Adam Stock discusses breaking down barriers to becoming more client focused. The main barriers are a lack of understanding of what client focus means, lack of buy-in from attorneys, lack of urgency to change, lack of understanding clients' perspectives, and lack of commitment to sustain efforts. Stock provides strategies to overcome each barrier, such as defining client focus as putting clients' interests first, showing how client focus increases profits and referrals to gain buy-in, advocating for change to create urgency, directly asking clients what they want, and implementing firm-wide training and processes to demonstrate commitment.

1. Breaking down barriers:
becoming more client
focused
Adam L. Stock
Allen Matkins

2. Background
22 years in marketing & business development
6 years in the legal industry
Primary buyer of outside legal services for
several companies
Developed a formal client service team program
and launched 30 teams

3. “Round up the usual suspects…”
Lack of understanding: What is “client focus”?
Lack of buy in: Why do it?
Lack of urgency: Why do it now?
Lack of perspective: What do our clients really
want?
Lack of resources: How can we do it without $$?
Lack of commitment: How can we sustain the
effort?

4. Barrier:
Lack of understanding

5. What is “client focus”?
Putting the clients’ interests at the center of
our business decisions
This plays out in:
 Information sharing & training
 Client surveys and teams
 Quality improvement program

6. Shift service delivery… from the lawyer

7. Shift service delivery… to the team

8. This means…
More client contact
Sharing information internally
Recognizing service beyond good legal
work
Asking the client what s/he wants and needs
and acting on it
Everyone is a “firm ambassador”

9. Who are our clients?
Client information

10. Who are our clients?
Business Trends
Competitive Intelligence

11. What services do we provide?
Services we provide

12. What services do we provide?

13. What services do we provide?

14. What services do we provide?

15. What services do we provide?

16. Barrier:
Lack of buy in

17. Clients who see their primary law
firms as best in client service deliver
nearly twice the spending
$1.15
Million $
$0.59
Spending on Primary Spending on Primary
Law Firm Law Firm Client sees
as BEST in Client Service
BTI Survey of Client Service Performance and Client Needs 2006

18. Also…
30% more profits
Word of mouth recommendations
Builds morale and productivity

19. How much buy-in do you really
need?
Build some successes and people will follow

20. Barrier:
Lack of urgency

21. Exploit a sense of urgency

22. Advocate for
change
Insanity
doing the same
thing over and
over again and
expecting
different results
Albert Einstein

23. Barrier:
Lack of perspective

24. What do clients really want?
Buy research
Ask them!

25. How clients define client focus
Put the Client's Needs First 29.6%
Understand the Client's Business 24.9%
Be Responsive 19.6%
Deliver Good Value 9.5%
Achieve the Client's Goals 5.8%
How Clients Hire, Fire and Spend: Landing the World's Best Clients 2006, BTI Consulting

26. There is no substitute for asking your
clients
Every client has different specific needs:
– Responsiveness
– Billing detail and formats
– Budgets and summaries
– Bench strength
– Business referrals
– Education
– Etc.
 Find out what the needs are and address them

27. The client review process

28. Barrier:
Lack of resources

29. Client feedback “on the cheap”
Clients invited to our
firm to tell us about:
– Their business
– What they like in law
firms
Thanks for organizing this event. From – What they don’t like in
my perspective, the presentation was as
enjoyable as it was informative. law firms
I cannot think of a better education
regarding client service than to hear it
– Their ideas of good
straight from the client in that fashion. client service
– Associate

31. Barrier:
Lack of commitment

32. How can we sustain the effort?
Provide ongoing training & celebrate
successes
Include the entire firm – show everyone how
s/he plays a part
Build a service improvement process and
employ Six Sigma techniques

34. It takes a “whole firm” to deliver
superior client service
Sample Client Service Improvement Checklist – everyone has a part to play
Client action plan Who
Introduce another practice group Attorneys
Managing partner visit with GC Management
Host a client event, Add client to Marketing
mailing lists, Perform a client survey
Set information alerts Library
Provide a customized billing format Billing/Finance
Create a Client Extranet IS, Secretaries /
Paralegals
Improve responsiveness Attorneys, Secretaries

35. Six Sigma methodology (DMAIC)
Define process improvement goals that are
consistent with customer demands
Measure key aspects of the current process and
collect relevant data
Analyze the data to verify cause-and-effect
relationships
Improve or optimize the process
Control and continuously monitor the process

36. Case study: improving our client
pitch process
Improving our pitches improves our win
rate & business
Challenges to address:
Preparation: Insufficient time to prepare
Customization: Not customized to the specific
needs of the client
Relationships & history: poor knowledge of
client/prospect and important relationships
Research: Poor knowledge of prospect priorities
and which law firms they use

37. Differentiation is primary in
competitive business presentations
and proposals
Level 1: Competence
– Technical capability of the lawyer or reputation of the firm
Level 2: Comparative performance
– Track record on similar matters as compared to other firms
and credentials in the industry
Level 3: Differentiation
– Creativity on a specific matter, mutually beneficial relationship
with buyer and perceived seamless service from the firm
 Firms spend too much time on levels 1 & 2 and
are unprepared to discuss level 3
WJF Institute, 2008

38. When we implement the full process
including research, pitch development
and refinement we get the best results
Ideal pursuit development process
Day 1 Day 7
Do research Develop pitch Refine/review
materials pitch
Identify Review Review Finalize
Target Research 1st Draft of Pitch
(Atty + BD) (Atty + BD) Pitch Materials
(Atty + BD) (Atty + BD)

39. “K. and I have interviewed patent litigators from
Boston, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Austin,
Los Angeles, Denver, the Bay Area, Portland,
and Seattle. I can honestly say that your team
was hands down the most impressive – by a
mile. Thank you all for being prepared, answering
our questions articulately and thoughtfully, and
for taking the time to meet with us.”
– Chief IP Counsel, Fortune 100 company

40. Results over one year
Win rate up >20%
Number of pitch requests has increased >2x
Average advanced notice is >week
Record level attorney satisfaction

41. Key to success: seeing beyond
the barrier
Don’t focus your energy on the barrier itself
Focus on the solution
Envision your firm beyond the barrier