The same way it does in any industry, customer service and satisfaction are key to any legal team or law firm’s overall success. Whether you’re a personal injury lawyer or malpractice specialist, your customer interactions and how a client feels about their experience with your practice adds up to whether they’ll refer you to friends. Customer satisfaction means positive reviews, a solid reputation, and being able to brand yourself as a top law firm people can trust. If you’re an attorney or work for a law firm, read on to learn more about customer service in the legal field and how you can improve the customer experience.
Communicating with Clients
The reality is that most customers are in crisis when they call an attorney for legal advice. The customer experience begins with the first consultation. Instead of rushing to sign someone up for a personal injury case representation, it’s important to understand the full scope of their serious injury. While you might see personal injuries or hear about wrongful deaths on a regular basis, odds are that this is new to your client. Start with validating what they’re going through and listening to their wants and needs.
By being transparent with clients about the likelihood of a favorable verdict, going over options, and paying attention to the details of their pain and suffering, they’re more likely to feel like they’ll be able to trust you with their case. Regardless of the type of law you practice, validating your client and being honest up front is a great way to start any legal claim.
Maybe your Louisiana client was in a truck accident and found you by a Google search for ‘personal injury lawyer in New Orleans‘ or something similar. Keep in mind that they don’t know anything more about you than that you’re licensed to practice in Louisiana and that you practice personal injury law. Slowing down and giving them time to get to know you, too, will help.
Using Call Centers
Law firms of all sizes are having great luck with call centers and things like cloud call center solutions and automated routing systems in a number of ways. For busy firms, these systems help keep client information organized and protected. For smaller law firms or private practices with a single attorney, they help with managing workflow. It’s critical to the attorney-client relationship that they feel like they can you any time and receive a prompt response. While you understand just how many cases you have and that you can’t juggle calls from court, your client may not. Customer expectations in times of crisis can be difficult to meet but using a call center service is a great start in staying organized and helping your client feel heard.
Following Up with Clients
Most lawyers will end a case with a handshake and never speak to their client again. Savvy lawyers send a follow-up email, letter, or make one last phone call to ask a client how they’re doing after their court case, trial, or settlement. You might be surprised at how far one follow-up contact will go in helping with overall customer satisfaction. Enough to trigger a positive review, spur a referral, or even lead to additional work, following up with a client after their case has come to resolution is always a great idea.
At the end of the day, offering a free consultation or discounted rates and services won’t make up for negligence when it comes to ensuring your clients have a great customer experience. From using call center software to taking on new staff, making your practice a place people trust should be one of your top priorities in the legal industry. You want people to know exactly who they can go to for quality care and attention to detail after their car accident, a wrongful death, or to open a personal injury claim. Those calls will keep coming in if you put top attention on the customer experience.