Welcome to The One Minute Manager. Our goal is to provide you with quick tips that will enhance the success of your practice. Within 60 seconds you will gain an idea that will increase your profitability or simply ease the burden of a difficult management issue. We hope you will find this a valuable resource.

The One Minute Manager . . . . .

Most accounting systems will provide you with a list of your top 25 clients in descending order of annual billings. In many firms, these clients represent up to 85% of your revenue.

If you run this listing for the past three years, you may be surprised to see that there is a significant turnover of these clients. A major client in year one may be totally off of the list by year three. Do not be surprised, this is very typical in most law firms.

Unlike other businesses, law firms are not effective at watching out for ?orange flagged? clients. These are clients that are identified as being at risk for a wide range of reasons. This may include management changes at the client, cost cutting pressures, a sense of outgrowing your firm, or aggressive marketing from your competitors. Often, the major reason is a view that you are becoming apathetic and less responsive to their needs ? you are taking them for granted.

Each of these key clients needs a partner who is accountable for maintaining strong and enthusiastic relationships. Invest non-billable time in candid communications and evolve your services to meet their changing needs. Clients will never leave a firm if they believe that you are partnering with them in their business and they enjoy the interpersonal relationship.

Consider the financial impact of retaining your top 25 clients and building upon this base. It has been argued that businesses lose money on 60% of their lower ranked clients. Your top clients are the key to your success. Successful law firms have better clients and not necessarily more clients. At your next partners? meeting, devote time to review your top 25 and identify any ?at risk? clients, and then respond to this urgent situation.

We would look forward to assisting in developing your marketing effectiveness.