Client Recognition Ideas for the Holidays (and Beyond)

  • May 06, 2014
  • Susan Van Dyke

Occasionally I have the opportunity to refer people to my clients. A couple of friends had a harrowing car accident, where they nearly lost their lives. The subject of a personal injury lawyer was gently raised after a few months of recovery. Once they were ready to discuss litigation, I had a challenge of matching their needs, personalities and traumatic state with a few PI lawyers who might be a good fit.

The lawyer who I expected would be the best match was in place and working on the file within a week. He went to great lengths to demonstrate his genuine interest and concern for this couple. Pleased for both parties, I soon forgot the referral. Some time later, an enormous and beautiful gift basket arrived at my office. I was surprisingly delighted with the lawyer’s thoughtfulness, and it had a long-lasting effect.

The reality was that this lawyer made a call to have a basket prepared and delivered. In fact, it might have taken two minutes on the phone. Even knowing this, it had a positive effect. So, really, how difficult is it to make that kind of impact on one of your champions?

Thank Your Clients Year-Round

In some firms, waiting until the holidays to thank clients could be challenging, particularly if you have a long list of clients and referral sources you need to acknowledge.

It must be a coincidence that law firm administration tasks increase vastly just when we have a competing need to express gratitude towards our clients. Instead, many of us are burdened with budgets, year-end administrative projects, collections issues, and of course, holiday card lists for updating. It’s enough to turn you off eggnog completely.

But gratitude is not reserved for December and thanking clients for their business need not be a seasonal sport. Client gratitude is best expressed in a timely manner – right when you receive the referral, new file or the high praise – taking some pressure off of the holidays. It’s just like the spouse who rarely shows affection during the year and is now approaching a wedding anniversary. This spouse is now under pressure to make a whopper of a statement on the anniversary.

Sure, you’ve been snowed under with work during the year and didn’t make the time to show gratitude to those who kept you busy. But client relations and the practice of law are not separate and distinct tasks; they can be accomplished at the same time. A genuine acknowledgment of gratitude can be expressed while working on an active matter on a phone call, in an e-mail or letter. Simply stating, “Joanne, I received a call from Ted who said that you had recommended my services. There is no greater compliment than when a client puts her own reputation on the line by making a recommendation. Thank you so very much.” will often suffice.

Engage Your Assistant … and Get Personal

When you want to make a greater impact, engage your assistant’s help. Often they know the client or referral source and can recommend a preferred gift that’s personalized for the client. Think: gift certificate to their favorite restaurant, tickets to a sporting or arts event, flowers from their florist, or a favourite wine.

If you don’t know your client’s preferences, go to the trouble of calling the client’s assistant. You or your assistant can do this. Record all of this information in a client file for future reference. And without a doubt, a personalized gift will make a positive statement about how much you value this client and your relationship with him or her. We are emotional beings with egos, and when you make us feel important, we will reward you. Consider asking your assistant to help you keep notes on the personal preferences for all your major clients.

Keep Client Binders

A colleague of mine keeps a binder with a section for each client. During the course of routine conversations with clients, she finds out all kinds of things. How many children they have. Their dog’s name (people love gifts for their pets). Their favourite restaurant…it all comes up at some time or another, and it all goes into her binder. Any time a client calls, she opens the binder to their section to see if there is anything she should be commenting on.

Imagine how impressed an occasional client would be if you talk to her in September, then not again until June, and you are able to ask her how her daughter’s graduation went – this personal touch makes people feel really special. The binder is an invaluable resource when it comes time to send a token of your esteem.

Recognize Your External Business Development Team

Referral sources, long-term clients and professional allies are essential to a business. Think of them as your personal business development team. It takes years for a business – law firms included – to become self-sustaining. Anyone who starts a business from the ground up knows the value of help. How quickly we forget how others helped and supported us as our businesses grew and prospered.

Junior associates are particularly at risk for taking work and clients for granted. In large firms there is a greater gap between them and the client than there is in smaller firms. A senior partner of a large firm recently described the difference between a large and small firm: When a new file is handed to an associate at a large firm, there’s an immediate workload concern. Give a file to a small firm associate and you’ll be thanked.

When lawyers are asked whether they have thanked a referral source, shockingly, many must admit that they have forgotten. So, for those who have forgotten to express gratitude during the course of the year, you get another chance in December. And to help you, at least a few dozen holiday card distributors will call, send or drop off samples.

Legal marketing professionals across North America take a deep breath in the fall in preparation for their firm’s holiday card mailing – fondly known as the “necessary evil” in most firms. Is the holiday card still necessary?

What else can we do to show our appreciation, connect with our champions and further our productive relationships?

This we know for sure: clients want a personalized message. Accomplishing this with a mass mailing is challenging and time-consuming. But, how would you feel if you received a preprinted card absent of a handwritten note or even, at the bare minimum, a legible signature? Would you feel like a valued client?

Here are a few client recognition ideas to ponder:

1. Acknowledge All Cultural Holidays

A hallmark of effective marketing (and client relations) is the development of relevant messages. Relevancy is to marketing just as research is to law. When we focus on what’s important to our clients we begin to close the gap between “them” and “us” and we demonstrate our understanding of the client’s uniqueness.

It’s all about the client. Most of us are sensitive to the fact that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but do we acknowledge the other holidays that are special to our clients?

Hanukkah (Judaism) is typically celebrated during the third week of December, Deepavali or Diwali (celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains) is recognized at the end of October and the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr, which ends the month-long fast of Ramadan, is based on the lunar calendar, and moves in relation to the solar calendar by 11 days each year. These are just a few of many days of observance that occur throughout the year.

Unless you celebrate the same event yourself, some research will help to ensure your recognition is appropriately sensitive. Perhaps someone in your firm recognizes one of these special days and can advise you.

Some clients will openly disclose this information and you would do well to make note of it in your calendar. It is also essential that your assistant, who is often developing a productive relationship with clients, record personal details for future reference.

2. Send the Right Holiday Card

Love ’em or hate ’em, they are a holiday necessity. Unless a client has specifically asked you to not send a card, do. But what to send? Do clients find the distribution of masses of foiled cards and envelopes in this time of environmental responsibility distasteful? Is it offset if the card supports a charity such as Unicef, The Children’s Wish Foundation or the United Way? Children on the cover or no children? Do they read what’s inside? Will they even notice if their lawyer doesn’t send a card?

Keep Your Clients’ Tastes in Mind

Ideally, we would ask each client if they like to receive a holiday card, and if so, is it of the humorous, warm and fuzzy, traditional or conventional variety that they prefer. Clearly this is not possible or practical. You know your client, and you will be the best judge of what your client will appreciate most. It’s all about the client, right?

Traditional vs. E-cards

In terms of paper greetings, charity cards are a safe choice. They are well-received and many are beautifully designed now. For a personal touch, some firms hold a children’s colouring contest for the card’s cover art. And then there’s the electronic card, with or without the flash animation.

Each has limitations and advantages. Holiday cards can be signed and you can add a personal note, or even slip in a photograph of that vacation you had near your client’s home town. A litigator in the Vancouver office of Miller Thomson did this well and enhanced some good relationships even further. Be careful to ensure that all lawyers (and assistants!) working for a client sign one card to avoid sending multiple cards to the same client. And please, ensure that your signature and witty message are legible.

Cards that are e-mailed are easy, fast, and cheap compared to a significant mailing of hard copy cards and, done right, have a positive impact on recipients. An advantage of electronic cards is that you can find plenty of non-Christmas greetings, from Deepwali to St. Swithin’s Day.

However, the cool-factor that electronic cards once posessed has passed. So e-card designers upped the ante by bringing Frosty to life and having him chuck a snowball at you. They added clever text snailing across the card or snowflakes swirling in time to the buzzy electronic music. At first these were innovative, and we waited anxiously for the next one to delight us. But were they personal enough? Did the entertainment value outweigh clients’ need for a personally signed or handwritten message crafted by their lawyers and assistants? Tech clients will likely love them, but is it right for all your clients? Only you will know.

Flash animated cards that dazzle and delight will often catch fire and be forwarded on to friends and colleagues with “you have got to see [insert your law firm name here] holiday card!” This is what is known as a viral marketing campaign, and it’s a strategy that can result in huge exposure for an organization. But that’s another topic.

This we know: clients should receive a holiday greeting from you, unless they’ve told you that they would rather not.

3. Give to Your Client’s Charity

Many organizations focus on at least one charity throughout the year or at select times during the year. When you support or recognize their charity of choice, you become one of the team.

Practically every law firm has a charitable donation budget, and while we can debate ad nauseam over whether charitable giving should be altruistically motivated or business development focused, your firm could set aside a portion of that budget to support client charities.

There a few ways to assist a charity: cash, services, or exposure.

Writing a cheque to the charity in the name of your client is the swiftest method for you and most valuable to the charity. But what else can be done that will advance your relationship with your client?

Promote Client Charity Days

Donate a day of fees once a year from a client. Name it after the client -- “Canfor’s Charity Day,” for example. On the first Wednesday of May, or any other day of your choosing, you’ll donate all fees from that client to their charity.

Now you may have to stipulate that you’re not working a 24-hour day and that there is a limit to the free time you’ll give away, but, just imagine the public relations fun you’ll have!

Not only will you have the client organization talking about your firm (and sure, they’ll save up some work for the charity day) preceding the big day, but a savvy firm will alert the charity and perhaps even the media. With some planning, it’s a homerun for all.

Donate Legal Services

Donating legal services to charity is another way to give. Choose a practice area where you’re well staffed and which fits the needs of the charity (i.e. corporate record services, drafting of agreements, employment law issues). Be specific about what you’re giving and the deadline for redemption.

Leverage Your Web Presence

Choose your 12 best clients and give them each a month of exposure for their charity on your website. Pick the month that the client organization focuses on their fundraising drives, if possible. Most websites can spare space for a banner along the bottom of their homepage to feature the charity, their goal and a hyperlink to their website. With consent, include the client’s name with a link of their own.

Use Your Firm’s E-mail Sig

Take it a step further and include, at the bottom of all outgoing e-mails, a promotional statement such as: “This month we are featuring the Raincoats for all Cats Society in support of our client, Felix the Cat.” Of course, do include the hyperlink to the charity and get the nod from your client before disclosing their name. You need only change this line once a month, but it will be easier to do this in a smaller firm. It’s best when the entire firm adopts the same message, giving the appearance of speaking with one voice.

How do you do it? Check your client’s Web site for a listing of their charity – usually in the social responsibility section. Place a call to the charity to validate your information and ask the charity for other suggestions for how to help. If it’s not listed, call your client or ask your assistant to call his/her counterpart at the client organization.

4. Host Client Events That Appeal to the Senses

Many firms of varying sizes still opt for a seasonal client event. The secret to great events is in the emotion quotient. When guests feel good, your event is memorable and successful. This takes more than simply bringing a group of people together. It takes great food, music, lighting and atmosphere—all of these things factor into the event experience.

Focus (Don’t Depend) on Food

One of the important elements to a successful event is the quality of food you serve. Food alone can ruin or save an event, so spend a good portion of your budget on food. But don’t depend on the hors d’oeuvres to do all the work for you. Intriguing invitations, names tags that are legible for ageing eyes, music that’s not too loud, beautifully presented food, and an interesting environment or theme are all part of a winning formula.

It’s better to put on a small quality event than a large mediocre event, so consider limiting your invitation list to produce a successful client experience.

Be the Host(ess) with the Most(est)

Gracious hospitality will also set your event apart. Every single member of the firm is a host; hosting responsibilities are not reserved for partners. Give a little seminar to brief Associates on wine and dine skills—you’ll find many are anxious to understand the appropriate etiquette. Develop a reputation among clients so that when they receive an invitation from your firm, they know that they can attend alone and enjoy themselves.

The Managing Partner greeting guests at the entrance, lawyers and senior management circulating to ensure no one is left unattended, making introductions and fetching a refreshment – things you would do in your home for your friends – is the kind of hospitality that leave clients feeling great about you and your firm. It’s one of few opportunities in the year to create this feeling.

Be Original

If another cookie-cutter cocktail event, even as a host, leaves you lukewarm, then consider an alternative. One regional B.C. firm captures the spirit of the holidays by hosting a family skating night at a central rink. They rent the ice, invite the families of their firm, and those of clients and friends of the firm. Skating among kids and parents with family-friendly music and enjoying snacks and hot chocolate leaves everyone feeling great.

Find a focus that works for your budget and types of clients. It could be a children’s holiday party, complete with Santa and gifts, or a pool tournament or casino night – whatever you do, try to be unique, innovative and memorable.

You might be among the country’s toughest litigators or solicitors with the most powerful clients, but we are all just emotional beings drawn to what makes us feel good.

And every time I see that basket, now filled with some of my children’s books, I recall the feeling of delight that lawyer gave me. What will you do for your champions now and throughout the year?

Susan Van Dyke, Principal, Van Dyke Marketing & Communications is a law firm marketing consultant based in Vancouver, B.C. She can be reached at 604-876-7769 or svandyke@telus.net.