How to get your clients to help you increase your law firm’s profits
In his report, "What's Hot and What's Not in the Legal Profession," posted last week, Bob Denney said that one of the trends that was heating up in the marketing and business development area is "client interviews and audits". He said, "More firms are recognizing, but slowly, that the feedback and information obtained from them–particularly when they are conducted by knowledgeable outside consultants–are critical in strategic plotting and development of progression strategies."
Asking your clients how you're doing and what you can do better is the best market research you can get, and it's free. Not counting the cost of the outside consultant.
There's no better "intel" than that from someone who really paid money to hire you.
By outside professionals to do the surveys is also excellent advice. A firm that specializes in this kind of research will question the right questions and they will know how to critically evaluate the answers. And by an outside service as a replacement for of doing it yourself will undoubtedly provide more honest feedback.
If you don't want to hire an outside firm, interview your clients anyhow. The feedback may not be as accurate but it's better feedback than you're getting right now.
Client interviews can help you learn what you are doing well and what you can do better. They can help you increase client relations and communications. And they can help you learn new marketing opportunities. All you have to do is question.
Surveys are an simple alternative to interviews. You can post them on your web site, by free sites like www.surveymonkey.com and www.polldaddy.com. By providing anonymity, clients will be more likely to respond honestly. Open-finished questions can lead to some surprising discoveries. Multiple choice questions can help you identify patterns that deserve your attention. If 70% of your clients say you need to communicate with them more often, that's something you cannot ignore.
At the very smallest amount, call a client today and question them how you're doing. You never know what you might learn and what you learn could earn you a fortune.