By Legal Futures Associate Legl
A client-centric law firm is one that puts clients at the heart of everything – delivering exceptional service, client satisfaction, and commitment.
Client experience is a key success factor in winning new clients and building a loyal advocate base. Are your firm and staff easy to engage with? Where are the barriers? Do you have a process for answering new enquiries so that each is followed up and doesn’t fall into the cracks between your reception teams and your lawyers?
We spoke to our law firm customers that pride themselves on delivering client-centric legal services. The overarching opinion was that client-centric legal services encompass:
- A long-term approach to building client relationships.
- Matching the right resources (human and tech) to achieve the best value, cost-effectiveness, results, and customer experience.
- Investment in technology and training to meet the changing needs and expectations of clients.
- A focus on what the client needs, not what the firm sells.
- An effective data strategy to enable client-centric services in a proactive fashion.
- A culture of transparency, client access, and client feedback.
- Effective customer service tools (self-help information, thought leadership, and bots) that are continually monitored.
- Investment in workforce upskilling to anticipate and meet client needs.
Client-centric legal services and tech
Client-centric legal services require innovative communications to keep up with client needs, which in turn requires firms to think about technology in terms of clients. Implementing the best-in-class technology solution can break down old barriers between lawyers and clients, leading to the transformation of the firm’s structure.
According to Wolters Kluwer’s Future Ready Lawyer 2022 report, client demand for tech-enabled law firms hit a record high in 2022 and is expected to continue to climb.
The same report shows that law firms have made continued progress in understanding client expectations. 88% of firms state that they know their clients expect them to fully leverage technology, up from 78% in 2021 and 73% in 2020, respectively. To this end, firms are taking action – with 57% investing in new technology to support client work and enhance firm operations.
Without the right technology in place, law firms do not have access to the information on how many new clients they bring on across different departments or types of work, or how many new client enquiries convert into new clients of the firm. This means that firms can’t effectively grow if they don’t harness the tools to digitise and automate processes.
Before committing to a technology solution, consider whether it will enhance the human interaction between lawyer and client, rather than replacing it. For instance, using an e-signature tool can make it easier/quicker/safer for clients to complete documentation, but doesn’t reduce human interaction. By contrast, an automated phone menu may save time for your receptionist, but if it acts as a major barrier to clients and prospects, the client experience isn’t enhanced.
How Legl helps your firm deliver client-centric legal services
Of course, digital solutions cannot replace lawyers.
But there are many areas across law firms that can significantly benefit from implementing a solution like Legl. One area is client onboarding. A digital onboarding solution, like the one Legl provides, creates a seamless process and actually increases client engagement. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, you can use Legl’s platform to create automated and tailored onboarding workflows for each different department and client type.
“Using Legl has been transformative to the way in which we onboard clients. Before it was very laborious and not accurate but now we are confident we have everything needed to begin a matter.”
Ian Hollis, Brady Solicitors
Flexible, custom forms from Legl link seamlessly with other key steps in workflows like IDV, AML screening, document sharing, payments and e-signatures. These workflows create a comprehensive digital approach across all client types and practice areas at your law firm.
Ensuring that you consistently collect key information from your client satisfies compliance requirements and other key processes across the client lifecycle. Linking forms to other steps in processes like CDD, Document Sharing and Payments can enable you to onboard new clients in less than 24 hours and to unlock billable hours across the lifecycle of the client.
Creating a well-thought-out onboarding experience by investing in the right tools, thinking through the right processes for your firm, and evolving that process when you see opportunities to improve might require some investment, but it will lead to a faster onboarding process, happier clients, and a quicker time to value.
What Legl delivers
- A professional and firm-branded experience increases word of mouth referrals and the likelihood that a client will instruct the firm across multiple matters
- A tech-forward and modern approach. All firms have to carry out the same processes, so those that do it digitally can get a clear advantage vs other firms in the market.
- Better data visibility, understanding of the lifecycle of clients, and the new client funnel to make improvements.
It’s never been more important to adopt a client-centric approach at your law firm. By anticipating and meeting your clients’ needs at every stage of their journey, you elevate your firm’s position and value in the marketplace.
