Yesterday I identified 5 Reasons Law Firms Are Not Providing Extraordinary Service. Whatever the reason for the neglect in client service, the result will always be the same. The firm or practice group will become one of the firms fired or not recommended by the client.

Several years ago a regional manager of one of our building contractor clients who built complicated high tech buildings gave me a copy of Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. It is a great book that I frequently recommend to lawyers I coach. One of the main points in the book is to discover what the customer (client) wants and "deliver that plus one." 

In my construction law practice group, I sought to implement the "Raving Fans" client service concept in several ways:

  1. Interviewing our clients to find out what was important to them and then creating our Client Service Goals
  2. Beating our budget or the estimated time on the project
  3. Remaining consistent and avoiding surprises
  4. Conducting in-house workshops
  5. Sharing our legal research with our clients
  6. Sitting in on the client’s strategy meetings at no charge
  7. Sending copies of any article we found that might impact the client’s business— whether it was about a legal issue or not
  8. Brainstorming among ourselves and with our clients on other ways we could add value
  9. Putting an associate in the client’s office or on a construction project for a week at no charge.
  10. Conducting a program for the in-house lawyers on how to effectively manage outside counsel.

When you meet with lawyers in your firm or practice group, what will be on your list of ways to provide extraordinary service for your clients?