Retail therapy: customer service will make your firm stand out

Opinion is divided on the importance of customer service in the legal profession; we can't even agree whether we're prepared to call our clients 'customers'. But as we face up to the march of retail brands into the sector, bringing their tightly honed expertise in customer service with them, is this something we ignore at ?our peril?

In 2011, the Legal Services Board reported that the two main causes of dissatisfaction expressed by consumers in dealing with legal advisers was the amount of time the matter took and the poor quality of service. This is a perception reinforced by further LSB research, published earlier this year, which showed that 55 per cent of consumers were dissatisfied with solicitors, saying that the quality of service provided was poor or not up to scratch.

If that wasn't bad enough, it seems that the profession doesn't even want to know what consumers are thinking - a YouGov Sixth Sense report on legal services earlier this year reported that only 20 per cent of those surveyed had been asked what they thought about customer service.

So are lawyers playing ostrich? Is it comp-lacency, arrogance, or simply uncertainty about how to respond? For many there is a reluctance to step away from what is considered the 'professional' approach and to get dirty with what are seen as retailing tricks. But the big brands that are developing their position in the legal sector all have vastly more experience at providing point-of-sale customer service. Translating that into a language for the legal sector will be second nature to them. They will be spending huge sums of money on their customer service, to ensure they provide a hugely responsive service to the client.

Clients already use some of these brands - such as the Co-op - in other areas of their lives, so these are tried and tested names, with clear brand values and identity. To compete, existing professional firms will have to develop a new strategy - and leading edge client service is one of the ways they can add value to what they already do.

Client service is where I see the battleground for clients will be won and lost, because in the new world it's not enough simply to be an excellent legal adviser. How you look after clients is what makes a difference. This is the reasoning behind LawNet's new 'mark of excellence' in client service designed to help member firms be more competitive and to differentiate themselves on the high street. Our members wanted to be able to demonstrate to clients why being part of our network makes them different, without giving up their individual identity and brand.

Measurable quality

The new kite mark does that through a package of support that includes mystery shopping, customer service training, and compulsory online satisfaction surveys. It includes a client service charter and provides what I believe is a nationally-recognisable and robust measure of quality to clients.

It's not just lip service to client care: for instance, the satisfaction surveys will be delivered through the Law League online portal, and will enable firms to benchmark themselves against fellow member firms and others nationwide.

The mystery shopping will involve ?eight samples each year, both telephone ?and walk-in, and is being delivered ?through the professional services division of mystery shopping company Shopper Anonymous, who will also provide one-to-one feedback and in-practice training to support their findings.

Compliance with the mark will be ?audited as part of the LawNet ISO 9001 standard. But it's not about loading on even more compliance for firms. The audit systems are already in place and proven; this will be a simple add-on for firms that will drive real benefits.

All LawNet firms must, as a condition of membership, achieve and maintain our bespoke ISO 9001 standard, which was updated last year to include the requirements of LEXCEL and outcomes-focused regulation (OFR). By incorporating a focus on client care in the ISO standard, this makes it more immediately relevant to clients and helps our firms translate compliance into client service excellence.

The new excellence mark goes further in client service terms than the requirements of Lexcel. Lexcel is a framework which sets out the baseline requirements for client service, whereas the excellence mark is a set of tools for delivering excellent client service.

Real difference

In devising the mark, our starting point was to look at what would make a real difference.

Research shows that the majority of ?people still use recommendation as the primary route to finding a lawyer. But firms will only get that recommendation if the service they provide is of a high enough quality - and in the new world they will be competing even harder.

We wanted to help member firms take their existing commitment to quality and bring client experience to the forefront in their firms. The package of support is intended to include training and measurement techniques that can give them real on-the-ground information to assess what's working and what might need tweaking to develop and maintain a competitive edge.

There have been some challenges in adoption across the network. Clearly 70 firms have 70 different opinions (just ?imagine a really huge partners' meeting and you will have some idea what I mean) and yes there was a lot of nibbling round the edges of what exactly does this or that charter statement imply.

But ensuring ongoing dialogue, regular 'product testing' and working groups during the development of the quality mark has helped to smooth the way. Roll out was eased by, for example, the deployment of 'ambassadors' within each of the firms and offering support and training to help each firm get the buy-in they need internally. It's an ongoing process and this is the just the start of a journey to support the firms into the future.

What that future holds is still unclear. We all know the headlines: small firms under pressure; reforms beginning to bite; takeovers and mergers on the cards as consolidation sees big firms getting bigger, smaller firms getting knocked out.

But for many people, seeing their local lawyer is still important. The pace of ?change to new styles of delivery is swifter in the big cities, but in smaller communities and towns, it's a different style of society - one where people still like to visit their local market solicitor.

I am confident there will be a place on the high street in the future for firms, but it will be for those that are offering a high quality service. Certainly, it will be harder for firms that don't embrace client service and satisfaction to survive. When there is greater choice; clients will surely vote with their feet.

Those who are prepared to commit to truly servicing their clients in the way that the client wants to be served, to truly meet their needs, will be the winners. Those that won't - will be swept aside.

We don't have a crystal ball to predict what's going to happen over the coming years. There are huge changes affecting the high street already, but not just in terms of law firms. Out-of-town and online shopping, changes to consumer habits - all of these mean that the high street is virtually unrecognisable compared to a decade ago.

But rather than focus on the high street and location, we see our role as helping independent law firms remain independent; to help them protect their identities and drive success in whatever the new world looks like.

 

Ann Davies, managing partner Lamb Brooks Solicitors said : “Client care is where we want to focus our energies as a firm to set us apart and make us the firm of choice locally. We wanted LawNet to help us achieve that, as the services and support they develop centrally are way beyond what we could do with our own resources.”  Alongside achieving a 99 per cent satisfaction rating in the first tranche of online satisfaction surveys, the firm also points to the value of the mystery shopping exercise.  Davies explained: “The results of the mystery shopping have informed client service training days delivered to the whole firm. We had a really positive response from everyone who took part in the training and a big part of that is because we have real evidence to work against. It’s helping to build the buy-in and support we need from everyone to deliver on our client service commitments. It is also motivating for staff to see positive feedback.” At Warner Goodman Solicitors, Ian Curtis was looking for a new way to demonstrate the value of their services to clients.  He said: “What clients expect just keeps going up and you have to respond and continually improve. What was new and a value-add yesterday is now seen as a given. You have to keep developing and moving forward and we wanted a visible differentiator that would help distinguish us from other firms in our area.  "It’s not enough to say 'we believe that we deliver excellent client service', we need to know how we’re really performing.”