Law firms still measure key aspects of their business — productivity, pricing, and growth — in "lawyer terms." Here are superior metrics that calculate success in real-world outcomes and experiences.
Right on target, as always. It is truly incredible that law firm metrics remain mired in lawyer-centric and activity-focused terms. These have absolutely nothing to do with either service or customers — but then again, it is LawLand, a parallel universe run by lawyers, for lawyers, focused solely on lawyers. Customers are sources of revenue — nothing more — and certainly not the focus of a true service provider culture. At the risk of falling into the trap of over de-complexification, I argue that the very same customer focused service metrics could, indeed should, be the core metrics for the legal service delivery enterprise. Those Delivered Value metrics are threefold: Effectiveness (was customer’s objective achieved?); Efficiency (at or below the agreed upon price/budget); Experience (customer’s with service provider). And yes, all three are measurable and quantifiable. When linked to payment by the customer to the provider, these become a powerful enabler of customer success, satisfaction and sustainability. When linked to compensation by the enterprise to the employees, this becomes a powerful platform for enterprise and individual performance, improvement and of course sustainability. (yes, call them what you may, the lawlanders are operators and conceptual employees, even if they are also managers, leaders and “owners”).
Right on target, as always. It is truly incredible that law firm metrics remain mired in lawyer-centric and activity-focused terms. These have absolutely nothing to do with either service or customers — but then again, it is LawLand, a parallel universe run by lawyers, for lawyers, focused solely on lawyers. Customers are sources of revenue — nothing more — and certainly not the focus of a true service provider culture. At the risk of falling into the trap of over de-complexification, I argue that the very same customer focused service metrics could, indeed should, be the core metrics for the legal service delivery enterprise. Those Delivered Value metrics are threefold: Effectiveness (was customer’s objective achieved?); Efficiency (at or below the agreed upon price/budget); Experience (customer’s with service provider). And yes, all three are measurable and quantifiable. When linked to payment by the customer to the provider, these become a powerful enabler of customer success, satisfaction and sustainability. When linked to compensation by the enterprise to the employees, this becomes a powerful platform for enterprise and individual performance, improvement and of course sustainability. (yes, call them what you may, the lawlanders are operators and conceptual employees, even if they are also managers, leaders and “owners”).
Insightful thank you Jordan
George — thought you might like my comments to Jordan. It’s been far too long since we’ve caught up — let’s fix that!