Clients Most Value... [Hint: Not Hourly Billing]

Pop quiz:  What do F500 and FTSE100 clients value most?

1. responsiveness;
2. expertise/depth of knowledge;
3. knowledge of their business;
4. value for money.

Bad news:  According to this Legal Week article, out of 12 criteria by which sophisticated clients evaluate law firms, #3 on that list is far and away most important, but it ranks 7th in terms of how those clients grade their firms.  What can firms do to improve clients' opinion of them?  Among other things:

• stay in touch even when there's no active engagement on the front-burner;
• focus "like a laser," as the bromide has it, on This Individual Client's needs in terms of marketing—generic whitepapers and brochures don't cut it;
• give serious consideration—and we mean serious, all-hands partners meetings—to considering adoption of "retrospective" value billing; clients will pay handsomely for successful results delivered in short order, but resist paying even a discounted rate for an interminable deal that's ultimately a loser.

To that last point, as one candid Brit client put it:

"Charging by the hour is a damaging thing for law firms to do, but they make a lot of money, so why should they change when schmucks like us are prepared to pay?" observes one client

You have been warned.