Honeymoon inspiration – client service

Honeymoon inspiration – client service

Written by Alex Holt, Director of Business Development at The Cashroom

I promise I didn’t spend my honeymoon in Cornwall thinking about the legal sector and business generally. That would be tragic, and may well be the sort of thing that would lead to a very brief marriage.

However, when I got back to my desk and the joys of my working life a few things did occur to me.

We can fall into a trap- looking in very insular ways at the sector we serve, at the methods and processes which are specific to our market. I believe that in doing so we are missing out. I think this may be particularly the case for winning and servicing new business.

Think about client service and parallels with the hospitality industry who must surely have had things tougher than most other sectors.

Booking a table – almost every restaurant we wanted to visit had very slick online booking systems. They were easy to use, and provided a very quick and certain confirmation that we had a table. There was no need for ‘human’ interaction and it made me wonder whether customers might value the ability to book an appointment slot online, when googling legal services in an evening.

Surely firms could use a version of this method to engage with existing clients and potential new customers. The firm would specify slots of available time, and the load could be shared across a number of fee earners. I know that when booking a table, we were far more likely to book at our convenience, rather than having to call during specific hours to speak with someone. I suspect there is a large portion of a firm’s potential market who would think similarly when shopping around law firms to acquire services.

Which brings me onto customer reviews. It’s not so long ago that price transparency on websites was the big new thing for lawyers. But surely more than ever, the ideas from online shopping have relevance for the sector. The parallel with a service industry like hospitality is that service and customer experience play a key part in reputation. Every firm can perform its core legal business. They can write a will. Or sell a house. Or litigate. However the differentiator is often not about price. What makes a firm stand out  is how well they perform those services, what the customer experience is, and what the firm does to capture reviews and publicise them to win work.

When we were looking where to eat we would want to view a clear website, with the detail we needed (menus usually, and lists of cocktails!), and we would always consider some of the recent reviews and star ratings.

Finally, let’s think about that customer experience in more detail.

So we’ve gone online, searched for our restaurant (or lawyer), looked at their website, read their reviews, made a booking. In we go.

The variety of experience from that point on is huge. Someone who has booked a table (or decided to meet a lawyer to discuss a will for example) has only just started their journey. How are they greeted on arrival? The parallel here is the difference between being left standing with a mask on in the foyer for twenty minutes or being shown by a friendly and helpful person straight to your table.

Does your firm have processes to deal with people both remotely and face to face which make the client feel valued, not just on their first encounter, but then onward throughout their dealings? And at the conclusion do they look at the bill and say “the main course was expensive for what we got” or do they wax lyrical online about what incredible service and value for money they experienced?

One thing that law firms don’t need to worry about is the upset caused by eating at loads of these establishments and realising that the major efforts to get fit and lose weight before the wedding were decimated by the wonderful meals and drinks we enjoyed. I guess that’s another story entirely!

This article was submitted to be published by The Cashroom as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.

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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