How partners can meet and exceed client expectations

Keeping existing clients happy and bringing in new ones is the ultimate goal of any law firm. With today’s clients more inclined to look for a better service or deal, the pressure to give them what they really want is greater than ever before.

Go back only 30 years and the marketplace for professional services was very different from the present day. Historically, clients tended to remain with one lawyer for life, probably from the firm that their family or business had always used. Keeping clients happy was about being trustworthy and demonstrating technical legal excellence. Partners were chosen from among those who had done their time in the ranks and were generally seen as ‘good chaps’.

Fast forward to 2013 and clients have become, by comparison, very price sensitive and happy to change lawyers if they think that they can get better value and service with another firm. Geography is no longer important thanks to the internet and clients are less inclined to choose a firm based on its locality. This is particularly true for high-value or specialist matters – clients will just choose the best team for the job.

In order to tap into this potentially limitless marketplace, firms must be technologically savvy and see technology-based solutions as core to the provision of cost-effective services. Even the very smallest of firms have the potential to be part of an international network and to use this as a point of differentiation with clients.

Because clients no longer stay with a firm for life, there has been a fundamental change in the role of partners. It has moved from that of looking after a portfolio of inherited clients to running a business while building and keeping a profitable client portfolio.

At the same time, partners are being required to use their commerciality to benefit clients. In the minds of clients, technical ability is a given; what they really want from their advisers is the ability to: 

• understand what makes their business tick;
• identify opportunities to help their business; and
• tailor advice to their unique business circumstances.

So, how can you ensure the firm’s partners meet and exceed the expectations of clients?

Go that extra mile

Clients need to feel that their individual advisers and firms are committed to giving them the best possible service. This dedication should start from the partners and then permeate throughout the firm. 

But, to differentiate themselves from their competitors, partners need to regularly go beyond the scope of the client engagement, be proactive and position themselves as a source of information and counsel – an invaluable expert to be called upon and sought after by both existing and new customers.

Clients want their professional advisers to be fully committed to helping them to solve their problems and to meet all of the expectations set of them by their boards.

Build partner profiles

Partners’ ability to work at peak performance, win work from clients and be picked for jobs is heavily influenced by their passion and enthusiasm for what they do.

The ways in which partners can build their profiles in their chosen areas include:

• writing blogs;
• contributing to the firm’s e-newsletters;
• speaking at/chairing conferences;
• submitting articles to the firm’s website and trade publications;
• using social media channels such as Twitter and LinkedIn;
• making themselves available to clients via Skype; and
• attending networking and industry-related events.

Monitor client relations

Most business comes from referrals, with potential clients far more likely to trust a firm that has been recommended to them. To that end, making sure existing clients are happy is about more than the immediate relationship.

Put in place account management systems or processes to ensure your partners deliver a great job each time for every client. This could include ways of getting client feedback, both during and after a job has been finished, and end of project reviews. The size and sophistication of your firm will determine how many of these things are provided as standard and how many have to be built into partners’ ways of working. 

Manage communications

There’s a fine line between bombarding clients and making them feel important but, in order to maintain good client relations, this balance must be met. Regular communication with clients, whether they’re currently using your firm’s services or not, will ensure they’re looked after and your firm is not forgotten.

Non-intrusive ways partners can keep in touch with clients could include:

• sending articles that clients will find interesting;
• interacting with clients on social networking sites;
• inviting clients to join them at conferences or seminars;
• arranging regular catch-up conversations or meetings; and
• sending clients articles they have written or firm newsletters (with permission).

If clients keep seeing partners’ names attached to useful information regarding the legal services they require, or bumping into them in places they perceive to be important to their corporate world, there’s no danger of clients forgetting who the partners are and what they can offer.

Don’t leave communication opportunities to chance; you will improve client relations and potential business opportunities by ensuring partners maintain a good level of contact with clients.

Recipe for success

Understanding what clients really want is imperative for the good of your business as a whole.

The bottom line is that the purpose of any commercial organisation is making money. So, if your partners can bring in clients, keep them happy and have them come back for more, while recommending you to others along the way, that’s a recipe for success that will stand your firm in good stead for years to come.