We compare ourselves to others. I get it. I do it. Mine is bigger than yours.

That’s why the cocktail party conversation so quickly turns to “Where are your offices?” and “How many lawyers do you have?” We need answers so we can determine whether ours is bigger than yours.

It’s a death spiral. Comparing yourself to others makes you feel good (or bad) depending on whom you pick for comparison and how it turns out. If making yourself happy/sad/angry/jealous is the objective, then keep comparing yourself to them.

The comparisons drive you to do things that affect the bottom line negatively. When we feel like we’re losing, we lease nicer office space. When we feel like we’re less than them, we hire a bigger team. When we feel like they’re achieving more, we remodel our houses or buy a more expensive car or go on a more spectacular vacation.

Comparing your law firm to other law firms doesn’t help you improve.

If your goal is to increase revenue, profit, and your income, then stop comparing. Don’t do it. The law firm to law firm comparison thing doesn’t get you where you need to go.

When It’s Fair to Compare

But comparisons are useful. They’re not to be avoided entirely. Once in a while (and for the compulsive reader, I mean like once or twice a year), it’s valuable to compare your marketing strategy to theirs, your market penetration to theirs, your technology to theirs, etc. But I’m not talking about monitoring their websites, social media feeds, and Glassdoor pages hour by hour. Give it a rest.

However, you should be making comparisons. You should be tracking your progress.

The most valuable comparisons are internal. The comparisons that matter are the measurements that determine whether you’re moving in the right or wrong direction. These comparisons are essential if you’re going to move forward.

Compare these items, ask yourself these questions, and chart the answers in a graph:

• What’s your Net Promoter Score, and what’s the trend?
• How’s your Q12 Score, and what’s the trend?
• What’s happening with revenue? How about profit? Is it up, down, or sideways?
• How often do your clients get a call from their lawyer?
• How long does a client have to wait for a callback?

These are the comparisons you should be making. Are you doing better this month than last? How about comparing this year to last year?

If you want a more profitable law firm, then don’t bother comparing yourself to the other law firms. If you want a more profitable law firm, then compare yourself to yourself on metrics that matter. Figure out where you stand and then improve. That’s the quickest path to a bigger house, better car, and more relaxing vacation.

Oh, and, seriously, mine is bigger than yours.