Client conversations: how to strengthen relationships and gain new business.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Author: Raasch, Janet Ellen
• Date: 01 July 2013

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Lawyers are always interested in getting more work and better work from their existing clients. if you ask a lawyer what his or her client really wants, the lawyer is likely to say "good legal work." if you ask the client, you'll get a far different answer. The client's answer is what counts.

"To get more and better business from their clients, lawyers and law firms need to have 'the conversation' to find out what clients expect from the relationship," said Nat Slavin, founder and partner at Wicker Park Group, which focuses on law firm client feedback interviews, client growth programs, and training and development. Slavin is the former publisher of Inside Counsel and a former president of LMA.

"Only about 10-15 percent of law firms are actually having these essential conversations with their clients. It is important to understand that these are not traditional 'sales calls' in which a lawyer's primary concern is asking for new business--nor are they point-by-point surveys. They are structured, customized conversations in which a representative of the law firm skillfully probes to discover client needs, preferences and opinions," said Slavin. "Without directly asking for it, these conversations almost always generate new business."

The Association of Corporate Counsel's Value Challenge developed a "meet, talk, act" approach to effective client conversations: Meet with a client face-to-face, talk to the client about problems and needs, and act by coming up with and implementing concrete ways to solve problems and meet needs.

What Clients Really Want

A client who has hired a lawyer as outside counsel assumes that the lawyer is qualified to do good legal work; otherwise, the lawyer would not have made the cut in the first place. Quoting a client, Slavin said: "Smart is what gets you in the door. How you manage the relationship is what keeps you inside." The relationship is what builds loyalty.

"We have conducted more than 1,000 client interviews," Slavin said. "As a result, I have a pretty good sense of what clients want. They want lawyers who can fix their problems. They want lawyers who can make their lives easier. They want lawyers with whom they can have a close and enjoyable personal relationship."

In 2011, the ACC conducted a survey of chief legal officers and general counsel. Forty-two percent came from private companies, 34 percent from public companies, and the rest from non-profits, subsidiaries of foreign...