It’s time to talk about value-adds
Value adds is a phrase that rears its head at two, possibly three, key moments in the client lifecycle: 1) during the pitching stage and 2) when you’re pitching again, but this time it’s about pulling out all the stops to try and hold on to a potentially unhappy client.
The savvier firms and teams also assess this when a client ticks a certain number of boxes and is added to a key client programme (of which we are big fans and would encourage more firms to implement).
We recently supported a client on a defensive tender where one of the procurement-type questions asked about the value adds the firm can offer the client. It got us thinking – what do clients really want?
With some help from the fabulous Sarah Irwin, former GC and founder of ITGC, we conducted a survey of 100 GCs and buyers of legal services to find out what value adds (or as they put it, ‘freebies or perks’) they valued the most from their outside counsel.
The results were surprising, to say the least.
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What instantly became clear were three things:
- Clients want ‘counselling’
Being a sounding board for your clients, giving them the opportunity to discuss whatever issues, stresses, or successes they want to cover, is a critical free service clients want and need.
Some called it a ‘five-minute thumbs up/ thumbs down call’, while others said just knowing that they could pick up the phone and talk things out with their lawyer was the reason they still instructed them.
Time ‘off the clock’ is something we do see in pitches, but never phrased in a way that really speaks to the client – i.e. counselling.
- There is still a place for educational content
Content such as law updates and CPD came in second. We have seen this offered for many years, and clearly, there is still an appetite for it.
That being said, the feedback we’ve heard from clients is they are sometimes inundated with law firm newsletters, and the differentiator can be the lawyer taking 5 minutes to summarise the key issues of interest to the client and why they should care.
- Too many clients weren’t even aware that ‘freebies’ were even a thing
This one speaks for itself. Value adds have become the norm – a standard part of a relationship between law firm and client. If you’re not offering them you can be sure that your competitor is.
Put it into action
- Ask yourself: what value adds or freebies are you offering to your clients?
- Have you ever asked their feedback on what you’re offering? What do they really want?
- Don’t score an own goal – ensure that those who should receive your communications are receiving them. This one is too easily done, but also easily fixed
- Don’t really on the firm’s comms to do your job for you – summarise the article with the points your client needs to know
- Pick up the phone – make it clear that if your client needs to talk things through they can do it with you (not your competitor)
