This is the second part of my customer service strategies post this weekend; check this post first if you missed it.

4.  Check In With the Client AFTER the Purchase. Within two minutes after Kern left my luggage in the room I received a call from Kay. 

―Hello, Mr. Fairley, this is Kay at the front desk. I just wanted to call and make sure everything is to your satisfaction.

―Thanks Kay. The room looks great, but the light in the hallway entrance just as you step in the door doesn’t work.

―Sorry about that Mr. Fairley. Are you planning on going out anytime this evening? ―Yes, I actually have dinner with a client at 6pm.

―Great. I’ll send the engineer up at 6:30pm so they don’t disturb you. Do you already have dinner reservations or would you like some assistance with that?

―No thanks. We already have a reservation.

5.  Find ways to be flexible. It’s not always easy to be flexible in the legal industry, but if there’s a way you can accommodate your client’s needs or wishes I recommend you go out of your way to do so. For example, instead of requiring full payment up front offer three flexible payment plans. Instead of requiring payment by cash or check, sign up so you can accept credit cards. If possible, offer appointments to busy clients after hours or during the weekend. Not everyone finds it easy to take off a couple hours during the day to meet with an attorney. I know a few attorneys who work with high net worth clients who offer to come to the client’s house instead of making them drive to their office. Clients appreciate your flexibility.

6.  Train Your Staff to Be a Master of Details. We’ve all heard that the devil is in the details. I remember the first time my estate planning attorney sent my wife and I a draft of our new estate plan. Talk about a disaster! According to his documents my wife and I were of a different ethnicity, had different last names from each other, and had three kids we didn’t know anything about! After I turned to my wife and asked if there was anything she needed to tell me about her past, I sent off a very terse email to my attorney explaining the problems. I know many estate plans are based off boilerplate language and often done by software programs, but he or his staff obviously did not even check the documents nor did they remember to remove his other client’s names and identifying information!

I’m a huge fan of checklists. They can be wonderful for training staff and decreasing potential mistakes and omissions. What are the major systems that need to have a checklist put into place? Here are a couple of ideas for your checklists:

Double check to verify client name, phone and address is correct.

Double check spelling of clients first and last name is correct.

Have payment terms, options and conditions been clearly explained to the client and have they signed something in writing explaining these terms?

Is the amount correct on the invoice?

Is the invoice itemized and detailed enough so the client can easily understand it?

If there is an unusual charge is there a letter explaining what the fee is and why it was assessed?

Did you include the list of documents the client must bring back to our office?

Are all deadlines clearly stated so the client can write them down?

Are the penalties or consequences for missing a deadline clearly stated so there is no excuse if the client misses an important one?

Does the client know who to contact if they cannot reach the attorney? Is their contact information clearly given?

Does focusing on the client experience count where it matters most—in client retention and revenues? Yes and yes. John Bisnar reported some time ago that it has allowed him to retain 97% of all personal injury cases that walk in his door.

Before he started focusing on the client experience he would get a lot of ―qualifying questions like: Have you ever handled this kind of case before? How many people have you worked with who had this kind of problem? Can I talk to some of your past clients about the results you achieved for them?

“Now, the most frequent question we get is, will you take my case,” says John. Now that’s a question every attorney wants to hear.