Posted by Winning new clients is challenging for every law firm, irrespective of their size and practice area. Retaining them is even more difficult. The more resources are channeled to market your law firm for attracting and earning business, the lesser you will be focused on your existing clients. It is essential to have marketing and client retention strategies in place for any law firm to succeed. With tailored client intake and retention strategies, you are more likely to earn new business and retain your existing clients.
Attracting, winning, and retaining clients is critical for growing your law firm and its reputation. Having a strong client base is the most important thing to becoming a successful law firm, but it is easier said than done. Unfortunately, law school doesn’t teach you how to find your own clients, so it is easy to find yourself overwhelmed throughout your client intake and customer retention process. However, there are many steps you can take to build rapport with your clients and keep them entrusting you with their legal needs. Read on to see how law firms earn new clients and keep their existing consumers right where they should be.
Direct and Up-Front Initial Communication
Clients expect clear communication and require updated information from beginning to end. Reasonable and prompt Communication with clients is essential to earn their trust and making them hire your legal services. Consumers of legal services often complain about the failure of busy attorneys to respond to their queries. That means, direct and up-front communication is not only required to attract and earn new business but also important for retaining your clients.
Neglecting your clients can influence the overall experience of your clients. Clients will not continue to use your services if you do not value their time and address their concerns. Therefore, prompt client communication is critical for being professional, accessible, and interacting in ways that create and maintain client loyalty. You don’t need to make your team work outside standard business hours, instead, use suitable communication and bankruptcy software for lawyers like Lawsyst to support prompt client communication in your law firm.
Clear communication should also translate to keeping your clients informed about any significant changes in your law firm. Changes in your organisation may not affect your clients directly, but most consumers don’t like surprises and expect to know maximum information about their service providers. Having clear communication guidelines in your company can avoid any animosity and negative feedback from clients. Moreover, frequently sharing important information to clients about their cases as well as pertinent information about your firm will help you foster a sense of transparency and reliability.
Clear Pricing and Billing
Legal pricing and billing are the major concerns for consumers due to the ambiguity associated with the prevalent billing techniques. When your clients are unsure about their legal bills up front, they may not hire your legal services. Pricing and billing transparency are also essential to satisfy your current clients and meet their expectations. Your clients spend their hard-earned money on your services, and when they receive your billing statements, they expect an explanation for the payment amount you are requesting. Therefore, clear pricing and billing are important to win new clients and overcome client dissatisfaction with vague bills.
Most law firms fail to provide enough information to clients about what their final bill will be when the matter is closed. Without having an estimated value for their legal bill from attorneys, consumers are unable to decide whether they can afford legal services or not and end up putting off hiring lawyers. To avoid losing potential clients, you need to be upfront with pricing so that your clients understand whether they can afford your services. By providing adequate information and conveying transparency in your initial discussion, you can easily earn new business for your firm.
Billing transparency should also be conveyed through retention discussion and periodic billing to retain your existing clients. One of the best ways you can be transparent in your billing is by using legal accounting and billing systems like Lawsyst that can help you create and maintain an above-average degree of transparency in your billing process. The bankruptcy law software offers an efficient and comprehensive solution to legal billing and allows you to create detailed client billing statements promptly. Having an access to real-time detailed billing reports, your client will better see how they are being charged. Thus, powerful bankruptcy software for attorneys like Lawsyst can help you attract, delight, and retain clients for your law firm.
Using the Right Tools
In the era of digital transformation, most law firms are using advanced law case management software to transform the way their businesses operate. Today’s customers also prefer legal services that are leveraging technology and are more accessible and convenient to work with. To meet the heightened expectations of modern clients and get an edge over other competitors, you must use the right tools and develop processes that attract and delight clients. Getting the right case management system like Lawsyst bankruptcy software for lawyers can help you deliver outstanding legal services and win more business.
Lawsyst is a legal matter management system that can help you consolidate all matter-related information in a centralised and easy-to-use platform. You can easily enter new case data, update information, and save all client and case information in a fully searchable and easy-to-navigate database. The bankruptcy law software can help you create a trusted single source of information for both clients and your team. Lawsyst can help you increase client communication and billing transparency so you can attract more clientele and ensure maximum retention.
Keeping Clients Updated
As mentioned earlier, consumers expect to be informed on any important communication from beginning to end. To ensure proper communication, you should make sure that communication expectations are set from day one. Your clients may have different ways of how they want to receive information so uncover these details within the first few meetings. After you know your clients’ preferences, make sure you tailor your client service accordingly. The best way to do so is by using integrated client communication and case management software such as Lawsyst to keep clients updated throughout their journey with the firm.
While it is important to respond to clients’ messages or pick up their calls, you should also remember that communication is a two-way street, therefore, your client shouldn’t feel the onus is on them every time to make contact. Instead, frequently share important information with clients about their cases as well as pertinent information about your company. Keeping your clients updated will make them feel appreciated and allows them to prepare themselves in line with new developments. It will also foster a sense of reliability and positively influence your service value.
Client communication and support are something that should permeate every part of your client intake and retention process. When clients hire your legal services, it is imperative that they feel like they have a good chance of getting through and being heard. That means keeping your client in the loop right from the beginning till the matter is closed. Leverage modern tools like fully custom build CRM software for attorneys to provide real-time information to clients on their cases and never let them wait for days.
Offering Value Added Services
It is important that you tailor your services to the client’s needs, rather than making assumptions about what your clients may find beneficial. Use law case management software to take insights from your earlier case data and make informed decisions on what you can offer to which client. You cannot offer everything to every client, instead understand your clients and offer value through your services. The key is to be in prompt communication with your clients and use data analytics to tailor your services to the client’s needs and delight them with more value for money. By offering value-added services, you can retain your customers and generate positive word of mouth to attract more business.
Offering value-added services is the best way to differentiate yourself from other law firms. By delivering more value for money, you can increase your chances to win new clients. Customers nowadays look for firms that offer personalised experiences to clients, use modern technology, are cost-effective, and provide high-quality client support services. That means you should focus on these factors to prove value for money and exceeds clients’ expectations.
Modernising Practice
To succeed in today’s digital era, you need to critically analyse your business and find opportunities to modernise your practice. Leading law firms and legal practitioners in New Zealand are using advanced law practice management technology to meet the expectations of modern clients and attract them to their firms. You should also leverage modern case management systems for lawyers such as Lawsyst and increase your opportunities to earn new business. From generating client intake forms to e-billing, modern law firm software can provide convenience, compliance, and cost-efficiency.
Modernising your practice allows you to reduce the burden on your team and help them become more efficient. Taking benefit from constantly updated tools and cloud-based programs, you can better manage your clients and cases in relatively less time and cost. Advanced bankruptcy software for attorneys such as Lawsyst is accessible on the cloud, empowering your team to work from anywhere. The cloud-based case management system also eliminates the need to purchase new licenses to get upgrades. That means Lawsyst can help you eliminate workload and create efficiencies so you can attract, delight, and retain more clients by delivering exceptional legal services.