BASED ON THE ABOVE, IF WE FOLLOWED THE NATIONAL AVERAGE, LOST REVENUE WOULD BE WELL OVER $3,000,000 How does this affect your firm? The single biggest mistake lawyers make is not realizing they are in the business of making a profit with a good return on investment! When you make a good profit, you can pay your people well, have the best of the best, and you can achieve the success all law firm owners want. HAVE I GOT YOUR ATTENTION NOW? In over thirty years of practice, I learned many things and one of the most important is how to develop client loyalty and keep client loyalty. By following some very simple common-sense rules and setting the stage for all lawyers and employees who work for you, client loyalty is easy to develop. I candidly tell everyone that my practice rises, and falls based on client loyalty.
15 SECRETS TO DEVELOPING CLIENT LOYALTY
1. GREET CLIENTS PROMPTLY A survey clocked the number of seconds people had to wait to be greeted in several businesses. Researchers then asked clients how long they had been waiting. In every case, the client’s estimate of the time elapsed was much longer than the actual time. A client waiting 30 or 40 seconds often feels like he or she has been waiting 3 or 4 minutes. Time drags when people are waiting. One of the things we can do to greet clients properly is not to put them on hold and answer the phone on the first ring when the receptionist is paging you. The key to greeting clients is simple – Don’t keep them waiting . This is a good time to tell you that one of your best investments is a good receptionist or front desk person. This person can make or break your firm simply by not being a people person. Give this person great latitude to get the calls answered and if the rest of the firm doesn’t fall in line, afford this person an open door policy with you. I have found time and time again, the person on the front desk knows for a fact whether or not you are meeting client satisfaction goals. 2. APPLY GOOD CONVERSATION SKILLS A good way to create client rapport is to talk to people like they are in your living room. People in general are intimated by lawyers in law offices. It is your job to make them feel comfortable as they have already been through a traumatic event or they would not be hiring you to start with. Something to use break the ice would be
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