Frank Michael D'Amore 

The pursuit of new clients may be a rush, and landing them is even more fun, but a firm's bread and butter is its existing client base. The Pareto Principle, which posits that 80 percent of a company's revenue is typically generated by 20 percent if its clients, is still valid today. As such, while it's important to always be on the hunt for new clients, doing so in a way that enables you to keep your core focus on existing clients is a very prudent play.

In that regard, it is a truism that doing excellent work at a cost that is in line with or less than what a client anticipates, are the two best ways to hang on to your clients. It is much like solid blocking and tackling in football—if you keep churning out good results in a cost-efficient way, you'll win a lot of games, or, more appropriately, will continue to win over your existing clients.

The competition among firms and lawyers, though, is as fierce as it has ever been. So, there will be a lot of times where you need an edge to keep your clients in the fold. In this column, I offer five things you can do, other than the aforementioned “big two” to keep your clients from fleeing to a competitor.

First, spend some time learning how your client works and tailor your interactions accordingly.  For example, many in-house lawyers, especially those who work in large corporations, are required to provide monthly or quarterly reports to their superiors. If you work for such a lawyer, ask him when those reports are due and what type of information would be helpful for him to get from you. The easier you make his life in an area like this, the more he'll value you.

Similarly, the more you can get into sync with your client's pace and timing, the better. If you have a key client who has a penchant for sending early emails, then you need to get up earlier so that you can respond. If the client tends to pick and choose his spots, then you should recognize that and not bombard him with calls, texts or emails.

You have relationships with clients much like you do with others. The better you understand your client, and act like he does, at least with respect to timing and style, the stronger the relationship will be.

Second, indelibly imprint in your consciousness that clients abhor surprises, especially significant negative developments. Unless you are working for a CEO of a privately held company who has no board, or for an individual or sole proprietor, your client has someone to whom he has to answer. In fact, that may even be the case for individuals who have a spouse or significant other who may not be in the company, but play a very important role outside of it.

When you catch your client off-guard, he then is in a very bad position with others above him or to whom he reports. Not surprisingly, the client will blame you, not necessarily for the result or development, but for not giving him a head's up.

There will be times when things truly come out of the blue that you could not have foreseen and thus could not have communicated to your client. The irascible judge who decided to prematurely focus on an issue or a counterpart in a deal who mysteriously decided to drop out are but two of many such examples of things that were out of your control (unless, of course, you knew that the judge, for example, has a history of being mercurial).

Absent those types of exceptions, you need to pay exceedingly close attention to developments, even subtle ones that may not, on the surface, seem to be a big deal. You can't pester your client, and certainly shouldn't be a doomsayer, but, when you sense that something big is coming, great outside counsel will prepare their clients for what may be in the offing.

Third, your goal is to make the client look good—not you. The client is the one who is sending you work and, as a result, is driving revenue to your firm and ultimately putting food on your table. Suppress your ego and do whatever you can to make the client shine.

By way of example, when you write a memo or provide an analysis, anticipate that the client may turn that around and send it to others in his organization. In some cases, and this should not be a surprise, the client may put his name on that document. If you have a client who does that, you can draft the letter or memo in a way that makes it easy for him to do that, such as not making it a PDF and not blocking editing. Even though others may not know that you were the original author, your key client does and he's the one sending you the work.

Similarly, if you are in settings with your clients and his colleagues (and especially senior executives), don't boast about whatever great things you did in the case, deal or other type of engagement. Make sure that you highlight the contributions of your contact, and others in the organization, who were crucial in the team effort that led to the victory or result.

Fourth, and somewhat related to the last point, make it your mission to apprise your contact of key developments in his industry and of other things (such as opinions or coming legislation) that could impact his company.

Most clients are fully aware of developments in their organization, so there is often no need to send an article or blogpost of that type. What really helps your client, since he, too, is likely as busy as you, is information about competitors, as he may not have time to track that, but you can, through services such as Talkwalker or Google Alerts.

If you supply your client with that information, he can share it with others in his company, who may not be aware of it. Once again, it is a win-win, as your client will love you for doing that and you'll make him look great in the process.

Finally, be on the lookout for career opportunities for your client. While it is possible that your client will stay with his company forever, it is far more probable that he will make a change at some point. This may be involuntary—such as his company being sold or acquired—or through a need, for whatever reason, for him to find a new position.

Be mindful of this, and if your relationship is good, ask your client if he wants you to keep him apprised of interesting or really big opportunities that you may discover. When an email goes around your firm about a company that is looking for a lawyer or executive like your client or you otherwise hear of something, let your client know.

The upshot of this is powerful, as your contact will be forever grateful if you played some type of role as to him getting that job. If you had multiple contacts at his former employer, you likely will hang on to that client and will pick up a new one after your contact gets settled. That's pretty cool, isn't it? There are some law firms that excel at this and it is not surprising that they have deep client bases as a result.

Frank Michael D'Amore is the founder of Attorney Career Catalysts, a Pennsylvania-based legal recruiting and consulting firm that focuses on law firm mergers and partner placements. He is a former partner in an AmLaw 200 firm, general counsel in privately held and publicly traded companies, and vice president of business development. He can be reached at [email protected].