Do you know who your key clients are? That is, the clients whose
loss would seriously affect your firm’s economics? I sincerely
hope you do, and mine is not to preach the importantce of what I hope
is a self-evident key "metric" for your firm.
Rather, I want to pose the next question: What are you doing to
make sure those clients are joined to your firm at the hip—that
they are aware of and take advantage of the full panoply of services
your partners can provide; that you are "locked in" with all the key
decision-makers at the client; and that every interaction they have with
your firm, from the relationship partner to the summer associate, reflects
people singing from the same hymnal?
In today’s ever-more-competitive world, this is
a quick and worthy read. Executive Summary: Manage these
relationships because they will not manage themselves; outstanding technical
work alone is not enough.
