Over the past few months, several significant surveys have been released that are worth noting. See below for more information about four of them.
After studying each of them, my take is that law firms must get closer than ever to clients they want to keep. Therefore, marketing and business development strategies focused on enhancing relationships with exising clients are, by far, the most cost-effective “marketing” a law firm can implement. And here are the best ways to go about it.
Provide Exceptional Service
Be responsive. Be accessible. Meet deadlines. Follow through.
Solicit Client Feedback
There are a number of ways to do it. Be sure to act on findings.
Conduct Client Site Visits
Lawyers visiting clients to learn more about them and their business.
Present Seminars
For maximum ROI, go with an industry-focused seminar series. Recruit an advisory board to develop your format and determine topics.
Publish Newsletters
Be sure your communiqués are timely, relevant and brief.
Bottom line…you need to get closer than ever to your existing clients…the ones you want to keep, anyway, so your competitors never get a foot in the door. Satisfied clients will never leave you and they are your best referral source. It’s not rocket science, folks. You just have to invest the time and money to get it done.
And here are those recently published surveys I mentioned above:
Inside Counsel’s Survey of General Counsel
The highlights of Inside Counsel’s 19th Annual Survey of General Counsel are included in an article called “The Dating Game” featured in the magazine’s July 2008 issue. 548 GCs participated in this year’s survey and only 17% gave their outside law firms an “A” for overall performance. That’s a HUGE difference from how the law firms graded themselves, with 43% giving themselves an “A.” Aside from cutting fees, what’s the best way for a firm to improve its grade? Get to know the client’s business better and be more responsive says the survey. No real surprises here. Click here for the full story.
Altman Weil’s Chief Legal Officer Survey
In June, Altman Weil published its 9th Annual CLO Survey with 126 law departments participating. Its top finding is that companies plan to bring more work in-house in their efforts to rein in the overall cost of legal fees. And CLOs report that cost control is their #1 priority. Consistent with the Inside Counsel survey, here are the ways that firms can improve working relationships with in-house counsel in order of priority: discount rates, improve responsiveness, staff matters more efficiently, and learn more about my company. Click here for the full story.
ACC’s Chief Legal Officer Survey
The 8th annual edition of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s CLO survey was published in April 2008 and includes 1,166 participants. It reports that most in-house lawyers focus their time on transactional and compliance work, and send litigation to outside counsel. On the marketing front, there are no big surprises here either. They say that seminars (ideally CLE-approved), legal updates, events and better communication are among best ways for law firms to improve their relationships with in-house legal departments.
Click here for a copy of ACC’s press release highlighting some its key findings.
Click here to order the full survey report. $299 for non-ACC members.
ACC-Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey
The 7th annual version of this well-respected survey was released in late 2007. 263 in-house counsel (62% of them GCs) participated. Its major conclusions are that in-house counsel are imposing more rules on outside counsel, more carefully monitoring their performance and shifting more work in-house. GCs are also more willing to fire under-performing law firms, with 50% having done so in the last year. The survey also reports that 95% of outside legal work is billed by the hour, and that rates have increased more than 5% per year since 2000.
Click here for a copy of ACC’s press release highlighting some of the survey’s key findings.
Click here for a recent article about a GC Panel Presentation moderated by ACC President Fred Krebs.
Click here for more information and to order the full survey report. $750 for non-ACC members.
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