Our latest webinar, “Finding and Choosing Professionals on the Web,” is now available in segments on YouTube.

Gather the facts behind executive-level usage of the Internet as a tool to find information and inform choices about professional services providers. This seminar presents Greenfield/Belser’s and The Brand Research Company’s recently completed findings drawn from an online survey of executive-level buyers of accounting, consulting and legal services across the U.S. It covers how, where and what they search for online as they consider firms like yours.

Burkey Belser and Sue Stock Allison shared these primary research results and insights about how to adapt your website and digital strategies to align with buyer habits.

Join us this Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST for the next webinar in our three part series, “Designing the Interactive Experience.” Reserve your webinar seat at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/927177267

Join us for our next Webinar:

Finding and Choosing Professionals on the Web
(Professional services buyers speak again)

Wednesday, February 17; 2:00–3:00 PM EST

Gather the facts behind executive-level usage of the Internet as a tool to find information and inform choices about professional services providers. This seminar presents Greenfield/Belser’s and The Brand Research Company’s recently completed findings drawn from an online survey of executive-level buyers of accounting, consulting and legal services across the U.S. It covers how, where and what they search for online as they consider firms like yours.

Join Burkey Belser and Sue Stock Allison on February 17th at 2 PM as they share these primary research results and insights about how to adapt your Web site and digital strategies to align with buyer habits. All delivered in a 60-minute Webinar on your own desktop.

You will learn that executive-level buyers are online in droves and…

• Why search engines are critical and which keywords they target
• How online behavior has changed offline habits in the past five years
• Which Internet sources are considered the most important in their searches
• Why the quality of your Web site is critical
• The path buyers take when they reach your site
• How they are using social media, blogs, video and your e-communications
• And more critical information about your buyers online.

Register Now! Reserve your Webinar seat at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/586345346

I was recently talking with a colleague about how a majority of management event attendees say their law firms are doing client feedback in a systematic way; but when we ask clients if their law firms request feedback on service and performance, the answer is almost always “rarely” or “never.”

Clearly law firm management’s approach to client feedback is not resonating with their clients.

So where’s the disconnect?

Many attorneys and firm leaders believe they are doing client feedback when they meet with clients to thank them at the end of a matter or deal, or conduct social or leadership visits, or conduct market research. Meanwhile clients view those activities more accurately as business development calls, thank you visits or non-specific research.

Lawyers need to look at client feedback from the client’s perspective.

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In our recent “Marketing Hope” survey of plans for 2009 and 2010 (stay tuned for a full write-up on those findings), 64% of Am Law 200 marketers indicated they will be investing in client loyalty interviews. That’s a smart move in any economy. But how do you extract the most value from those interviews? The answer lies not only in the questions you ask, but how your interviewer asks them.

“How are you doing, Mark?”
“Just fine, couldn’t be better.”

We all have that kind of conversation almost everyday with our friends, family and co-workers. The question really doesn’t want an answer; it’s just a convention around greeting. (If you ever doubt that, probe your teenage daughter for details and see how far you get.) In order to get a thoughtful, engaged answer, we ask the question differently. And not only form but tone makes a difference. For example, my partner will give a very different response if I say “HONEY, WOULD YOU TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE!!” versus “Honey, would you please take out the garbage?”

When firms are looking to survey their clients, they spend a huge amount of time and resources designing the questions they want to ask. They want to be able to draw statistically valid conclusions about their client base, therefore eliminating any chance of “interviewer bias.” Certainly, having objective feedback is important. But when the client and the service provider really need to form a relationship, when the people matter as much, or more, than the end product, then the manner and method of the interview far outweigh the questions that are asked!

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In response to a client question about average marketing budgets and expenditures for the legal and accounting industries, I conducted some research with the help of the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM), the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) and a good old-fashioned Google search. View full article