For years, law firms have relied on a few rainmakers to bring in business to keep a slew of other lawyers working. Even in small firms, there’s often one lawyer who spends much of their time out there going to events, meeting people, and generally being the face of the firm in order to bring in new clients. But it seems the time has passed for firms to rely on these old ways.
In this month’s cover story, “Big BD,” Canadian Lawyer looks at what law firms big and small are doing to develop business. Many large law firms now have business development teams or departments. Where numbers don’t allow that, other firms and lawyers are getting on the social media bandwagon and drawing interest through blogs, Twitter, and the like. It all works and has value but most of these efforts are aimed at snagging new clients. What many legal marketing experts will tell you, though, is focusing on existing clients can bring in as much, if not more, new business to a firm.
One of the best ways to do this is through client feedback. In the Canadian Lawyer Corporate Counsel Survey, published in the November/December 2008 issue, 92 per cent of the corporate counsel surveyed said their law firms had not asked them to complete a written satisfaction survey in the previous 12 months. Other studies and anecdotal evidence show clients want to have such a dialogue but most law firms do not conduct any sort of formal client feedback, be it written or of the interview variety.
There are very solid reasons to seek out such feedback. Primarily, it makes the clients feel they are important and that the law firm wants their input on how to provide better service. Most problems in a firm-client relationship arise somehow from a lack of communication, often manifesting itself through a failure to manage expectations. Going to clients and listening to what they have to say about what your firm is doing wrong and right can only serve to enhance and prolong the relationship.
Client interviews are a very powerful tool firms of any size can tackle. Not every client needs to be interviewed every year. Depending on the size and resources of your particular firm, even doing one or two a year will help strengthen ties with your clients.
Here are a few pointers to get you on your way. Firstly, the primary lawyer or relationship partner should not conduct the client interviews. If the firm has a marketing or business development group, use one of them to do it. Smaller firms could send the office manager or managing partner, just as long as it’s not the lawyer who usually services the client. Before the feedback session, do research on the status of the client’s files, the state of their business, even interview the lawyers who work with that client, and know what your goals are for the process before putting together your list of questions. Again, if you know a lot about the client, it will make them feel you and the firm appreciate them.
Visit the clients on-site and listen, listen, listen. Once you get their feedback, tell the relationship partner/primary lawyer what transpired. Most importantly, act on it. Don’t let clients’ concerns go unresolved, it defeats the purpose of the whole affair.
It can be a lot of time and effort but in the end, the clients feel the firm cares about them and you may be surprised about how much the relationship is strengthened and what you can learn that can translate into new opportunities.
