35

Client partner succession

planning

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SUCCESSION PLANNING

Clare Quinn-Waters, Ali Hellewell, and Claire Offord consider the steps firms can

take to ensure that client relationships outlast individual client partners

www.managingpartner.com

Succession planning within client

teams is a perennial challenge. Client

partners retire, leave, or simply wish

to relinquish their leadership of the client

team. How do we ensure the longevity of

a client relationship through a period of

leadership change and uncertainty? What

does the replacement client partner need

to do to understand the client’s business

and legal challenges? How can we ensure

business as usual – or, even better, improve

the level of client service and depth of

relationship with the new client partner?

Succession management is not a one-off

last-minute activity – it requires detailed, well

considered transition plans undertaken over

a period of time. Client engagement should

begin as soon as a client partner shares their

intention to step down.

There are two sides to succession

planning to consider:

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SUCCESSION PLANNING

MANAGING PARTNER, MARCH 2016

the internal perspective, for example all

the discussions that need to take place

within the client team; and

the external perspective, for example, the

conversations and activities that need to

take place with the client.

Considerations within the

client team

Within the client team, things to consider

include:

The timeframe – when will the new client

partner need to be up and running?

How long have we got for a handover

period?

Who is best placed to step into the

incumbent client partner’s shoes?

What benefits will they bring to the

relationship?

What is the best way of introducing them

to the client?

Who do they know? Who should they

know?

Think about the structure of the

client team

Client team structure has a role to play in

effective succession planning. One-partner

relationships and ‘siloed’ client teams are the

most difficult scenarios to manage, but can

lead to opportunities if managed well.

Large corporate and banking clients tend

to have a greater number of client access

points, which allow for increased contact

across the wider client team, most commonly

described as an ‘institutionalised’ client

relationship. A broad client team provides

the best opportunity for succession planning

as the firm will be able to select from a pool

of partners already known and respected

by the client. Conversely, entrepreneurial

or private equity clients tend to rely on

personal relationships with just one or two

partners, leading to issues around portability.

If the client partner leaves without a clear

succession plan, the client’s loyalty may be

compromised.

So what is the ideal client team

structure? It depends on the size of the

client, their business structure and your

historical relationship and future potential for

broadening the relationship. It is important

to appoint at least one client partner and

to make sure all lawyers working with that

client are joined up and provide a seamless

service. Reporting into the client partner, you

will often see lead partners representing the

activities of a specialist area or geographical

region. For larger clients, a second or

alternate client partner is a good idea.

The importance of the client partner

Allocating a client partner to lead a client

team is nothing new but what is evident is

that many law firms only do this for their key

or strategic clients, leaving a large number

of growth clients at risk if their main point

of contact leaves. There are a number of

reasons why the role of the client partner is

important:

Responsibility for succession planning

sits firmly within their remit. If they are

to step away from the role they should

manage the succession planning

process, from initial selection of the

replacement client partner, through to

a settling in and handover period. It is

difficult to manage succession planning

as a centralised process; it is much more

effective from the client’s perspective to

manage it from within the client team.

The only exception is when the client has

asked for an alternative client partner.

Criteria for business advisory services

decision making has changed post-2008.

Although initial selection criteria is geared

towards pricing, value-added services,

and efficiency/project management,

procurement teams will do their due

diligence on the proposed client partner

and the structure of the client team. Many

professional service firms have been

caught out when at the final pitch stage

of a selection process and the question,

‘so you are our client partner, what does

that mean?’ is asked.

Professional advisers often operate with

a number of parallel siloed, transactional

relationships, servicing different parts

of the client’s business. The role of the

client partner is to take a holistic view

of the relationship and bring points of

contact together as one team. Clients

do have a different experience when

the client team is joined up, with clear

leadership. It is a fundamental piece of

the service delivery jigsaw.

Top tips: It is important to define the role of

the client partner, with succession planning

included as one of their key responsibilities.

Make sure the client partner is responsible

for managing a realistic number of client

relationships.

Associate engagement in client

teams

As client programmes broaden beyond key

clients, we are seeing associates playing a

much more active role in client teams. For

smaller growth and target clients, it is not

unusual to see a senior associate stepping

into the shoes of the client partner or acting

as an alternative point of contact. Assigning

associates to client teams has multiple

benefits in terms of succession planning:

Upskilling junior client team members to

get more involved in client teams gives

associates invaluable business skills.

36

Succession management

is not a one-off, last

minute activity – it

requires detailed, well

considered transition

plans undertaken over a

period of time

It exposes associates to the succession

planning best practice early in their

career.

Associates can play an important role in

supporting the client partner through the

succession planning process, especially

in helping new client partners get up to

speed.

Associates are the client partners of the

future and may play a long-term role in

client development with a specific client.

Managing the transition plans

Most client teams will have an active client

plan, capturing overall relationship objectives

and a series of actions on service delivery

and client development. Succession planning

sits firmly within the client plan. It should

be viewed as a series of activities to be

owned and implemented by the client team,

rather than something that happens once.

It should also reflect the client’s voice and

their expectations throughout the succession

planning process.

Top tip: Include a mini succession project

plan within the client plan, with a timeframe,

actions, responsibilities and supporting

comments. It should be circulated and

shared as part of the regular client planning

updates.

The client’s perspective

Early client engagement is the key to

success in succession planning. Working

with the client to discuss how their legal

team may evolve, or their business needs

change, helps to identify and develop the

future client partner. Matching the right client

partner to the client is a skill in itself. Here are

a few things to consider when short-listing

future client partners:

Do they have capacity in terms of

their workload and other client partner

commitments?

Sector knowledge – can they contribute

to senior level strategic thinking?

How well do they know the client and the

client’s business/legal challenges?

Who do they know? Who should they

know?

Do they work closely with any

competitors?

Are they at the right level to influence the

main client contact?

Let your client choose

It is important to engage with the client as

soon as possible. In the case of retirement,

most firms require partners to notify of their

intent to retire 12–18 months out, so this is

the time to start having a discussion with the

client. Often these discussions are left far too

late, six months before the partner leaves the

firm. This provides a 12-month opportunity

window for other law firms to start investing

in a relationship with the client.

Ask your client who they would prefer.

They may surprise you.

Where possible, try to carry out an

independent client review to capture

open and honest feedback on what has

worked well in the past and what they

value in the relationship;

Field a shortlist of candidates. Give the

client options, and let them choose.

Allow the client the opportunity to define

the role of the client partner in the

context of their business.

The power of review meetings

Don’t underestimate the power of regular

review meetings with your client, to discuss

not only the service delivery elements of the

relationship, but also to explore how their

legal team may evolve, or their business

needs change. These discussions provide

the perfect backdrop for succession

planning. Too often law firms focus on a

transactional relationship (we do the work,

we bill you, we do the work, we bill you),

without making the time to understand the

wider business context and how they can

help their clients achieve success.

Top tip: Put succession planning on a review

meeting agenda. This not only allows the

existing client partner to discuss and agree

a transition plan with the client contact, but

also to invite the new client partner to attend

the meetings.

Managing the transition

Finally, a brief word about transition plans.

They tend to be broken down into four

phases:

1. Notifying the client of change.

2. Client partner selection process.

3. Transition/handover planning.

4. Post handover (sometimes seen as

a mini 100 day plan).

Top tips: Actions associated to each phase

of the plan are not just for the client partner,

there may also be actions assigned to the

main client contact. For example, to introduce

the new client partner to the finance director.

Build a stronger relationship

There are many benefits of putting together

a carefully considered client partner

succession plan. Firms can ensure that client

relationships outlast individual partners, as

well as upskilling other client team members.

By involving the client in the process, firms

have the opportunity to build stronger

relationships and gain a better understanding

of the way that client’s busines works.

Clare Quinn-Waters is a senior BD manager

at Baker & McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.

com). Ali Hellewell and Claire Offord are

consultants at ClientFace (www.clientface.

co.uk)

37www.managingpartner.com

Matching the right client

partner to the client is a

skill in itself