The vital role your support staff play in client satisfaction is often overlooked. However a client’s experience at reception, or their first phone call to your firm can colour every other interaction - for better or worse. Here are 12 quick tips your support staff can use to represent your firm even better.

1. Represent clients well - Always be a good ambassador or envoy for your clients.

2. Thank clients - Don’t take your clients for granted. Remember to thank clients for their business.

3. Return clients calls ASAP - This is a meaningful way to show your client just how important s/he is to you. If the lawyer isn’t around, return the call yourself.

4. Keep your clients informed - Your clients have every confidence in your firm’s ability to solve their legal problems, but they feel a whole lot more comfortable and secure when you keep them informed, frequently and regularly.

5. Learn what clients expect, then do it - You’ll never please a client unless you know what they expect, and then act on it.

6. Be completely discreet and loyal - Respect the confidentiality and commercial sensitivity of the information you come across. Reassure clients on this point. Be loyal: whatever you think of their behaviour, remember that - in the end - the client is paying the bill, and that without them, you wouldn’t have job.

7. Be a problem-solver - Clients want your help with their problems. Come up with solutions rather than excuses.

8. Constantly seek feedback - Ask clients how you can do better and listen to what they have to say.

9. Get to know clients - Show a genuine and sincere interest in each client.

10. Be helpful - Help your counterpart to do a better job and offer any guidance that you can.

11. Be flexible - Try to do things the way clients want, rather than the way that is convenient to you. Become more flexible and easier to deal with than any of their other advisors, especially other law firms.

12. Care about your clients - There is no substitute for genuine concern and a sincere interest in your client. If you don’t care, it will show. If you do, it makes all the difference.

Help your support staff understand their importance to your clients and your firm, and you’ll find client and staff satisfaction quickly improve.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates Pty Ltd

Many people are tired of the disingenuous management-speak which flows freely in business. Ensure your next meeting or promotion isn’t hung-over with jargon. Clients and prospective clients often switch off when they hear mere catchphrases like “solution”, “results driven”, “win-win”, “go off-line”, “get on the same page”, “value proposition”, and “value added”.

There’s even a chance that you became successful with adept use of the same vocabulary which represents this mindset and is now becoming a negative.

Today, simpler language and clearer communication - words and expressions which don’t require that you’re “in the know” to use and understand - should be the stuff of your everyday conversations with clients and prospective clients.

Reasons to avoid management-speak and buzzwords, include, among others:
• it’s boring
• it’s generic and insufficiently specific
• often it doesn’t sound sincere or real
• it may make some clients feel distanced or inferior
• it straightjackets you as a conformist within narrow fashions in management
• it does little to differentiate or distinguish you from many of your unimpressive competitors
• it can make you look as though you’re obfuscating.

Every profession creates its own jargon. Besides allowing insiders to communicate in shorthand, it produces a great barrier to others. Many legal professionals have invested considerable energy in breaking down these shibboleths, and converting legalese to technical terms to plain English documents.

Too often, though, in the quest to look knowledgeable, these same professionals have been overly eager to adopt the mantra of modern management and corporate culture, only to create a whole new set of problems for themselves, and their clients.

Rather than merely mentioning that you have a “value proposition”, state what is !

Don’t turn your clients off with near meaningless buzzwords.

Watch it: as the CEO of one of Australia’s top companies recently said to me “when our people use management buzzwords, I’m irritated - when our external lawyers get into corporate-speak, I want to tell then to take their jargon and stick it in their core competency !”

There are exceptions: a few clients are completely wedded to management-speak, and worship at the shrine of buzzwords. When with them, follow their lead: ape their jargon. It will change with time - keep up with their fashions.

Never be caught out using yesterday’s buzzword !

Copyright 2006 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

Stephen Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) popularised the phase; “start with the end in mind.”  Never was it more true than of meetings.

If you want to get the most out of meetings, take a few moments to clarify your objectives.

Connect these objectives into an agenda - written, mailed, whiteboard, or simply spoken plainly.

However an agenda is prepared, you’ll make the most of meetings by having one or a limited number of clear objectives:

• Agree objectives at the outset
• prior to the meeting gather together and share any useful background information
• by-pass small talk early in the meeting which can take your meeting right off track
• be clear about
   o decisions
   o take out items
   o “to dos” and other tasks
   o accountabilities
   o what’s next
• confirm that you’ve achieved your objectives.

If you start a meeting with the end in mind you’re a whole lot more likely to reach your desired destination.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates

So many professional service firms we meet bemoan the track record of most of their folk in developing new work and new clients in attractive niches. More than occasionally a practice leader confides that their technically competent team knows only how to “feed on the carcasses I kill” or “live like a leech on me”.Want things to change ? Well remember the management consulting mantra is “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.

What gets measured attracts attention. If you want more of a particular behaviour or contribution, make sure you notice it, then recognise and reward it. Make heroes of those who do business development effectively. All tough to do, except anecdotally and sporadically, without tracking and dimensioning performance.

Here are some business development and client relationship metrics worthy of measurement, they will help you notice what matters.

Client relationship management:
• fees under management, exclusive of personal billings - that is, contribution to client retention and development beyond personal fee benefit
• fees under management, outside personal billings and own workgroup - that is, contribution to management of client relationships outside direct workgroup under supervision
• fees under management, outside personal billings, own workgroup, and practice group - that is, relationship management value contributing to the rest of firm and indicative of spread of fees and services.

These are relatively easy to measure.

You may not track the data for others, but it’s worth doing if you want to dimension and reward - then get more - new business.

Client development - new business:
• new clients introduced/sourced - fee value this year, fee expectation next two years, fee potential next two years
• new work/types of matters from established clients - fees relating to classes of business not previously sourced from this client - fee value this year, expectation next two years, fee potential next two years
• win-backs - that is work won back from key competitors - value of current year fees, expected next two years fees sourced from named competitors
• new services selling - that is current year fees and expected next two years fees from new services availed by both established/new clients in target areas.

Activity emphasis achievement:
• tracking current year fees and expected next two years frees deriving from specific “emphasis” services - for instance, if environmental law is one of/the agreed service emphasis for next year, fees relating to that activity.

Too often, in our quest for objectivity, we measure only that about which we can be absolutely accurate and precise. However, we can get a quantitative handle (not to mention all the qualitative indicators) on aspects of performance which matter as much - and sometimes more - than the readily accounted and measured.

From a financial forecasting and future strategic health perspective, these metrics can be useful. To manage and promote business development and fee formation, these measures will help you establish contributions of an individual.

Just as a direct, current contribution to the financial health of the firm matters - measured through fees and other items described in last week’s eTip - financial measures that matter - dimensioning individual and practice group contributions to business development and strategic success matters.

Copyright 2008 Julian Midwinter & Associates

This week, we deal with the thorny problem of breaking news to clients when their lawyer/service professional is about to leave.

• don’t let team turnover catch your client by surprise

• notify the client early

• tell your client about plans for transition

• make sure the departing employee or his/her direct managing partner introduces the replacement

• make certain that the client knows that there will be a thorough briefing and handover - ideally, in the presence of the client - and always at no charge to the client

• follow up with each client to address any concerns.

If you build the link this way, what might have been disastrous may even help to strengthen relationships with clients.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

To be professionally effective, and achieve what you want, you’ll need to be heard.

Sounds simple ? Definitely. So simple that it’s often overlooked in the rush to get into “real business development” mode.

If you can’t easily be heard and then clearly understood, prospective clients and clients mostly won’t bother to bring the problem to your attention. Instead, they’ll just find it easier and more comfortable to spend their time with another competent professional.

Speak clearly. Good diction, clear enunciation, and volume matter. Project your voice. Mumbling, muttering, and lazy speech won’t help you to be heard.

Get the substance across with concise sentences. Illustrate your points with relevant examples.

Stick to the subject. Don’t wander around the issues - be straightforward.

Don’t leave your listener confused. If your purpose is to convey information, say so. If you want someone to do something, say so. Rather than hoping that they’ll eventually get the idea of what you’re after, get to the point - pronto - and make a plain request.

If you want action, ask for it. If it’s important, don’t confuse matters with vagaries like “only if that’s OK”. If it’s urgent, the right words are not “when you’re ready” - more like “now, please”.

Focus on the positive. Eventually, it will be hard to be heard if you’re constantly negative or carping.

Be a courteous listener. Let the other party make their point, interpose questions for clarity.

Ease tensions by maintaining your sense of humour - seeing the funny side of a situation is often a good way to improve the emotional environment.

Good-nature and sincere interest will always help you to develop rapport, make connections, and help you to be heard.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

The right training can make a big difference in performance in business development situations.

When designing in-firm training, or engaging an external trainer, check that the programme you have in mind is founded on these important principles of how adults learn.

Adults need to know why - check that the training passes the tests of “why bother with this anyway ?” and “why does it work this way ?”

Adults have a deep-seated need to be self directed - training must offer options, ideas, and materials from which to choose the best option or path for each individual.

Adults have a substantial volume and quality of experience - check that the training acknowledges the importance and relevance of this experience and does not set out to teach participants to “suck eggs”.

Adults become ready to learn when they experience the need to know - training must “sell” participants on the benefits to them of knowing about this: the WIIFM test (what’s in it for me).

Adults enter into learning experiences with either a task centred or problemorientation to learning - check that training uses case studies, role plays, or other active situations in which the new material can be applied to improve outcomes.

Trainer must have high credibility - check that the presenter has directly relevant credentials, knowledge, and experience, vocabulary and jargon to instantly relate to participants and cite examples of direct relevance.

Training based on these important adult learning principles has a good probability of being effective.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

These days, it’s far more than technical expertise which counts when assessing associates and senior associates for career progression to partnership.

While business development skills training should start right from induction of a new lawyer into your firm, here is a quick checklist of activities, skills, and competencies which will help your senior lawyers more onwards and upwards.

Any aspiring partner should:

Be fully familiar with the background of the firm, its range of service offerings, and the expert capabilities of individual team members.

Leverage personal contacts in target business and industry sectors to the firm’s benefit.

Target and leverage meaningful involvement in relevant networking forums.

Attend and facilitate at client relationship reviews; present at industry events and firm seminars.

Demonstrate sophisticated oral and written communication skills in the marketing context.

Develop excellent presentation skills.

Participate in specific bids or pitches for business.

Develop and implement marketing tools including seminars, newsletters, website content, and briefing papers.

Devise and implement a personal marketing plan.

Build reputation and profile through articles, speaking engagements, and activities within industry and/or professional organisations.

Pursue selected prospective clients.

Develop new service offerings. By developing in each of these areas, the senior associate will maximise his/her career potential and success of your practice as s/he advances to partnership.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates

Nurturing business development skills should start right from the time a new lawyer or other professional comes into your firm. At each stage of his/her career, different levels and styles of participation will make useful contributions and be appropriate both for firm business development and personal career progression.

Here are some ways to encourage young lawyers to participate and acquire business development skills in the early stages of their career:

Introduce them to business development, client relationship management and basic marketing.

Concepts through formal and informal training.

Make certain they know the background of your firm, its range of service offerings, and the expert.

Capabilities of each teammember.

Ensure they have a detailed understanding of the clients with whom they work, the business.

Environment of those clients and the issues and challenges each faces.

Encourage general development of strong oral and written communication skills.

Teach persuasion techniques.

Encourage assertive and positive behaviours in dealing with minor client concerns and service issues.

Encourage them to leverage any personal contacts within target businesses or industry sectors for the benefit of the firm.

Check that they understand the importance of developing distinctive technical expertise and capabilities.

Identify and establish appropriate networking forums relevant to their.

Expertise and interest.

Include them in seminars, client events, and relevant industry forums.

Ensure your continuing professional education programme includes.

Business-related units.

Make certain that they understand that it’s not just about technical skills.

- client relationship skills and interpersonal skills really matter. By developing in these areas, your young lawyers will maximise their career potential and your practice success.

Copyright Julian Midwinter & Associates