Ignoring your clients is a risky strategy. Client feedback is the lifeblood that keeps firms relevant, competitive, and growing.

According to Thomson Reuters research, firms with a formal feedback loop in place with their clients not only have higher satisfaction scores but also a larger share of client wallet.

Yet the same research revealed that less than a third of law firms formally invite clients to be part of a feedback programme. And many of those could more accurately be described at key client research programmes.

Why the disconnect?

If few argue against the importance of client listening, why do so many not commit to it? In many firms, a good idea on paper fails to get executed in reality.

Understanding the barriers to engagement

Before we get to the solutions, we need to understand what's causing the disconnect between Associates, Partners and client feedback. Some common culprits:

1. Too much focus on utilisation. Associates and Partners are driven by utilisation rates, and supporting a client feedback programme isn’t billable work.
2. “I know my clients”. Some still cling to the outdated notion that feedback is unnecessary because they know what's best for the client.
3. Resistance to change. Asking for feedback implies that something will be done with what’s heard. This could include people needing to change how they work with that client.
4. Risk-aversion. ‘Feedback’ is assumed to be criticism and therefore gathering more of it risks bruising their internal brand.
5. Lack of resources. Traditional client listening methods were expensive manual projects that limited the scope of work. This led to an “opt-in’ rather than “opt-out” feedback culture, which made it easy to say no.

Overcoming feedback resistance

Overcoming those barriers starts with creating a firm culture that truly values and prioritises client feedback.

To get started, potential areas of focus for you include:

• Leading by example. If the Board / Senior Leadership Team embraces feedback, it sets the tone for the rest of the firm. They need to be asking for feedback regularly and demonstrating that they read it.
• Educate and enlist Associates. Help those on the Partner track to understand why the firm values client feedback. Show them how the insights directly impact decision-making, revenues and the firm’s ability to innovate.
• Make client feedback collection “opt-out”. Even before you make the move to always-on client listening, you can start changing assumptions. Agree that all clients can be asked for feedback, unless there is a documented reason why it really isn’t the right time.
• Establish clear processes. Have consistent methods for collecting, sharing, and discussing feedback across teams.
• Put feedback on the agenda. Client-centric firms don’t see feedback as an afterthought, they put the client voice at the heart of their decision-making. That starts with making it a core agenda item at team meetings.

Using technology to automate client feedback

In 2024, there's no excuse for managing feedback with clunky spreadsheets, siloed transcripts and endless email threads.

Modern client listening platforms can automate and scale up the process:

Use your CRM or PMS to ‘trigger’ email feedback requests at a time that is relevant and convenient for clients. Automated requests reduce manual work. They also encourage the shift to an ‘opt-out’ culture.

Use AI to automate the analysis of unstructured text data. Overlay the results with client ratings and other quant data.

Free your client voice by delivering the right insights to the right people at the right time. You can do this by rolling out role-specific dashboards.

Always-on client listening platforms are empowering client service teams. They take away the frustrating manual work of chasing up client lists, tagging data and creating endless PowerPoint reports.

Instead you can combine your expertise with real-time insights to focus on driving awareness, engagement and action across the firm.

Fostering a feedback culture

Incentives are a tricky thing. How do you incentivise good or new behaviours but without inadvertently encouraging people to game the system?

As a consumer, you’ve probably had first hand experience of customer service employees explaining the NPS scoring to you - because “their performance review / bonus / career” hinges on them getting 9s and 10s.

On the other hand, you get more of the behaviour you reward. The key is to think about rewards as creating carrots not sticks.

Making NPS scores part of everyone’s appraisal is a stick. People “know” they have delighted clients. So they resist processes that force them to prove it to get the bonus they feel they deserve.

In contrast, carrots can include:

Public recognition for those who actively engage with and act on client feedback. This recognition directly targets the thing Client Listening Teams struggle with - increasing engagement with the process. It’s not the winning that counts, it’s the taking part.

Celebrate distinctive feedback. Recognise great client feedback collected through formal channels. Bonus points for linking the feedback to each of your brand promises and client experience commitments.

Create case studies. Demonstrate the value of client listening by collecting examples of feedback-driven successes and how they were achieved. Identify best practices that can be replicated in other parts of the firm.

Closing the feedback loop

Effective feedback processes are a continuous, not end-to-end, process. So the final stage of creating a Feedback Flywheel is to close the loop - with your people and with clients.

The best way to boost engagement is to show that the effort was worthwhile. Again, that’s client effort as well as that of your people.

Options for getting started include:

Have a regular place (e.g. intranet or team meetings) and time (e.g. weekly) for sharing progress with the firm. Show that the feedback process is building momentum by “marketing” the early results and all positive trends.

Have a quarterly or annual event, focused on celebrating the client's voice. Share the best feedback, and what the firm did differently to achieve it. Also update on client-led initiatives.

Share the feedback results in your regular client communications. Whether it’s newsletters, podcasts or live events, make a habit of telling them how their peers shared feedback and the firm responded to it.

Show don’t tell. Rather than your website and pitch documents telling clients you listen, show them. Show how they can share their voice, and give tangible examples of the difference it has made.

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