Getting a family law client to love you is tough. Our clients are in no mood to love anyone new. They aren’t sure they’re even going to like you.

So when I provide you with 11 things you can do that will make clients love you, you’d better listen, because this stuff must be really good.

I wrote about these sorts of things back in April 2009, but that was nearly two years ago, and, more significantly, that was before we had thousands of subscribers and visitors reading our content each day. It’s time to revisit the topic.

Here are 11 things you can do that will make clients—even family law clients—love you:

1. Say “thank you.” Say it at every opportunity. Thank clients for coming in for a consult. Thank them for taking your call. Thank them for hiring you. Thank them for being so patient. Thank them for paying their bill. Thank them for being as pleasant as a person can be under the circumstances.

2. Call clients proactively. Don’t wait for them to call. Call them to check in and tell them you’re still waiting for opposing counsel to get back to you. Don’t let them call you because you’re calling them so much.

3. Give ?clients your cell phone number so they can reach you 24/7. They won’t abuse it, except for the clients who do abuse it, and they were going to be trouble anyway. You were going to have to fire them regardless of whether they have your cell number.

4. Ask about their children. Do it at every meeting. Make sure you remember their kids’ names and ages.

5. Return client calls as quickly as physically possible. Stop reading this article and return all outstanding calls. Right, freaking now. Call them back pronto. If you can’t make the call, assign someone to call for you.

6. Call at unusual times. Call in the evening. Call too early in the morning. Call on the weekends. Let them know you’re working on their case and thinking about their issues all the time.

7. Stop talking when you’re with your clients. Keep your mouth shut and let them talk. Let them talk much, much more than you talk. You should be the listener. They should be the talkers.

8. Sit with your clients in the courtroom. Don’t sit up front with the other lawyers. Sit in the back and wait with them.

9. Make sure they know what’s coming. Don’t let anything unexpected happen. Prepare them for every contingency. Do some worst-case scenario brainstorming and get them ready for the worst. They can easily cope with things going better than expected. They won’t do well with things going worse than planned.

10. Call them the morning after the agreement is signed and check on them. They’re going to suffer from buyers’ remorse: head it off at the pass. Tell them they did the right thing. Reassure them that this is the best possible outcome.

11. Call them a year later and see how they’re doing. Ask about the kids. Say “thank you.”

If you do three of these things with every client, you’re going to be thought of as a good lawyer. Do five, and you’ll be thought of as a very good lawyer. Do ten of them for every client, and you’re going to be the best lawyer in your region. Give some of them a try right now. Let me know how they’re working for you in the comments below.