You Only Get One Chance to Make a First Impression

You Only Get One Chance to Make a First Impression

I was out walking with my son a few weeks ago, along our local high street. We are very fortunate to have endless options of coffee shops, all within a short walk of each other. On this particular day, I noticed that one of them had closed down. It was no real surprise and I had never been in. Why? Well, the shop front looked a bit dated, and the tables and chairs a bit ‘basic’. As I say, there are lots of cafes within close proximity, and in those circumstances, customers like me will make a split second decision, possibly even subconsciously, based on first impression. Hence, the café that looks a bit old fashioned doesn’t attract customers when there are other choices.

Think about this example in terms of your law firm, whether you are similar in the sense of being on a busy high street in a local town with other solicitors geographically close by, or in an ‘online’ sense, you are all just a line on Google’s search page. What first impression would potential clients get of your firm? What does the shop front look like? How does your website look and function? Does your website come up on the first page of Google? Is it easy to navigate around? Is it clear what service you can offer clients? Is it easy for people to contact you? Can they get hold of you outside of office hours?

And what about the first impression a potential client would get if they went to the next stage and actually walked in the door, or phoned with an enquiry? Who answers the phone and how quickly? Are they polite/welcoming/enthusiastic? Are they knowledgeable about the services you offer?

All of these things make up the first impression a prospective client gets of your firm, and they will make a decision on whether to instruct you, based on them. They are crucial to the success or failure of your business. It doesn’t matter if you are the ‘best’ lawyer in town, or provide the greatest value for money – the prospective client will not use you in the first place unless you get the first impression right.

Improving some of the issues above will involve spending money, but many will not. Ensuring that you pay as much attention to your website as you would the shop front is crucial as this is the way most consumers now find you. Creating the right impression with what you post on social media is also key. You only get one chance to make the right first impression.

Back to my local high street…I was walking there again this weekend. The same shop had been taken over by new owners, and re-opened as a café. The new branding looked good, they had some nice tables set up outside, and it looked busy with customers. I went in this time.

Cashroom

http://www.thecashroom.co.uk/

The Cashroom Logo   The Cashroom Ltd exists to deal with the day to day administration of a law firm’s finance function, ensure compliance with the Solicitor’s Accounts Rules, and provide firms with management information and Management Accounts. We provide the time and the information allowing solicitors to focus on their business. The Cashroom provides a specialist accounting service to the legal profession, comprising an outsourced legal cashiering service, and an outsourced management accounting service. We now do this for almost 150 clients in the UK. Our legal cashiering service is delivered remotely by a team of qualified cashiers, working in our offices. We use our client’s own practice management system (there is no need to change system), logging on remotely to run their cash room, as if we were in the room next door. We also provide an outsource management accounting service delivering management accounts and management information to law firms quickly and economically, often to firms who could not afford to employ a full time accountant. More importantly, we work with clients to analyse that information, helping them understand their firm’s finances more clearly. Lawyers are not accountants and employing, supervising and managing a cash room, was a worrying prospect for many solicitors. Our Legal Cashiering Service takes away that worry, running and managing a firm’s cash room, on an outsourced basis, and ensuring compliance with the Accounts Rules. And we usually do it for around two thirds the cost of running an accounts function in house. Few small to medium sized firms produce the management information they need to run their business effectively. Few produce monthly Management Accounts, few have annual budgets, and fewer still track performance against budget on a monthly basis. Our Accountants combine “best practice” from a number of firms to create a finance function, which produces Management Accounts and management information quickly and efficiently. The Cashroom produces annual budgets, monthly management accounts, monthly management information and cash flow projections. More importantly, our Accountants spend time with our clients making sure they understand the information, and what it tells them about their business. And, again, we do it for a fraction of the cost of employing a Finance Director. We also run a full outsourced payroll including auto-enrolment services for firms of all sizes.

Key Contacts:

If you are regulated within the English and Welsh market then please contact: Alex Holt T: 07817 420 466 E:  alex.holt@thecashroom.co.uk English Office The Cashroom, West Lancashire Investment Centre, White Moss Business Park, Maple View, Skelmersdale , Lancashire, WN8 9TG Tel: 01695 550 950 If you are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, please contact: Gregor Angus T: 07875 598 593 E: gregor.angus@thecashroom.co.uk. Scottish Office, Livingston The Cashroom, Craglea House, 7 Quarrywood Court, Livingston Village, Livingston, West Lothian. EH54 6AX Tel: 01506 401 270

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