Value is determined by the client. Not by the service provider. Learn this first and then the rest is easy.
In the legal industry, The ACC Value Challenge and associated Index (www.acc.com) have lead the way in engaging the legal industry in a dialogue about value-based service. And thank goodness. In any industry, it is the buyer who drives supplier innovation. There's no doubt that the legal industry is in need of innovation, and the ACC is making suppliers listen.
So, other than fee-based incentives, what do buyers of legal services value?
Here are some remarks as I heard them when I attended a Legal Marketing Association - Toronto Chapter event in May, 2010:
Examples of non fee-based value you can offer your clients:
- Support your clients in their own missions. Understand their business so you can make valuable referrals, use their products, and support what they do (either through charitable contributions or pro-bono work).
- Knowledge Management. Give your clients access to your resources in this area.
- Make other internal resources available to your clients. For example, IT or HR and Professional Development,
- Offer secondments at no cost.
- On the bill (or with the bill), add a value statement about what was achieved through the work completed. And tell your clients if you absorbed some of your costs.
The bottom line? If you don't know what your clients value, ask them!
Do something. Take action. While your clients will ultimately determine what ‘value’ is, firms would be wise to participate in the conversation and steer their clients in this regard.
I welcome your comments and as always, I wish you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Understanding client expectations and establishing service standards is a client-centric service tool that is so easy to implement and yet is so often overlooked!
Here's a question I receive often from my clients: My firm has a set of clearly established service standards – so why would I need to establish them with my clients?
Here's why! There are four main reasons why it is important to add understanding client expectations and establishing service standards to your relationship-building tool belt:
- You can eliminate the frustration caused from breaking your back to get something done only to have little or no acknowledgement from your client – or worse – to find out after the fact that you had more time or what you worked on was not perceived to be of great value to your client.
- You can get kudos for doing what you say you are going to do. Most of your efforts go unnoticed because you just do them and the client doesn’t know. This approach shines the light on what you do and how you do it by educating the client on your role.
- You can actually control the flow of the matter more than you think and your clients will appreciate you taking that control. With everything they have to manage on their end, your clients will appreciate the ‘project-management’ discipline.
- It is a differentiator and you will strengthen your relationships with your clients.
Don’t believe me? That’s ok. Below I provide some examples of how to understand client expectations and establish service standards. Just keep an open mind and be willing to try something different.
Understanding Client Expectations
Rule number one: If you’re not sure how a client operates or what their preferences are – ask. Do not assume anything here. That only leads to missed expectations and frustration on both ends.
Rule number two: Set out to understand client expectations on two levels:
- General (under usual or normal circumstances)
General client expectations relate to communication styles and preferences, including frequency, reason and medium; and to expectations around timelines, quality and outcomes. Know, don’t guess or assume what is important to your clients in these areas. How will you know? Ask them, observe them, and keep notes about how they like things done.
2. Situation-Specific (when the situation or circumstance dictates a different set of expectations)
There are times in every relationship where the norm goes out the window in favour of a shift in expectations due to situation-specific circumstances. It’s important to identify at the outset of a matter which set of expectations the client is operating from. How will you know? Ask them.
Establishing Service Standards
Armed with knowledge about a client’s expectations (general or situation-specific) you are in a powerful position to establish service standards that are mutually beneficial. Inevitably you and your client will be in a symbiotic relationship, relying on each other to do your parts to complete the matter. And there is likely to be a natural order to these actions (i.e. this before that).
So as you set out to organize the file, ensure you have a ‘new matter’ process that takes the client through the matter from start to finish and highlights the key deliverables, who’s accountable for what and communication preferences. Then agree on timelines and caveats for missed deadlines.
Agreement becomes your strongest tool here. Without it, you have nothing to go back to. With it, you can better manage the flow of actions and tasks and hold others to account.
Note: These approaches work for new clients, new matters with existing clients and even for new tasks within an established framework.
Practice these approaches with every client and at the beginnign of every matter. Then feel free to add your comments to this dialogue!
I wish you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Innovation in service begins with adopting a client-centric approach to everything you do. This is the third in a four part series on the topic. Read them all and get ahead of the curve.
In this blog post, I offer practical 'how-to' instructions to implement strategies seven to ten in the Top 10 client service innovations I recommend.
7. Reorganize talent. This isn't just about doing more with less. This is about doing more with better allocation of resources. Being more efficient with legal services means driving the work to high-quality, low-cost practitioners and facilitating the project management aspects of the matter so your clients don’t have to.
According to the client panel at the Legal Marketing Association - Toronto Chapter luncheon in October, 2009, clients want you to differentiate your people (between those who are strategic/creative thinkers and those who are functional) and allocate the work accordingly.
This means your Practice Group leaders will need to develop project management skills to become effective at shifting work down to capable practitioners with more affordable rates. And, rules and policies deterring the hoarding of work should be in place and strictly enforced.
Delegating the work down saves your clients money. Your higher fees still come in for strategic consultation and project management, but this work involves less of your time. You’re then freed up to better understand your current clients and spending time developing new ones. This is a win- win- win scenario.
8. Extend your CLE programs to your clients.
Most firms have a rich resource in their professional development departments - loads and loads of free educational substantive content. You use it to train your students, associates and cross-functional teams. And it's likely always current.
Switch gears now and look at the professional development function from your clients' perspectives. Do they have the same dedicated resources, or the time to devote to such development? Likely not. What value do you think you could extend to them if you shared your resources? Only one way to find out - ask them!
9. Give clients access to your internal resources (Knowledge Management, IT and/or HR).
The same principle applies here. Think about the vast array of business support services your firm has (for example, in Knowledge Management, HR and IT) and how they might be helpful to your clients; especially to those who do not have in-house resources in these areas.
10. Establish a Client Advisory Board. Consider creating an advisory board of your top clients and hold quarterly or semi-annual group meetings that allow everyone to learn from and share best practices and ‘new practices’.
Here are some considerations for establishing your own:
- Introduce this as a special opportunity, designed solely for those clients who share in your firm’s commitment to providing value, managing risk and helping their organizations realize their business goals. Introduce the spirit of the endeavour as one of partnership – offering a forum for discussion among leading Corporate/General Counsel.
- Select a medium and a frequency that meets your objective – the ones we’ve helped our clients establish have been annual in-person events with ongoing communication between sessions.
- Create it as an exclusive opportunity - by invitation only – and consider a 2-year term for participating.
- Create it as an ongoing initiative and not a one-off event. Brand it and consider giving it a theme like “Your Voice Matters”.
And just to illustrate how innovative this strategy is, research from Altman Weil shows that only 2% of the AM Law 100 (firms considered the most marketing-savvy) are using this strategy. Wow! Again, opportunity!
Innovation begins with being client-centric. Client-centric means looking at what you do through the eyes of your clients and remaining mindful of their experience. Not sure where to start? Start by talking with your clients and listening for what’s most important to them.
You'll learn that value-based relationships are what your clients want. More importantly, it’s what your clients need. That alone in today's legal services environment is innovation in service.
Wishing you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Innovation in service begins with adopting a client-centric approach to everything you do. This is the third in a four part series on the topic. Read them all and get ahead of the curve.
In this blog post, I offer practical 'how-to' instructions to implement strategies four to six in the Top 10 client service innovations I recommend.
When you truly and fully understand your clients and their business, their challenges, and their needs and service expectations, you’re more likely to consider the following strategies:
4. Consider innovative billing options. The current economy applies even greater pressure on your clients to cut costs and show more value for legal services than ever before. Here's how they described the scenario in a client panel discussion, hosted by the Legal Marketing Association - Toronto Chapter luncheon in October, 2009:
- You have now crossed an inflection point. You now have the attention of senior management. You’re on the radar in the budget process. And now it’s personal (those making decisions will see these fees eating into profits and bonuses). This is not where you want to be.
- It’s a big problem you will have to face. And you have to address it. You have to get into the conversation.
- This is bigger than “can I have a blended rate over here”.
Being client-centric and building value-based relationships is about offering your clients greater value. Armed with new data you have gathered by talking with your clients and getting feedback, you are more likely to identify areas where alternative billing can provide them with greater value and alleviate some of the pressure they’re working under.
Differentiation opportunity: Here are some suggestions discussed during another client panel discussion at the Legal Marketing Association - Toronto Chapter luncheon in May, 2010:
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Discounts are not alternative fee arrangements. And they don’t benefit the firm, so enter into dialogue about alternative fee arrangements that will benefit both the client and the firm.
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Consider developing a ‘Free Legal Advice” program. Ideal for quick one-offs so you don’t end up nickel and diming the client.
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Consider commoditizing repetitive and high volume work. You need data to fuel this. Firms can help tremendously by mining their billing data by type of work.
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Consider an early resolution bonus formula (in litigation matters).
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Break down parts of a file and see what can be outsourced to reduce overall fees.
Find out what works best for your clients and remain flexible to adapt to meet their needs.
5. Re-think how you do what you do. Examine the ‘transaction’ from start to finish - from the client's perspective.Consider the service you provide and understand what happens before, during and after your role. Create a timeline of events, if you will, where you can identify your role, and those of other professionals or client team members. When you do, you will identify other areas where you may be of help, and with whom you may want to establish alliances to help your client ‘manage’ all the moving parts of the deal.
The key message here is to take another look at what you do and see if you can enhance the ‘how’ to differentiate yourself.
Real Results: One of our clients looked at her role in this way and identified that 9 times out of 10, there was an accountant involved both prior to and after her work. She ended up learning that this accountant had a similar practice to her own. She developed a strategic relationship with that accountant. Now they have what we call ‘a play nice together’ approach. This makes it easier on their shared client to facilitate the transaction they each become involved in.
6. Identify first-to-market services. By gaining a deeper understanding of your clients’ and/or prospects’ needs, you may be able to identify emerging practice areas that you or your firm could develop as first-to-market. This is about getting to the next curve before your competition does.
In the next blog post, I provide you with practical 'how-to' instructions to implement strategies seven to ten in the Top 10 client service innovations:
- Reorganize your talent.
- Extend your CLE programs to your clients.
- Give clients access to your internal resources (Knowledge Management, IT or HR).
- Establish a client advisory board.
Until next time...
Wishing you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Innovation in service begins with adopting a client-centric approach to everything you do. This is the second in a four part series on the topic. Read them all and get ahead of the curve.
In this blog post, I offer practical 'how-to' instructions to implement the first three of the Top 10 client service innovations I recommend.
1. Talk with them. Book a meeting ‘off the clock’ to talk with them. Visit their factories, plants and offices and meet the key players on their teams. Get them talking. Find out everything you can about their business, challenges, goals, and their concerns - now and for the future. In other words, get to know more than their legal or accounting issues.
Differentiation Opportunity: Understand what's happening in their industry by reading the content in trade publications that target those industries. Then leverage that information to initiate these types of conversations. Another strategy that works equally well is to stay current on trends in what clients want from their professional service providers. The legal industry is a good example of this. There is a plethora of data and research on what clients want from their legal services providers.
(Not current on what clients want? Download this free report that I created to summarize several sources of current thinking on What Clients Want, What They Really, Really Want from their legal services provider.)
Don’t worry about having all the answers here. Just get them to start talking. Understand as much as you can about them and trust that the ideas and solutions you need to help them will present themselves.
Worried about how you might be perceived if you ask questions you think you should know the answers to? First, you cannot possibly know more about your clients' business than they do. Second, you cannot possibly know what their thoughts are on a matter until they tell you. Third, a panel of Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA) members at a Legal Marketing Association – Toronto Chapter session in October 2008, unanimously agreed that, "Asking questions tells me you’re interested, it’s part of building our relationship. The kinds of questions you ask me will differentiate you."
It’s that simple. You can differentiate yourself from your competition with the types of questions you ask.
Real Results: When one of our clients used this approach, he not only learned a lot more about his client's business, he also learned that he was the first lawyer to ever ask the client these types of questions. It’s important to point out that this was a large buyer of legal services, with several firms providing them with service, and this lawyer was the first one to have the courage to ask them questions.
2. Ask for feedback. Ask them how they perceive your service; communication; value. Research from BTI Consulting Group shows that 63% of clients are not proactively providing their law firms with feedback so it’s up to you to ask for it.
Why ask for feedback?
a. You need to know that your clients are happy with
your services and the way you deliver them. If they are not, you leave yourself open and vulnerable to your competition.
b. It will help you identifiy your unique value-proposition from a buyer's perspective and will allow you leverage that in your marketing efforts.
And what about leaving client satisfaction feedback to surveys? According to the CCCA panel, corporate counsel is not any more forthcoming with a third party. You need to ask the questions yourself.
Differentiation opportunity: Asking for feedback is a genuine opportunity to build value-based relationships - and while your peers and competitors shy away from doing it, it will differentiate you if you do. Consider asking on an ongoing basis, and not just once a year. And think about opportunities to invite feedback at the start of a mandate and not just at the end of it. Client Feedback is discussed at great length in prior blog posts. Read those for a refresher of this Top 10 innovation in client service.
Real Results: Care to share your results with this approach? Submit a comment below and join the conversation!
3. When you've taken the time to get to know your clients' businesses and industries, when you've understood their perceptions of your service, you'll be in a better position to be first to solve your clients' needs.
There is only one first. And you get there by knowing your clients. When you ask the right questions, your clients will always tell you where you need to be next. Look no further when identifying new practice ideas or services. Being second to the table in this case doesn’t count for much.
In the next post, I cover the next three of the Top 10 client service innovations:
- Consider alternative billing options.
- Re-think how you do what you do.
- Identify first-to-market services.
Until then...
I wish you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Innovation in service begins with adopting a client-centric approach to everything you do.
Remember the 80/20 Rule? 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clients. Identify your top 20%, and then work with them to create value-based relationships.
Sure, clients appreciate lunch or dinner now and then, but what they really want, and more importantly, what they really need— more than ever—is for you to spend time with them looking for ways to find and deliver more value.
According to the 2009 Trends Study by BTI Consulting, when asked to describe the factors that develop superior client relationships in this economy, general counsel said to focus on four things:
- Understand my business
- Help advise me on business issues
- Anticipate my needs
- Handle problems
And in the 2010 version of the same BTI Consulting study, the factors that develop superior client relationships were identified as:
- Client focus
- Commitment to help
- Understands the client's business
- Provides value for the cost
So, how do you build relationships like these with your clients? First, you need to understand what 'value' means to them. Then you must be willing to try new things.
Not sure where to start? Try starting with these top 10 innovators in client service - I promise, they will differentiate you:
- Talk with your clients.
- Ask for feedback.
- Be first to solve their needs.
- Consider alternative billing options.
- Re-think how you do what you do.
- Identify first-to-market services.
- Reorganize your talent.
- Extend your CLE programs to your clients.
- Give clients access to your internal resources (Knowledge Management, IT or HR).
- Establish a client advisory board.
In each of the next three blog posts, I provide you with practical 'how-to' instructions to implement each of these client service innovations.
See you next time.
Wishing you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
There two are times in particular that work especially well for asking for client feedback:
1. Opening a new matter.
Think about the process you go through when you open up a new matter (even if it is with an existing client). If you're not already doing so, you can easily ask a few questions that will establish expectations and create an environment for receiving ongoing feedback.
Here's how: Let your client know that you are interested in receiving feedback throughout the process of the file, not just on what you are doing, but on how you are doing it, and that at any time if they would not feel comfortable being a reference for you on a future matter, to advise you right away. Get their agreement to do so. This invites them to an open dialogue with you throughout the matter.
2. Closing a matter.
This is a similar approach to the first one, but conducted at the end of the matter. Ask your client: How did this matter go for you? Is there anything I could have done better? What worked well/not so well from your perspective? Encourage them to be specific.
Try these and see what happens. I guarantee you'll be on your way to building a stronger relationship.
Just one more note about the ask: Be specific. Simply understanding you were ‘great' (while nice to know) is not enough. Feedback is not about seeking praise, it's about understanding your value proposition. So if you get generic feedback like ‘you were great', turn it into information you can use by asking: "Help me understand what specifically I did that made you say that?" or "What specifically about the matter inspired that comment?"
Don't be afraid to ask - directly and regularly - your clients want you to - and they're more than willing to tell you what they think! It's a differentiator if you do. Let me know how it goes.
I wish you good business success!
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Your clients want you to ask!
According to The BTI Consulting Group's 2009 Corporate Counsel Trends Report, 63% of surveyed counsel do not share feedback with their law firms unless they are asked. This means you have to!
And according to the Canadian Corporate Counsel panel that spoke to a room full of Toronto Legal Marketers at the October 2008 Legal Marketing Association - Toronto Chapter luncheon, they want you to ask for feedback directly, and if you're going to ask for feedback via a third party (in the form of client surveys or interviews), they want you to advise them in advance so they know it's coming. They also stated that they were not necessarily more candid with a third party method.
It seems then, that you may be in your own way if you're not asking for feedback regularly. Not sure how to engage in this type of conversation, or afraid of what you'll find out? Watch for the next blog post - it offers some proven ‘how-to' strategies, so rest easy.
Get in the game, don't miss out by sitting on the sidelines.
I wish you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
Firm-wide client surveys work best when complimented with asking for feedback on a direct and regular basis.
Firm-wide client surveys are a great measure of your firm's performance from a client opinion and client perception point of view. They offer a confidential medium for clients to provide feedback that can be used by management to enhance internal procedures and methods that are focused on improving performance and quality.
They're also good for several other reasons, among them are: They help you flag possible problem areas and clients; they keep you improving your services and products (your clients will always tell you where you should be next); they tell you what your clients value and what they are willing to buy; and they provide you with data to demonstrate how satisfied your clients are.
But - is that enough?
Despite all these important value propositions, are they enough to help you understand how you specifically are doing in serving your clients? I don't think they are. Here's how you can support your firm's client survey initiatives and augment your own findings at the same time:
1. If your firm already conducts a formal client survey (or is going to implement one), you can supplement the effort by doing two things: Reaching out to your clients and asking them to watch out for the communication about the survey; and encouraging them to complete it.
2. Get into the habit of asking for feedback on a regular basis - while you're serving the client. Tips on how to do that are provided in <title of blog post>. When you ask directly and regularly, this ongoing dialogue builds trust and loyalty because clients feel heard and appreciated. It also has the power to insulate you from the impact of a mistake, if you make one. Mistakes are inevitable. However, if you have maintained a dialogue and therefore developed a degree of trust with your clients, there is much more tolerance for mistakes. In fact, it is a human trait to be even more supportive of trusted advisors when they own up to their mistakes and do whatever is necessary to correct them.
Don't fall into the trap of complacency with a firm-wide survey. Get involved and make it personal.
I wish you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System
You just have to ask for it!
Client satisfaction is essential to the survival of your firm. According to The BTI Consulting Group's 2010 Corporate Counsel Trends Report, clients have a financial investment with their first primary firm. But they have an emotional investment with their first recommended firm. When your clients see you as both, you've met the gold standard in measuring client satisfaction.
The study goes on to say that there is a growing trend for firms to reach out to their client base to gather feedback in the form of formal client surveys. In 2004/5 only 40% of firms surveyed their clients. That rose to 56.4% in 2006/7 and is expected to be higher in future polls.
But is a firm-wide client survey a panacea? I'm a big believer in the value of combining firm-wide initiatives with practical approaches that lawyers and accountants can implement in the natural course of serving their clients. Asking for client feedback is a perfect example.
I believe there are three things you need to know about how to get client feedback:
1. Firm-wide client surveys work best when complimented with asking for feedback on a direct and regular basis.
2. Get over your fear about asking - your clients want you to ask!
3. How you can get feedback while you're already engaged with the client and providing service.
Watch for the next blog post that goes into more detail on each of these.
I wish you good business success.
Client-Centric Selling with the Agreement Based SalesTM Program and the LEAP Adult LearningTM System