The Age Of The Client: You Must Not Ignore How And When You Answer Your Clients

The world we live in today is fast-changing. Clients are inundated by many choices that can be found by just the click of a button or by just asking friends. Their patience level waiting for answers has drastically reduced. They want immediate solutions and answers to their questions. They expect their attorneys to be able to deliver excellent services in the shortest time possible. This, in turn, means that for attorneys to be able to meet up with this higher levels of service they must harness a new set of skills when it comes to service delivery and an increased grasp of technological innovation. Creating happy clients now depends a lot on a successful client service process.

 

Many clients change the lawyers representing them simply because they feel the lawyers were not doing enough, fast enough and were not talking with them. The modern-day clients want responses to their enquiries and questions quickly. They want to know that there is an ear for them when they have any concerns. Clients are happy when lawyers answer them immediately. They are not concerned that you have a large workload and can’t answer. As far as they are concerned, their problems are larger and more important to them than any other one person’s and so they want prompt answers or they move on.

 

The approach of focusing on customer satisfaction and loyalty is important. It demands a shift from what you can get from the client to rather, how well you can make the client feel satisfied and well attended to. The traditional trends of marketing and selling and especially customer care services are increasingly fading out and the age of the client being at the centre of all you do is what will make you stay relevant in the market place.

 

In 2018, the U.S. Consumer Legal Needs Survey conducted by Thomson Reuters showed that 57% of those surveyed did something about their legal need in a week or less, and for those who chose to hire an attorney, a quarter of them said that an attorney’s expertise was the most important factor in their decision.

 

Showing value and expertise to a client can be won or lost through responsiveness and the ability to provide the quickest path to a solution. Can you target to answer all client questions within 24 hours? Think of how that will affect client retention and attraction. Achieving this will definitely require a shift in many things. A shift in culture and use of technology will definitely be necessary to meet up with this higher level of responsiveness. Even if within a 24 hour period all you do is just to acknowledge that a client’s request or question has been received and is being attended to helps them feel valued and appreciated. How clients feel treated determines where they go or stay.

 

You will definitely need to look at your entire set up and use of technology to meet and satisfy client needs. When you invest in new technologies, such as online research software equipped with cutting-edge artificial intelligence, automated document drafting and editing etc you can cut downtime used on other tasks and spend more time to interact with clients and attend to them in a more personal way. You will have the time, using best technologies, to easily educate them on their cases and keep them updated on any progress to set realistic expectations so no one gets surprised. The demands of the modern-day client have ramped up the need for efficiency and accuracy, and thus the necessity for technological infrastructural changes that make a critical difference to the bottom line has increased with it.

 

The efficiency arising from taking your client services game to the next level means you can deliver a more personalized and positive client experience, provide answers to your clients quicker, thereby increasing trust and loyalty.

 

If you want clients to see you as the expert and trusted advisor able to find answers to their legal issues in the least amount of time and in a personalized way for them, it’s time to set new goals and re-engineer your firm with the right tools, skills and technology to deliver outstanding results.

To access the right tool to speed up your process of delivering outstanding results for your clients, click on this link and take action NOW.