The innovation equation – do your homework!

We were recently asked to help partners across a group of major law firms understand how market research can help them become client centric. Here are some takeaways.

Client centric innovation requires collaboration between both you as a lawyer and the client as an individual or corporate entity to solve their problems, come up with ideas and improve service.

Whether you’re prepping for a meeting, a collaborative workshop or looking to find the opener for a conversation, market research can help you understand your client or prospect’s strategy, ambitions and pain points and with this knowledge you can create a conversation that immediately targets what matters most to them.

We provide some tips on getting to the heart of what matters to your client.

Get social before you meet

Find your contact’s LinkedIn profile and click on posts. Read through their posts and the topics they are passionate about and understand their career history. This can provide valuable insights into their wants and needs. If they have a role at a company, the company’s own page can provide an insight into their achievement and strategy, particularly for smaller entities that may have basic company accounts. The contact may also work for several companies, helping you build a picture of their business interests (Companies House can help you understand these connections). LinkedIn’s TeamLink feature can also help you to uncover your mutual connections, who may be able to give an introduction or first hand knowledge the individual.

Get to know a company’s strategy

If your client works for a company and it isn’t a micro or small entity, download their company accounts and look for strategy information, and objectives. Inevitably, companies will put a shiny gloss on their performance and outlook, so look for recent news and reports on the company and its sector to get the full picture.

By understanding a company’s industry and their peers’ performance you can ask the questions that look under the bonnet to target where innovation and collaboration is most needed. Search engines (whether AI assisted or not) can help you find information on an individual or company. Be wary – not all information is available for search engines to find, and AI can return old or incorrect results. If you have access to a library or research team, they can help you uncover sources behind paywalls and restrictions that may lift the real lid on your target’s wants and needs.

Understand the competition

If you know other firms advising your client or contact, look at what they offer within your service line that adds value. If you don’t know, researchers can help you understand the competition. You can then work out where the white space is for you to provide a service that is a cut above the rest.