What kind of work does a client generate? What is the volume? Who at the client group tends to call us? A law department that researches, ponders, and answers these questions will be able to create client profiles. Having done so, the department could segment client groups into categories, such as “high maintenance” or “risk embracing” or even “doesn’t care whether we exist.”
What is a “client profile” that would help with these issues? It would be a guidelines for the kinds of services the client needs, who its key players are, the direction its business initiatives are going, preferences for outside lawyers, and anything else that would enhance client service and client satisfaction (See my post of May 14, 2005 on Service Level Agreements (SLAs).).