One of the most important preparatory stages of marketing is client research.

Without it a law firm risks promoting the wrong messages and missing opportunities.

Research is also a tool to help assess whether a firm's marketing efforts are effective at changing client perceptions and satisfaction rates.Many lawyers fear client research.

They are insecure in their client relationships and either worry that an interviewer will harm the relationship or that they will receive negative feedback.

As a result the 'best' clients are often put forward for interviews.However, the only way to find out what clients think is to ask them.

Sometimes the very act of asking someone for their views generates goodwill and gives the right messages about a firm's willingness to listen and improve.For commercial clients and long standing high net worth private clients face to face interviews are best.

They allow the researcher to develop a rapport with the client and allow more time for questions and for responses to be probed.

Non- verbal signs will indicate areas of concern or difficulty.

Although the interviewer will have a list of questions there should be plenty of flexibility in the interview for the client to talk at length about any issues of concern.The most cost effective way to undertake these interviews is for someone from the firm to conduct them.

However, it should not be the usual contact partner.

An objective outsider will not make assumptions about the client's views and may make them feel more at ease.

A trained researcher -- if briefed well -- can be effective at getting clients to discuss their real views and attitudes.

A trained researcher will also be able to note down accurately the considerable amount of information that is generated during a face to face interview, analysing the results from a number of interviews and identifying the key issues and trends.An alternative to individual interviews is a client panel or focus group where a number of clients are invited in to answer questions and discuss their views.

This provides an opportunity for some hospitality and allows clients to network amongst each other.

It is worth noting that clients can do a more effective job of cross selling the firms' services in this forum than any carefully designed cross selling initiative.Where face to face interviews are not possible, the telephone is the next best thing.

However, there is a limit to the time available so the questionnaire needs to be planned very carefully.

Furthermore, both solicitor and client are more prone to distractions.However, asking just five or six questions on the telephone means many more people can be interviewed than with face to face discussions.

This makes it ideal for talking to referrers and intermediaries, for sections of the private client market or for exploring lots of clients' views on one particular issue.A useful technique is to ask people when it would be convenient to telephone them.

They also like to know how long an interview is going to take.

But exceeding time limits set in advance irritates people.Clients will speak more freely if they are assured that their comments are unattributable.

This may pose a problem as the natural reaction to any negative comments received is for the partners to try and identify their source.In many instances a written or postal questionnaire is all a firm can do.

This is better than no research at all.

How ever, it must be very simple and quick to complete.

Also, it is best designed to capture quantifiable information.

People are unlikely to comment in writing about sensitive subjects or what they see as trivial issues.Written questionnaires can be very effective when sent out on an ongoing basis to a random sample of clients.The type of client research chosen will be dictated by the information required.

Face to face interviews are most effective at obtaining subjective information.

However, this information is difficult to analyse with any rigour and hard to use as a basis for tracking change over time.

The postal questionnaire produces numeric and quantifiable data that is more amenable to analysis and measurement across a larger sample.Clients appreciate a simple summary of the key points identified during the research and will be delighted to see that some of their suggestions for improvements have been adopted.

If clients detect no action as a result of their participation they will be reluctant to be interviewed again.