Historically, one of the top complaints clients make about their lawyers is bad communication. Communication is fundamental to building a strong, lasting relationship with clients. If you are; or aspire to be an exceptional commercial lawyer you are expected to stay on top of your email and phone messages.
If you are someone who travels for work purposes frequently or if you spend a lot of time in courts and client meetings, then you need to (1) better set and manage client expectations as to when they can expect a response to their email or phone call, or (2) appoint someone on your staff who is trustworthy and reliable to return those calls for you and set up an appointment to speak with you when you are accessible.
Outside the everyday communication, there are three other areas most lawyers can work on to develop their client communication skills:
Keep clients informed about the progress of their cases.
I strongly advise you have someone call and email each client to update them on their case every month – even if there is no update. For example a simple message like this “Dear John, we would like to inform you that we are still waiting to hear back from the insurance company. We will be in touch in due course.” can build stronger relationship and trust between you and your client. In most cases, there can be weeks or even months that go by with no movement. During this time, clients can think you have forgotten about them.
In order to retain client support and satisfaction, you need to kindly remind them that you are still chasing their case. However, please keep in mind that while this person can be your legal assistant or even a paralegal, we don’t recommend it be you or an associate unless absolutely necessary.
Proactively educate clients on events or changes in the law that could affect them.
Distributing regular client newsletters is a very cost-effective method to educate former clients and referral partners of changes in the law that could affect their case or just remind them of their legal rights and responsibilities.
Cross-selling is very important in this industry. Always remember to inform clients of other ways you can assist them and other areas of practice in your law firm. As adding value to your client must be your number one priority, it is your responsibility to educate and inform clients of other ways you can achieve this. If they could benefit from other services you provide which they are not currently using, let them know what benefits they could get from using those. Clients will appreciate the gesture and your firm will get more exposure and hopefully more work; a win-win situation. In addition to telling them over lunch and sending out monthly newsletters, you will find it very beneficial to hold seminars or webinars on relevant topics of interest.
This initiative offers you professional brand exposure and will improve your already strong relationship with them. Therefore, find every opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and your usefulness.
Remind your clients frequently of the results they are receiving from choosing with you.
Clients are likely as busy as you are and your great work is not always on their radar. Law is a great profession and you already know that but it can be a thankless profession. Sometimes people around you expect you to move heaven and earth and never even offer a simple thank you in return and this is even worse in the legal profession. When you are getting positive results for your clients, remind them on a regular basis. Don’t wait until the end of the case and the final bill.
This is a great trick to keep your clients aware of your good service throughout the case which will in turn help to retain their satisfaction and loyalty as already discussed above. Casually mention it along the way.
As Muhammad Ali said, “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
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