Innovation in Client Service: Top 10 Things to Implement Now (Part 4)
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