There are things we’d like to know or find out, but it can be difficult for the professional in day by day engagement with a client to ask some of the tough and telling questions.If you want to get answers to the questions which matter most, it’s best to enlist some support: someone external to the on-going relationship will get more frankness than you can expect in everyday professional contact.

My work confirms this useful rule of thumb: the greater the perceived distance between the client and questioner or interviewer, the greater the frankness and clarity. That applies to what’s right in the relationship, but most especially to what’s not.

Fresh eyes and ears come away from client interviews and relationship reviews with important perspectives and insights and some telling characterisations.

Previous eTips I’ve written have talked about what to ask in client interviews. Others offer tips and a great best practice framework I developed for a relationship review.

Here are some more of my personal favourites to add to the list of questions which lead to insights to propel business development:
• Just how well does this firm understand you and respond to your needs ?
• When you go elsewhere for service, what do you expect that is different from our work ?
• Thinking about this firm and its competitors, what is it that competitors do much better ?
• Where else does this firm fall short of the competition ?
• Are their people or politics which create problems or obstacles ?
• Are there any areas where this firm shines ?
• What would it take for this firm to be your most favoured service provider ?
• What would it take for this firm to get a greater share of your work ?
• Is it realistic for this firm to aim to get all your work eventually ?
• If you were managing this firm, what are the big changes you’d make ?

Worthy professionals value client relationships. Sometimes we flatter ourselves that things are travelling better than the reality. Smart and brave professionals know that tuning in to how clients evaluate our performance can yield important insights which underpin efforts to do better and increase the value produced in the relationship.

Externalising the process can make a massive difference to obtaining full, frank, and forthright feedback.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

Our extensive research confirms that most substantial clients value - and expect - periodic frank relationship reviews.

• clients want predictability and controllability of price - they also want economy, but economy alone won’t make up for unpredictable prices
• clients want to clearly understand the basis of your charges
• it follows that many clients want to use that understanding to take action to control their expenditure with you

We are often asked how to conduct an effective client relationship review meeting. Getting these meetings right is very important. Feedback obtained is essential input to:
• improvements service delivery
• future proposals
• reveal risks for you to address
• uncover further business development opportunities

So first, the basics
• have a clear agenda
• plan a series of “open questions”
• record the details of your review meeting
• take note of client’s attendees and their titles/roles
• thank attendees for taking time to participate in this process.

Next, agree clear objectives for meeting. For example:
• we want to understand how we’re going …
• we want your full and frank feedback …
• we want to understand exactly what you need and expect from us so we can advise and serve you better …
• we want to know if there are problems which we need to work on …

From here, move to specifics.  Include topics such as:

Our understanding of your business
• how well do we understand your business, the industry environment in which you operate, and the challenges you face?
• Do we properly understand your concerns, your problems, and your priorities?
• What work do we need to do on our understanding of your business and your industry?

The quality of advice we give you
• do we consistently provide the right advice to you?
• do you find that our advice is practical and tailored to your particular situation?
• does our advice help you to achieve your objectives?
• what improvements do we need to make in the area of advice quality?

The quality of our relationship with your people
• do our people take a keen interest in your matters and treat you as an important client?
• are our people always straightforward, direct, and honest with you and is their behaviour always completely ethical?
• have our people formed productive working partnerships with key players in your organisation?
• do you feel that we consistently work in your interests?
• how should we work to improve our relationships with your people?
• this is the starring point.

Our accessibility
• are our people readily accessible to you?
• do we return your calls, faxes, and emails promptly?
• do you feel that we are ready and willing to visit you and your facilities?
• how should we work on becoming more accessible to you?

Our responsiveness
• do our people respond in accordance with your priorities?
• do we keep you properly informed during the progress of matters?
• do our people give you clear explanations of legal matters in plain English?
• do you feel that we are easy to work with?
• what work do we need to do on our speed, our responsiveness, and becoming easier to deal with?

The tangibles in the relationship
• what is your opinion of what the quality of letters and documents which we present to you?
• is the format of opinions and advices clear and easy to follow?
• does the presentation of our premises meet your expectations?
• have you found that our technology and other facilities are up to the desired standard?
• are the people with whom you deal with from our firm consistently well presented?
• what aspects of the presentation of our people, facilities, premises, and documents do you suggest we work on?

Let’s review some recent cases
• I’d like to turn to a couple of matter which we have handled for you to get your detailed assessment of how we’ve done. Taking these cases on at a time, thinking back over the [name of case, outlining key points] case, what, if anything, do you think that we did especially well? (Probe out fully.)
• what aspects of our handling of this case fell short of your expectations? (Probe out fully.)
• what suggestions would you have as to how we could improve our performance on such matters in the future? (Probe out fully.)

This will help you to progress towards your objectives in this forum.

The value we provide for the fees you pay
• do you believe that the advice we provide represents good value for money to your organization?
• how do you rate us in terms of value for money compared with the other law firms and professional advisors with whom you deal?
• are you happy with the style, frequency, and presentation of our bills to you?
• what, if anything, should we do to improve performance in relation to the fees you pay for our work?

Opportunities for expanding the relationship
• are there any other areas of your business which need quality legal advice?
• Would you or others in your business like to know more about any of the services which we offer?
• How do you recommend that we promote our services to your organization?

Effectiveness of marketing initiatives
• is our newsletter helpful to you?
• do you find the seminars we offer to you interesting and valuable?
• is our website valuable to you?
• has the education we have provided for your staff been useful?
• do you find access to our library helpful?
• what has been your experience of our client research programme?
• how do you feel about the entertainment we offer to you and other key people in your organization?
• what suggestions can you offer to improve the effectiveness of our value added services and marketing?

How we can work together better in the future
• are there barriers or obstacles in working effectively together?
• What can we do to become easier for you to work with in the future?
• Is there anything else at all which you would like to add?

At the end of the interview, again it in important to remember the basics.

• Thank your client for his/her time and interest
• promise action on key items requiring further investigation or consideration, indicate time frame for feedback
• explain what will happen as a result of the interview
• again, thank client for time and input.

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates

Each year, Julian Midwinter & Associates conducts many research projects, both on behalf of its professional service firm clients, and at an industry level. Here are some of the conclusions we’ve drawn from our experience.

• Clients who report their overall status as “standard” (or less than 4 out of 10) are often on the brink of becoming your competitor’s client
• the minimum level of client satisfaction from which professional service forums can draw any comfort at all is “very satisfied” at least 8 out of 10 professionals are often more concerned than their clients about price
• clients now regard high levels of responsiveness and accessibility as a “given” - returning calls promptly is not a service edge
• to understand client satisfaction with your service, you need to benchmark it against their satisfaction with your competitors service
• you can’t afford to rest on client satisfaction until you are rated “outstanding” in every important category - even then, if your competitors are similarly rated, you have to do a whole lot more work
• high levels of clients satisfaction (9 out of 10 or above) correlate with high profit opportunities (but do not automatically translate to profitability)
• Julian Midwinter & Associate’s findings are in line with those of leading researchers in other industries.

Client satisfaction is worth the effort - keeping a client is mostly a vastly better option than competing for a new one! (And, yes, there are a few clients who you and everyone else - can never satisfy).

Copyright 2001 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

As I write eTips each week, it’s often the product of business development challenges and behaviours I’ve observed among our clients, or learned second hand. Now, I need your input on the eTips topics you find most relevant, how eTips can improve, and what you’d like more of.

This week, please take this brief, three to five minute survey, and tell me, and the whole JMA team, what you think.

As a thank you, you will be entered into a draw to win a bottle of fine wine.

Of course, if you have any queries or other comments, do get in touch.

Thanks for your support and important feedback.

Linda and the team at Julian Midwinter & Associates

Each year, I conduct many personal interviews with high value clients of professional service firms. Every interview is different and each turns up something unexpected - often a new service opportunity. While interviewees are often effusive in praise of their lawyers and other professional experts, there is a pattern to irritations, annoyances, and things which damage relationships.

It drives your clients nuts when:
• you should understand, but don’t
• you don’t build that understanding into your advice, strategies, and tactics
• you’re not prepared to change from how it’s been in the past
• you take the relationship for granted - or appear to
• you resist their decisions, preferences, processes, and standards - instead, you just keep wanting to do it your way
• you don’t look after their money (including their investment in your services)
• you don’t do your best to minimise what they need to spend with you to get the right result
• you don’t understand their financial constraints and budget cycles
• you don’t bear the cost of team churn
• you leave it to the client to get your early-career people up to speed with their work and their organisation
• you don’t bear the cost of your own mistakes, wrong-turns, and errors of judgement
• your behaviour reflects poorly on the executives and teams with whom you deal, leaving them with lots of “please explains”.

All these irritate, annoy, and damage relationships: I recommend a long, hard look at whether you’re transgressing. Better still, invest in some research to see how a client’s reality compares with your perceptions of what you’re delivering, and how.

Don’t drive your clients nuts - and drive them away.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates

No, it’s not mandatory to floss between your teeth. Nor is it always comfortable or convenient.
With your teeth in full view in the mirror, you’d see if there was a problem. Surely it isn’t really necessary ?

Some of our friends don’t floss and one has 100% perfect teeth. Doesn’t that prove it ? But as your dentist will tell you, if you want to keep your teeth in good order and ultimately keep them - regular
flossing is vital. And so are periodic dental check-ups, early treatment for problems, and occasionally radical and invasive treatment when things are grim.

And so it is for professional business relationships with clients.

We might think that:

· qualitative client research

· in-depth “where are we up to” conversations with clients

· periodic surveys

· end-of-file assessments

· independent “health checks” and audits

· measuring service levels

· dimensioning progress

aren’t necessary for us because we’re pretty terrific already.

You may think:

“I know my clients and what they think - I see them all the time”.

“My clients would tell me if something was wrong.”

“They would be irritated if anyone wanted to ask them questions.”

“I have strong relationships with clients - all that other stuff might be necessary for those who don’t.”

However regular “flossing”, “check-ups”, and “treatment” will make a big and positive difference to achieving healthy and sustainable long-term relationships.

Just like with your dental health, much is invisible until it’s too late.

So, be brave and wise. Invest in preventive care programmes. Facilitate frequent frank and open exchanges to discern and address disappointments and problems.

Just as your dentist will expertly advise you to floss only between those teeth you wish to keep, we recommend prophylactic care of clients and valuable business relationships - if you want to keep them.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates

In their haste to pick up extra work, maintain billable hours, and economise on non-chargeable time spent with clients, too many professionals rush through project debriefs and relationship reviews. They want to “cut to the chase”.

But sometimes, slow is fast.

A quick call-through or conversation may yield some obvious, easy to articulate, and top of mind information.

Easy to reach - superficial - opinions are always worth having. But mostly they will reveal precious little quick and easy-to-access additional work.

By contrast, real opportunities for closer relationships and more work are much more likely to be revealed through patient, probing, in-depth dialogue.

It takes investment of time - accompanied by active listening and patient probing - to get beyond the mundane and everyday to:

• considered views
• underlying drivers
• insights into ideal professional services
• big issues
• big opportunities.

Next time you debrief on a project or sit down with a client to review your relationship, resist the urge to rush through the agenda. Instead, get down to the real business by:

• focusing on the client
• listening for cues
• asking questions which call for considered, rather than superficial, responses
• gently probing for elaboration
• taking in the challenges and issues before your client as a basis for genuine understanding
• exploring what the future might hold - for them, and for you together.

Slow, thoughtful dialogue can be fast ways to develop relationships and business.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

Make sure you set yourself on a course for successful business development in the new financial year.

Listen - especially to unwelcome news. Listen to what your clients say. Listen to unpopular views, and listen extra carefully to what you don’t really want to hear.

Do the research - make sure you gets much input as possible on a subject. Disparate input will help you come to terms with the issues. You need a wide range of information from disparate sources to form a sound basis for the decisions you must make.

Make a business development plan write it down and stick to it. A written plan communicated to everyone is much more likely to succeed than any amount of talk. Review progress against your plan.

- take responsibility for tough decisions. Good decisions are often lonely, and sometimes unpopular. You can’t depend on consensus to make the right decisions in marketing. You will be constantly faced with new opportunities - you can’t pursue them all. So, be prepared to be tough enough to let an opportunity pass

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

Use this checklist to assess the stage you’re at in the client relationship marketing continuum.

Basic - what you see this time is what you get, and there’s little further contact between the professional and client.

Reactive - “call me if you have any questions”.

Accountable - you call your clients at the completion of the work, check that everything is ok, and ask for suggestions and input.

Proactive - you call your clients to make them aware of new services, developments, and items of interest which may be of value to them.

Partnership - you constantly work together with your clients to find better solutions to their business problems.

Proactive business developers and true partners will enjoy much greater client loyalty, professional success, and prosperity over the long run.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

Every so often, take stock of your client base and work out whether it’s still right for you and your firm.

Evaluate clients against factors including:

Is this a good strategic fit for my practice ?

Is this a profitable relationship ?

Is this a client going somewhere - that is, on the ascendancy ?

Does this client help me and my firm to use and develop skills which will be appealing to other desirable clients ?

Is this a client which I can grow through further services ?

Is this client a good commercial proposition ?

Do they pay well, on time, and absorb only reasonable amounts of resource for the fee return ?

Does this client introduce me to new opportunities and refer work ?

Do I like working for this client ?

Am I doing a really good job for them, and getting good outcomes for them,and am I truly valuable to them ?

Is this a satisfied client ?

If you can say “yes” to several of these, then this is a client you want.

More than a couple of “no’s” and it is probably a client you don’t want.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates