I’m sure that many law firms think the end of the year could not have come soon enough. The collapse of trusted financial institutions, layoffs at law firms (once thought recession proof) coupled with law students unsure if they will have jobs upon their graduation makes for unfortunate fodder around the water cooler. So let the hard work begin.

What are your resolutions for the new year? What tools will you be using to streamline costs while increasing visibility?

Compare this checklist with what your firm’s future plan:

*Wherever possible, cut costs (before your client cuts you). Your clients are looking for ways to reduce costs. But sure that cost reduction won’t involve dropping your firm. Take advice from a top politician – go through past invoices line by line. Cut, and then inform your client that you have done so. Honesty and transparency goes a long way toward client retention, even in a hard economy.

*Use the Net for business development. It’s free publicity. Moving forward, make sure you are making the best use of the Internet to gain exposure. Commit to updating your firm’s website at least once a week. Use multimedia – blogs, videos and podcasts – to transmit a tailored message to your target.

*Schedule speaking engagements and seminars. Be more aggressive about researching opportunities for partners to speak at events that can reach your target, and then convert the speeches into articles for future publication and more exposure.

*Commit to communicate. Again, it’s all about transparency. Don’t keep your clients in the dark. Make sure they know what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it. Schedule a meeting with in-house counsel and C-suite executives during January to discuss how to solve future challenges and goals together.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Client Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.