February 28, 2007
Client Retention in Law Firms
There is a difference between new fee revenue and new client fee revenue. A law firm has to work harder for the opportunity to earn each dollar of new client revenue. New client revenue is prized all the more because of the difficulty of winning the business and because of the intuitive understanding that without new clients, the law firm will wither and die on the vine.
Nevertheless, we can never forget that for most law firms, each year’s fees will come largely from its existing clients. Existing clients are often taken for granted. New client development and existing client retention each require planning, and for each, the firm must adopt strategies, develop programs, delegate responsibility, set goals, measure performance and hold people accountable.
Here are a few worthy questions important to existing client retention:
- Are the firm players involved with key clients and keeping up with business and industry trends?
- Have we set expectations or set specific goals for spending non-charge time talking with key clients about their goals and concerns?
- Do we plan personnel changes involving key clients and involve those clients to assure the changes are valued rather than viewed as disruptive and costly?
- Do we ask how we are doing and then do something about it when clients tell us?
- Do we have a client bill of rights to set firm-wide expectations concerning customer care?
- Have we as partners gotten together and “agreed on what we agree about” –i.e.—reached a consensus as to our core beliefs?
- Do we communicate our core beliefs continuously and frequently?
- Do we hold people accountable for the quality of their work and for how they treat others?
Have you walked through your office and inventoried the smiles you encounter or looked at the appearance of the office and observed the interaction between team members as a client might see those things?
It is worth knowing that most professional liability claims against midsized firms arise due to lapses in administrative and management systems and not because of the actions of the lawyer. That should bring home how important it is to have the entire law firm team on board when it comes to care and treatment of the firm’s clients. Make them part of the planning and action teams charged with the goal of continuing to improve law firm practices and procedures to better service the law firm clients—to earn excellence in the customer’s eyes.
Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.
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