NEW YORK – The Financial Times (FT) has shortlisted two Troutman Pepper initiatives for its 2022 Innovative Lawyers Awards North America. The firm’s client listening and value program, Troutman Pepper Plus, is up for an award in the Innovation in Client Delivery category, and its MobileOne app designed to improve employee experiences and work efficiencies is a finalist in the Innovation in People and Skills Management category.

Innovation in Client Delivery Finalist – Troutman Pepper Plus
Troutman Pepper Plus aims to connect clients with additional resources, create innovative solutions, and provide key insights to deliver efficiency and build stronger relationships. It combines the services of attorneys and skilled professionals across the firm to provide clients with tailored solutions in areas like client experience, innovation, diversity, pricing, legal project management, pro bono, and more.

Innovation in People and Skills Management Finalist – MobileOne
The firm’s MobileOne app was developed in-house and seeks to improve the employee experience by providing critical information all in one place for users. Standout features include those designed to facilitate face-to-face connections and professional development opportunities. Individuals, practices, and knowledge professionals use geolocation to “check in” and to identify who is in the office at any given time.

The annual FT Innovative Lawyers Awards North America report is developed by FT in partnership with RSGi Consulting. Winners are selected following a nomination cycle and extensive research that includes telephone interviews, questionnaires, and reviews. Market experts are also called in to assess the submissions and research.

Winners will be announced at a Dec. 5 awards dinner at Gotham Hall in New York.

About Troutman Pepper
Troutman Pepper is a national law firm with more than 1,200 attorneys strategically located in 23 U.S. cities. The firm’s litigation, transactional, and regulatory practices advise a diverse client base, from start-ups to multinational enterprises. The firm provides sophisticated legal solutions to clients’ most pressing business challenges, with depth across industry sectors, including energy, financial services, health sciences, insurance, and private equity, among others. Learn more at troutman.com.

When I’m coaching attorneys on strengthening client relationships, I often ask them to think about their last big purchase. Was it a good or bad experience? Why?

Law firm clients are buying a very specific product, but they want many of the same things that any of us want when making a purchase. Chief among these is a good experience.

Your experience with a product or service influences how you feel about that purchase. It determines whether you will purchase again from the same seller and whether you recommend that seller to others. A client who has a good experience is more likely to hire you again, while a client who has a bad experience may go out of their way to tell others not to work with you.

I’ve had some memorable purchasing experiences recently that reminded me of key tips for lawyers seeking to improve their clients’ experiences. Here are four easy ways to make, and keep, your clients happy.

Communicate Proactively and Respond Promptly

I recently completed some work on my house’s wood trim, and, while the end product was good, the experience was not.

Like many home improvement projects, mine was delayed several times. And while the delays did not bother me, the lack of communication did. I did not receive timely updates unless I asked for them, and when I encountered issues, it took some time to get a response, if I received one at all.

Responsiveness and communication are top concerns of law firm clients, too, and clients will sever relationships with firms that do not meet their expectations. If a case or deal faces a setback, or a deliverable is taking longer than expected, it’s critical for attorneys to proactively provide an update to the client. Clients should never have to ask about the status of a project, but if they do, it’s also crucial that you respond promptly.

Tip: Ask your clients if they would like to receive regular project updates on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and then make sure you deliver those updates – even if the update is “nothing new to report.” If something unexpected arises, communicate that change immediately.

Take Ownership and Honor the Engagement

The initial pitch for my home improvement project was impressive. The company’s owner showed deep subject matter expertise, had extensive references, and easily established rapport and trust. At that meeting, he told me that he would have a crew onsite for my job each day, and that he would personally oversee the work. When it came time for the project to begin, the “crew” was just one worker, and the owner showed up only to collect payment before promptly disappearing for vacation.

In-house teams regularly complain that law firms pull out all the stops when pitching for work, only to neglect the client after the engagement letter is signed. Clients are also annoyed when firms fail to follow through on promises made in the pitch, particularly regarding staffing. Firms will often include their most impressive, and busiest lawyers, in a pitch to win the work – only to staff the matter with someone who has more availability.

Tip: Make sure your pitches and RFP responses profile those who will do the work, including associates. And then check in with clients at the conclusion of a matter, or at some other regular interval, to see if they are happy with the team or if adjustments need to be made.

Personalize the Service

Members of Troutman Pepper’s Client Experience team traveled to Arizona this month for the firm’s partner retreat. As we waited for our flight in the airport lounge, we noted the long line for the avocado toast station. These were some of the busiest and most experienced travelers, but they were happy to queue for the made-to-order dish, which was personalized to their tastes.

We realized these frequent fliers are much like law firm clients. They are discerning customers, but they are willing to invest more time and money into products and services customized for them. While certain clients or matters may be similar, no two are ever exactly alike, and attorneys must look to each client’s unique needs when making decisions related to staffing, communication, budget, strategy, and more.

Tip: Make each client feel as if they are your only client. Ask regularly about their preferences and tailor your approach and work product to their needs. As more clients return to the office, check in to see whether preferences have changed and whether clients want increased face time with your team.

Ask for Feedback

Even if you deliver exactly what the client requested when hiring you – whether that’s winning a case or closing a deal – their perception of the experience will influence whether they hire you again. That’s why it’s so crucial to ask for post-matter feedback, even if you anticipate that the feedback will be negative.

When my home improvement project was finished, the company’s owner asked to schedule a time to pick up the last check. I asked him about a final project walkthrough, which we never had. He simply picked up payment, and that was the last I heard from him. So, when my neighbor asked if I would recommend the company for some work she needed done, I told her “no,” even though I was happy with the end product.

Tip: When you reach key milestones in a matter or when a matter concludes, ask your client for a brief call for the sole purpose of gathering feedback. Ask what went well, what didn’t, and what improvements you should make. Most importantly, do not react defensively to feedback, even if you disagree with it. Ask yourself “What part of this feedback is true?” and make a plan to address it. Soliciting and responding to post-project feedback can give you one final chance to ensure your client has a positive experience that results in them hiring you again.

Meet Erin Murphy

Erin works directly with the firm ‘s clients to understand and support their goals and priorities. Through client conversations and feedback interviews, Erin uncovers unmet needs, areas for collaboration, and opportunities to improve efficiency and efficacy. She then partners with our attorneys, clients, and other administrative teams to lead projects to improve the client experience, including advising on in-house best practices, designing and launching new technology solutions, and pursuing attorney-client partnerships related to pro bono and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In a pitch to a prospective client, it is common to see the general counsel ask attorneys to provide information on three topics: approach for the matter, proposed budget, and the unique value the firm could provide. Requests for information on “value” are becoming more and more frequent, with most RFPs asking specifically about value in addition to price.

Read the full article on Reuters. 

NEW YORK – Troutman Pepper has been named a 2022 American Lawyer Industry Awards finalist in the “Best Business Team” category. The American Lawyer Industry Awards honor the most exceptional lawyers, law firms, legal departments, and organizations in the country.

The “Best Business Team” award recognizes teams that have been allowed to, and have had, an identifiable impact on their organization, from how it is run to the client work it has brought in and anything in between. Troutman Pepper made the shortlist based on the work of its Client Care Office and its unique approach to client service and value.

Established in 2020, the Client Care team focuses on understanding and addressing clients’ goals and priorities and enhancing their experiences with the firm. The group partners with attorneys and professional staff to provide value to clients, develop creative and innovative solutions to meet clients’ needs, and ensure all clients receive consistently excellent service. Since its creation, the team has met with hundreds of firm clients to better understand what value means to them.

“At Troutman Pepper, we have professionalized the concepts of client service and value,” said Dan Pulka, the firm’s chief client care officer. “Our team ensures that the firm delivers on its promise of value, and we connect clients with the right resources and services to make a meaningful impact.”

Winners of the 2022 Industry Awards will be announced on November 10 at an awards reception in New York City.

About Troutman Pepper
Troutman Pepper is a national law firm with more than 1,200 attorneys strategically located in 23 U.S. cities. The firm’s litigation, transactional, and regulatory practices advise a diverse client base, from startups to multinational enterprises. The firm provides sophisticated legal solutions to clients’ most pressing business challenges, with depth across industry sectors, including energy, financial services, health sciences, insurance, and private equity, among others. Learn more at troutman.com.

Direct feedback from your client is the best way to understand what your client values and needs. And acting on that feedback is the clearest way to improve relationships and inform client development strategies. I have spoken with too many attorneys who think they are providing something the client values, only to hear a different message through client feedback.

So how do you seek honest and open client feedback? At Troutman Pepper, we use several feedback methods — from low-touch electronic surveys to high-touch one-on-one interviews — and our client listening program has grown to include various other methods for collecting more specific feedback. Increasingly, we are also seeing clients proactively provide feedback to their law firms, either directly or via the legal operations function. Feedback channels are becoming more sophisticated, and law firms that embrace this and purposefully seek feedback from clients will be seen favorably.

Below are some examples of different types of feedback, along with tips on how and when to use them.

Electronic Feedback Surveys

We most often see firms sending electronic feedback surveys to large groups of clients on an annual or semi-annual basis. These types of surveys are low-touch, high-value because they provide broad insights from a number of clients and high-level trends on which you can focus your efforts to improve relationships.

But you don’t need to wait until the next firmwide annual survey to quickly take the pulse of clients. Consider sending brief electronic feedback surveys whenever you want to check in on the relationship or to debrief on a recent matter. Pulse surveys — where you ask clients in a specific industry or area about a discrete issue — can also be helpful when trying to better understand what issues a client is facing or how the client will be impacted by a recent development.

One-on-One Feedback Interviews

Individual client interviews are a more targeted feedback method and can be implemented for a number of reasons. Individual interviews are less rigid in format than electronic surveys and allow the interviewer to dig deep into the client’s priorities and needs. As the interview is not about generating sales, the client may feel more open to providing insights into strategies or challenges, and the conversations almost always uncover opportunities that the client team can use to deepen the relationship.

When choosing clients for an interview, think beyond just those generating the most revenue. Consider clients with the most cross-practice need, those you feel have longer-term revenue-generating potential, or those who are facing change within the relationship or organization – management changes, retirements, acquisitions, business expansion, etc. And make sure your interviews are conducted by a third party who isn’t working with the client day to day. Clients often feel more open to providing insights into strategies or challenges when speaking with an objective party who will not take the feedback personally.

Year-End / Annual Check-Ins

Like one-on-one interviews, consider reaching out to clients for an in-depth discussion on an annual basis. These interviews can be conducted at the beginning or end of a year, or could be timed to coincide with a client’s annual budgeting or performance management process.

When conducting an annual check-in, you should ask about:

• How your firm can help the client meet performance management metrics
• How best to work with legal operations
• Financial measurements the client is tracking for outside counsel
• Emerging areas of importance the client might be facing in the upcoming year
• Strategic priorities, and whether these have changed since the last time you asked
• How your client finds working with your team and things they specifically like or do not like about that interaction, etc.

End-of-Matter Check-Ins

End-of-matter check-ins are great for evaluating how both your client and your firm feel about a specific matter, the outcome, the process, the team, and more. When a significant matter concludes, consider asking clients to provide feedback via an electronic survey or an individual interview. Include a mix of set questions (e.g., Did we meet budget expectations?) and open-ended questions (e.g., What could we have done better?) to gain the most insight.

We recently conducted an end-of-matter survey in which the client was candid about areas for improvement and key areas of interest. Had we not asked, we would not have known about these issues of importance and would not have been able to build them into our ongoing client development strategy.

Outside Counsel Scorecards

As clients are asked to do more with less, scorecards are emerging as a way to evaluate outside counsel. In our experience, we have seen scorecards evaluating firms purely on financial metrics, and we have seen scorecards providing additional detail on team performance and overall experience working with the firm.

While you won’t be able to decide whether you are evaluated via a scorecard, you can choose to be active in the process. If clients offer to meet to discuss the scorecard, you should take advantage of it. If clients don’t offer a meeting, ask for one.

Use the scorecard as an opportunity to make improvements in the client relationship and provide additional value based on the feedback. As one example, we began creating client-specific thought leadership after a scorecard we received mentioned a need for additional industry insights.

RFP Post-Mortems

It’s rare to win every RFP you submit, but finding out why you lost an RFP is a valuable exercise. Understanding why you were not selected can provide important intel for future responses.

When you hear you have lost an RFP, consider having the relationship partner or a neutral third party call the client to ask for feedback on the RFP. Be sure to ask questions about how the hiring decision was made, who had decision-making power, and what the winning firm did successfully. Asking for this feedback shows the client you are interested in growing the relationship and can result in additional work outside the scope of the RFP.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Metrics

Clients are increasingly telling us that diversity, equity, and inclusion are top of mind, and that they are looking closely at firms’ efforts to support diverse individuals and teams. We’re seeing more and more clients asking for DEI metrics and engaging with us on DEI topics in feedback interviews. When clients ask for DEI info, use it as an opportunity to learn more about their priorities and how you can partner with them on DEI initiatives.

For example, in a recent client interview, we learned that DEI is personally important to one of our client contacts. She indicated her willingness to help support a new attorney rising in the ranks if they are diverse. We made sure we followed up on that comment with additional feedback conversations centered on DEI, looping in our internal DEI team to discuss opportunities for collaboration related to DEI. Since those conversations, the client has continued to refer new matters to us.

Feedback comes in all shapes and forms and can be administered in general or customized ways. Who you will seek feedback from, and the format of that ask, will be determined by how you intend to use the feedback. Ultimately, all feedback — positive, neutral, or negative — is valuable. If you are open to acting on what you hear, you can learn a lot about your client.

Meet Patricia Ellard

With a background in competitive intelligence and strategic thinking, Patricia brings more than 20 years of experience in global management consulting and law firms to her role as director of client care analytics & service design. A highly inquisitive person with a passion for exploring, Patricia uses competitive intelligence sources and tactics combined with real-time client feedback to work with Troutman Pepper’s Client Care and Innovation offices to develop tailored solutions for clients’ problems. Working collaboratively with lawyers and clients, Patricia helps establish the foundation for successful client service.

One of the many benefits of receiving client feedback is that it is often candid. Clients are not shy about stating what they want or need and what can be improved. This gives attorneys a great roadmap for client development. The problem is, once you have translated client feedback into client development action items, how do keep yourself accountable for following through?

In last month’s Client Care Corner, my colleague Erin Murphy provided some helpful tips on creating SMART objectives — ways to help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself. I know our lawyers appreciate the time clients take to provide feedback and want to build on the opportunities it creates. I also know how easy it is for client work to take over and for well-intentioned client development initiatives to take a back seat. This is where accountability comes in.

The only true way to achieve measurable goals is to have a system in place that is easy to follow and provides accountability. The system you develop should consist of regular activities you practice to keep you on task. One thing I have learned, and that we reiterate when talking to lawyers, is that there is no one system or set of regular activities that works for everyone. If there were a magic system, we would all be following it! Finding what works for you requires time and effort and trial and error. And, honestly, the process likely will result in a few failures before you settle on something that works for you.

There are numerous resources available that provide tips on developing an accountability system (including, but not limited to, Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and The Power of Good Habits by MindTools).

Here are a few concepts that have resonated with me:

Prioritize: In Troutman Pepper’s client feedback program, feedback is delivered with a list of recommendations for follow-up. Recommendations are focused on better understanding the business of the client and also on understanding the professional priorities of the individuals with whom we regularly work. Prioritize those recommendations into short-, medium-, and longer-term items. Setting a time frame helps to create a follow-up plan that is manageable, aids in the development of SMART objectives, and helps identify which team members should be involved.

Involve your team: Getting the team involved has numerous benefits. Team members will develop a better understanding of the client industry or environment, and they will understand how their strengths contribute to the bigger-picture needs and wants of the client. Your team will also feel invested in the relationship and accountable to one another. Involving your team spreads the load so you are not doing everything yourself. Knowing you are not alone and that your part of the work often dictates when someone else can start on their part is a good motivator to get things done.

Report regularly: Checking in on a regular basis will help keep you and your team on track. Check-ins can take several forms, depending on the size or complexity of the objectives you are working with. They can be formal meetings, email updates, phone conversations, online chats, etc. Communicating regularly helps keep the team focused on the immediate objectives, provides a forum for learning and sharing knowledge, and provides the ability to adjust deadlines or reassign tasks based on workload. Make each team member’s system for keeping on track part of the discussion. Hearing how each other works and talking through what works for one or another (Excel sheets, email flags, assigning Outlook tasks, etc.) will help each of you develop and tweak your own set of regular activities that, combined, create your accountability system.

Involve your client: The ultimate goal of implementing an accountability system is making sure it works. I have found that working against a “client” deadline is a good motivator to getting something finished. Involving your client in the objectives you set and the time frame for delivery will ensure that you and your client are on the same page, and minimizes the chance that tasks drop off the radar if something more important comes up. Having regular meetings, coffees, or video calls with your client means you and your team have a calendar deadline to keep accountable to. It demonstrates your commitment and shows your client that you have them top of mind, even when there is no billable work involved.

Keeping on task and not pushing things from today’s to-do list to tomorrow’s to-do list is a challenge for all of us. Finding the system to keep on top of our tasks takes time, but once you have that system in place, it can be applied to all areas of life — professional and personal. In my experience, working in small, manageable chunks and working with someone are the most proven ways to maintain accountability. I am less likely to cancel or postpone when I know my buddy is coming to our meeting with their task completed.

Meet Patricia Ellard
With a background in competitive intelligence and strategic thinking, Patricia brings more than 20 years of experience in global management consulting and law firms to her role as director of client care analytics + service design. A highly inquisitive person with a passion for exploring, Patricia uses competitive intelligence sources and tactics combined with real-time client feedback to work with Troutman Pepper’s Client Care and Innovation offices to develop tailored solutions for clients’ problems. Working collaboratively with lawyers and clients, Patricia helps establish the foundation for successful client service.

 

At the end of last year, several Troutman Pepper attorneys asked my Client Care team to report on trends we saw in the last 12 months and our advice for 2022.

It was the perfect opportunity for me to reflect on everything I learned last year. And after 100 client meetings, more than 50 in-depth client feedback interviews, and a large-scale electronic survey of hundreds of firm clients, I learned a lot.

Here are the trends we saw last year:

Scorecards: More and more clients are proactively rating and ranking their outside firms via an outside counsel scorecard. We saw an increasing number of these in 2021 and have heard from clients as recently as last month that they are actively looking into launching scorecards if they haven’t already. Each client has a different approach, with some just focusing on financials and others providing quantitative and qualitative feedback from multiple in-house representatives. If you’re outside counsel and you haven’t yet been exposed to the scorecard process, you likely will in the next two years. Troutman Pepper’s Client Care Office is doing a lot of scorecard work, from helping our attorneys respond to feedback to advising clients on how to develop and launch a scorecard.

Focus on DEI: In 2020, clients began talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion more than ever. In 2021, we saw clients actually begin to take action. My Client Care team is working with the firm’s DEI group on a number of client-facing DEI projects, and we have had a record number of conversations with clients about their DEI efforts. Those clients that haven’t yet asked for DEI metrics or set benchmarks for outside counsel are looking to do so in the next year. It’s more important now than ever before to critically look at the diversity of your teams and ensure you are providing meaningful work opportunities across demographics.

Value: In 2021, we saw a significant number of RFPs asking about value and how the firm will provide value beyond traditional legal services. This theme was supported by client conversations on the same topic. With record increases in the cost of legal services industrywide, clients are looking closely at their outside firms to make sure they are getting the most bang for their buck. High-quality attorneys and legal services are table stakes, and clients want to see true business partners who are looking for ways to make clients’ jobs easier in addition to successfully handling matters.

Contract Lifecycle Management: In client interviews last year, the topic of contract lifecycle management came up repeatedly. Clients are dealing with large volumes of contracts, and are realizing their current systems for review and processing are inadequate. At Troutman Pepper, we are working to address this problem. For some clients that aren’t ready for an enterprise-grade solution, we have built technology tools to help them manage CLM. For other clients with more significant CLM needs, we have connected them with our attorney experts on the subject, who work with clients to select and implement their preferred vendor’s CLM solution.

Horizon Scanning: The top comment we heard in our electronic feedback survey and client interviews is that clients want attorneys to be strategic thinkers who look around corners and spot issues before they become problems. This is not an easy skill, and it requires deep knowledge of your client and their business, but it’s the best way to provide value. Clients don’t just want you to handle the matter for which you’re retained. They want you to tell them how to be better at what they do and what they should be looking at next.

And here’s the advice we’re giving to attorneys in the new year:

Talk to Your Clients: With packed schedules and billable demands, it’s easy to forget the relationship management that needs to occur to keep clients loyal to your firm. Prepare a list of your top clients and prospects and develop a plan to reach out to each of them just to check in, off the clock. Ask about priorities for the next year, what’s keeping them up at night, and how they’re weathering the latest pandemic setbacks. If you give clients room to talk, you might be amazed at their candor and the opportunities for growth they will share.

Develop Client-Centric Solutions: In 2021, we saw more clients asking about value and technology, but many firms miss the mark in this area. Their biggest mistake: developing solutions in a silo without client input. If you are looking to add value to a client relationship, your best first step is to have a conversation with the client about their needs and pain points and how you may be able to help. Developing a tech solution, program, or initiative and getting client engagement on the back end is much less successful.

Check in on Client Preferences: In 2021, Troutman Pepper’s Client Care Office talked to dozens of clients about their preferences on everything from communication to work product to staffing. What we learned was that clients’ preferences are more well-defined than ever. After almost two years of working remotely, we’ve seen Zoom burnout, a greater emphasis on communicating succinctly, and differing levels of comfort with in-person events. Use this insight as an opportunity to have a check in with your clients to make sure you’re working efficiently and effectively in the manner in which they prefer.

As we approach March, how are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? If you are not as far along as you had hoped, you are not alone. That’s because most people set resolutions that are broad or unrealistic. In Troutman Pepper’s Client Development and Executive Leadership Program, we tell our partners that resolutions must be “SMART” — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound — to be successful.

The idea of SMART objectives is not new, but it can be challenging for attorneys to apply to their business development goals. Luckily, there is an easy way to gain the intel you need to set SMART objectives — engaging in client feedback.

Here are some tips to get you back on track with your resolutions:

Specific: A broad objective sets you up for failure because it can be difficult to know where to start. If your objective is to “grow your book of business,” where do you concentrate your efforts? A well-defined objective that is focused on a particular client, industry, or type of work has a much greater chance of success. Client feedback can help narrow your objective by focusing on where there is true opportunity. Instead of “growing your book of business,” you can aim to be retained for a new matter that your client identified as a priority in feedback.

Measurable: An objective that is not measurable has no chance of success. For our example of “growing your book of business,” how do you know when you have achieved your objective? When you increase your fees received? When you add new clients? Again, client feedback can help you define clear metrics around your goal. Ask your clients about the issues they are facing, what their budget looks like, and whether there are barriers to hiring outside counsel. Then, set a measurable goal that reflects what you have learned.

Attainable: Your objectives should be bold and challenging, but not so difficult that they cannot be realistically achieved. For example, setting a goal of doubling your work for a particular client in 2022 is specific and measurable — but if that client is going through the process of consolidating outside counsel, your objective may not be achievable no matter your efforts. Gathering client feedback will help you understand your clients’ needs and goals to make sure your objectives align with theirs.

Relevant: When we coach partners on client development, we tell them they must make sure the client is buying what they are offering. You should not set a goal of increasing litigation work with a client that is expecting to wrap up most of their litigation this year. Client feedback can help you clarify true client needs so you can set an objective that is relevant to those needs.

Time-Based: Beware the ongoing objective. All objectives need to have a clear end date to keep you motivated and on track. And client feedback can help you set end dates that are achievable and client-focused. Consider your client’s upcoming priorities, deadlines, and important company developments in setting the time period to achieve your objective.

Your approach to soliciting client feedback will look different for each client — from formal feedback interviews to quick relationship check-ins — but, no matter the format, you are sure to receive valuable insight that will help you create achievable, client-centric goals.

This month, Troutman Pepper held its first associates retreat. The event included plenty of time for associates to build relationships in person after two years of remote working, as well as substantive programming to help them enhance their practice and learn more about the firm.

I had the privilege of attending the retreat and presenting on “The Value of Value.” In our session, we discussed clients’ increasing focus on value and how the Client Care Office is working with associates to address clients’ needs and provide exceptional service.

Several associates who attended my session also attended a panel with Troutman Pepper alumni who now work in-house. They told me that the sessions mirrored each other, with in-house counsel emphasizing the importance of value and how associates can build strong client relationships.

Below are a few of the suggestions I shared with associates on how they can add value. (Tip: They’re relevant for partners and counsel, too!)

1. Understand a client’s communication and work product preferences — and share them with your team.

One of the easiest ways for associates to provide value is by tailoring your communication and work product to your clients’ preferences. If a client prefers phone calls over emails, be sure to call them with updates. If they ask for an executive summary at the top of each memo, make sure that is always included. As you learn about a client’s preferences, share them with your team to ensure the client receives a consistent level of service.

When it comes to preferences, it’s important to remember your clients may be internal, too. Whether it’s a partner who wants daily status updates or a senior associate who loves the Oxford comma, tailoring your work to these preferences will decrease friction and build strong relationships.

2. Learn about a client’s business and industry — and share relevant news and updates.

In feedback interviews, clients often tell us that the best way to provide value is by looking around corners and sharing proactive insights and advice. Associates can take an active role in this process, but you need to understand the client’s business and industry first.

Set up news alerts for yourself on key clients, read their public filings, and ask questions in meetings about the client’s priorities and goals. As you learn more about the client, look for news that may affect them — like newly issued regulations and court decisions and developments involving their competitors. Share the news with the client and your internal team, and always be sure to include context as to why it matters.

3. Help prepare CLE classes, training, and client alerts — and tailor them to your clients’ needs.

In-house teams have many competing demands for their time and budget dollars, and often find that they need to go outside the company for training. By developing tailored training and thought leadership for clients, you not only provide value to in-house teams — you also enhance your own knowledge of the key issues and trends affecting clients.

CLEs and articles have internal benefits, too. By working with partners and other associates on these materials, you provide value to your internal clients and develop stronger relationships that lead to work opportunities.

4. Look for ways to improve efficiencies, including via technology.

Associates are often in a unique position to identify better ways of working. Unburdened by years of ingrained habits, associates can spot inefficiencies in processes and provide value by suggesting improvements that save time and enhance work product. At Troutman Pepper, one way we do this is by developing bespoke technology solutions in partnership with our Innovation team. Associates often take a lead role in building web-based and mobile solutions for clients and internal teams that improve communication, foster collaboration, and streamline task and deadline management.

5. Share what you learn from other clients.

In feedback interviews, clients regularly tell us how much they value lawyers who can apply learnings from one client to another. Associates can start integrating this habit into their practices early in their careers. If you see one client facing regulatory scrutiny, consider how other clients may wish to prepare to face the same scrutiny. If you write a client alert tailored for one client, think about whether other clients in the same industry may also be interested in the topic. 

Meet Dan Pulka
As Chief Client Care Officer, Dan leads a group of dedicated client care team members who focus on providing value to clients, developing creative and innovative solutions to clients’ needs, and ensuring all clients receive consistently excellent service. Dan has more than 20 years of experience in leading marketing, business development, and client experience efforts for professional services firms. He has launched law firm client feedback and key client programs, worked with attorneys to build new multidisciplinary practices, developed client-facing products and technology solutions, and incorporated client care into attorney and practice group business planning.

Troutman Pepper’s Client Care team regularly coaches our attorneys on strengthening client relationships as a strategy to grow their business. Our coaching emphasizes that successful business development prioritizes building relationships, making connections, and adding value through several meaningful touchpoints. This personalized approach is more impactful than throwing a fishing pole into the vast sea of RFP solicitations and blind pitches and hoping that something bites. Sustained, meaningful touches with clients are key to building the rapport, trust, and stickiness that make clients want to give attorneys their business.

Attorneys commonly confuse ordinary touchpoints, such as sending emails and returning client phone calls, with meaningful touches. Touches are meaningful when they are responsive to client needs, priorities, and pain points. When touchpoints focus on making a client’s life easier by adding value, making connections, and offering solutions, the business development impact is extraordinary.

A common marketing principle is that it takes seven to nine meaningful touchpoints with a prospect or client before they decide to give you work. This article demonstrates how a Troutman Pepper attorney, with coaching from the Client Care team, applied the meaningful touches principle to a key client relationship over nine months in 2021 — and the impressive results of her efforts. It also highlights best practices for other attorneys who want to better serve clients and increase their work through sustained, meaningful contact with clients.

Nine Meaningful Touches

Touchpoint 1 – February 2021: Following some significant corporate changes, the client invited its outside law firms to discuss the client relationship and the client’s priorities. Troutman Pepper used the meeting as an opportunity to plant seeds for follow-up discussions with the client about our Client Care and Innovation departments’ feedback and value programs.

• Best practice: When meeting with clients about their goals and priorities, use questions to demonstrate intellectual curiosity and uncover client needs, actively listen to the client’s responses, and request a follow-up meeting to offer value adds related to what you learned. Use phrases like “would it be helpful if” to advance the conversation in ways that are meaningful to the client.

Touchpoint 2 – May 2021: Troutman Pepper participated in a virtual summit for the client’s outside law firms. Each firm was asked to choose two to three questions to address during the summit. Troutman Pepper presented on COVID-driven practice trends and legal tech tools and explained the practical application of the topics.

• Best practice: When you have an opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership to a client, focus on trending topics to show that you are informed and ahead of the curve, explain why the topic is important to the client’s business, and provide practical examples of what the client should do now and what they should anticipate in the future.

Touchpoints 3 & 4 – June-July 2021: The Client Care and Innovation teams presented a menu of value offerings to the client, including a web-based portal, mobile app, financial dashboard, and attorney assignment software that enables clients to track the diversity of attorneys staffing their matters. The client remarked that Troutman Pepper’s technology offerings are a standout among other law firms they have worked with.

Following that initial presentation, the Client Care and Innovation teams met with the client for more in-depth conversations about innovation and technology solutions – a billing narrative analytics program, financial dashboard, and web-based and mobile apps – and to determine which of these solutions would be most valuable. Then, the firm designed a prototype outside counsel scorecard the client could use to evaluate all outside counsel and best practices for deploying the scorecard.

• Best practice: Troutman Pepper’s value programs and technology solutions are a clear differentiator for the firm in the market. Attorneys should actively seek opportunities to promote value-add tools and solutions with clients, emphasizing a “one size fits one” approach to ensure that each solution is tailored to the client’s individual needs.

Touchpoint 5 – August 2021: Troutman Pepper hosted two business development meetings between the client and partners from a cross-section of the firm to begin discussing how the firm could meet the client’s legal and business needs and add value to the relationship. The meetings were conversational in tone, guided by a series of prepared questions focused on the client – not on Troutman Pepper. Before the meeting, the attorney gained buy-in from the client’s general counsel on the meeting format. The client appreciated the opportunity to have a two-sided discussion rather than passively listen to a prepared presentation about the firm’s capabilities.

• Best practice: There are six steps to effective business development meetings: (1) have a clear purpose in mind and ensure client alignment with your purpose; (2) honor the time contract for the meeting; (3) ask authentic, open-ended questions; (4) listen and learn by acknowledging, rephrasing, and summarizing the client’s response and by making suggestions; (5) align your communication style with the client’s by matching their pace, priorities, and perceptions; and (6) agree on next steps together with the client and own the next step to be sure that it happens.

Touchpoint 6 – September 2021: At the client’s request, the relationship attorney assisted one of its employees with landing a role at Troutman Pepper after she was unable to relocate to continue her position with the client.

• Best practice: When it comes to adding value for clients, think broadly and outside the box. At its core, strengthening client relationships is about making a client’s life easier and showing that you care, and this can occur through a variety of forms. Great clients take care of their people, and client feedback increasingly shows that clients expect their outside law firms to also treat their people well — from the administrative assistant through the legal and business executives. Look for opportunities to help solve problems affecting both the business and its people.

Touchpoint 7 – September 2021: Troutman Pepper met with the client to discuss contract lifecycle management (CLM) in the context of the client’s processes and culture. The relationship attorney introduced a colleague at the firm who specializes in CLM who suggested specific steps the client could take to gain more value from its CLM vendor. Following the meeting, he then provided a brief assessment of the client’s CLM system at no cost.

• Best practice: Attorneys see the most success with client development when they focus on understanding the client’s problems in the context of its own culture and when they look for opportunities to collaborate with one another. Identify client needs that are important, but that you may not be able to solve yourself, and then connect the client with people who can.

Touchpoint 8 – September 2021: The firm presented a conflicts of interest CLE program to the client’s law department to help the client fulfill its commitment to provide free CLE credit for its attorneys.

• Best practice: Helping your clients shine in the eyes of superiors and teammates is one of the best ways to add value. Ask clients about their performance goals, bandwidth gaps, how client representatives are evaluated, and how you can help them meet their performance targets.

Touchpoint 9 – October 2021: The Troutman Pepper relationship attorney met with the client’s regulatory and environmental teams to discuss specific pain points and priorities for those teams. During these conversations, the client suggested several ways Troutman Pepper could add value and advance the relationship, including inviting the client to meaningful events and assisting the new legal operations director with advancing her goals.

• Best practice: When a client gives you specific suggestions for adding value, implement them immediately. It’s an easy lift to add client contacts to the firm’s database so they begin receiving invitations to events and thought leadership. Also look for unique events that align with the client’s business, industry, and values and extend invitations to those events.

Immediately after the completion of these nine meaningful touchpoints, the client awarded Troutman Pepper two new matters in November 2021. The firm already has earned significant revenue from the new engagements and has since been referred additional matters. Throughout the various touchpoints described above, and through more minor interactions occurring between these events, such as sending gifts to acknowledge milestones, the attorney prioritized building relationships, making connections, and adding value.

Meet Linda Sanders
Linda brings more than 25 years of legal industry experience to her role as Director of Client Care, including leadership roles in business development, continuing legal education, and family and juvenile court administration. She combines her formal legal training, program development, project management, and relationship management skills to deliver high-quality, high-impact results for clients and attorneys. Linda focuses on providing value to clients, developing creative and innovative solutions to client needs, and ensuring clients receive consistently excellent service.

Linda received her bachelor’s degree in English from Spelman College and her Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law. She is an active member of the Legal Marketing Association.