Navigating the Turbulent Waters in an Evolving Legal Marketplace
The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the job market and the current state of the economy. Since I’ve had several posts on this blog about the down economy and its relationship to marketing, I’m thinking my readers might want to see how they compare to other lawyers out there in the legal marketplace.
Although…
I’ve been doing client interviews since 1990, and I know they do two things well. One, they can save clients before they leave the law firm for another (I really have a dynamite story on that point, but it will take too long to relate it here, so call me if you want to hear it). Second, …
There is no wrong time to seek client feedback about your firm’s performance. Not only should law firms ask how they are doing on current matters, but how they have done in the past, and how they can provide better service in the future. Although nobody likes to get bad news, it is better to learn if…
Although I believe that law firms will gain more work from clients because they seek feedback on how they are doing, that cannot be the reason for undertaking such a program. The honest reason for seeking client feedback must be based on caring for the client and the relationship. All else will take care of itself.…
Seeking client feedback appears to be getting more attention in firms of all sizes. Ballard Spahr (500-plus lawyers) has hired a full-time “client interviewer,” and Stanislaw Ashbaugh (19 lawyers) prominently links to their Chief Results Officer from their home page, and Ward and Smith PA (80 lawyers) has a partner who is devoted to visiting…
Seeking client feedback is probably the most underutilized technique for developing and enhancing client relationships. It is astonishing how few firms fail to inquire of their clients as to just how well they are doing as a legal services provider.
A number of surveys over the last several years have highlighted the need for law …
