The route to changing client care

Every business must continually ask itself how its clients want to do business and then respond. But for many, making change can seem daunting or even downright difficult.

In a recent review of two years' worth of client research, the importance of incremental change stood out.

The Dave Brailsford school
of thought on how small improvements can have a huge impact on overall performance is well documented. As performance director for British cycling, he has shown his focus on the 'aggregation of marginal gains', and it's a great takeaway in tackling the client service challenge.

Many of our firms are
adopting this style of process improvement methodology when seeking to improve the customer experience within their firms. This includes setting up improvement teams to look in detail at how clients interact with them, identifying each element of those interactions and thinking critically about how each may be improved from the client's perspective.

It looks to be a game changer, giving confidence and actively encouraging members of our community to implement change, because they're working with small, measurable steps, instead of the leap into the unknown that may result from a grand plan. Some of the process changes have been made in response to feedback from mystery shopping results
and, while simple, they have generated remarkable results. These incremental steps have included, for example:

• Staggering lunch breaks within departments, so that the telephones are always manned;
• Having reception 'introduce' all telephone calls to fee earners, so they can take control of the call, using the client's name and not asking them to repeat details; and
• Introducing simple checklists to ensure consistency in telephone handling and accurate data collection to enable follow-through.

So, if you're ready to break away from the peloton, like Dave Brailsford's protégés, start with the basics of the customer experience. Take a look at how you present yourself to the outside world by setting up a team to approach your offices in a number of different ways, and get everyone to document at least three things that could be improved.

It's also worth looking at the customer reception experience for quick wins. For example, have your receptionists been briefed each day about who is coming in for meetings, so they can greet them by name or know as soon as they introduce themselves who they are coming to see? Little things like this are easy to implement, but can have a big impact on the overall impression given to a client.

Whatever incremental change you make, it's important to make sure that it is fully implemented and maintained and the results evaluated. Developing an excellent customer experience is an ongoing process of continual improvement, but by breaking it down into small steps, you'll start to see results
immediately. SJ

Helen Hamilton-Shaw is director of services at LawNet