Client focus needed

Solicitors are failing to carry out basic feedback tests to ascertain client satisfaction, according to a survey published last week by business consultancy PACE Partnership.The survey of 42 large and medium sized firms asked lawyers to respond to statements on core aspects of client management, such as we have objective ways of knowing the strength of our relationship we have with each of our key clients.

The results showed that solicitors believe they understand what their top clients want, and that they have met these needs to a high standard.

They recognise that it is essential for firms to behave in a highly client-focused way to be successful.Despite scoring themselves highly on feedback on the overall service delivered, solicitors scored the lowest compared with other professions surveyed in response to the statement we have a procedure for getting feedback on every significant piece of work we undertake.This raises the question as to how client satisfaction is measured, said PACE partner Kevin Waller.

Part of the measure should relate to the clients view as to how specific instructions were handled, and this should be sought as the transaction proceeds rather than just at the end.Solicitors rated themselves lower than accountants did on client management generally, but much higher than chartered surveyors did.Victoria MacCallum