‘The Legal Services Act won’t affect me. My clients are loyal and want a quality service, not just low price’ - a typical response from a number of high street solicitors when asked about the impact of the Legal Services Act.
Price, they believe, is the main advantage ‘Tesco Law’ will have over them. Through mass marketing, access to customer data and economies of scale the price of conveyancing, wills, probate etc. will be driven down. This is almost certainly true, but if these services are commoditised and volume driven does that necessarily mean the quality of service will be low?
To consider this we need to separate customer service from technical expertise. The reality is technical expertise is not a point of differentiation for most private client services. It is accepted that when instructing a firm to purchase a house they will have the appropriately qualified staff, supervision and insurance cover. Some may argue that this isn’t always the case but ask yourself, on what criteria will a client judge your service?
The number one complaint by clients is a lack of communication. This has no bearing on the technical expertise of the conveyancer, whether they are solicitor of 30 years or a conveyancing fee earner in a volume operation. This is about customer service and that is potentially the biggest threat to law firms.
We all like to say we provide ‘excellent client service’, but what does this mean in practice – how is your service different from any other firm? To really analyse this we need to consider the ‘customer journey’, which is most easily defined as what we put our customers through if they wish to do business with us.
I recently had my car serviced by Audi, who without doubt understand the meaning of customer journey and consider each interaction customers and potential customers have with their brand.
Having booked my car in for a service and arranged for a courtesy car, within an hour I had received a text message confirming the date and time of the service and an email containing the same plus some information on additional services I may wish to use. Clear communication from the start across three channels – phone, text and email – plus the chance for Audi to up-sell services that were relevant and timely.
Fast forward to the day before the service and I receive another telephone call to remind me about the service, confirm what time I would drop the car off and ask if I required any other services on the day. I arrive on the day at 8:30am (of course they are open from 8am until 5:45pm) and as I walk into the showroom my arrival has been noted and I am greeted with ‘Good morning Mr Coombes’, shown to a desk and offered a drink.
I’m quickly greeted by a customer advisor who discusses the service, what time I’d like to collect the car and crucially hands me a postcard, explaining that if Audi fail to meet my expectations in anyway to call her supervisor on his mobile number. I’m taken outside to my courtesy car, a new Audi TT with a full tank of fuel.
The call comes earlier than expected that afternoon to say the car is ready to collect. It takes just a few minutes to sign the required documents before I’m back in my car, which has been fully valeted. The same night I receive an automated phone call to check whether I have been fully satisfied with the service.
Compare this level of customer service to your firm, or perhaps any law firm and the difference will be significant. What’s noticeable is that nothing they did from a customer service perspective was particular to their industry. It could all be transferred to the legal sector and would be equally as impressive. It’s not rocket science, it’s just great customer service.
Look out for Audi Legal Services.
