Verbatim: What Clients Say
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What Happens When a "Satisfied" Client Is Dissatisfied with an Attorney
While preparing a story for the April issue of the Legal Marketing Association's Strategies magazine, I interviewed the general counsel of a high tech company, who commented on law firms that don't ask their clients to review their performance. She said that "often times the managing partner might know that a specialized partner is not doing a good job, but he gets defensive about it, and says that other clients like him. He doesn't want to have an organized conversation about it, so it comes out in fits and spurts."
When a prospective or new client of JKS & Company inquires about which types of clients to interview for feedback on the firm's services, my first recommendation is to interview the clients for whom the firm is handling a wide range of work. Unfortunately, the primary attorney is not always aware of a client's negative perceptions of another attorney on the client service team. In those cases, Strategic Client Interviews have revealed that clients will sometimes send those types of work to other firms. If the work has remained at the firm, the client relationship in general suffers for the problem.
Don't find out your clients' concerns the hard way. Listen to your clients to protect your firm's relationships.
Watch for the April issue of Strategies. You'll read what this general counsel said about why law firms should develop strong bonds with their clients. The story will also inform readers of how two law firms experience results from their client interview programs. If you don't receive LMA's Strategies and would like to read the story, contact me for a complimentary reprint, at jsmiley@jkscompany.com. I will gladly send you a copy of the story after it appears in Strategies.
Verbatim is published electronically by JKS & Company LLC/Strategic Client Interviews. For more information on Strategic Client Interviews, contact Joyce K. Smiley at 561-775-9755, or jsmiley@jkscompany.com. On the web at jkscompany.com.
Copyright 2009 JKS & Company LLC. All rights reserved.
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email: jsmiley@jkscompany.com
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