Business Development Inc.

Lawyers: Do you want to excel at client service and market less? If so, consider upgrading your new client intake process by asking your clients key questions about their communication preferences and expectations.

Why? For at least these three reasons:

1.    Clients of all types stop using certain firms and lawyers mainly due to:

        1) a lack of responsiveness, 

        2) a lack of perceived quality of the work/results obtained, and/or 

        3) the perception that the total costs they are paying are too high for what is received.

2.    Attorneys and law firms are rarely told “you’re fired” in a formal manner. Instead, clients simply stop sending their work to any firm or lawyer they are not satisfied with and start sending work to a new firm or lawyer. The prior firm receives a letter requesting that files be transferred.

3.    Eighty percent of law firm clients expect a response to a text or email “immediately” –which most clients define as two hours. But attorneys tend to think in four- and eight-hour blocks as responsive. Between all their commitments, court dates, filing deadlines and a consistent stream of client inquiries, most lawyers think that responding within four to eight hours (or even 24 hours) is appropriate – TWICE what most clients expect. So, attorneys’ definition of “immediate” is TWICE as long as their client’s definition of “immediate.” These are bona fide statistics based on decades of client interviews conducted by Michael Rynowecer of the BTI Consulting Group.

Interestingly, the New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct requires lawyers to “fully inform a prospective client of how, when and where the client may communicate with the lawyer.”

If every lawyer initiated this type of conversation before starting work for a new client, and if every state bar’s rules had this requirement, client satisfaction would increase, and malpractice cases based on lack of responsiveness would likely decrease. Plus, outside lawyers would receive more referrals and positive word-of-mouth, and – as a result - would have less need to market their services.

 Here are some additional resources:

• Is Your Level of Responsiveness Up to Par These Days? https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/is-your-level-of-responsiveness-up-to-9008654/
• Why Attorneys Are Never Responsive Enough - https://bticonsulting.com/themadclientist/separating-fact-from-fiction-why-attorneys-are-never-responsive-enough
• How To Be A Responsive Lawyer - https://www.inhouseblog.com/responsive-lawyer/
• 3 Ways Law Firms Can Respond to Potential Clients Faster - https://www.clio.com/blog/law-firms-respond-faster/
• Survive & Thrive Post-Pandemic: A Guidebook for Legal Professionals – https://amzn.to/3LNRSiz