Thought leader

By Simon Slater, managing director, First Counsel Consulting

Customer-relationship management (CRM) is but the latest in a long line of management fads to afflict law firms over the past 15 years. It was preceded by BPR (business process re-engineering), ERP (enterprise resource planning), IIP (Investors in People), MIS (management information systems) and TQM (total quality management). Only two of these have ever had my full support – IIP and MIS. A successful firm needs to invest in its people and its information systems, but it can continue to thrive without the other distractions.

The fact is that good firms do not need to embark on complex management initiatives in order to improve their performance. They need to keep it simple by adhering to the basic principles of business. They need less complexity, not more.

Take CRM. This is a fad I have never advocated in the professional-services market. Instead, I have helped law firms develop more and better business from key clients. There’s a big difference. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favour of qualitative service reviews if they are carried out and followed through effectively. It is CRM ‘programmes’ about which I have grave doubts.

In my view, many firms are in danger of over-managing their businesses by designing unwieldy, unworkable frameworks with the principle objective of exerting control. The trouble with controlling client relationships, controlling knowledge and controlling resources is that it tends to dampen all of the things that clients hold dear: initiative, flair, enterprise and good, old-fashioned service excellence.

Marketing sophisticated legal services successfully relies on patiently building relationships and reputation by focusing on helping clients rather than managing them. And of course some firms wouldn’t call this marketing at all. They simply have a fantastic product meeting the needs of fantastic clients, creating unparalleled, positive word-of-mouth and mouth-watering profits.

If such a firm were to adopt an acronym, it might indeed be CRM, but I can’t help feeling that it would stand for client result maximisation. If I am right, these firms probably have more than their fair share of truly client-focused people. This all goes back to selecting the right people to bring into the business in the first place. From the point of graduate intake, they are uncompromising about recruitment. They are uncompromising about retention and they are uncompromising about under-performance – at any level.

Call me strident, call me counter-intuitive, but it strikes me that all firms need to do is to enhance the client’s experience of dealing with them. They can achieve this by sharpening their focus on achieving results for the client. The word-of-mouth and profits will follow.

Above all else, firms need a healthy dose of business common sense. That’ll be BCS then.