Continued client satisfaction is key to the success of any law firm. Not only will happy clients keep availing your services, they will likely even refer you to their friends and family members. While maintaining a high level of client satisfaction can be challenging, there are a couple of things you can do to keep client satisfaction up.
Determine your clients’ communication preferences
Each client is different. Some prefer in-person meetings, while others are more comfortable with emails or phone calls. Some clients expect only milestone reports, while others want more frequent updates. You need to find out what works best for each client and stick to those preferences as closely as possible.
In legal software company, only 23% of surveyed respondents were willing to work remotely with a lawyer. But in their, 79% of the respondents said they want the option to work remotely with an attorney.
Take note that people’s preferred communication methods may change over time. For example, in legal software company Clio’s 2018 Legal Trends Report, only 23% of surveyed respondents were willing to work remotely with a lawyer. But in their 2021 report, 79% of the respondents said they want the option to work remotely with an attorney. Additionally, more than half of the respondents prefer video conferencing over other communication channels (e.g., email, phone call) while working with an attorney throughout the duration of their legal matter.
If you are unsure about your client’s communication preferences, simply ask them. By asking, you can prevent misunderstandings down the road.
Be transparent about your price
People may think their lawyer is charging them “ridiculous” fees if they do not understand how they are being billed. To avoid this, be transparent about your billing system from the get-go. Break down each invoice into line items that your client can easily understand. If there are any additional charges, be sure to explain why these are necessary.
You can also upgrade your billing system with a time tracking and billing program. This software helps you easily record the time you spend working on each case and automatically generates invoices based on this data, taking the guesswork out of billing.
Read also: 12 Tech tools law firms should utilize
Set clear deadlines and meet them
Failing to meet deadlines is one of the quickest ways to frustrate your clients. This may make them feel that you are not prioritizing their case, so they may just drop you and seek the services of another law firm.
To avoid this risk, always be clear about deadlines and make sure to meet them. If something comes up that will delay your work, inform your client as soon as possible. This way, clients will not assume that the delay was due to your lack of care or effort.
Check in on your clients regularly
Getting in touch with your client is important, especially after key events in their case have transpired. These could be anything from a court appearance to receiving new documents from the other party. By checking in, you get to ensure that your client understands what is happening and what the next steps are, and assure them that you’re on top of their case.
Moreover, you should reach out to your client whenever you need to relay potential issues. If you realize that something may not work out the way you expected, be honest and upfront with them. You can also use client check-ins to get their feedback so you can improve your services and ensure that you are meeting their needs.
Checking in does not have to be a formal process; as a simple email or phone call will suffice. Just make sure to keep track of who you have checked in with and when so you can follow up if necessary.
If you are having difficulty carving out time for client check-ins, consider outsourcing some of your other time-consuming tasks like obtaining medical records. By letting Record Retrieval Solutions handle your record retrieval needs, you can spend more time on client matters and also get your records more quickly — in 16 days on average. Get in touch with us to learn more about our services.
