Look at your law firm’s name on your business card. Say it out loud. Do you find it hard to pronounce? Think how hard it is for other people — potential clients? Almost every firm has a “street name” that everyone uses when they refer to your firm. Perhaps you and your partners even use it internally at the office as well.

There are articles after articles that speak to the importance of forming partnerships, rather than treating vendors like, well, vendors. Sure, a vendor is a common name for a company that provides a service to you (agencies, printers, technology providers, etc.) but try to think beyond the term and more broadly about what the business should be: a partnership! Most accounting and law firms refer to the professional service firms they use as vendors (we know your services appear on many budgets as line items under the vendor category).