"Client listening is the single most important marketing activity." - Paul Amit, Head of Sector and Client Marketing, DLA Piper. Forward-thinking firms know that listening effectively to their clients is crucial for improving client service, value, retention, and, ultimately, profitability. It can also help future-proof your firm by embedding client relationships, and anticipating client needs. Client Listening: Why It Pays and How to Do it, will show you how to design and implement effect...

With legal fees coming under increasing scrutiny, all law firms, whether they charge by the hour or operate alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) will need to negotiate fees; be it a discount to an hourly rate or a year-long fixed retainer. Budgeting and negotiating skills will be needed by all fee earners with responsibility for agreeing any fees or discounts. The more a firm uses AFAs, the more important budgeting and negotiating becomes. Budgeting and Negotiating Fees with Clients: A Lawy...

We all know that law is a people business. Clients buy from lawyers whom they like, respect, and trust, and they judge those lawyers and their firms on the quality of service that the firm provides, the results achieved, and whether they receive value for money. This applies to corporate, institutional, and private clients alike. For their business plans to be connected to reality, partners and law firm leaders must learn how they are perceived by their clients and adapt accordingly. They ...

Pandemics bring the world to a standstill. All economies are based on confidence, yet during and after a pandemic, uncertainty and fear abound. The entire professional services sector the world over - which includes law firms, accounting firms, brokerages, consulting firms, etc. - are cash-based, people-centric, and relationship-driven businesses. The rapid changes to relationships - both professional and personal - caused by a pandemic are structural and deep. The definition of "business ...

Time - as they say - is money. It is not an uncommon fact that lawyers today spend unnecessary amounts of time seeking out information, and therefore unnecessary amounts of money. In well-established fields, change is often slow; perhaps none more so than in the legal world. Though progress is being made, uptake has been rather slow, much to the dismay of those in the information management business. Conversely to its cousin, case management, matter management should be thought of more in ...

Client experience (CX) is by no means a new concept. Ever since the service industry came into being, providing excellent customer service has been a key concern, with particular focus on how the client experiences the service they are receiving. Yet, client experience is rarely delivered well. Inconsistencies, errors, and an endlessly unanswered phone lead to frustration on the part of the client, and a feeling that they are worth little more than a signature on the monthly timesheet. So,...