Doing a good job better
Putting client care at the heart of your firm

Maximising client retention allows firms to devote more of their marketing and business-development efforts to real growth. Carolyn Roberson, business development and marketing director at Hill Dickinson, explains how well-run client-care programmes can truly impact the bottom line.

Clients are becoming more demanding and will let their lawyers know about it if they believe they have received poor service. At best this can be expensive in terms of time and energy in convincing them otherwise and at worst it can result in clients simply walking away and finding another law firm to fulfil their needs.

Imagine an alternative scenario, where clients are so delighted with the service they receive that not only are they giving you more work themselves, but they are also telling all their business contacts about the benefits of using your firm. The difference is excellent client care.

Although the majority of law firms will be implementing some form of client care, many pay lip service to the procedure, unaware that real root-and-branch commitment to a formalised programme, driven deep into the culture of the business, can make a massive difference to the firm and the behaviour of the individuals within the practice.

Client care for grown-up businesses is actually about client development, resulting in a win-win situation for both the firm and its client. Taking this a step further, it can lead to joint business-development initiatives, which are at the client, for the client (AC-FC), such as developing new market sectors in conjunction with the client to the profit of both parties involved.

Quality is often said to be made up of three aspects: technical, functional and image. Technical quality is no good without delivering on time and on budget and neither of those is any good if the firm has not developed a reputation for quality service.

So, a client may have been given the best possible attention from a team of lawyers working through the night to complete the work – you need to make sure their lasting memory is not that they were overcharged on their invoice, or that they were kept waiting on the phone at a vital time.

Client care really starts to drive superior business performance when it is ingrained in the culture of the firm and is an integral part of the firm’s values – ensuring that clients know what to expect from the firm and making sure they consistently receive the same high level of service. It means thinking in the client’s shoes, acting as an integral part of their team and operating as a highly valued business adviser instead of highly valued supplier.

So how can client care be applied in practice?

At Hill Dickinson, we have designed a client-care strategy to develop relationships with clients to a mutually beneficial outcome, working with them to achieve their business objectives through legal solutions and structure. We have developed a client-care programme that works in practice, not just in theory, to deliver tangible results to the bottom line.

Every new client is allocated a client partner who develops specialist knowledge of the client’s business, ensures a consistently high quality of service and makes sure that the appropriate legal resources are always available.

The client partner has responsibility for the day-to-day delivery of services. This person acts as a single point of contact for everybody involved, checking that all responsibilities are met within the specified timeframe. It is therefore vital that they are accessible to the client at all times.

For unavoidable absences, such as court appearances or holidays, the client partner will allocate a ‘deputy’ to take responsibility in their absence, as there is nothing more frustrating for a client needing a quick answer or phoning for an update than not being able to speak to the right person.

At agreed intervals, the client partner also meets with the client to gain feedback on Hill Dickinson’s performance and agrees any changes that may be necessary, taking on a troubleshooting role to deal with any issues that may arise.

The client partner is assisted by partners and solicitors who possess the necessary specialist skills to complete each task effectively and efficiently. Any instructions received by the client are actioned at the appropriate level of fee earner by the responsible partner to ensure that best value is always provided.

However, Hill Dickinson’s commitment to client care goes beyond the way we conduct cases and transactions. For true client care to work effectively, we aim for a genuine strategic and business partnership with our clients, which extends throughout the whole organisation. A specially designed continuous programme of training initiatives on a variety of subjects is run in house for Hill Dickinson personnel as part of their continuing professional development in keeping up to date with legal changes and their implications. All members of staff are also actively encouraged to identify training courses that they think would enhance their knowledge or expertise in a particular area. Where appropriate, we also design and deliver training courses and seminars to our clients to keep them abreast of legal developments to enable us to understand each other’s needs and requirements a little better. We are also happy to offer secondments to and from client organisations.

This can extend even further to developing relationships outside as well as inside the work environment. We have an extensive hospitality and entertainment programme for clients as getting to know them on a social level can help enormously in the working relationship.

We also keep in regular contact with clients through e-mail updates containing changes in legislation that may affect them, not only keeping them fully up to speed on any relevant intelligence, but also letting them know that we are on the ball. We also encourage clients to make use of our offices and sources of information, including our comprehensive library service, forging closer links in the ongoing relationship.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of our client care is that we do not just sit and wait for the client to call us. We realise that to grow and strengthen relationships with clients, we need to be continually proactive in offering new competencies and business services to make the client’s job easier, aligning these to their specific needs at any moment in time. This concept of over-delivery really makes the difference in developing client relationships and makes it more difficult for the client to even consider going elsewhere for their legal needs.

The success of the client-care programme at Hill Dickinson would not be possible without the total commitment of every member of staff. To win such support, it was important to cascade down the client-care message from the top of the organisation, with different key stimuli at each level, ensuring staff understood exactly why a client-care policy was being implemented and how it would positively affect their work. Regular update sessions and workshops ensure that the client-care message is constantly top of mind and communicated throughout the organisation.

How to implement a successful client-care policy

Gain staff commitment. Everybody in the organisation needs to understand that the clients pay the bills. Without happy clients the firm would be out of business and they would be looking for another job;
Make sure everybody pulls their weight. Everybody in the organisation can do their bit to improve client care, from being polite to clients on the phone, to spotting and amending a spelling mistake on a letter before it is sent out;
Leadership must come from the top. While it may be relatively easy to get staff onboard, partners may be more difficult to persuade. It is therefore essential to convert them first;
Be determined. It may take longer than anticipated to attain the levels of client care that you are seeking, but remember that it will all be worth it;
Be consistent. Make sure that everybody in the organisation is constantly aware of what the firm is trying to achieve;
Be prepared for additional training. Some members of staff may need soft-skill training to enable them to better implement the client-care strategy;
Constantly review. Review the client-care programme on a regular basis to benchmark against targets and consider any feedback from both staff and clients.

The secret to successful client care is never to be content. What was more than good enough in one year is average the next and insufficient the year after. It is important to always challenge the organisation to do better and seek new ways to surprise the client with creativity and commitment.

Carolyn Roberson is business development and marketing director at Hill Dickinson. She can be contacted at carolyn.roberson@hilldickinson.com

Doing a good job betterPutting client care at the heart of your firm

So how can client care be applied in practice?

How to implement a successful client-care policy

Doing a good job better
Putting client care at the heart of your firm