Verbatim: What Clients Say
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Make the Most of Your Firm's Investment in Client Feedback
"My wide open comment is that the interview demonstrates the firm's real desire to be more responsive to meeting our needs," said the general counsel of an international service company, in a Strategic Client Interview. "Done correctly, I'm generally willing to participate and I've done it for other firms. This one was done correctly."
Many law firms now understand the importance of instituting client feedback programs, but because so many business development budgets have been slashed for the past two or three years, some firms consider doing it themselves, thinking that they are saving money. However, asking clients to review your firm's service and performance is not business development, it is business preservation.
Why handle client interviews in-house, when a professionally trained and highly experienced specialist has the ability to make the most of your firm's investment to safeguard its most valuable business?
A trained and experienced professional will:
as a neutral third party, elicit more openness and candor from your clients than a managing partner or lead attorney
"We found that clients are more willing to share their feelings with someone from outside the firm," said Pat Rosen, director of client development and marketing at Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan, at the LMA Southeastern Chapter's Regional Conference.
know how to explore all the aspects of the client relationship
"I could have sat down with the attorneys to talk about the relationship, but neither side of the discussion would have been as well thought out as your interview," said the vice president of legal affairs of a health system, of a Strategic Client Interview.
know how to carefully probe in particular areas of clients' concerns
"This interview has been far better than I expected," said the president of a large consulting engineering firm, in a Strategic Client Interview. "You've asked me some important questions that made me realize we have to have some discussions."
be able to commit the time to thoroughly prepare, conduct and report on the interviews
charge fees that are nominal and are well worth the investment, especially compared to the fees your firm receives from its top-tier clients
charge fees that don't compare to the expenses of marketing vehicles such as advertising campaigns and websites
"Marketing is throwing material into the wind," Margaret Seif, vice president and general counsel of Analog Devices, Inc., told LMA's Strategies magazine. "Too many firms don't have any idea what it means to work with the client or develop a bond in the relationship."
So why would you attempt to do it yourself?
For more information on Strategic Client Interviews, contact Joyce K. Smiley at 561-775-9755, or jsmiley@jkscompany.com. On the web at jkscompany.com.
Verbatim: What Clients Say is published electronically by JKS & Company LLC/Strategic Client Interviews. Copyright 2010 JKS & Company LLC. All rights reserved.
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email: jsmiley@jkscompany.com
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