June 29, 2005
Five Basics for Client Services
Time Flies. Believe it or not, Barbara Curran’s study of The Legal Needs of the Public was completed almost 30 years ago and, for many firms, time has not changed things. However, if you are one of those who haven’t changed, there is still time to catch up. There are still a lot of unsatisfied public legal needs.
We are talking about the public’s expectation when working with attorneys. Curran found that these were the areas where law firms were falling short:
- Keeping clients informed
- Interest and concern about the client's problems
- Promptness
- Charging fair and reasonable fees
- Failing to report
- Slowness
- Working habits
The point is that you are entitled to judge the quality of your legal work. You are the expert. But never forget there are two certainties in life and business. One of those is that you are always judged by others. Your clients are not experts, but they are well-qualified to judge:
- How welcome you make them feel
- How quickly you get back with them
- If you talk down to them
- If you really listen
- If you make them feel important
- The orderliness of your office and habits
- Etc.
Richard Reed reminds us in his publication, Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour that there are five criteria for client services:
- Timeliness
- Reliability
- Empathy
- Assurance
- Tangibility
We will talk more about each of these in the future, but to give you a heads up, if you are wondering about tangibility, it is simple. “People use appearances to make judgments about relativities.”
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Filed under Firm Culture by Tom Collins