The Myth of Fingerprints: How Lawyers Get High Touch Customer Service Wrong

Whenever I talk to law firms about employing automation for customer service – especially in the context of law firm intake – the attorneys usually push back by saying that they don’t want to automate anything, since they prefer ‘high touch’ customer service. 

 

The problem with that approach is that, in the modern world, ‘high touch’ is often equated with other, less palatable terms: like ‘annoying’ or ‘obnoxious’. 



So, let’s play this out a little bit: 

 

-You won’t use an automated scheduling tool, like Calendly, for booking appointments; so, instead of allowing leads or clients to simply pick a time to meet with you, they have to exchange between 8-10 emails with one of your staffpeople, to get on your calendar. 

 

Exasperating. 

 

-You won’t use an esignature tool; so, when you send documents for signature as an email attachment, folks have to: (1) print that document out, (2) sign it, (3) scan it, so they can (4) attach it to an email, that they send back to you. 

 

Infuriating. 

 

-You don’t utilize epayments; so, folks have to write a check, bring it or mail it to you, and then wait for you to cash it.  Maybe you even require a bank check for a retainer. 

 

Maddening. 

 

Now, high-touch has its place: Sure, spend extra time with leads in the initial consultation meeting.  And, followup directly with your clients on a recurring basis, even when nothing is going on.  Definitely, prep your client aggressively for mediation or hearing. 

 

But, don’t make your leads and clients spend extra time running around doing administrative tasks, simply because you equate any time spent with quality time. 

 

. . . 

 

Sometimes, touchless is better than ‘high touch’ – we can show you how. 

Through a unique partnership between the bar association and Jared Correia's Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, National Creditors' Bar Association members have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discount rate.

To get started, visit Red Cave's NCBA landing page, and start running your law practice like a business.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top Shelf: How to Maximize Lawyer Staff in a Modern Law Firm

Image
Broadly speaking, lawyers take on too much.  You know: at work, emotionally.  They’re probably also trying to carry too many grocery bags into the house at one time.  You know how it is.     This, of course, leads to a whole host of problems, including that attorneys have higher incidences of alcohol and drug dependence, as well as depression, than does the general population .  Maybe you already knew that.  But, the fact is that this also has a direct effect on how much a lawyer can make. Hear me out: Because lawyers try to do everything, and to do everything perfectly, they’re also more prone than the general population to take on more work than they need to.  For example, they’re unwilling to delegate, including to paralegal and administrative staff, but also to other attorneys.  That means that lawyers end up being chief cook and bottlewasher, rather than focusing on the high-end work (strategy , client engagement), that they get paid the most for.     That’s why developing proces
Read more

Hiring Percentage: What is the Law Firm Hit Rate for Bringing on Staff?

Image
Some lawyer s get burned hiring staff, whether it’s legal assistant s , paralegals or other attorneys .  But, just because you miss out once, in trying to hire somebody, doesn’t mean you should give up forever .  There are distinct advantages to bring ing on employees, including increased control over work product + improved revenue generation models.   In my experience, I’ve found that law firms connect on a successful hire (across all employee categories) about 40% of the time .  That may seem like a low number , but it represents about a 50% hit rate, meaning that every other hire should yield a viable staffperson , who’ll stay on between 3-5 years – which is not too bad, in the modern economy.     Putting that into baseball terms, which folks often do when trying to rationalize failure : your hiring batting average as a law firm, is about equivalent to Ted Williams’ 1941 season , when he was the last baseball player to hit .400 over a full seasons . . . over 80 years ago.
Read more

New or Noob: How Law Firms Tend to Hire

Image
Every lawyer I’ve ever met wants to do everything on their own.  In other words, every lawyer secretly desires to be a solo attorney.  Of course, there comes a time when your business grow s  to the point that you need some real help; and, since you can’t clone yourself, it’s necessary to hire.   Many attorneys who start to hire want to do so as cheaply as possible; and, that often means, in addition to  probably not offering substantial benefits (or, maybe opting for a contractor), that lawyer will hire another attorney or paralegal or legal assistant with little to no experience.  The low salary is appealing, as is the presumed clean slate being offered: you can train someone up now, exactly the way you want to.   But, that line of thinking can be replete with holes.  In the first instance, this notion of law firm training is more theory than practice -- as this purported intensive training for attorneys and paralegals and legal assistants doesn’t really ever materialize
Read more