Every Law Firm Should Have Follow Up Calls

You know the good feeling we get when the car workshop calls you to see if your service with them went as planned? What is stopping your law firm from making a similar follow up call to make your clients feel just that extra bit special after doing business with you?

All too often we forget about the client, the minute they walk out the door, or more to the point, when they have paid the bill – surely the feedback from these people will be invaluable to your law firm learning from the interaction and it is a great way to help promote your law firm brand.

Before we all start wondering how technology can do this for us, or make it really simple to do, by using WhatsApp/SMS/Facebook/Email message – get the idea right out of your head, this is a phone call, there is no other way to deal with it. Fine to use technology to record the details, even better if it is something like a CRM (customer relationship management) system.

Feedback

How on earth can you expect your firm to improve, if you never get the feedback from the people you interact with?

Don’t leave the phone call so long that the happy feeling after winning the case has blown over and the client has started to wonder if he could have done the job himself, call soon after the matter has concluded. As a rule of thumb, I would say no longer than 3 to 4 days.

Everyone likes good news, so the rave reviews are always easier to do, but the onion award – if the client wishes to talk about it – will give you the best reward down the line and it is dynamite for ideas on how to improve your service and business.

The rave reviews, should turn into client references which you can put up on your website and social media – tagging the client in the reference will be a great networking boost.

Don’t forget to record this useful information in your CRM system, maybe share the top onion and top rave review in your morning departmental meetings.

The Warm and Fuzzy Feeling

We all like to feel special, and a courtesy call after a business transaction is an easy way to do just that.

Ask any attorney what they think is the best form of marketing and 99% of them will tell you word of mouth references. So, if the majority of the law firms are not calling after the matter is concluded, imagine how you will stand above the rest just by calling them to check on the level of service. 

What to ask?

Here are a few ideas on what you should cover on the follow up call.

• If appropriate, congratulate them on the result of the work you did for them, new house, winning the arbitration etc.
• Ask them for their input on the service level they received from your firm – give them a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being very bad to 5 being excellent.
• Once they give you the service rating, ask them why they gave you that number.
• Ask them for any advice they might have for the firm on how you could improve the experience.
• If positive feedback, ask them if they could write a short reference, or post something on your Facebook.
• In the wrapping up of the call, thank them for the business and tell them that there are a number of additional legal services that your firm offers and you would be extremely grateful if they would consider your firm in the future.

After the call

• Capture the details of the call and any ideas they gave you on improving your service.
• Create action points from their feedback and diarise to get back to the client with the steps that you have taken to improve. If appropriate – don’t go back to them if you plan to do nothing.
• Any comments you get on Facebook, make sure you tag the clients.

Who should call?

Only people who worked on the matter in your office, or the department head (in large firms) or the partner themselves. Unfortunately, the new intern who is filling in, will not create that warm and fuzzy feeling.

These follow up calls will take no more than 15 minutes a day and the good it will do to your business and brand are huge – it costs time and the phone call. Do it!