Eight Reasons Why Client Feedback Is Da Bomb

You might think you know how clients view your firm, writes Jim Pagliaro in Eight Ways That Listening to Clients Will Improve Your Law Firm and Add Value to Your Client Relationships. You might think you know how your firm looks from the outside. You might even think that your stellar reputation is universal. But you won’t really know until you ask:

“Practices that I believed were premier were seen as mid-market; partners whom I believed were service all-stars were rated as mediocre; and reputations I thought were well-established were barely known in many corners of the market. It is sobering and incredibly enlightening to see your law firm the way your clients see it.

The good news is that that “candid and often unforgiving” perspective from your clients is but one way that client interviews can help you run your firm and guarantee your future. Read Pagliaro’s post to see the others. Then start talking – and listening – to your clients.

Successful Networking Hinges on Follow-Up

Networking is not a race, writes Cari Twitchell in An Essential Networking Ingredient: Followup. Not even a marathon. It's an exercise in building relationships, and that takes time, and it takes effort, and most of all, it takes focused and methodical follow-up:  

One meeting is not enough to build a relationship. Invest your time reconnecting and building upon what you already know about your new lead. Send a follow-up email or handwritten note. Ask to schedule another meeting for a month or two out. Share emails, blog posts, and other items that you believe your contact will find interesting.

Read the post. And start following Twitchell's advice. To stop stumbling on the road to relationships.

Is the Lack of Cross-Selling at Your Firm Your Fault?

Ever wonder why there's not more cross-selling at your law firm? The answer might be staring at you in the mirror, writes Tom Kane in Is the Lack of Cross-Selling Your Fault?

"Are you to blame for the failure of your partners to cross-sell you to their client contacts? Not necessarily, but you could be part of the problem. Clients select lawyers they know, like and trust. Referral sources, including your partners, send you clients for the same reason. Since they know, like and trust you, they transfer those qualities by recommending you."

The good news is that even if you are a part of the problem, Kane points you at the solution. Read the post. Then get working on solving it. You - and your partners - will be glad you did.

The Client Is Always Right. Even When They're Wrong...

It's not always easy to listen when your client complains about the service you provide, writes Ary Rosenbaum in Don't Ignore Your Client's Complaints. But it's always necessary. Because not listening says that you don't care, and when your client hears that, the end of the relationship can't be far:

The customer is always right and even when they’re wrong, you need to listen to their complaints whether they are justified or not. It is far easier to lose a client than to gain them and when people complain and you ignore them, they will take their complaints and business elsewhere. 

Read the post. Listen to what your client doesn't like, what she thinks of the relationship, what she wants you to change. Then fix it.

The Golden Rule of Lawyering: Do Unto Clients...

Want to be a better lawyer? Walk a mile in your client's shoes, writes Sally Schmidt – legal marketing consultant AND business owner – in Walking in Your Client’s Shoes, before listing handful of cardinal sins that she's seen over the years. Think of them as a "how-NOT-to" list:

I send an email with a question … and nothing happens. Did you receive it? Are you rounding up the information? Are you on vacation? Inquiries should be acknowledged immediately. You may not have the answer but you certainly can let me know you received the question and when I might expect a response.

Read the post. Then stop doing unto to your clients what you wouldn't have them do unto you.