2005 WINNER
The team at Greenwoods, with Rosemarie Ghazaros of Business Development Practice (fifth from right)
We are impressed by the comprehensive approach that Greenwoods has taken to CRM.
With the six key elements of CRM - training, recognition and reward, research, knowledge management, marketing and working practices - they appear to have covered all angles. This is especially true of the behavioural aspects; the hardest to crack.
We liked the cross-over into knowledge management and the practicality of the implementation. The use of memorable names for programme features and the apparent humour and fun angle mean the programme is likely to stick in fee-earners' minds and get buy-in.
They have developed their own method to measure the strength of client relationships. Using this measure, for their key clients, an impressive 73% have increased their score over the last three years.
Greenwoods has indeed "worked hard to put building client relationships at the heart of what we do". They are a well-deserved winner against some much larger competition.
RUNNER UP
The Norton Rose CRM programme began in the late 90's and is today synonymous with their best practice programme. It has wide reach across the firm's 12 European offices. 40% of CRM team leaders are in Continental Europe.
The Chairman spearheads CRM and, together with the BD Manager, assesses each CRM group quarterly. Every CRM team has rigorous two-day training, led by senior management.
Interestingly, trainees are introduced early to CRM; each intake undergoes its own half day training.
Norton Rose makes good use of technology to support CRM, with a range of extranet and intranet facilities.
The proof of good CRM practice lies in client satisfaction. A recent survey of 15 corporate clients, 40% in Continental Europe, showed very high satisfaction with the firm's partners.
Clearly, Norton Rose's long term commitment to CRM is bearing fruit.
3RD PLACE
Launched in 2001, Berwin Leighton Paisner's CRM programme aims to increase levels of client satisfaction, retention and growth. Internally, it promotes a better understanding of the benefits of a professional approach to relationship management.
The key features of the programme cover all the aspects one would expect of a CRM implementation in a significant firm.
Ongoing client feedback is sought and BLP state that it shows a marked improvement in all key areas. Using a combination of face to face interviews and online questionnaires, the firm has identified the gap between what clients think is important in client service and BLP's actual performance. Training has been focused on closing this gap between importance and performance.
CRM is clearly being effective for BLP, with average fee income for their leading 100 clients up 15% and a 'higher than market average' performance in a recent Legal Director Client Satisfaction survey.