Having quality customer reviews for law firms is vital to the reputation of any business, but especially law firms. The importance of customer reviews for law firms lies heavily on relationships, confidentiality, and the success of the matter. In many cases, clients place an enormous amount of trust in their lawyer to handle their personal and sensitive information. As more prospective customers conduct independent research, these best practices will help your firm put the best foot forward.

Tips to help your firm increase the quality of your customer reviews:

1. Simply ask your clients for feedback 

Your clients are busy. As a lawyer, you know all too well how easy it is to become consumed with work, personal goals, or family life, and the same goes for your clients. 

You also can’t assume that your clients know how to write a review or where to go. If directions for writing reviews aren’t a part of your intake process or marketing strategy, your clients may just not know the proper steps. 

2. Automate the process 

Integrating software to create processes for generating customer reviews for law firms has never been easier.  Think of the intake process as your initial touchpoint for information on each of your clients. Intake is where you should be collecting contact information, demographics and client-specific information. Improving your intake process and tailoring your outreach to your clients will generate a better return on reviews in the long run. 

3. Target satisfied customers 

Always strive for the five star review. If you’re early on in your campaign to generate more reviews, you may want to consider quality over quantity. The goal should never solely be to get reviews. Your goal should be to increase reviews AND make sure they’re all five stars. To ensure your reviews are always five stars, keep track of the clients who repeatedly give you praise or those you’ve had a long relationship with and create messaging you can easily send to them. 

NPS (net promoter score) survey. Another way to increase positive reviews is to implement a net promoter score (NPS) survey. An NPS survey measures customer satisfaction based on a variety of questions or categories. The possibilities for gathering information with an NPS survey are endless. To target positive reviews, be sure to include questions around your customers’ satisfaction with your service, areas for improvement, and most importantly, would they recommend you to others. 

Based on the responses, you can select the clients who gave you high ratings and invite them to leave you a review. Keep in mind, if they took the time to complete the survey, they are more likely to write a review. To improve the odds your clients take the next step to write a review, try to follow-up within a few hours after receiving their NPS survey. 

The NPS survey is another process that can be automated and sent on a quarterly basis or your desired frequency. 

4. Get personal

If you have a great relationship with your client, the ask from you will get more action then the ask from your intern. 

Over time, you build close relationships with your clients. Some are great working relationships and others may be more personal. Maybe you have similar interests or your kids are both at the same stage in life; you found something to bond over. If your clients are sharing this type of information with you, they trust the relationship and your work. 

Additionally, these clients have been in the prospect’s shoes. They know the process of searching for a great attorney before finding you. If you make your request for a review personal and emphasize that it will help you continue supporting others the way you have from them, they will be more than happy to write a positive review. 

5. Make it simple with templates

Having multiple steps in the review process may detour customer reviews for law firms. If they’re taking the time to submit a review, don’t make it difficult for them. Creating a template or having prompts allows you to control the narrative of the review. Additionally, clients will appreciate having a guide for the type of positive review you’re looking for. 

6. Give them options 

To increase the likelihood your clients will leave a review, give them multiple platforms to leave a review. You can easily create a section on your website, Facebook, and of course, a direct link to Google. By not limiting where your clients can leave a review, you allow them to choose a platform they’re comfortable with. 

7. Use review sites to repost 

If you’re not familiar, there are client reviews for law firms that are created based on a variety of categories on well-known websites. Think Lawyers.com or Avvo.com which are specifically designed to help prospective clients find lawyers worldwide. There are pros and cons to these platforms as they create a profile for your law firm which you have to claim. It is another platform to take advantage of but you may have to maintain the information or rely on the website to do so. 

8. Ask permission to post great reviews on your homepage 

Showcasing customer reviews or testimonials is a common trend on many website homepages and gives prospective customers a snapshot of your business without having to visit other sites. A best practice is to include an option within your reviews form for clients to consent to posting their reviews on your homepage. If a client review came from another source, be sure to reach out to that client and get written permission to post the review. 

9. Incentivize!

Customer reviews for law firms can be hard to get but adding an incentive to your request can sweeten the deal. Budgeting just a few hundred dollars per month to distribute five or ten dollar gift cards for client reviews could generate a bigger return on your investment. 

Another option is to provide a donation per review to a nonprofit organization of your choice. In your request for the review, let your client know that by sharing a positive review, you will donate a set amount of money to an organization in need. This approach will incentivize the client by allowing them to support not only your business, but a non-profit organization in need. Think of it as two-birds, one stone! 

10. Stress the importance of customer reviews for law firms to your employees 

Getting reviews should always be a team effort. Customer reviews for law firms represent every attorney and staff member to prospective clients. Receiving positive client reviews boils down to excellent customer service. It’s important to instill client-focused values and practices in your firm from the beginning. If you have a team with a common goal of satisfying clients, increasing positive clients reviews will be a piece of cake. 

Gathering customer reviews for law firms isn’t always easy and not at the fault of the client. As we mentioned, clients may not understand the importance an online review means to your practice. By using these tips and creating an action plan to simplify the review process, the positive reviews will be pouring in.