I have worked with small law firms and the mighty big law firms, and one thing is a constant and that is, everyone has a concept of what exceptional client service is. And more today than ever before lawyers have to get it right and frankly that does not always happen.
In strategy sessions with the powers-to-be in a law firm, I love to let them espouse the needs of the client and how the firm meets them. Then I ask them where they got their data that proved what they were doing was what the client wanted. Without fail, the benchmarks for client service are designed by the people who are trying to provide it. I would suggest they have a stake in the game to say it works. You have to learn to think like your clients or potential clients.
First you must understand today’s legal consumer needs to understand what kind of client service you need in your firm. Hear me! Today’s clients are more knowledgeable than ever before. They do not believe that a J. D. Degree makes you the expert. Before they even talk to you, they have done some internet research and probably feel they have their own J. D. degree (sort of like my internet medical degree that my doctor thinks I believe I have). When they call your firm, I promise you they already know (or think they know) what needs to be done. They want to tell you their opinion on the case. The question becomes why then should they hire you over the firm down the road?
You will be hired when the experience they have with your firm is better than the experience they had with the last firm they called or dealt with.
The secret of extraordinary client service is simple. People want relationships! They don’t care how smart you are, how many cases you handle, how many big verdicts you get (well maybe some but that doesn’t pay the day-to-day bills), and how much you talk about what you can do. They want you to care about them and their case. They want to believe that you hear them.
I love Malcolm Gladwell and his book, “Blink.” In the book, he explains that we make up our mind and decisions on things within a few seconds. Most people then take a great deal of time coming around to making that same decision they instinctively already knew at the beginning. All of this paraphrased of course. How good you are is how quickly you will make the decision about someone and move on. If this is true (and, believe me, it is as I am the quickest intuitive decision maker you will ever meet), then imagine potential clients making the same quick decision about you. If you only had 10 seconds to impress someone, what would you do?
I am convinced and will lay my reputation and company on the line that what people want is a warm, fuzzy and friendly relationship and if they sense that in you, the first few seconds, you just got yourself a client. In fact, I think today’s society is starved for relationships, and it becomes much more important than we realize.
To have a relationship with someone you have to put yourself out there and have a genuine interest in the client caller. Your clock is ticking as soon as you open your mouth. One of my programs involves an explanation of the Disney experience. At Disney, there are tunnels with doors opening out into the crowds. Before anyone steps through the door, there is a full-length mirror you must stand in front of with a sign that says: Check your image, Check your smile, You are about to go on stage. In teaching firm members, I use this trick. At each phone is a card that says “Smile you are about to go on stage.”
Calling into a law firm that provides a relationship means you put your very best friendliest most happy, optimistic person you can on the front desk. And pay them well. Lawyer Ken Hardison can tell you that he had the best employee ever that I found for him while I was staying in a hotel. I was surprised how she had the guests laughing and talking to each other during a time when she couldn’t handle the crowd. I told her if she ever needed a job in an office call; she did and was hired. She wasn’t very good at “office stuff’ but he didn’t care. He paid her well to be herself. Ken would get daily compliments on her. She was a country girl who knew how to make people feel she genuinely cared for them (and she did). I am convinced she made tons of money for the firm by creating relationships for Ken.
Firm members, lawyers and non-lawyers alike, for the most part, don’t know how to be an empath (someone who can intuitively feel and perceive others). That is where training comes in. You get your people to start understanding that relationships with clients or callers are just like relationships outside the firm. Caller calls in and asks to speak to someone. Your person immediately establishes a personal connection.
“Glad you called. I am going to get someone to talk with you now. How are you doing today with this snow?
That prompts a short dialog. Isn’t that much better than saying “One moment please.”?
Anyone who takes the new caller has to spend the first few minutes chit-chatting. I call it the southern lawyer approach when you put your foot upon the fence post and talk about the crops. It is never about business those first few minutes. If you do it right, you can feel the caller bonding with you. Share something personal. Using words of understanding as you talk as corny as it sounds makes sense. Here is a hint: Talk to the person like you would talk to your grandmother or grandfather. Respectful. Understanding. Caring. Interested.
In the end, it is not about exceptional client service it is about extraordinary client service and the difference is relationship driven.
Back many years ago I saw a lawyer try his heart out on a case with a client that the firm adored. The firm believed in the case and the people. The firm members all interacted with the clients, and they were genuinely liked. Unfortunately, the jury came up with one of those dumb decisions that seem to occur now and then. The firm as a whole was devastated, and you can imagine how the attorney felt. The next morning the client and her husband showed up with homemade baked goods for the entire firm. They wanted the firm to know they didn’t blame them and wanted to show how much it meant to them to have them in their lives. And my personal referrals ensued. That, my friends, is relationship marketing.
