Voice of the Client: Are You Listening?

“I can talk all I want but I often wonder who is listening?” Interesting words from a GC of a global energy company, who was invited to present on a panel to a law firm conference audience of managing partners. When asked why the response, he added, “Clients have been telling lawyers for years how to make the relationships work; what we are looking for and how to win business. Are they listening? Most of us don't think so.”

Some clients might disagree, but how many can truly relate to this comment? Perhaps quite a few. The world of client opportunities is shrinking, based primarily on the fact that, with the exception of budding startups, any client worth grabbing has plenty of law firms with whom they work. To win new business means grabbing client share from another firm. That's fair, but why let it happen to your firm? Focus first on client retention, then client growth and then new business development. Why? The firm stands to gain the most opportunity from its existing clients by growing share of wallet or building advocacy into those relationships which in turn, may provide opportunities for clients to refer the firm to others.

What Clients Want

Challenges to client retention abound. First, and maybe foremost, is the compensation system in many law firms being diametrically opposed to client growth. Second, many partners are not adept at selling, so how to grow a client is not immediately apparent to them. Third, until other recognition/reward systems are in place, most partners will hold on to the recognition they receive for being the client relationship partner (this is different than comp/origination). So, let's turn to the clients and look at what matters most to them and see what best practices result from their feedback.

The data in the chart below was derived from about 200 interviews with General Counsel or Senior Litigation Counsel, and depicts what they find of value for building loyal relationships. We've added on the horizontal axis the ease or difficulty with which a law firm or relationship lawyers may change their practices to match the value axis.

At the lower right, Client Relationship Management shows characteristics that relationship lawyers have in their control. These are easy to change (although clients tell us that most lawyers are not proactive about their outreach) by focusing on the relationships lawyers have with their clients. The fact that these characteristics fall into the lower-right quadrant simply means that clients expect that lawyers will work on their relationships; therefore, they do not consider this a service differentiator, but are expected to maintain the client relationship.

Moving up to the top right quadrant labeled Matter-Specific Service Characteristics, these activities are within the control of the lawyers delivering the services, and are fairly easy to change as a result. Delivering on what was sold, high responsiveness and availability, aligned with the clients' needs are critical to the client and will differentiate the firm from others. Coupled with the lower right characteristic of being proactive, which is expected, these characteristics alone can help a firm and the relationship lawyers to differentiate and build client loyalty.

Adding Value

While many lawyers tell us they are good at these things, there is an opportunity gap between their thinking and what clients report. When talking to a client during an active matter, even daily, make sure there is time to focus on the relationship aspect. Ask how the legal team is doing; ask if the client is happy with the services/work product. Seek continuous feedback and let the clients know you enjoy working with them. While this may seem trite, it's really important.

In the upper middle of the chart are characteristics that are important to the client and seen as adding value. These characteristics are not always as easy for relationship lawyers to change on their own. Pricing, cost control and fee arrangements often must be approved by others at the firm. Being aware of the fee structures the client expects and being proactive about the conversation begins to build loyalty on the part of the client. Resource Depth/Breadth refers to characteristics that often cannot be controlled; it is wise to partner with clients to understand the resource needs and expectations. This category relates to expertise, which is one of the key selection criteria for in-house counsel. In other words, if we combine the top right half, the question is, “can you deliver as promised, at the price we agreed on and keep me up to date without me having to call you all the time?” Easy to say yes; sometimes difficult to execute.

Expertise

The top left quadrant, labeled Industry or Matter Experience, shows that industry expertise, business understanding, experience and success have significant value to clients, but can be relatively difficult to change on the part of the lawyer, since all these characteristics are achieved over time. To demonstrate strength in these areas, keep bios and relevant practice descriptions up to date; capture recent experience and successful outcomes and add them to bios, practice descriptions and LinkedIn profiles.

Firm Strategy

The bottom left quadrant, Firmwide Strategy/Market Position, has relatively low value to clients and is difficult for a practitioner or a firm to change in a short period of time. This quadrant represents those areas that are more focused on internal firm operations. There is some value, of course. It is important to have a strong reputation which helps sell services. And, if the firm's market position is strong that can be an added bonus. But placing a lot of emphasis on these areas will gain a firm or its practitioners client loyalty, which is what we ultimately aim to achieve.

Conclusion

In summary, what we glean from the voice of the client allows us to differentiate the firm should we choose to act upon the information. Some easy steps to discuss with the firm and have the partners implement:

• Focus on the client relationship even during busy times. Take the time to say thanks for the opportunity to work with you/your firm. Conduct end-of-matter interviews and visit with clients at least once a year to gain feedback and strengthen client/firm relationships. They are busy, but they expect this and appreciate it.
• Be proactive about updating clients during busy times. Cost containment is a huge issue these days. Offer ways to help them manage costs and reach their goals. Use this data in the firm's marketing materials to the extent possible without over-promising. Staff according to demand and when changing staff on projects, notify the clients ahead of time. This can be a real peeve to clients, by the way. They see the firm's team as an extension of their own.
• Tout industry, market segment and business knowledge on the firm's website; practice area pages and most important, lawyer bios. Demonstrate expertise and experience by capturing and highlighting the lawyers' successes, and add to the bios and LinkedIn profiles.
• Be aware of what individual clients perceive as value by asking them what they find most valuable and deliver on promises. Before stating what seems to be a benefit, stop and think about how a particular issue or statement about the firm or individual lawyer is of benefit to the client and bridge to client needs and expectations.

Focusing on the service characteristics that clients tell us are important to them will differentiate the firms' lawyers and will help drive revenue growth.

[IMGCAP(1)]

Silvia Coulter, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a Principal with LawVision Group. She may be reached at [email protected] or 978-526-8316.

“I can talk all I want but I often wonder who is listening?” Interesting words from a GC of a global energy company, who was invited to present on a panel to a law firm conference audience of managing partners. When asked why the response, he added, “Clients have been telling lawyers for years how to make the relationships work; what we are looking for and how to win business. Are they listening? Most of us don't think so.”

Some clients might disagree, but how many can truly relate to this comment? Perhaps quite a few. The world of client opportunities is shrinking, based primarily on the fact that, with the exception of budding startups, any client worth grabbing has plenty of law firms with whom they work. To win new business means grabbing client share from another firm. That's fair, but why let it happen to your firm? Focus first on client retention, then client growth and then new business development. Why? The firm stands to gain the most opportunity from its existing clients by growing share of wallet or building advocacy into those relationships which in turn, may provide opportunities for clients to refer the firm to others.

What Clients Want

Challenges to client retention abound. First, and maybe foremost, is the compensation system in many law firms being diametrically opposed to client growth. Second, many partners are not adept at selling, so how to grow a client is not immediately apparent to them. Third, until other recognition/reward systems are in place, most partners will hold on to the recognition they receive for being the client relationship partner (this is different than comp/origination). So, let's turn to the clients and look at what matters most to them and see what best practices result from their feedback.

The data in the chart below was derived from about 200 interviews with General Counsel or Senior Litigation Counsel, and depicts what they find of value for building loyal relationships. We've added on the horizontal axis the ease or difficulty with which a law firm or relationship lawyers may change their practices to match the value axis.

At the lower right, Client Relationship Management shows characteristics that relationship lawyers have in their control. These are easy to change (although clients tell us that most lawyers are not proactive about their outreach) by focusing on the relationships lawyers have with their clients. The fact that these characteristics fall into the lower-right quadrant simply means that clients expect that lawyers will work on their relationships; therefore, they do not consider this a service differentiator, but are expected to maintain the client relationship.

Moving up to the top right quadrant labeled Matter-Specific Service Characteristics, these activities are within the control of the lawyers delivering the services, and are fairly easy to change as a result. Delivering on what was sold, high responsiveness and availability, aligned with the clients' needs are critical to the client and will differentiate the firm from others. Coupled with the lower right characteristic of being proactive, which is expected, these characteristics alone can help a firm and the relationship lawyers to differentiate and build client loyalty.

Adding Value

While many lawyers tell us they are good at these things, there is an opportunity gap between their thinking and what clients report. When talking to a client during an active matter, even daily, make sure there is time to focus on the relationship aspect. Ask how the legal team is doing; ask if the client is happy with the services/work product. Seek continuous feedback and let the clients know you enjoy working with them. While this may seem trite, it's really important.

In the upper middle of the chart are characteristics that are important to the client and seen as adding value. These characteristics are not always as easy for relationship lawyers to change on their own. Pricing, cost control and fee arrangements often must be approved by others at the firm. Being aware of the fee structures the client expects and being proactive about the conversation begins to build loyalty on the part of the client. Resource Depth/Breadth refers to characteristics that often cannot be controlled; it is wise to partner with clients to understand the resource needs and expectations. This category relates to expertise, which is one of the key selection criteria for in-house counsel. In other words, if we combine the top right half, the question is, “can you deliver as promised, at the price we agreed on and keep me up to date without me having to call you all the time?” Easy to say yes; sometimes difficult to execute.

Expertise

The top left quadrant, labeled Industry or Matter Experience, shows that industry expertise, business understanding, experience and success have significant value to clients, but can be relatively difficult to change on the part of the lawyer, since all these characteristics are achieved over time. To demonstrate strength in these areas, keep bios and relevant practice descriptions up to date; capture recent experience and successful outcomes and add them to bios, practice descriptions and LinkedIn profiles.

Firm Strategy

The bottom left quadrant, Firmwide Strategy/Market Position, has relatively low value to clients and is difficult for a practitioner or a firm to change in a short period of time. This quadrant represents those areas that are more focused on internal firm operations. There is some value, of course. It is important to have a strong reputation which helps sell services. And, if the firm's market position is strong that can be an added bonus. But placing a lot of emphasis on these areas will gain a firm or its practitioners client loyalty, which is what we ultimately aim to achieve.

Conclusion

In summary, what we glean from the voice of the client allows us to differentiate the firm should we choose to act upon the information. Some easy steps to discuss with the firm and have the partners implement:

• Focus on the client relationship even during busy times. Take the time to say thanks for the opportunity to work with you/your firm. Conduct end-of-matter interviews and visit with clients at least once a year to gain feedback and strengthen client/firm relationships. They are busy, but they expect this and appreciate it.
• Be proactive about updating clients during busy times. Cost containment is a huge issue these days. Offer ways to help them manage costs and reach their goals. Use this data in the firm's marketing materials to the extent possible without over-promising. Staff according to demand and when changing staff on projects, notify the clients ahead of time. This can be a real peeve to clients, by the way. They see the firm's team as an extension of their own.
• Tout industry, market segment and business knowledge on the firm's website; practice area pages and most important, lawyer bios. Demonstrate expertise and experience by capturing and highlighting the lawyers' successes, and add to the bios and LinkedIn profiles.
• Be aware of what individual clients perceive as value by asking them what they find most valuable and deliver on promises. Before stating what seems to be a benefit, stop and think about how a particular issue or statement about the firm or individual lawyer is of benefit to the client and bridge to client needs and expectations.

Focusing on the service characteristics that clients tell us are important to them will differentiate the firms' lawyers and will help drive revenue growth.

[IMGCAP(1)]

Silvia Coulter, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a Principal with LawVision Group. She may be reached at [email protected] or 978-526-8316.