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recommend. Given that lawyers typically rely heavily on referrals, NPS should be considered
especially salient for law firms.
How satisfied are your clients? The data indicates most lawyers don’t know. When we
surveyed nearly 2,000 lawyers in the U.S., we discovered 37 percent don’t collect client feedback
at all — and for the firms that do, 42 percent collect feedback casually and informally in person,
meaning they may only be hearing positive feedback affected by courtesy bias. The implication of
this is that poor client satisfaction could be the most critical blind spot for today’s law firms.
Poor satisfaction is what ruins businesses. If your clients aren’t satisfied, there’s little
chance they’ll hire you again or recommend you to someone else — and they may even deter
others through word of mouth or negative online reviews. It’s a bad prospect for any law firm that
wants to succeed.
On the other hand, the types of businesses that thrive in today’s digital economy are the
ones obsessed with customer satisfaction. The internet has leveled the playing field, and your
competitors are just a click away for your prospective clients; more than ever, your clients need to
see a clear reason to hire you over another firm. Law firms that earn the satisfaction of their clients
are the ones that see significant momentum in the future success and profitability of their business.
The State of Client Satisfaction in the Legal Industry
To better understand the state of legal services in the 21st century, we set out to assess
client satisfaction on an industry-wide scale by using a metric known as a Net Promoter Score
(NPS). Research has shown that NPS is one of the most reliable predictors for business growth,
and it’s based on more than just satisfaction or loyalty — it’s based on the likelihood to
recommend. Given that lawyers typically rely heavily on referrals, NPS should be considered
especially salient for law firms.
Calculating NPS starts with asking a cohort of clients a standardized question: On a scale
of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend your lawyer to a friend or colleague? You then
calculate the percentage of respondents who answered within the 0 to 6 range (known as
“Detractors”) and subtract that from the percentage that responded with a 9 or 10 (known as
“Promoters”). Those responding with 7 or 8 (known as “Passives”) neither subtract nor add to an
NPS. What you’re left with is a minimum score of -100 (100% Detractors) and a maximum score
of 100 (100% Promoters).
For perspective, some of the most successful businesses in the 21st century have achieved
incredible growth based significantly on highly favorable NPS. These companies (and scores)
include Amazon (62), Netflix (68), Apple (76), Starbucks (77), and Costco (79).1
Where does NPS net out for the legal profession? After collecting data from a cohort of
over 1,300 American consumers on their experiences working with a lawyer, we calculated a
benchmark NPS of 25 for the legal profession as a whole. This is based on a breakdown of 48%
Promoters, 30% Passives, and 23% Detractors. While nearly half of clients would highly
recommend their lawyer, nearly a quarter of all clients would actually dissuade others from their
lawyer.
While an NPS of 25 isn’t entirely bad, it’s nothing to celebrate. Other industry
benchmarking studies put this number at the same level as airlines (26), banks (26), wireless
1 What Do Companies with High Net Promoter Score Have in Common? RETENTLY (March 19, 2019), https://www.retently.com/blog/companies-
high-nps/ (e.g., Amazon, Netflix, Starbucks); Tom Smith, Top 10 U.S. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for 2013, INSIGHTS FROM ANALYTICS (Aug. 14,
2013), http://www.insightsfromanalytics.com/blog/bid/324678/Top-10-U-S-Net-Promoter-Scores-NPS-for-2013 (e.g., Apple); Net Promoter
Score Benchmarks for Fortune 500 Companies, CUSTOMER GURU, https://customer.guru/net-promoter-score/fortune-500 (e.g., Costco).
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especially salient for law firms.
How satisfied are your clients? The data indicates most lawyers don’t know. When we
surveyed nearly 2,000 lawyers in the U.S., we discovered 37 percent don’t collect client feedback
at all — and for the firms that do, 42 percent collect feedback casually and informally in person,
meaning they may only be hearing positive feedback affected by courtesy bias. The implication of
this is that poor client satisfaction could be the most critical blind spot for today’s law firms.
Poor satisfaction is what ruins businesses. If your clients aren’t satisfied, there’s little
chance they’ll hire you again or recommend you to someone else — and they may even deter
others through word of mouth or negative online reviews. It’s a bad prospect for any law firm that
wants to succeed.
On the other hand, the types of businesses that thrive in today’s digital economy are the
ones obsessed with customer satisfaction. The internet has leveled the playing field, and your
competitors are just a click away for your prospective clients; more than ever, your clients need to
see a clear reason to hire you over another firm. Law firms that earn the satisfaction of their clients
are the ones that see significant momentum in the future success and profitability of their business.
The State of Client Satisfaction in the Legal Industry
To better understand the state of legal services in the 21st century, we set out to assess
client satisfaction on an industry-wide scale by using a metric known as a Net Promoter Score
(NPS). Research has shown that NPS is one of the most reliable predictors for business growth,
and it’s based on more than just satisfaction or loyalty — it’s based on the likelihood to
recommend. Given that lawyers typically rely heavily on referrals, NPS should be considered
especially salient for law firms.
Calculating NPS starts with asking a cohort of clients a standardized question: On a scale
of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend your lawyer to a friend or colleague? You then
calculate the percentage of respondents who answered within the 0 to 6 range (known as
“Detractors”) and subtract that from the percentage that responded with a 9 or 10 (known as
“Promoters”). Those responding with 7 or 8 (known as “Passives”) neither subtract nor add to an
NPS. What you’re left with is a minimum score of -100 (100% Detractors) and a maximum score
of 100 (100% Promoters).
For perspective, some of the most successful businesses in the 21st century have achieved
incredible growth based significantly on highly favorable NPS. These companies (and scores)
include Amazon (62), Netflix (68), Apple (76), Starbucks (77), and Costco (79).1
Where does NPS net out for the legal profession? After collecting data from a cohort of
over 1,300 American consumers on their experiences working with a lawyer, we calculated a
benchmark NPS of 25 for the legal profession as a whole. This is based on a breakdown of 48%
Promoters, 30% Passives, and 23% Detractors. While nearly half of clients would highly
recommend their lawyer, nearly a quarter of all clients would actually dissuade others from their
lawyer.
While an NPS of 25 isn’t entirely bad, it’s nothing to celebrate. Other industry
benchmarking studies put this number at the same level as airlines (26), banks (26), wireless
1 What Do Companies with High Net Promoter Score Have in Common? RETENTLY (March 19, 2019), https://www.retently.com/blog/companies-
high-nps/ (e.g., Amazon, Netflix, Starbucks); Tom Smith, Top 10 U.S. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for 2013, INSIGHTS FROM ANALYTICS (Aug. 14,
2013), http://www.insightsfromanalytics.com/blog/bid/324678/Top-10-U-S-Net-Promoter-Scores-NPS-for-2013 (e.g., Apple); Net Promoter
Score Benchmarks for Fortune 500 Companies, CUSTOMER GURU, https://customer.guru/net-promoter-score/fortune-500 (e.g., Costco).
133
