Here’s a 1993 list of “PRACTICAL TIPS ON PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT,” developed by the Marketing Legal Services And Client Relations Committee of the Law Practice Management Section, State Bar of Michigan. The list was compiled by David C. Sarnacki with contributions by: Charles N. Dewey, Jr., Grand Rapids; David J. Fisher, Saginaw; Howard J. Gourwitz, Southfield; Robert S. McKenzie, Mount Clemens; Glenn A. Opperthauser, Huntington Woods; Alan C. Roeder, Farmington Hills; David C. Sarnacki, Grand Rapids; Julie Savarino, Detroit; M. Diane Vogt, Detroit. How many of these tips still apply in 2004? Which work best today? Which do not? Submit your views as Comment to this post.
Client Maintenance
Communicate clearly and regularly with your clients. Talk to them in person and over the phone. Send letters and handwritten notes. Put them on the mailing list for any newsletter or communique. Have breakfast or lunch with them.
Always return client telephone calls that day or within 24 hours at the latest, or have a staff member do so if you are unavailable.
Smile when you answer the phone-you can’t help but sound more pleasant to speak with.
Don’t use a speaker phone unless absolutely essential.
Provide clients with all pertinent documents and correspondence relative to their case, together with a folder to keep them in which has your name, address and telephone number prominently displayed on the cover.
Review all correspondence before it is sent. Review both letters and envelopes for layout, presentation, typos, overall flow. Make sure the client receives a “clean” copy.
Place “Drafted by ______” on all instruments which you have drafted to show you are proud of the documentation and can be contacted if your client is seeking subsequent changes.
Keep your promises. When you mention a date by which a project is to be completed, the client expects it to be done by that date. Meet your client’s expectations.
Listen to clients. Discover their needs and identify their concerns. Respond promptly.
Meet at client’s office once in awhile instead of at your own.
Order a subscription to a trade publication which focuses on your client’s business.
Consider doing business with clients — use their services and products.
Send thank you notes to clients for retaining your firm’s services.
Send a card or newspaper clipping of a client acknowledging an award, promotion, speech.
Send birthday cards and congratulatory cards for special occasions to clients and former clients. Include client’s family members.
Send holiday cards to clients.
Always send a sympathy letter upon the death of someone you know.
Send announcements to clients regarding new legal developments or your own continuing legal education and advancement.
Send notes to clients on new laws or cases that might be of interest to them.
Review your rolodex for contacts you haven’t been in touch with lately.
Create and maintain a complete and accurate mailing list of past, present and potential clients.
Provide understandable and regular invoices to clients. If you have doubt about whether the invoice will be understandable or if there was an unexpected increase in the fees, consider a personal conference with the client or attach a letter or note explaining the invoice. Consider sending personal notes to clients to show how work is being done on their behalf and how much money they are saving.
Send thank you notes to clients for prompt payments.
Ask your clients how you are doing. How does your client feel about the firm’s service? The billings? The quality of work? The client’s relationship with people at the firm? Is there anything else the client wants from the firm?
Create a client survey which can be available in the reception area or be mailed to the clients or delivered to them at the initial interview. Make sure they understand it may be submitted anonymously if they prefer. Be sure to invite them to describe what they think you did particularly well and what they thought you did not do so well.
Require that fee arrangements are given to the client in writing.
Set forth a consistent and professional image.
Clean your office and remove or file all unnecessary clutter and files.
Ask yourself, “What is one thing I can do today to improve the quality of service I provide to my clients?”
Write a “thank you” note to a client when their case is over.
Don’t make clients wait in your office more than five minutes.
Make sure your entire staff projects the proper image to clients and conveys to them that they and their legal matters are of primary importance to you and your firm.
Monitor your receptionist to make sure that impeccable service and manners are displayed and given to clients, both on the telephone and in person. Call your own office frequently to see how clients are greeted (delays, number of rings, etc.).
Tell your receptionist if you expect a client and have the receptionist greet them warmly, by name.
Cross-Selling
Prepare and rehearse an answer to the often-asked question, “What kind of lawyer are you?” Be sure your answer includes the idea that you can help with any legal problem, either directly or through referral to someone else inside or outside your firm.
Inform clients at every opportunity of the full range of legal services that you or others in your firm are capable of providing.
Inform clients who employ others of the full range of legal services that you provide and can make available to their employees.
Inform clients of other services that you or your firm can provide directly or through referrals to experts available to you, even though those services may be non-legal in nature, such as how to invest and handle large settlements.
Start saying “No” to cases that are not good for you. Many lawyers hate to say “No” for fear of losing client base. Learn to recognize the types of cases and clients that will stretch your resources and increase stress.
Targeting
Schedule regular contact with past, present and potential clients each month. Treat these appointments as seriously as court dates. Face-to-face meetings are essential.
Develop a biography file on important clients, potential clients, and referral sources. Record significant information, relationships, dates, interests and activities.
Identify a minimum of one new business contact per month with whom you will have lunch.
Consider writing your witnesses and jurors after trial to thank them for their cooperation, time and service. They may remember you in the future.
When a client needs a witness for a legal document such as a will, consider asking the client to bring friends to your office. Write the witnesses to thank them and to focus their attention on the importance of having a will.
Referral Sources
Treat everyone as a potential client or referral source.
Inform all clients that you make time available for referrals.
When asked, “How’s business?”, never tell a client or potential client that you are “too busy”. This could be interpreted that you are too busy to properly handle a new matter.
Ask your colleagues if you can provide assistance to them.
Entertain other lawyers and persons who are in a position to refer clients.
Find out when your class reunion will be held and plan to attend.
Inform other lawyers or any person who is in a position to refer clients of the full range of legal services you provide.
Provide your spouse with business cards to hand to friends and acquaintances who may mention a legal matter.
Write a “thank you” note when someone refers a client to you.
Whenever you refer business, even if the potential client does not contact your referring lawyer, contact that lawyer by telephone and confirm in writing that you referred the matter. The lawyer will be grateful and might reciprocate, even if the referral lawyer does not receive the business.
Make an effort to reciprocate by referring business to those who refer business to you.
Professional & Community Activities
Get out in public. Become known by joining organizations and attending luncheons and other events. Participate in activities which (a) allow you to meet the type of people you are seeking as clients; (b) promote a political or social interest that you care about; or (c) enhance the quality of life in your community.
Let people know you are a lawyer and always carry a business card.
Select a community activity with a long range perspective. Seek leadership positions within the organization and try to become identified with the organization.
Participate in the bar. Become known among local attorneys and participate in activities that enhance the legal profession, including the delivery of pro bono services.
Sign up for a continuing legal education course in your field or a different one. Make an effort to meet other attendees, especially those who practice in different fields or other cities. Follow up with those attendees, keep in touch, and attempt to refer business to them. They will refer business to you.
Write an article to demonstrate your expertise in a particular field. Consider the audience you want to address (e.g., lawyers, a specific industry, the general public).
Go the extra step. Whether the activity relates to a community organization or a bar activity, volunteer for projects and treat them as if they were client matters.
Collaboration
Collaborate with another attorney in your firm in a joint marketing activity, such as a seminar, luncheon, presentation, article or other similar activity.
Encourage associates to learn the art of rainmaking and the importance of networking by bringing into the firm smaller matters that friends and relatives have. Support associate efforts in referral and pro bono programs.