It’s all too common for lawyers to confuse “understanding a client’s business” with knowing what the company does, writes Nat Slavin in You Think You Understand Your Client’s Business (But Do You Really?). But providing the advice that clients want, the advice that helps them work better, differently, and more efficiently, requires more than being familiar with their product lines. To truly add value, you must also understand why they do what they do:
… lawyers who grasp their clients’ motivations will act proactively and contextualize advice with industry trends and observations.
Slavin give us a useful reminder that value is in the eye of the beholder. That clients define value on their own terms. That your attempts to deliver value without a solid understand of what it means to the client will falter. Read the post. Then talk to your client.
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