Standing out from the crowd

Most marketers realised long ago that delivering exceptional client service was one of the surest ways to retain clients. But how do you ensure your clients don't cross over to a similar competitior? By Stacy West Clark

One of the surest ways to ensure your clients do not wander off to the competition is to deliver not just good, but outstanding client service. However, you will not be alone in doing this. Lawyers around the world are coming up with innovative and personal ways of ratcheting up their level of service. In the US, an Illinois firm pledges to return all client calls within two hours – or donate funds to a client charity. A Texas firm holds sold-out events, which include manicures and food at a local restaurant. This is now the norm at many modern firms. It goes without saying that you will always:

Be responsive to the client’s needs;
Be accessible to them 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
Be thoroughly and regularly communicative about the status
of their case.

But what else can you do? You should always think outside the box.

New rules
Return all phone calls on the same business day that they are received, not the next day. Clients need to hear from you as soon as possible, and be made to feel that their matter is the most important one facing you.

Involve everyone
Savvy firms today involve their staff in all levels of client service. This includes ensuring that the secretary, paralegal and all others involved with a client know what the case is about and the principal contact’s name. They should always greet him or her by name when they call or visit the office. Staff support should be enlisted in calendaring clients’ birthdays, graduations, anniversaries and other personal events. Moreover, your staff should be asked for their ideas on how service can be improved. Don’t forget to befriend (and treat like royalty) the client’s staff in the same way.

Stay close
Call your client for no reason at all other than to see how they are. You may pick up a new matter and the client will feel flattered that you were thinking of their business or work. Also, send your clients work or introduce them to key referral sources and potential clients.

Use the web
Setup your website so that clients can check up-to-the-minute developments on their cases. The California appellate boutique, Dunn Koes LLP, provides its clients with up-to-the-minute status on pending appeals. All a client has to do is go to the firm’s webpage, click the ‘pending matters’ page, then open the appropriate case. The appellate court docket appears and the client can see if anything happened yesterday or today.

Do your research
Imbue yourself with information about your client’s industry and business. Learn everything you can about their businesses and try to accompany them to non-legal industry conferences.

Think like the client
Put yourself in the client’s shoes and consider ways to make them feel
special, succeed professionally, and more. Examples abound, from the simple exercise of sending a client a birthday or anniversary card to helping them get new business for his or her company.

Help grow clients’ businesses
Invite clients to bring their customers to firm-sponsored sporting events, for example. As one US lawyer said to me, ‘This really solidifies the relationships we have with our clients because they see us as helping them grow their businesses.’ Hold free, scheduled office hours at your client’s place of business. You will come back with new work.

Ask them...
Ask your clients how they think your service could and should be improved and act on their comments.Most importantly, what kind of service would you like from your service providers? Work to give that level of attention to your clients.

Stacy West Clark is president of Stacy Clark Marketing LLC. She can be contacted at stacy@stacyclarkmarketing.com