is a prompt for them to call and it’s also a customer service related issue because a lot of people find it intimidating to buy something online. Through TheLegalNet, I have links where they can incorporate online and if they want to talk to me, then they can just press the button and it connects them no matter where they are [via a] 1-800 number. That’s a technology initiative, customer service and lead generation tool that I think is effective. Today for internet marketing and transactions, there are some sites I’ve noticed that you can never find a phone number [on]. You don’t even know if there’s anybody behind the website. They might have a good brand - not necessarily a familiar brand - but a nice appearance and without a person behind the business and a number to call, people are reluctant to do business [with them]. That is my number one initiative for do-it-yourself transactions and lead generation for my customers.
JM: So in terms of your legal practice, do you still focus on eBusiness companies?
CK: It’s much broader than eBusiness but that is a fairly large component of [our business].
JM: I wanted to get the legal spin from you because it’s an area our readers don’t often get exposed to and I thought it might be relevant to them. For those of us in eBusiness or marketing, what are some of the legal issues that we should watch out for or that you think are going to be key issues for 2007?
CK: Doing business on the Internet creates jurisdiction issues as to whose laws govern the transaction. Consumer protection issues arise as well as limits of liability and implied terms such as implied warranties as to fitness of the products sold for the purpose for which they are intended. In addition, there are implied warranties as to quality and merchantability. Because you're dealing with the world as your customer, you've got to have a strategy to deal with that from a legal perspective. You don't want to end up attorning to the laws of a foreign jurisdiction that may have a detrimental impact to you as the seller of a product or service.
In this context, attorning essentialy means submitting your transaction to foreign laws. If you are doing business internationally and do not have a written and enforceable agreement with your customer, the default may become the jurisdiction of your customer. You want to make sure that it's not their jurisdiction that will govern a transaction. You don't want to be forced to go to court in a foreign jurisdiction to sue your customer or defend yourself if you are sued. There are a number of legal strategies that can help a business get around that if legal advice is sought prior to execution of the transaction.
JM: In terms of overall professional goals, other than putting a person behind the online business as mentioned above, are there any others you’d like to share for 2007?
CK: From a marketing perspective, that’s my number one goal – to make it clear that they can communicate with somebody if they’re having trouble.
For business development in general, I always find that personal communication and face to face meetings are the most effective for my business because it’s built on trust and relationships. For my bigger clients, I don’t think I’d be able to sustain them or have gotten them in the first place, if it wasn’t for the personal contact with them. For that reason, I continue to sponsor networking events, attend networking events and meet people face to face as much as I can, as opposed to just taking phone calls and responding to emails. I’m getting tired of responding to emails, quite frankly. I’m reverting back now to using the phone more and meeting with people. But I do find, obviously email communication is the most effective and efficient way to get things done quickly and even remotely with customers I have all over the world.
JM: Chris, how do you feel about the big push towards social media? Are you using those tools in your practice at all?
CK: Yeah, absolutely. LinkedIn and Plaxo are two services I use. I get leads once in a while [from LinkedIn]. In fact, I get even job offers from companies through the network. I think it’s a pretty powerful tool. I think concepts like YouTube are amazing – it’s got everything. It’s becoming a source of news as well.
We’ve still got a few others to speak to in this series, but because we believe in the power of social media, we want to know what you think as well. Share your thoughts about the series with AIMS readers. If you want to submit your 2007 professional resolutions, email me with the answer to the following question: What are three professional resolutions, goals, to dos or things you’d like to try in 2007?
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