How to review client satisfaction - Part 5

A few hours after I posted Part 4 of this series, I saw persuasive responses first by Dan Hull, then by Michelle Golden, then Dan again (reacting to Michelle), then Patrick Lamb, then Michelle again and Dan again. They dug into many details, but generally argued that client satisfaction interviews should be conducted by outside consultants, not by senior partners as I had recommended.

Their arguments were compelling, so I decided to talk it over with the author of my favorite article on the topic, Peter Johnson.

Peter has conducted dozens of client satisfaction interviews as a principal at Law Practice Consultants, and started by saying “There are at least 6 schools of thought on the topic,” so it’s important to focus on the central issue. “The point of the interview is to show clients you care about their satisfaction and are invested in the relationship.”

Peter believes that personal characteristics and skills are as important regardless of whether interviewers come from inside or outside. A successful interviewer must be able to build rapport, will understand what questions to ask and know how to direct the discussion.

After I talked to Peter for a while, I decided that I should have put more emphasis on my subtle final conclusion: the decision should be made case by case. As I wrote in Part 4, each decision should be “based on the individuals who are involved and the fundamental marketing question: what will make this particular client happy? A law firm surveying 10 clients could therefore decide to use partners with 5 clients and outside consultants with the rest.”

Peter also reminded me that we all agree on the single most important fact: Law firms must talk to their clients and bring the voice of the client into the firm. This matters more than any disagreements about exactly how to conduct the meetings. So if this debate leads to more interviews, we should all be happy. But, Peter warned: “It would be a real shame if law firms used arguments like this as an excuse to postpone meeting with their clients.”

Comments

[Leo Bottary]

I received a link to your site from Rob Millard, who referenced one of my posts on his blog this morning. I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on surveys. For me, the determining factor in answering the many questions raised is trust. Do your clients really trust that you care about them? If they do, selling as part of the process is no problem. If they do, you know they'll tell you the truth - good and bad about the relationship, without having to involve a third party to find out. The higher the trust, the better. To me, building trust is the primary purpose of the entire client service survey exercise, and should serve as the factor that guides your approach with each and every client.