Good Work is Its Own Reward. Not.

Do you know who your key clients are?  That is, the clients whose loss would seriously affect your firm's economics?  I sincerely hope you do, and mine is not to preach the importantce of what I hope is a self-evident key "metric" for your firm.

Rather, I want to pose the next question:  What are you doing to make sure those clients are joined to your firm at the hip—that they are aware of and take advantage of the full panoply of services your partners can provide; that you are "locked in" with all the key decision-makers at the client; and that every interaction they have with your firm, from the relationship partner to the summer associate, reflects people singing from the same hymnal?

In today's ever-more-competitive world, this is a quick and worthy read.  Executive Summary:  Manage these relationships because they will not manage themselves; outstanding technical work alone is not enough.