Today’s attorney is so focused on getting the message across that he will persuade the potential client to call the firm; the lawyer doesn’t look inside to see if a change in the thought process, management, or product delivery can create new clients. From someone who spends a lot on marketing, I’ve become an expert on how to generate free leads.
Traditionally, the client used to have a lawyer who handled everything. Then, because of fast-paced technology, coupled with a much smarter client, attorneys couldn’t depend on repeat business. The advent of marketing attorneys touting cheaper rates or other hooks knocked the former family attorney off the top rung. Those attorneys are still trying to figure out what went wrong and how to change the practice to satisfy the 21st century consumer client.
Today’s business marketing has to be more than yellow pages, television or other media markets. Firms simply have to figure out what the client wants and deliver it in such a way that they become little salespeople for their law firm.
Today’s client wants more than just a lawyer. I don’t recall a client asking me where I went to law school, what my class rank was, or even if they could see my law license. Clients looked to me to be at their level, talk to them and be available to them.
I’m a statistician, and it became clear when we implemented our strategic plan in 1997 that my most valuable asset was my high customer relationship rate. A good portion of my business came from clients who really liked me and told everyone about me long after their case was settled.
Over the years, I began to notice that there was a big difference between ‘just satisfying’ the client with the right results and developing a relationship with the client that lasted well beyond the resolution of the case. Therefore, I created and engineered a client loyalty program within my firm that represents approximately 33% of my new clients, many of whom were referred by clients I represented over 15 years ago. Ask anyone in my company and they will confirm that my building customer loyalty versus customer satisfaction is non-negotiable. I don’t care how much money you make, you have the job of creating customer loyalty.
CUSTOMER LOYALTY IS NOT THE SAME AS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION!
As you know, excellent service leads to customer satisfaction, which is an essential element of customer loyalty. A client may be satisfied with the results but still not feel any personal connection with you or your company.
Customer loyalty is a concept that includes five things:
1. Overall satisfaction with the client experience of doing business with a law firm.
2. The willingness to build a relationship with you and your company.
3. The willingness to be a regular customer.
4. The willingness to recommend you to others.
5. Reluctance to change law firms.
CUSTOMER DISCONNECTIONS:
Client rejections arise when employees (and I mean both attorneys and non-attorneys) do not communicate well, both verbally and non-verbally. Some examples of customer rejections are:
1. Not greeting or even smiling at a customer.
2. Not seeing the client on time.
3. Inaccurate information given or lack of knowledge conveyed.
4. Not giving your full attention to the customer, whether on the phone or meeting in person.
5. Rude or indifferent attitude.
6. Improper, dirty, or unkempt appearance in the workplace.
7. Any communicative message that makes the client uncomfortable.
Surveys completed by the US Bureau of Consumer Affairs revealed these interesting facts (in this article, client and client are interchangeable):
1. One customer in four is dissatisfied with some aspect of a typical transaction.
2. Only 5% of dissatisfied customers complain to the company. The vast silent majority would rather change than fight. They just take their business elsewhere.
3. A dissatisfied customer will tell 10 to 20 people (12 is average) about a company that provided poor service. Some people will say hundreds or even thousands.
How does this affect our business? If 25% of our customers are unhappy or unhappy with our service, but only 5% of that 25% bother to complain, the impact can be devastating.
Take a typical injury law firm that logs 1,000 clients per year. If 250 customers are unhappy but we only hear from 5% of those 250, which is about 13, that may sound good to everyone until they realize that the quiet 237 probably tell 2844 people (237 x 12 = 2844 ). On the contrary, if a client is completely satisfied, she can tell 1 to 3 people or an average of 2.
In 2004, my statistics showed me that there were three main sources of customers in my company, and it was broken down as follows:
421 cases or 41% were VT
140 cases of 14% were from our website
340 cases of 33% were from personal references
Now let me tell you the cost of getting those referrals. The television costs approximately $900 per customer in real dollars. The website costs approximately $500 per box to get them delivered to the front door. And last but not least, personal referrals cost absolutely nothing. What kind of recommendation do you think I want?
What is also important to note is that out of the 340 personal referrals we registered, we only had 823 referrals, which means we had a 41% success rate when registering personal references. In television advertising we had 2,333 calls and registered 421 new cases. This was a conversion rate of 18%. Our website generated 1,268 queries and only 140 registrations, which is only an 11% conversion rate. You can clearly see that personal referrals are already sold on our services when you search for us. They are not simply looking for lawyers or trying to find information. They come to us wanting our services. This also costs the company less time and money by turning these calls into real cases. Now I ask you, what do you think is the most profitable form of advertising that we do in the company and also produces the highest conversion rate? It’s clear… personal references from our former clients and people we do business with.
Now let’s go to the actual cost in dollars for a dissatisfied customer. As I said earlier, out of 1,000 clients, based on the national average, we have approximately 250 clients. Of those 250 customers, 95% never express dissatisfaction, but neither do they return or recommend any customers. So we have 237 people who could have talked to at least 474 people and recommended us, which on average would have converted 41% or 196 customers. In actual costs, just look at the following:
If we were to replace these clients with television commercials, the cost would be $176,400. But better yet, let’s think about lost revenue. If we average $4000 per fee and lose 196 leads, then we will have lost roughly $800,000 in revenue per year.
BASED ON THE ABOVE, IF WE FOLLOW THE NATIONAL AVERAGE, LOST REVENUE WOULD BE GREATER THAN $1,000,000.00