Page 35 - Law Society of Hong Kong MPMC Manual v8 - With checklists (1 March 2018)

Practice Management Course | Unit 4
Client Development

When identifying and setting your goals, use the SMART (i.e., specific, measurable,
attainable, relevant and time-specific) goal setting approach as a template:

S Specific Be specific about: Who?
•
What?
What do I want to achieve?
• Why do I want to achieve this? Where?
• What are the requirements? When?
• What are the constraints? Why?
M Measurable Be specific with quantifiable measures about: How many?
• How will I measure my progress? How much?
• How will I know when my goal is achieved? How often?
A Attainable Be specific about: Is the goal
• How can the goal be achieved? achievable?
• What are the practical steps I should take?
R Relevant Be realistic about: How important is
•
Is this a worthwhile goal?
this goal to the
• Is this the right time? achieving your
• Do I have the necessary resources to accomplish objectives?
this goal?
• Is this goal in line with my long-term objectives?
T Time Be realistic and specific about: When?
• How long will it take to accomplish this goal?
• When is the completion of this goal due?
• When am I going to work on this goal?

How clients become pre-disposed to using the law practice again
16. A good way of looking at this is to take the opposite perspective and note what
clients try to avoid.

17. Clients dislike having unsuitable or inexperienced lawyers working on their matters,
resulting in poor results and a failure to solve their problems. They want relevant
skills, experience and industry knowledge. However, clients do not always have the
specific knowledge necessary to evaluate these factors. Therefore, if you promote
your qualifications and show the clients how you can improve their situation, they
will be more likely to request your advice on another matter.

18. Clients want to avoid poor quality of work, they want to be super-pleased, not
simply satisfied. Therefore, your job is to ‘go the extra mile’ on the current
engagement, exceed expectations, be available, provide regular updates, and be a
good person to work with. Rigidity or self-centredness in the way you approach
tasks will not pre-dispose clients to using you again; client-centric actions will.

19. Clients want to avoid being surprised by the bill or cost overruns. Note that price is
not the issue; it is cost consciousness. You need to be continually mindful of the
fees that are being incurred on a matter and work hard to keep the client aware of
any extra costs or variations. A recent study concluded that cost consciousness was
the attribute with the largest impact on a client’s perception of their law practice, so
a crucial part of developing the client relationship entails managing and
communicating costs.

© The Law Society of Hong Kong (2018) Page 31