Clients Want Their Lawyers to Listen to Them
Jay Foonberg, an icon of lawyer marketing, has an excerpt from the 5th edition of his book How to Start and Build a Law Practice that appears in this month’s Law Practice Today. He provides us with a short lesson on how to listen to clients and otherwise treat them with the utmost respect during a meeting. Some pearls of wisdom:
• Tell your staff person to hold all calls (if there are exceptions, let client know up front),
• Let client know they have your full, uninterrupted attention (except as noted),
• Look at the client while they talk,
• Take notes, and frequently summarize your understanding of what client said, and
• At the conclusion of meeting, ask client if there is anything they want to say or ask – then pause for a period of time to give them a chance to respond.
In this way, the client will feel that you really listened to them. Jay notes that a recent ABA survey reported that 95% of satisfied clients believe their lawyer listened to them, but among dissatisfied clients, only 42% shared that feeling. As his father told him, with two ears and one mouth, you should listen twice as much as you speak. Good advice.
Jay is a frequent speaker on legal marketing and management subjects, and the author of several books, including How to Get and Keep Good Clients and How to Find the Right Lawyer.
Great post! It is such an important fundamental skill. I wrote about this in July and took the liberty of posting again today with a reference to your blawg. My question--with such a demonstrably important skill, why do law firms fail to provide even elementary training on how to listen better?
