As the legal field continues to adapt in line with the era of digital progression, changes to legal services will cause an inevitable impact on our profession. Moreover, the ever increasing demands of clients and increased competition within this sector means that attracting and retaining clients is more important now than ever. Ultimately law firms exist to serve their clients and part of being a successful, connected, Practice means having a strong working relationship with clients. The best way to do this is to stand out from the crowd by keeping clients involved, as though they are part of the firm. You need to work on improving client engagement in order to maintain client interest in the firm which then keeps them loyal and trusting in your organisation. Not only this but attracting clients is becoming increasingly more difficult due to competing firms meaning your firm must work even harder to gain client and prospect interest, bringing them into your firm.
To help you keep clients interested, here are a few key ways to get your clients engaged.
Ensure client satisfaction: Listening to your clients and understanding their needs will allow you to ensure they are satisfied with their relationship with the firm and the service they’re getting from you. Speaking to your clients allows you to gain an accurate understanding of what they expect from you and what is needed to retain their interest and loyalty in your firm. Now more than ever solicitors are expected to surpass expectations and foresee client needs. Really engaging with clients to understand their cases and past history will help support you in doing this.
Improve communication: Communication is key to engaging clients and improving your relationships with them. Allowing clients to engage with you wherever they wish and using a variety of communication devices increases your client’s satisfaction and will further increase the likelihood of increased client – business communication. Using modern, forward thinking methods to contact clients will increase their contentment when contacted using their preferred method. The mobility that modern technology enables means that your firm will gain a reputation for its client focussed flexibility.
Tailor to client interest: If the content you send out to clients isn’t appealing to them they will lose interest and either ignore content or ‘unsubscribe.’ This is possibly the quickest way to cause client irritation as rather than feeling interested they will begin to feel bombarded by ‘spam’ messages. Of course you want clients to be involved in your story which is why offering tailored, relevant content is necessary. Moreover, positioning yourselves as thought leaders shows clients how necessary you are to them and how strong your firm is in this rising, competitive climate.
24/7 tracking: Letting your clients access their case information whenever and wherever they need is beneficial for multiple reasons. Not only does it mean clients have a quick and easy means to view their case and track the progress of cases, it reduces the amount of time solicitors have to spend talking clients through their case updates – time which can be used working on the cases themselves. In addition, having a specialist solution that can give clients access to case progress means that they do not have to work around the hours your firm is open. Instead they have the freedom to check their case information regardless of business hours, adding convenience for them and a reduction in calls for the firm. Clients will see this flexibility and mobility as a client-focused, forward thinking approach to law.
Stand out: The competitive edge within this digital age means that standing out from the crowd is critical for your success. The legal field is no longer just about being good at what you do – it’s about showing clients that you can surpass their expectations and make interactions with your organisation as simple and as efficient as possible.
Giving clients the independence to track their cases and view the status of their case from a client portal not only provides flexibility for the customer, it saves both of you time and enables clients to feel in control of their case file. Moreover, the ability to login and access information outside of business hours empowers clients and makes them aware that your firm works to make their life easier.
During the spring of 2017, ALB, practice and case management software, will be enabled with a new client portal, where clients will be able to log in and track their status.
