The Client
The managing partner of a small law firm.
The Challenge
Our client wanted to encourage technically solid lawyers to improve their client relationship development skills
The Solution
Interviews with the lawyers created the data for a facilitated discussion where consensus decisions were made that: (1) for the firm to thrive, more lawyers needed to improve their communication skills for relationship development and the firm needed to create new client and industry team structures and (2) they needed firm-wide experiential training in strategic communication. During a follow-up 2-day retreat, the lawyers created client and industry teams, selected team leaders for each, and each team identified client relationship development opportunities. On the second day, each team created a detailed strategic plan that called for training, coaching, and using the developing skills to reach out to clients and prospective clients to improve relationships. Subsequently, they implemented the plan.
The Results
The entire firm participated in a strategic communication workshop, individual lawyers began using those skills in the meetings they now regularly scheduled with clients and prospective clients, and meeting weekly with coaches to further develop their communication skills and continue implementing their strategic plan.