Lawyer, Know Thy with their client relations, marketing and … · Know Thy Client As President of...
1
Everyone wants vendors or service providers to speak their language, understand their business and appreciate their issues. LEARNING THE ROPES Whether you are interested in making the investment to learn more about an impor- tant client or as part of a broader effort to market to a particular industry segment, here are some ways to learn the ropes. • Tour a company’s operations. Visit the con- struction site, walk through the plant or attend an open house in the company’s new space. • Talk to a lot of people at the company. Visit with engineers who created the products. Talk to the people in HR. Interview the risk managers. • Offer to sit in on planning or board meetings, no charge, to learn about the business. • Conduct an informational interview with a com- pany executive to learn more about the business. Ask about the competition, industry, resources and challenges. Request an organizational chart. • Read the company’s website, marketing materi- als and promotional information. Ask if you can be put on routing lists for internal newsletters or publications. • Learn the industry’s terminology and acro- nyms. If you’re not familiar with something, Google it or ask a contact. • Set up an alert through Manzama or Google on the company and your contacts there to track announcements, events and changes. • Set up alerts on the company’s industry and on the company’s competition to learn about developments and see what positive or nega- tive events occur that may have an impact on your client or contacts. • Join an industry association. Attend meet- ings (with a client, if possible) to find out what issues are top of mind and what trends are being discussed. • Read industry publications—blogs, newslet- ters and magazines. • Follow the company on social media—Linke- dIn, Twitter, Facebook—to see what they are posting. Join related groups on LinkedIn. • Use the language of the client. If they call employees “team members” or “cast mem- bers,” then you should, too. • Know when the client may have issues so you can anticipate needs. What is the fiscal year? When do they ramp up for board meetings? Key dates will often impact the client’s avail- ability and the information they need from you. CONCLUSION There has been some research concluding that clients care more about what you know about their business than what you know about the law. There are a lot of good lawyers who can handle a particular type of matter substantively. What clients want is someone who can apply the law within the context of their business and with an appreciation for their situation. Recently, I interviewed the partners at a law firm as part of a marketing assessment. I asked each of them whether there are any particular industries or types of clients that the firm should target for business. One of the lawyers said to me, “I don’t understand that concept. It doesn’t matter to us what the client is doing or selling; we can still provide our services.” It got me thinking about the whole notion of understanding what makes a client tick. How would you feel if you were looking into software to help you manage your firm’s finances and the salesperson called your clients “customers,” didn’t understand how a partnership structure works and was unaware that lawyers bill their time? CLIENT RELATIONS ADVICE BY SALLY SCHMIDT Lawyer, Know Thy Client As President of Schmidt Marketing in Edina, MN, Sally Schmidt helps lawyers with their client relations, marketing and business development initiatives. Always the optimist, she truly believes her beloved Minnesota Golden Gophers will return to the Rose Bowl one day. Originally published in Attorney at Work
Transcript of Lawyer, Know Thy with their client relations, marketing and … · Know Thy Client As President of...
Everyone wants vendors or service providers to speak their language, understand their business and appreciate their issues.
LEARNING THE ROPESWhether you are interested in making the investment to learn more about an impor-tant client or as part of a broader effort to market to a particular industry segment, here are some ways to learn the ropes.
• Tour a company’s operations. Visit the con-struction site, walk through the plant or attend an open house in the company’s new space.
• Talk to a lot of people at the company. Visit with engineers who created the products. Talk to the people in HR. Interview the risk managers.
• Offer to sit in on planning or board meetings, no charge, to learn about the business.
• Conduct an informational interview with a com-pany executive to learn more about the business. Ask about the competition, industry, resources and challenges. Request an organizational chart.
• Read the company’s website, marketing materi-als and promotional information. Ask if you can be put on routing lists for internal newsletters or publications.
• Learn the industry’s terminology and acro-nyms. If you’re not familiar with something, Google it or ask a contact.
• Set up an alert through Manzama or Google on the company and your contacts there to track announcements, events and changes.
• Set up alerts on the company’s industry and on the company’s competition to learn about developments and see what positive or nega-tive events occur that may have an impact on your client or contacts.
• Join an industry association. Attend meet-ings (with a client, if possible) to find out what issues are top of mind and what trends are being discussed.
• Read industry publications—blogs, newslet-ters and magazines.
• Follow the company on social media—Linke-dIn, Twitter, Facebook—to see what they are posting. Join related groups on LinkedIn.
• Use the language of the client. If they call employees “team members” or “cast mem-bers,” then you should, too.
• Know when the client may have issues so you can anticipate needs. What is the fiscal year? When do they ramp up for board meetings? Key dates will often impact the client’s avail-ability and the information they need from you.
CONCLUSIONThere has been some research concluding that clients care more about what you know about their business than what you know about the law. There are a lot of good lawyers who can handle a particular type of matter substantively. What clients want is someone who can apply the law within the context of their business and with an appreciation for their situation.
Recently, I interviewed the partners at a law firm as part of a marketing assessment. I asked each of them whether there are any particular industries or types of clients that the firm should target for business. One of the lawyers said to me, “I don’t understand that concept. It doesn’t matter to us what the client is doing or selling; we can still provide our services.”
It got me thinking about the whole notion of understanding what makes a client tick. How would you feel if you were looking into software to help you manage your firm’s finances and the salesperson called your clients “customers,” didn’t understand how a partnership structure works and was unaware that lawyers bill their time?
AttPro Ally Winter 2017 www.attorneyprotective.com6
C L I E N T R E L A T I O N S A D V I C E B Y S A L L Y S C H M I D T
Lawyer, Know Thy Client
As President of Schmidt
Marketing in Edina, MN,
Sally Schmidt helps lawyers
with their client relations,
marketing and business
development initiatives.
Always the optimist, she
truly believes her beloved
Minnesota Golden
Gophers will return to the
Rose Bowl one day.
AttPro Snippets:
How to Keep Clients Loyal80% of future revenue comes from just 20% of existing customers.
- Gartner Group
It is easier and more cost effective to keep an existing client than it is to win a new one. Communication is a core competency on which clients can and will judge you. So, accessibility and prompt, clear communication with your current clients is essential. Keep in mind, if you fail to return repeated phone calls or emails, you may be violating your ethical responsibility of communication, but you may also be jeopardizing a future revenue opportunity.
A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people.
– White House Office of Consumer Affairs
Poor service is one of the top reasons given for firing a law firm. Therefore, ensuring that meetings are not overlooked and legal documents are filed timely is essential. Utilizing a comprehensive calendaring system that is easily accessible, simple to update, and that sends multiple automatic reminders can help with this. It is a good idea to calendar in lead times necessary for the completion of tasks that are well ahead of the actual deadlines and then use a follow up system that confirms the actual completion of calendared deadlines. Keeping your own individual calendar, in addition to the firm calendaring system, is a great back up tool. Aim to conduct business in a way that’s congruent with how you want new clients to perceive you.
AttPro Ally Winter 2017 www.attorneyprotective.com 7
Get CLE for free by attending our one-hour webinars offered throughout the year. Visit - www.attorneyprotective.com/webinar to register.
Originally published in Attorney at Work
