There is no getting away from the fact that the vast majority of law firm partners hate the idea of someone going and talking to their clients to get feedback on their performance. They are so resistant to this that it is rare to find law firms with a proper client feedback programme that is both independent, comprehensive and regular. So why is this?
Understanding the psyche of a law firm partner
Well, to understand this behaviour, you need to understand the psyche of a law firm partner. These are very clever people who have succeeded at every step of their journey to partner: grade A students at school, place at a good university, sailed through law school, trained at a top law firm, and progressed to partner whilst many of their peers fell by the wayside. They have worked hard and made many sacrifices to get to the top of their profession. They are the crème de la crème and don’t they know it! And on their journey to the top, they have developed a degree of arrogance and superiority which does not lend itself to outside scrutiny; they know they are the best and no one can tell them any different, especially clients. In fact, clients are lucky to have their advice.
How else can you explain a profession enthralled by the legal directories which pander to the egos of these individuals, who love to see themselves ranked ahead of their peers in their chosen area of legal practice?
And yet this outer veneer often hides a high degree of insecurity: a fear of failing. Of failing to meet their billing targets, of failing to execute a transaction, of failing to live up to their colleagues’ expectations, of failing to win enough new business, of failing to move up the equity … and the list goes on.
The logic of asking clients for feedback to identify areas for improvement, weaknesses in other incumbent law firms’ service, and new areas of work based on the client’s plans is lost on them. They just see the downside: at best, the client will be satisfied with me, but the firm expects this; at worst, the client will be critical of me, and I will be held to account internally in the firm as a ‘failure’! If I keep others away from asking questions of my client, I will be safe.
How to overcome resistance to client feedback
So, what to do to overcome this resistance? There’s no simple answer, but a combination of the following will help:
Explain the research process, including why using an independent 3rd party research consultancy is best. Set out the benefits, the main ones being to identify service failings, which can then be corrected, and to identify additional streams of work. And highlight, through using research findings, that clients like to give feedback.
Explain how the results of the feedback are going to be communicated and how this will be undertaken sensitively; this is not a witch hunt to identify and shame poorly performing partners.
Get senior management no board. They must communicate and support the position that this is important to the success of the firm and participation is non-negotiable. There may be rare exceptions when seeking feedback is not appropriate, e.g., when the client doesn’t want to, but all partners are expected to take part.
Run an initial pilot phase with partners who can see the value and are happy to have their clients included. Use the lessons learned from the pilot to educate the remaining partners on the benefits of structured client feedback and to bring them on board.
Celebrate internally, and externally if appropriate, aggregated stats which show how the client feedback programme is benefiting both the firm and its clients. Use case studies involving clients to highlight success.
This issue is a tough nut to crack for those working in law firm marketing and BD, but the benefits from having such feedback will make it much easier to demonstrate ROI and the value of the function, as well as prioritising programmes. Good luck!
Kevin Wheeler has been advising law firms on all aspects of marketing and BD for more than 30 years. Wheeler Associates delivers client listening programmes to law firms, and Kevin has personally undertaken hundreds of in-depth interviews with senior users/buyers of legal advisory services. He can be contacted at [email protected]