Stay close to your clients during troubling times

By Tom Kane
Published: June 8, 2009

Over the more than two decades that I’ve been doing legal marketing, I have documented that 80 percent of new work comes from current clients (either in the form of new matters or referrals) or referrals from other lawyers.

This is the reason that I always recommend that law firms focus their marketing and business development efforts primarily on existing clients.

It is vital for firms to build strong client relationships by providing the best possible client service.

It is hard to miss all the news coverage in this country and abroad about large law firms shedding lawyers and staff. It has only made them hungrier for clients they hope to attract from other, perhaps smaller, firms. This circumstance points to the need for law firms to strengthen their existing relationships by staying close to their clients.

The best way to do that is to get more face time (off the clock) with at least your key clients. This time should take place at the client’s workplace, where their problems exist. Typically the reason for such meetings is to learn more about their business and perhaps tour their office/facility.

A meeting to discuss their current economic issues and plans would be a good idea; and it is not uncommon to pick up new legal work as a result.

Many firms are reluctant to do this in the current climate, as a client of mine admitted, because they fear that legal costs will be the main topic of discussion, something they consider potentially awkward.

However, if you take the steps to meet with clients on their turf, you are likely to be able to have a frank discussion about the issues important to them. The relationship will only be enhanced with that approach, because it shows that you care about the client and what they are going through.

Discuss alternative billing

If a discussion of legal costs comes up, that’s okay too. Over the last few years, alternative fees and the death of the billable hour have been hot topics, on my blog at www.LegalMarketingBlog.com.

The interesting thing is that many bloggers have railed against the billable hour for years, to little avail. The debate may have taken on greater interest in light of recent comments by Evan Chesler, presiding partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, who stated that the billable hour “makes no sense.”

Also, powerful legal entities, including the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel and U.S. Supreme Court have agreed, claiming that the billable hour increases legal costs and decreases efficiency.

I can’t imagine any client who would decline to discuss alternative billing – and likely lower legal costs – in the current economic climate.

Some alternate suggestions might include: fee caps, blended rates, discounts, fixed fees, monthly retainers, success fees and contingency fees. While these aren’t new ideas, openly discussing them with clients would be new for some firms.

Another idea to consider when meeting with clients, one not usually discussed in legal circles, is putting clients on a payment schedule to help ease their financial burden. Again, this is not a new concept, but one that more firms have told me they are now offering to clients, when they wouldn’t have considered doing so in the past.

The bottom line is:

• Clients are the best source of new business;

• Staying close to your key clients in these times will help you avoid encroachment by other firms;

• Face time in the client’s workplace is one of the most effective ways to stay close, build on the relationship and even pick up new matters that the client has been avoiding; and

• Don’t be afraid to talk about alternative fees and payment schedules.

Implementing these tips will show clients that you care about what they are going through and that you are willing to conquer the realities of the down economy head on.

Tom Kane is the author of the Legal Marketing Blog (www.Legal Marketing Blog.com) and president of Kane Consulting Inc., based in Sarasota, Fla. A former practicing attorney, he has more than 20 years’ experience assisting lawyers with their marketing and business development strategies and coaching needs.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Stay close to your clients during troubling times

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