Business Development

Bad Client Service -- Push the Red Button

Tom Peters has a fascinating little post on his blog about the Big Red Button of Customer Service at Commerce Bank. Here's his description:

When you (teller) run into a self (bank)-created roadblock to serving the customer, you push the red button. The impediment you discover will be addressed—and if action is taken, and it usually is, you'll get a financial reward for discovering Grunge that had gotten between the customer and an excellent service experience . . .

My point-suggestion here is that you invent your flavor of Red Buttons for your 3-person department, your 9-person temporary project team, your 17-table restaurant, or your 235-person division. That is, formal tools for identifying Grunge and removing it and getting Everyone in on the GGG—Great Grunge [Removal] Game.

What a GREAT concept. Client service basically comes down to two things -- people and processes. If you people (or you) don't care about client service, then one discussion needs to be had. If your processes get in the way -- you send out bills in a format the client doesn't like, calls don't get returned, people get lost in voicemail, whatever -- and there's a systemic cause, that's a different conversation. And if you create a system where you:

1) Care about identifying problems

2) Reward people for pointing them out

3) Fix them

Example: Yesterday I was in a two-hour meeting at BDO Seidman with a couple of investment bankers. I was there with a client, and at the beginning of the meeting, I got a cup of coffee. But it was absolutely impossible to find the cream. Their kitchen had this impressive array of every conceivable kind of beverage, snack, condiment, and implement imaginable, but nobody -- and eventually, this included me and two bankers -- could find the cream. And I guarantee that nothing will be done about it. It was annoying, it's over, let's move on. But what if there was a PROCESS for identifying and fixing this issue? Then the day-to-day client service issues that grind away at the relationship between your firm and your clients would actually be addressed.

Thanks, Tom.

Announcing the First Annual WTH ("What The Hell?") Bad Christmas Card Awards

Tom Kane wrote a really nice sums-it-all-up post on some of the idiotic things firms do when sending out Christmas cards. Like, say, not signing them.

Well, I'm going to go Tom one better. I'm going to institute an award. The WTH Award will go to the law firm which, at holiday time, does something with their Christmas cards that is so incredibly bad, so stupid, that not only doesn't it market the firm, it actually works in the opposite direction. It unmarkets them, if you will.

This award is named in honor of one of my current favorite Youtube characters, Kelly, the blonde adolescent girl created by comedian Liam Kyle Sullivan. (Note: the video is filled with obscenities, and it more than a little adolescent, so rest assured I don't approve of it at all except as a kind of metaphor, which is how I'm using it here, okay?) In one of his first pieces, Kelly, the quintessential suburban mall-rat adolescent girl, is presented by her parents with a large, ugly stuffed dinosaur for her birthday. She unwraps her gift, sees what it is, and turns to the camera and says "What the hell?" Here's the clip -- Kelly's outburst is at exactly 24 seconds into it. Here's a screenshot:

This year, we have a runner-up, and a winner.

2nd Prize
The runner-up is an intellectual-property partner at a large, very prominent firm here in Silicon Valley which will remain nameless because, hey, they are lawyers, and I'm not admitted in California and therefore capable of defending myself against a libel suit. However, this gentleman sent me a holiday card which he did not sign. Oh, no. Instead, he had his secretary rubber-stamp his name at the bottom. it wasn't even straight. Nothing conveys sincere wishes for a peaceful, happy holiday season like a Christmas card that looks like an internal California DMV memo.

What the hell?

Grand Prize
These awards are based completely on pure merit, and this one is such an obvious winner. This is a holiday card I received from a very large law firm in the Midwest. They didn't sign the card. Okay, fine. That's table stakes, basically. But these guys did something extraordinary on top of it. I did a small consulting project for them, and as I sometimes do, because I like to eat, I sent them a bill. Which they just ... ignored. Yup, they just plain stiffed me. And then they sent me a Christmas card. 

Now, rubber-stamping your name at the bottom of a holiday card isn't bad. However, stiffing a consultant, and then, thoughtfully, wishing them happy holidays several months later -- that is good. I mean, that is REALLY good.

What the hell?

Now, today is only the 15th. We have ten more days until Christmas, so readers of this blog are invited to submit their own nominees. However, to be perfectly honest, it's going to be hard to beat our current leaders. Barring a miracle, gentlemen, your prize is in the mail.

What if Clients Started Talking To Each Other?

One of my clients is a healtcare advertising agency, so this post caught my eye. I think it applies to legal business development as well.

Patientslikeme.com is a Web 2.0 portal that's designed to create a forum for patients suffering from similar conditions to communicate about their treatments, their experiences, and so on. If, for example, you suffer from Crohn's disease, you are going to be living with it, and the various medical professionals who are helping you, for the rest of your life. In a morbid sort of way, this isn't unlike being a GC, and living with a law firm for years.

In the medical community, all sorts of groups, portals and advocacy organizations are set up to help patients share their experiences. Sharing provides support, and results in better-educated patients.

Is there something similar for clients? Without naming names, it would be fascinating to see what would happen if clients who were, say, working with real estate firms could get together online and compare notes about what their respective firms did, and how well they did it.

Anyone?