1. Make the rules before the game. Work with your clients to establish performance standards before each engagement. Make sure the performance standards are clearly defined, measurable, attainable and carry specific deadlines for deliverables. This will help you and your clients target and measure performance throughout the engagement and it will help you avoid any confusion over expectations that might otherwise arise.

2. Promise little. Deliver lots. Turn the seemingly benign practice of under promising and over delivering into a power habit that shapes everything you do. Whether you’re planning to return a call, attend a meeting or finish a research project, always give yourself extra time so you can deliver sooner than expected.

Also, always build in a buffer for costs. Then, as the engagement progresses, communicate clearly and often about costs. You’ll avoid blindsiding your client while maintaining the ability to adjust your client’s expectations should unforeseen events occur. Finally, be realistic about your abilities and the results you expect from your efforts. Don’t tackle work you’re not able to perform. And even if you’re absolutely sure about potential results, be conservative and choose your words wisely. Be sincere and honest and build a record of exceeding your clients’ expectations.

3. Use plain English—not legalese. Whether you’re speaking or writing, keep it simple. Be obsessive about it. Taking the time to translate legal jargon and technical terms into clear, succinct guidance is the essence of what you do as an attorney. Do this well and you will leave your competition behind.

4. Be real. Not as easy as it sounds for attorneys. The veneer of confidence and professionalism that we’re programmed to present can come across as arrogance and rudeness in the context of client relationships. Learn to change hats when you finish the brief or leave the courtroom. Don’t be afraid to let your guard down and be yourself when you’re with your clients.

5. Spend half your time in your clients’ shoes. Spend the other half making their experience with you and your services even better. The way you speak, the way your write, your attention to detail, the way you respond to client calls and requests—all make an impact on how your clients perceive you. Maintain your sensitivity to these issues by thinking about them on a daily basis. Then, put yourself in your clients’ shoes for at least one day each month. See what it’s like. Keep finding ways to improve the client experience.

6. Debrief after every engagement. At the conclusion of every engagement or matter, meet with your clients off the clock to have a post-engagement debriefing and performance assessment. If there’s a problem with your performance, you’ll nip it in the bud. If there’s an opportunity for more business you’ll pursue it while it’s ripe.

7. Say thank you. Find ways to regularly thank your clients for their business. Send them handwritten cards. Take them to lunch or an entertaining event. Offer to conduct educational seminars for their organizations. Let them know you value their business.

8. Stay humble. You're only as good as your next success. The pace of change in today’s marketplace gives you no time to rest on your laurels.

9. Stay in touch. Don’t let your relationships go stale after the engagement ends. Take your clients to lunch. Keep a service file and forward important articles with your comments on a regular basis. Send an e-mail newsletter to your best clients on a regular basis. Invite them to important industry functions. Make these marketing and service activities part of your weekly schedule. The little things add up and get you "top of mind" status.

10. Know more about your client than you do about yourself. Learn everything you can about your clients’ business objectives and stay on top of the legal and business issues that directly impact them, their company and their industry. Read trade magazines, annual reports, articles, brochures, product documents and financial publications. Attend your clients’ industry conferences. Make yourself a trusted resource for the latest research and key information. Forward articles on regulatory developments that might be of interest to your clients. Practice preventative law.

11. Engage in mutual mentoring.On a fateful day in 1999, General Electric’s former chairman and CEO, Jack Welch, realized e-business was here to stay. Soon thereafter, he asked his top leaders to find Internet mentors inside the company, preferably under the age of 30, and spend three to four hours a week with them.

In his best selling autobiography Jack: Straight from the Gut, Welch said this was a terrific way to turn the organization "upside down" and do much more than just teach his leaders about technology. According to Welch, "…during these Internet learning sessions, managers were also discovering new talent and gaining a better understanding of what was really going on in the company."

Take this page from Jack Welch’s playbook. Younger attorneys eager to learn the legal landscape often bring to the table an innovative spirit and a technological sophistication that many senior attorneys lack. If you’re a senior attorney, seek out your younger colleagues who can help you as much with the digital age as you can help them benefit from your years of experience-won legal knowledge. You’ll empower yourself and a new generation of attorneys.

The ultimate benefactors of this information exchange: your clients—many of whom make technology usage an important factor in grading the performance of outside counsel. Try it. You’ll see the difference.

12. Treat everyone with respect. In today’s rapidly changing marketplace, you never know what role the people you meet today will play tomorrow. Today they might be competitors, suppliers, partners, employees or employers. Tomorrow they might be your clients. Ignore status and respect everyone. And never forget—even the little people get lucky.

13. Focus on key clients first. Despite knowing that key clients are the best and largest source of new business (20 percent produce about 80 percent of firm revenue), many lawyers spend a disproportionate amount of their practice development time attempting to win business from new clients. Unfortunately, acquiring new clients is often more costly and less profitable than acquiring new business from clients you know well.

More importantly, lawyers caught in the thrill of the chase tend to neglect one of their most important jobs: servicing key clients beyond their expectations. This can lead to a cumulative string of small gaffes that result in crippling revenue losses and client defections. If it hasn’t done so already, your firm may want to consider creating relationship teams and service plans for each key client. Meanwhile, you can start thinking about key clients every day and make a habit of discovering new ways to serve them better.

14. Turn competition into your own PR machine. If your competitors say you’re good they must really mean it. So how do you turn your competition into your best marketers and win an unmatched level of credibility? Follow the "be nice" rules.

• First, talk nice about the competition. For example, if you’re part of an RFP competition and the prospective client tells you the names of the other firms bidding, don’t badmouth them. Instead, you might say "They’re all excellent firms. Clearly you’ve done your homework. Of course, I think we’re the best. Here’s why…"

• Second, treat clients as well when they leave you as you do when they arrive. You never know how things will turn out. Perhaps the decision to select your competitor over you was not unanimous and was made by a ranking partner who later leaves the firm. Perhaps those who wanted to select you will leave the firm and bring you a new opportunity with a new client. Perhaps the client will grow unhappy with your competitor’s performance or attentiveness. Hold your head high in defeat and your clients and competitors will remember it.

• Third, be kind and show respect to departing colleagues and employees—especially those who leave on good terms. You never know where they'll land. Stay in touch through your firm’s alumni network, if you have one, or by simply reaching out on a regular basis.

• Finally, be a class act when you work with the competition. With the increased focus on partnering relationships, firms that compete are often asked to work together for the common good of the client. Be accommodating. Do it the way your client wants you to do it. Share the recognition.

15. Survey your clients. In last month’s Sugarcrest Poll, we asked about the methods your firms use to obtain client feedback. More the half of you said your firms don't conduct formal client interviews/surveys. Not knowing how well your clients think you and your firm are doing is extremely dangerous.

That’s why at least once each year, you should take the time to find out. This is different than debriefing your client after one engagement, which is also important. Instead, you'll be grading the overall performance of every person in every engagement or matter. By doing it in a formal, consistent and organized way, you'll be able to track your progress and make improvements year-after-year. If that’s not reason enough, an overwhelming majority of corporate counsel think client surveys are important and many see the surveys as an opportunity to discuss future needs.

Today, more than ever, success in the legal profession and good client service go hand-in-hand. When in doubt, never underestimate the power of nice.