EPISODE · May 27, 2026 · 32 MIN
1.5 Liz Sobe: Client Listening is Client Intelligence
from The Legal Growth Table · host Barbara Koenen-Geerdink and Andrew Hutchinson
Barbara and Andrew are joined by Liz Sobe, Head of Business Development at Robinson and Cole, a full-service firm of 200 lawyers with a global footprint. Liz has spent 30 years in business development and client relations across professional services. She once took a sabbatical to help a national toy retailer launch a .com, but growth in professional services is where she has always returned.This conversation is about what it really means to listen to clients, and why most firms are doing far less of it than they think.Liz opens with the three phrases she hears from attorneys that signal both risk and opportunity: “this works for me”, “this is how I have always done it”, and “my clients love me.” She explains why she no longer calls it arrogance when partners push back on client listening. It is fear: the fear of what they might find out. And she makes the case that the right response is not confrontation but education.She walks through six categories of clients that deserve active listening attention, from high-growth potential accounts to at-risk clients to market bellwethers, and explains why the follow-up is “probably the most important part” of any programme. She also makes a case for breadth: client listening is not a feedback interview. It is journey mapping, net promoter surveys, end-of-matter debriefs, lateral onboarding, and every conversation in between.She leaves us with a line that reframes everything: “It is a people business with law built in.”
What this episode covers
Barbara and Andrew are joined by Liz Sobe, Head of Business Development at Robinson and Cole, a full-service firm of 200 lawyers with a global footprint. Liz has spent 30 years in business development and client relations across professional services. She once took a sabbatical to help a national toy retailer launch a .com, but growth in professional services is where she has always returned.This conversation is about what it really means to listen to clients, and why most firms are doing far less of it than they think.Liz opens with the three phrases she hears from attorneys that signal both risk and opportunity: “this works for me”, “this is how I have always done it”, and “my clients love me.” She explains why she no longer calls it arrogance when partners push back on client listening. It is fear: the fear of what they might find out. And she makes the case that the right response is not confrontation but education.She walks through six categories of clients that deserve active listening attention, from high-growth potential accounts to at-risk clients to market bellwethers, and explains why the follow-up is “probably the most important part” of any programme. She also makes a case for breadth: client listening is not a feedback interview. It is journey mapping, net promoter surveys, end-of-matter debriefs, lateral onboarding, and every conversation in between.She leaves us with a line that reframes everything: “It is a people business with law built in.”
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1.5 Liz Sobe: Client Listening is Client Intelligence
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