Survey Savvy
published in the Daily Journal
Dear Surveyor:
You are making a good decision. Soliciting a client's point of view
is a "win-win" situation all around. Clients feel they are being
listened to, and you will indubitably learn new and valuable information.
First define the who, what, where and when of the survey, and what
is it your firm would most like to learn.
Who
Who will conduct the surveys? Will they be conducted by the partner who
has responsibility for the client? It may be difficult for that individual
to remain neutral and open-minded. Consider starting with a small team
– two to four individuals who will interview each others clients.
This will get the ball rolling. It will also demonstrate leadership and
lend credibility to the process, which should encourage others to participate.
Lawyers are often wary of opening up their client relationships to others.
Don't require lawyers to participate. Rather, work with volunteers, share
the results and see if peer pressure will get the others to join in.
What
Surveys should be brief – clients don't want to waste time. Try
to keep your list of questions short – 10 is a good guideline. It
will also force you to define what information is most critical. Avoid
questions addressing multiple issues. Focused questions that only relate
to one topic allow for clear, well defined responses. Don't use leading
questions. For true results, you want the interviewee to answer the questions
honestly – not what they think the firm wants to hear. Remember,
in an in-person interview you can restate the question to elicit more
clarification. Ask questions confidently. Ask open ended questions so
respondents will answer with detail. Yes or no answers are not very useful.
Encourage interviewees to be specific about any areas of concern. If they
raise a complaint, don't be defensive or argumentative. Attempt to remain
unbiased and listen more than you talk. The more information you get the
easier it will be for you to develop solutions acceptable to the client.
Avoid shying away from difficult questions regarding fees, comparisons
to other law firms, or specific problems that have occurred.
Cost is a common concern, but lawyers may shy away
from questions regarding fees. Instead, define the question for
the interviewee. All lawyer bills are high. The point is are clients
getting value? Clients are concerned not just with hourly billing
rates, but the cost per case, and the results and overall value.
Other areas of interest to clients are efficiency,
staffing, reporting and overall communication.
Remember, the people you survey are accountable to
an organization and chain of command. They need to assure others
that outside counsel are providing the best quality services. You
need to demonstrate that you are focused on their success and meeting
their company or department goals.
Where
Surveys can be conducted in-person, by telephone, by written questionnaires
or by e-mail. Of course telephone and written surveys can cost far
less and use less partner time, than in-person interviews. On the
other hand, meeting in-person will generally produce information
of a higher quality.
When
We know that keeping existing clients should be a priority – it
costs at least five times as much to bring in a new client as keep an
existing one. But major law firms continue to spend most of their marketing
resources searching for new clients. Surveys should seek out clients whose
overall business has declined, or where a certain practice area is no
longer used. By discovering problems early and finding out what is needed
to keep those clients happy, a client survey can provide a foundation
for client retention. Try to assemble a representative range of clients
from new relationships to long-standing ones, as well as large and small
clients.
A client survey interview is not the best time to hard sell your firm.
Your primary mission is to establish the health of the client relationship.
Certainly you can take advantage of good opportunities to highlight your
firms expertise without pushing your firm on the client. But, the client
should be left with a clear impression that this was not a self-promoting
marketing exercise – it should be always about improving client
service.
And, when you discover what clients think, you must put this information
to use in practical ways that clients will appreciate. Surveys by themselves
do not improve service. Rather, everyone in the firm must be committed
to acting on the information. Clients should also be advised – promptly
– as to what action was taken based on their input.
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