Satisfied clients aren't enough: Ed Poll encourages lawyers to cultivate loyal clients
Ed Poll practiced law for 25 years and has been consulting lawyers through LawBiz Management Co. for the past 20 years. He is also the author of 13 books about practicing management and growing a law practice. Last month, Poll gave the keynote address at Lexis/Nexis Practice Management Annual Client Conference and chaired the Midwestern Law Firm Management Conference. Here he talks about the main message of his keynote address: customer service.
You recently gave the keynote address at the Lexis/Nexis Practice Management Annual Client Conference, where you talked about satisfied versus loyal clients. Can you explain this concept?
When they’re satisfied, that’s great. Now you handle another matter for this client. The issue becomes, well, they were satisfied the first time. So now you have to do something more to keep that same client satisfied. Now the bar’s raised and there becomes a limitation on what you can continue to do to increase it. If you actually have a partnership with your client in dealing with their matters, then you don't have to worry about it because you've got a loyal client.
What’s the advantage of a loyal client?
Obviously you have to be price competitive. Obviously you have to be competent in handling their matters. But they’re going to give you the opportunity to adjust your price to meet the competition. They’re not going to require you to beat the competition necessarily. That’s a loyal client.
Do lawyers understand this?
By in large, they don't. We’re lucky if lawyers satisfy the clients. If that were not the case, you wouldn't have all the negative jokes about lawyers.
Some would say social media is one way to connect with clients. How do you use social media?
My attitude is that I’m a consultant. If I’m not necessarily at the bleeding edge but at the leading edge of the profession, then I cannot effectively coach and consult my clients. And blogging was new so I decided, “Alright I’ll try it.” I’ve done podcasting for the same reason. I was the only one doing audio magazines on a regular basis. We did a one-hour audio tape every month and then technology changed and I was able to convert the audio magazine into a podcast. If you go to my website you’ll see how many hundreds of interviews I’ve done. I’ve also got Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter (@LawBiz).
How did people respond to your keynote address?
The comments were really great. I was super pleased. Apparently I hit a nerve with a lot of people there about what I said. One of the things that came out was the importance of our Law Biz Forum (www.lawbizforum.com). It’s a community for lawyers and this is something that lawyers are hungry for because, no matter what size law firm they’re in, they all wind up being and feeling alone. So when they join Law Biz Forum, they can talk to other lawyers around the country about specific problems. There’s a dialogue that’s available for them. Right now we have about 200 lawyers and it’s growing. And the price is right—it’s free.
