Posted by Chris Davidson, a director at Legal Futures Associate Moore Legal Technology
Davidson: Let clients know you have a robust contingency plan
It’s an uncertain time for us all with lots of unknowns.
For Moore Legal Technology, in line with advice from the relevant authorities, we are now working from home as much as possible but otherwise continuing with business as normal, with normal working practices.
That being the case, our priority at this time is to help our law firm clients use digital technologies and the internet in general as effectively as possible to help reassure their clients that it’s business as usual (within limits) and to help people with a legal need find the support they require online.
Whilst the situation with Covid-19 continues to evolve rapidly, and strategies to minimise the impact it may have on your business will need to be reviewed consistently, here are some things that should be considered as part of your contingency planning as a matter of urgency:
Add a reassuring message to your website
In light of the evolving coronavirus situation, it’s important that you take appropriate steps to reassure your clients that it’s business as usual wherever possible.
Let your clients know that you have a robust contingency plan in place and that you are confident that you can continue to meet their needs and continue to deliver a great service.
We have implemented pop-up messages for many of our law firm clients stressing that they remain open for business, are still taking instructions and suggesting preferred methods of communication where appropriate.
Consider communicating with clients and prospects remotely
Increasing communications via standard business communication tools like email and phone is obviously essential, with firms cancelling face-to-face meetings deemed non-essential.
There are also hundreds of online tools available to make communicating remotely easier. It’s worth taking some time to experiment and find the ones that best meet your particular business needs.
For example, you may want to consider such online conferencing / meeting tools such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, Skype, to name but a few, and promote via your website that you can offer clients/prospects a video appointment if required.
Facilitating remote working
While standard operating mode in many sectors, it’s fair to say that the legal sector in the UK hasn’t yet embraced the culture of home working.
While the pros and cons of a move to a remote working culture for lawyers and law firms is a conversation for another day, in the short term, working from home has become unavoidable.
That being the case, team chat tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams can be helpful. One of our law firm customers has noted how they use WhatsApp for internal comms.
Again, as above, consider online conferencing/meeting tools for internal meetings as well as communicating with clients and prospects.
Your case management provider may also have ideas for how to help you work remotely in these challenging times.
Amending your marketing strategy accordingly
In the short term there will likely be a spike in some legal services, with others seeing a fall. It’s important that you align your marketing strategy to fully leverage your expertise in those services that are more resilient to the current environment in order to offset the impact felt by the potential reduction in other types of instruction.
Overall, we’ll get through this. Stay safe.
Leave a Comment