Applying Customer Service to the Practice of Law

NuLaw is legal case management software built on the Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) platform. We chose Salesforce as our base because we believe that applying a customer service mindset to the practice of law makes for a better law firm.

Attorneys tend to refer to those they represent as clients. That they are. However, those clients are also customers. They are paying for legal services in much the same way they would pay for lawn care or cleaning services. As such, they expect to be treated like customers the attorney wants to keep.

This post will discuss the idea of applying the customer service mindset to law. To get started, let us look at a few key statistics from Salesforce:

• 27% of consumers claim ineffective customer service as a major frustration

• 72% consider it poor customer service to have to explain their problem to multiple people

• 12% of consumers are frustrated by a lack of speedy customer service

• 79% who say they have used online feedback for customer service claim to have been ignored.

These are four key statistics that play a role in how people view the service they receive from their attorneys. Now let's discuss why they are important.

Ineffective Customer Service

The whole point of customer service is to ensure that customers are happy. When problems arise, ineffective customer service only makes unhappy customers more unhappy. Does this matter in a legal setting? You bet. Ineffective customer service leads to a number of different problems, including a lack of trust.

Too Many People Involved

The idea of having to explain problems to multiple people indicates that there are too many people involved. This is frustrating for customers because it makes them feel as if they are getting nowhere. They would rather speak to one knowledgeable individual who knows what he or she is doing than multiple representatives who pass the problem on down the line.

This sort of scenario is particularly upsetting in the legal environment. Clients want to speak with their attorneys as much as possible. If the attorney is unavailable, an administrative assistant or legal aid is acceptable, as long as such discussions are on a limited basis.

Lack of Speed and Timeliness

Consumers generally don't appreciate when they are left waiting by the companies that they do business with. They do not like waiting in lines; they do not like waiting on hold; they do not like having to wait for weeks or months for resolution.

In the legal arena, you cannot necessarily speed up the progression of a case. But you can answer customer inquiries in a timely manner. You can utilize things like chat bots on a website to give clients answers to their most frequently asked questions. There are ways to be faster at what you do as a case progresses.

Ignore Customers at Your Own Risk

Finally, ignoring customers is the absolute worst thing any business can do from a customer service standpoint. This goes back to effective communication in a legal setting. Clients have a reasonable expectation that their phone calls e-mails, and text messages will be responded to in a timely manner. They have a reasonable expectation of being kept updated about the progress of their cases.

We have thrown a lot at you in this post. We want to close by reminding you that legal case management software plays a key role in offering quality customer service. A package like NuLaw makes a law office more efficient, more responsive, and better at meeting client needs according to their expectations.

Sources:

Salesforce – https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/08/customer-service-stats.html