Resolutions for Client Service

It’s a new year, and a good time to commit to improve client service.

Dan Pinnington advises lawyers to avoid doing things that annoy clients the most and recommends things like:

Establishing a policy for returning client calls within a specified period of time

• Ensuring clients don’t spend a long time waiting in your waiting room
• Realistically assessing deadlines
• Documenting advice to clients about outcome
• Meeting with clients in person to explain changes in the bill
• Acknowledging mistakes

You can read all of Dan’s excellent advice here.

From the ABA Journal, Patrick Lamb provides his 13 New Year’s Resolutions for Client Service. They include:

• Spending more time looking at client relationships from the client’s perspective
• Asking clients to define unacceptable, acceptable and outstanding outcomes before billing on a matter
• Embracing the idea of focusing on the service provided to clients
• Spending more time talking with clients on the phone and in person, and communicating less via email

Here are a few quick tips of my own to improve your client service in 2013

• Make bills easy to understand – write in full sentences, and use words clients understand
• Make it easy for clients to pay – accept credit cards, offer online payment options, sned clients a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your bills
• Explore clients’ expectations, not just for the outcome, but for service as well; find out how, when, where and how often they prefer to communicate
• Discuss budget and fees with the client at the intial consultation and throughout the engagement
• Anticipate clients’ concerns, and address their anxiety not only about outcome, but about the legal process as well
• Ask clients for regular feedback

What are your best client service tips for 2013?