1. © 2016 Blain R. Banick, MBA – Law Firm CultureShift® Page 1
The Top 10 Reasons Client Teams Fail
If you are like most firm leaders today, you are probably haunted by one question:
“Will everything we plan to do in 2016 at the firm, group and individual attorney level be
enough to deliver the economic results we need to retain and attract top talent, grow our
business to meet our strategic goals and deliver the value and efficiencies required by
our ever more demanding client base?”
If an effective client team program isn’t a central component of your revenue growth strategy for
2016 and beyond, the answer is probably no.
According to the recently released January 2016 Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute
Annual Marketing and Business Development Benchmarking Survey, 52% of law firms have
launched client team programs, with another 16% planning to do so in 2016. 76% of all
respondents to the survey were from leaders at firms of less than 500 attorneys, of which 28%
of the respondents fell into the 80 – 149 attorney firm size, which indicates client teams have
taken hold in a broad spectrum of firms.
An effective client team program is something that can be launched by firms of just about any
size or practice/industry focus. However, not all client team programs will be successful, unless
you put in place a sustainable and realistic program right from the start, demonstrate strong
support from leadership and hold Client Team Leaders (CTLs), Members (CTMs) and
administrative staff support members accountable for results.
The Top 10 Reasons Why Client Teams Fail
1. The client team program is launched without any real strategy or structure that is
sustainable beyond the short term launch of the program.
To be sustainable and successful long-term, there needs to be a common client team
planning, execution and accountability model in place from Day 1. All teams need to be
using the same plan format, planning tools and terminology. Every member of the team
– CTL, CTMs and administrative support professional(s) needs to understand the
process and their roles and most importantly, CTLs and firm leadership need to hold all
of these key players accountable for following the model.

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2. You don’t put the time, effort and research necessary to select the right client
teams and CTLs to participate in the program from the start.
Selection of client teams is a critical and underappreciated process in too many failed
client team efforts. You can’t just pull out your top 10/50/100/300 clients from the
previous year and just randomly select which clients will be part of the program based on
past revenues or gut instinct that “we should just have more work from this client” based
on your perception of what you have to sell to that client. Accurate and deep
competitive/business intelligence (CI/BI) needs to drive this process.
CTL/CTM selection is also critical and can’t just automatically be the current client
relationship manager or billing partner(s). Find the people who care the most, who will
be invested for the long-term and have the respect of the client and the team.
3. You are unrealistic about the number of client teams you can effectively support.
Many firms salivate when they do the math and anticipate the additional revenue that
can come from client teams. A natural reaction, therefore, is the more the merrier.
However, such a philosophy can doom the initiative from the start, because of the
volume of support needed to get them started and keep them maintained over time.
Instead, start small with the “coalition of the willing”, and then deploy additional teams
once you have developed solid systems and have successful examples to convince
others to join the program.
For most firms, regardless of their size, you are probably looking at a beta program
launch of between 3 – 10 teams. As we all know, attorneys are naturally competitive
individuals. Show them a program that is successful and delivering results, and others
will clamor to get on the revenue bandwagon. However, this will happen only if you
match your ambition to realistic expectations and skills of your available support staff.
4. Administrative team members don’t provide the level of support required to make
the CTLs and CTMs as efficient and effective as they need to be in their roles.
Successful client teams heavily depend upon BD/Marketing team members (and other
key administrative staff) to handle most of the administrative tasks connected to their
client team efforts, including:
• capturing and disseminating all client team efforts, intelligence and results
generated through the program before all client team meetings;
• accurate tracking of effort, time and money invested in the client team efforts and
developing standardized CTL reports to firm leadership;
• effectively sharing important client/industry information to all CTMs and other
attorneys serving the needs of the client (most effectively done through
“automated information push based technologies”) that all client teams use the
same way; and
• keeping CTLs/CTMs accountable for implementing their ongoing responsibilities
to the client and the team.

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Client teams that are not supported with adequate staff administrative team support
will fail because the “ask” on CTLs/CTMs becomes too great (remember, this is
usually a new set of responsibilities layered on top of their existing full-time jobs!).
5. Client team leaders and team members are chosen for political, rather than
rational business reasons.
A good place to start in the selection of CTLs and CTMs is to look at those partners and
attorneys who are already involved with the client and know key players within the client
organization. However, the selection process cannot stop there.
Attorney/client relationships that have never turned into revenue in the past are not as
useful as newer relationships with emerging leaders within the client organization. CTL
roles can’t be assigned to absentee client relationship and billing partners. If you want
the very best information on who should be your CTLs/CTMs, start the client team
planning process by having a member of firm leadership (not connected to the delivery
of service to the client) interview key client contacts.
6. Client team leaders and members don’t follow through on their commitments to
their fellow client team members.
Accountability is key to the success of every client team program. Every attorney is
going to get busy with client work. Meetings and follow-up efforts will be impacted by
calendaring conflicts. However, all CTMs must demonstrate they are willing to be held
accountable for doing what they promised they would do to move the effort forward on a
consistent basis. When this doesn’t happen, CTLs and firm leadership must be
empowered to change the composition of the team and replace under-performing CTLs
and CTMs with other attorneys who will make the necessary commitment to this critical
revenue/client relationship building initiative.
7. Firm leadership doesn’t hold their client teams accountable for delivering results.
At a minimum, CTLs should be required to report to firm leadership on the progress of
the team against its plan and related metrics on a quarterly basis. Future investment of
time and money in a client team must depend upon results. Non-performing client teams
should be disbanded and new efforts with greater opportunities for success must take
their place. Not every client team effort will be successful, but the program as a whole
must demonstrate a positive and substantial return.
8. Client team members don’t follow the plan and just keep doing what they’ve
always done to maintain their relationships with people they already know at the
client organization.
You will know you have a successful client team program when the methodology,
terminology and approach are consistently applied to drive all of their team-based
initiatives. If client teams don’t follow the planning methodology, there is a very strong
tendency for individuals and teams to fall back into dysfunctional prior habits. Long-term

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success depends upon CTLs and firm leadership holding all teams to the highest
standards and encourage teams to aim high.
9. Firm leadership and CTLs don’t recognize team accomplishments and CTMs don’t
feel they are being recognized for their contributions and successes.
No matter what type of compensation system you have in place today, client team efforts
can be successful, if firm leadership recognizes the accomplishments of client teams
and individual CTMs in accordance with firm culture and values. Recognition through
compensation is a question each firm will have to address before program launch.
However, please remember that public recognition among peers and other forms of
formal and informal recognition can go a long way toward providing ongoing motivational
fuel for keeping your program on track.
10. CTLs, CTMs or other attorneys with connections to the client organization forget
the old adage that there is no “I” in TEAM.
To be successful, client teams must be a reasonable size to ensure both nimbleness
and accountability. Ideally, most client teams should start out with four to seven core
team members, with additional attorneys brought in to provide assistance, technical
expertise and address emerging client connections/needs as they become known.
Not every attorney who works on servicing the client or has connections within the client
organization need be a formal CTM. They can play a critical role in the success of the
team and be recognized for their efforts, but teams that grow too large often bog down
and become either less efficient or dysfunctional due to the multitude of voices and
opinions that must be heard.
Conversely, teams can’t be dominated by just one or two individuals. Client relationship
and billing partners shouldn’t drive all team efforts or impede the efforts of others on the
team just because of their past connections to the client’s leaders and the overall client
organization.
Client teams are successful when they “hunt in packs” with all CTMs playing a critical
role, based on a shared commitment and vision of success. Lone wolves and those who
hold current relationships too close to the vest will only impede team success.
In all, what may seem easy on the surface has a multitude of moving parts that need
synchronous integration to work at peak efficiency. Avoiding these ten mistakes will go a
long way toward helping your teams fulfil their potential.
For more information on how Law Firm CultureShift® can assist you in developing
a successful client team program at your firm, please contact Blain R. Banick,
MBA (Blain@LawFirmCultureShift.com or 314.452.6944). You can also visit our
website, http://www.lawfirmcultureshift.com/services/client-teams/.