The short opinion survey is one of the easiest, cheapest, and least used client development tools available to the law firm.

In a 1995 Harvard Business Review article entitled “Why Satisfied Clients Defect,” the authors pointed out the important distinction between satisfied clients and completely satisfied clients.  In markets where competition was intense, they noted a tremendous difference between the loyalty of satisfied and completely satisfied customers.  For instance, in the auto industry they found that even a slight drop from complete satisfaction resulted in an enormous drop in customer loyalty.

This phenomenon is not limited to manufactured products.  It …

This is a guest post by Gerry Riskin of Edge International on overcoming fee resistance with a client.

The first step in convincing a client of your value is to have confidence in yourself and the fees you charge.

Consumers want the very best price for any given product or service.  As a lawyer, you suggest a fee. Your client looks at you and says, “Gee, that’s a lot of money. It’s really a lot more than I had budgeted for, and I’m really concerned about that.” Or perhaps, “My CEO is concerned about our legal budget. Is there a …

One of the best ways to maintain a relationship with clients once the initial matter is over is to contact them regularly with information that will be of interest to them along with subtle guidance that lets them know that - whatever their next problem - you should be their first phone call.

At the Taste of TECHSHOW Dinner that we hosted back in April, one of the attendees, Kenneth Prochnow, a lawyer from Palo Alto, California, produced his business card, which was imprinted with a QR code. A couple of the more tech-savvy people at the table had QR code readers on their smartphones, and were quickly connected through this little code with Ken’s firm’s facebook fan page.

For those of you who as yet are only peripherally aware of QR codes, they are those little squares full of black and white squiggles that are starting to show up in …

Being more thoughtful, courteous and deliberative when you leave a voice mail message, particularly one for a client, can do wonders to make that client believe he or she has chosen the right attorney – and to recommend you to others.

At the beginning of every new case, give your client a roadmap that is a written chronology or frequently asked questions sheet for each particular type of matter that you handle, to guide your clients through the process.