Editor's Note: This piece was first published on the Mid-Market Report. 

The swiftness with which the coronavirus upended the normal course of business forced attorneys to reconsider how they interact with their clients.

In many cases, that has meant communicating more frequently with clients to better understand their needs and concerns during an unprecedentedly challenging time.

C-suite professionals, such as client relations managers and business development officers, have stepped in to help facilitate those conversations and coach attorneys on how to approach their clients about sometimes delicate issues.

And much like the lessons firms learned during the Great Recession that continue to inform their strategies today, the client relations skills attorneys are acquiring during this crisis will remain useful long after COVID-19 is a memory.

The concept of dealing with potentially unpleasant situations before they become actually unpleasant situations, for example, is one that attorneys struggle with but that would serve them well to master now and going forward, said Dawn Sheiker, director of client relations at Delaware midsize law firm Morris James,

Sheiker said she has been advising lawyers at her firm to call their clients ahead of sending them a bill, particularly if it's higher than normal or there are charges that might give clients pause. Proactively walking clients through those line items can go a long way toward avoiding sticker shock and the potential loss of goodwill that can come with an unexpected invoice.

Likewise, Sheiker added, the bill itself should "tell the story of the engagement," demonstrating not just the cost of the legal services provided but the overall value the client received from its outside counsel.

That includes being explicit about where services or legal advice were provided for free and where discounts were provided.

"Accountants teach [attorneys] how to record time but there's an art to what you put in your bill," she said, adding, "The bill should show all the places where [outside counsel] added value or gave a discount. Clients often feel like they're being gouged and lawyers often feel like, 'I already discounted you and you're asking me for another discount.' But a lot of times, [the clients] don't even know that. That's a lost opportunity for the lawyers to be telling a good story to their clients via the bill."

Conversely, Sheiker added, calling a client ahead of sending a bill to let them know their legal spend was down the previous month and that they may have room in their budget for the current month to move forward with another pending matter can also be hugely beneficial to both parties.

The client gains greater predictability regarding its legal spend and the firm potentially gains more work, she explained.

"One of the best business development tools they can use it that phone call," Sheiker said.

The ability to understand a clients' needs—based on actual feedback from the clients, not assumptions—is another important skill that won't become any less valuable when the pandemic ends.

Business professionals can help in this area too.

"I'm the voice of the client in the firm," Sheiker said. "I'm the one saying, 'This is what the clients are going through.'"

Jim Jarrell, chief marketing and business development officer at New Jersey-based Norris McLaughlin, said he advises attorneys at his firm to forget what they think they know about a client and instead focus on what they actually know from discussions with that client and research on the client's industry.

"There have been instances where I've been able to change the trajectory of a pitch or focus of proposal because attorneys, as brilliant as they are and as knowledgeable as they are, sometimes will get stuck in a tunnel-vision perception of what the client needs," Jarrell said.

For example, Jarrell explained, an attorney might look at a client that owns a warehouse and assume, based on past representations of seemingly similar clients, that they'll need labor and employment, immigration and environmental law services. But, he added, a simple search of relevant court dockets for the client's name may paint a different picture. Likewise, conversations with the client about their business goals and priorities may yield unexpected answers.

Jarrell advises the lawyers at his firm to ask their clients questions, cast confirmation biases aside and really listen to what they say.

Often, Jarrell explained, when clients say they don't like being cross-sold services, what they're really saying is they don't like being offered services they don't need because it demonstrates a lack of understanding and insight on the part of their outside counsel.

"I think a lot of them overshoot," Jarrell said of attorneys who jump to conclusions about their clients. "They're trying to do the cross-sell and get origination credit and the nice bonus. But all of that is icing on the cake once they thoroughly understand the needs of their clients and address them."