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I t's hard to understand why it has taken so many law firms so long to start asking their clients for feedback. One theory is that historically, lawyers believed their clients wouldn't understand the services they offer so how could they possibly provide feedback on such "complicated matters?" A second related theory is that client feedback is not proper for professionals. It is for the truck driver with the "How am I driving?" sign on the back of his vehicle or for the customer satisfaction survey at the local burger joint. However, as clients started spending fewer dollars, a new economic reality set in for law firms. Clients now demand a lot more for a lot less and if you're not willing to accommodate their requests, someone down the street or one floor up from you will. This intense competition for new business and the need to coddle current business have led many firms to ask their clients one very simple question: "How can we serve you better?" As Liette Monat, president of Liette Monat Stratégies d'affaires Inc. in Montreal, says: "It is time to bring down the silos. Companies that change will see results. Companies that do not will die. "Marketing is more than organizing a cocktail party," says Monat. "It means listening, understanding, and finding the right fit with your clients." And yet, lawyers are still afraid of feedback. "They know their clients will touch upon issues they are not willing to address and these issues can be intangible. If the client says, 'I feel taken for granted,' the professional does not know how to handle that, and arguing with them is not the appropriate answer. That is why when we coach and train, we open that kind of communication with clients." Richard Stock, founding partner of Catalyst Consulting, says opening up is not easy for lawyers. "They are relationship-based professionals. Feedback in a formal sense is not often done because it is obtained through the relationship, on a one-on-one basis. The idea of incorporating formal feedback mechanisms is not something individual partners know an awful lot about, unless they are running the firm." Catalyst Consulting specializes in the economics of legal departments and counts among its clients McCain Foods Ltd., Bell Canada/BCE Inc., Bombardier Inc., TD Bank Financial Group, and Petro-Canada. "Typically firms conduct surveys because someone has an idea and he or she needs ammunition," says Stock. "Partners never believe each other but if a bunch of clients say something consistently, that may save them two years internally." When you call John Young, managing partner and 35-year veteran of Boyne Clarke in Dartmouth, N.S., he answers his own phone. He also returns calls within 24 hours if he is out of the office, and on the same day if he is in the office — as does every one of the 40-plus lawyers at his firm. He knows the importance of listening to his clients and he has a multi-tiered plan of action to make sure he does. A mid-sized firm, Boyne Clarke uses multiple methods to compile information, including sending a feedback sheet from the firm itself (not from the lawyer involved) to all clients once the mandate is complete. Clients are asked to fill it out and return it, postage-paid. They can also send it back anonymously. Young's firm has www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M AY 2010 31