The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

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The hard truth is, landing new clients is only the beginning of a harder task: keeping them. Now the real work begins as you find a ways to keep those clients you have worked so hard to get. 

Along with new clients comes the inherent need for more time to spend on their cases. Now the problem is not enough new clients but work flow and time management to handle them all. With such a limited schedule, how do you keep them happy so they don't run off and hire your competition? 

It is a situation that many attorneys find themselves in, and the stress and frustration is overwhelming at times. The following five strategies are designed to help you maintain a good working relationship with your new client:

1. Begin work on the case immediately. As soon as the client signs on, spend time that day or the next working on the case. This is not only to protect your client's best legal interests, but also to show them their need for immediate legal help. It also shows them that you genuinely care about them. 

2. Send the client some form of written communication within 48 hours of taking the case. It isn't enough to start working immediately on their case. You must show that you are working and making progress by e-mailing them a copy of everything you do. Consider time stamping your e-mails so that your client sees you have begun working on their case almost as soon as you landed it. 

It is also wise to send a tangible copy of all of your communications with your client. Often, it is easier for people to pay for services they can actually visualize. When they can see some physical evidence of your work, it seems worth more to them. 

Follow-up letters after phone calls or in-person meetings are another great way to clarify and avoid misunderstandings. They also serve to protect you from malpractice accusations because you have everything documented and dated. 

3. Send out a brief survey directed at new clients. Within one week of landing the new client, send out a one-page survey. This can be a great way to collect data on vital questions for use in future law firm marketing strategies; this is also a good time to ask them for their birthdays and anniversaries so you can send a card, which is a great marketing strategy. 

• Why did they select your firm? 
• Who else were they interviewing? 
• What do they like best/worst about working with you? 
• How can you improve? 
• How fast was your response time to their initial request? 
• How did they find you? 
• Do they know of anyone else who could use your services? 
• Additional contact information, etc.? 

4. Send out a client satisfaction survey after you have completed the case. This is another great way to maintain good communication with clients. It also shows them that you really care about their opinions and feelings. They will see that their cases and how it all turns out are important to you. 

5. Send the client a hand written thank you card. Nothing says you care like a greeting card. Send out the card the same day they select you as their attorney. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but you should do it because no one else does. 

Clients must feel like you are there to serve in their best interests because you want to be there. Lawyers have the negative reputation of only being in it for the prestige and the money. While these are two important factors from your business view, they are of little concern to your client. You must show you care through your law firm marketing efforts and your communication with your clients. If you don't care about them, they won't care about you.

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