White Papers | Law Firms Missing Fundamentals of Business Success: A Client Focus
There were plenty of interesting findings from The American Lawyer’s survey of leaders of Am Law 200 firms, published in the December 2005 issue. As usual, there is a great deal of holiday cheer, with 89 percent of respondents saying they are optimistic about 2006. That’s almost identical to 2003 and 2004.
One data point that popped out as we reviewed the findings was the response to this question: “In the last 12 months, how many of the firm’s 20 top-billing clients have you met with to discuss the client's satisfaction with your firm’s performance?”
Knowing that in-house lawyers, as reported in the 2005 Litigation Trends Survey from Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., said that poor communication on the part of their law firms was among their biggest pet peeves, we knew that the answer to this question was extremely important.
Just one percent of respondents said they had met with all 20 top-billing clients to discuss the firm’s performance. While you might be inclined to cut them some slack – after all, who has the time to meet with everyone – the survey findings point to a lack of interest in what clients think. Five percent said they had met with at least 16 of their top 20 clients and a paltry 15 percent had met with 11 or more.
In fact, nearly half (48 percent) of respondents said they had met with five or fewer of their firm’s 20 top-billing clients to discuss their performance.
On the one hand we have the client community saying that they put special value on open communication with their law firms. On the other hand the majority of law firms continue to slide by with an “ignorance is bliss” mentality.
In this era of rapid response and interactivity, the survival of law firms depends on adopting a more open and accessible approach to client relations. Several high-impact actions you could take would include:
- Show You Are Interested. While a tiny fraction of law firms use client surveys, a recent survey indicated that more than 90 percent of corporate general counsel would respond to surveys from their law firms. But don’t simply get a “pulse check” to assure your relationship is solid. Probe them on where they want to go in the future, what their priorities are and what they want to accomplish with their legal services.
- Show You Heard Them. The number one reason clients fire their law firms is lack of responsiveness. If you survey clients, you must follow up.
- Integrate Work Processes. You cannot move very far toward implementing client-driven processes if you do not know how your processes relate to the client’s workflow. For instance, it is rare to find a law firm that is aware of all the capabilities of its software and systems, let alone one that understands what software and technologies your clients use for their own work and how they would prefer to interact with you. Meetings with the client can shed light on how the two organizations can work more productively together and may open the door to further discussions between IT people.
- Proactively Improve Efficiencies. Identify lower level work that can be commoditized or value billed. Eliminate wasteful and duplicate workflow practices. Through the strategic use of technology tools we describe as Firm Management applications – document management, case management and docket management – your firm can satisfy client-driven requirements for real-time communications and enhanced integration.
- Make a Plan. The more you show your knowledge of the options, your familiarity with what others have done and the benefits for your client in the form of a well-conceived plan, the better shape you will be in. Part of any plan should be a method of measuring results. And remember, educating your client is a form of marketing.
Your clients cannot afford to be out of touch with their client base; neither can you. In the future, they will take swift action to identify law firms that have adopted a client-focused culture and leave the firms that are slow to adapt behind.
