Client Personas and the Role They Can Play in Developing Your CX Proposition

Ask any group of lawyers “What do clients want?” and the answers will likely be a mixed-bag. Some will talk about the importance of speed, others about empathy, and others will retreat into the safe harbour of “good legal advice at a fair price”. All perfectly valid - but often lacking the level of detail necessary to really drive decision-making. That’s where Client Personas come in.
 

What are Client Personas?

At the simplest level, client personas are fictional characters that represent the different types of clients your firm works with (or wants to work with). They’re not real people, but they’re based on real insights: a blend of demographics, behaviours, motivations, goals, and frustrations.
 

Think of them as “pen portraits” of your ideal clients. For example:
 

“Ashleigh, the Time-Poor SME Owner” who needs quick, no-nonsense advice without the legal jargon.

“Dominic, the Finance Director” who values technical precision and wants to know you’ll make him look good in front of his board.

“Sasha, the Private Client with a Family Business” who worries as much about succession planning as she does about inheritance tax.
 

None of these people actually exist, but they help us picture and design for the types of clients we most often serve.
 

How are Client Personas Developed?
 

You don’t need a PhD in market research to create useful personas. In fact, the best ones usually come from conversations and careful observation.
 

• Look at your client base: Who do you serve most often? What types of matters come up again and again?
• Talk to your clients: Ask them what they value about working with you, and what frustrates them about dealing with law firms generally.
• Talk to your people: Your Partners, Junior Lawyers, and Support Staff will all have insights into client behaviours, expectations, and quirks.
• Spot the patterns: Group together shared traits and needs until a few “typical” client types start to emerge.
   

Once you’ve done that, bring your personas to life. Give them names, backstories, and a sense of personality. The more vivid they are, the easier it becomes to put yourself in their shoes.
 

Why Are They Useful?

This is the crucial bit. Personas aren’t a box-ticking exercise; they’re tools for shaping decisions.
 

• Marketing: They help you speak in the right tone, on the right channels, about the right issues.
• Service Design: They make you think harder about what clients actually need, not just what you want to deliver.
• Client Experience (CX): They remind you that clients don’t judge you against other law firms, but against the best experiences they have elsewhere — with Amazon, John Lewis, or their favourite café.
   

A persona makes the “client” less abstract. When your team is deciding how to design a process or communicate an update, it’s easier to ask: “Would Ashleigh find this helpful? Would Dominic feel reassured? Would Sasha find this overwhelming?”

Bringing It All Together

For mid-sized firms in particular, personas can be a powerful leveller. You don’t need vast marketing budgets to create them; just curiosity and a willingness to listen. But once you have them, they give structure to your CX thinking and help ensure that your firm is designing services with real clients (or at least very plausible stand-ins) in mind.
 

And if nothing else, they help avoid the trap of designing your client experience for the one client type we all know too well: ourselves.

David Price is Head of Client Experience, at Wolferstans Solicitors in Plymouth and LawNet's CX lead.