Repeat business: Associate your law firm with customer service excellence

We are all experts in what it's like to be a customer, how it feels and the decisions that this experience propels us towards. But, how many of us use that expertise to focus on customer experience in our own businesses? In a market with a full range of choices and options, if an interaction with a business isn't a good one, it's almost guaranteed that, next time around, people will take their custom elsewhere. There are very few industries in which our needs are so unique that another provider is not perfectly competent and usually ready, able and fully equipped to step in where someone else has failed.

Research suggests that our buying patterns are influenced by a number of key factors - personal, cultural, psychological and social. In relation to each individual transaction, our priorities could be driven by a host of issues including:

• cost;

• quality;

• technical excellence;

• location;

• timing;

• handholding through difficulties;

• trusted advisor relationship; and

• commitment to ethical behaviour, sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

We each build our own decision priority matrix and then recalibrate it based on our circumstances at the time (see Figure 1). Our purchasing decisions are driven by a range of factors, with altering levels of priority based on what we consider to be relevant in each particular circumstance.
 

For example, cost is often a key priority for clients and, as a result, an ever-increasing number of legal services can be commoditised at low cost. However, when it comes to 'bet the company' decisions, price is almost certainly less important and the matrix shifts in favour of, for example, technical excellence or reliance on a trusted advisor.

But, to what extent are law firms focused on or even aware of the decision priority matrices of their target clients? How much time have they expended on understanding clients' needs and expectations? What have they done to adapt their businesses and service delivery models to align with clients' requirements?

And, just as importantly, even if your firm is spot-on in reading clients' needs, does the market truly know who you are and what you stand for, what differentiates your firm from the crowd, or what clues are in place to help a potential client choose your firm over any other?

A survey of professional service firms found that there is often an enormous disconnect in perception between clients and their advisers when it comes to issues like value for money, provider proactivity, management contribution, technical competence and client service.¹ This suggests that there still is much work to be done by service providers to fully understand clients' needs and to meet their expectations to a satisfactory level.

One of the clearest thinkers in the field of brand development and customer experience, Lou Carbone, holds that "the value of the customer experience a company delivers is the totality of all the clues associated with the product or service". If that is the case, then what is the 'experience' and what are the 'clues' for law firm clients?

Lessons from clients

A well-defined strategy is underpinned by a coordinated service delivery model. Let's look briefly at three well-documented examples of orchestrated customer experiences by client organisations.

Disney

Disney works to deliver a magical customer experience for the child in all of us, regardless of age. Every aspect of that experience is designed to play to our sensory kaleidoscope, carrying impulses
to all our bodily nerves centres. And how
is this achieved?

Each minute, Disney detail reinforces its concept of a 'magical experience' - from the purchasing of our tickets to the cleanliness of the park, from our interaction with the characters to its queue management - nothing is left to chance. Disney has built an experience in which every sight, smell, sound and touch spells magic. And that experience is consistent across Disney's vast range of products
and services.

Amazon

The Amazon experience aims to deliver anything, anywhere, in almost no time and at the click of a button. Users search for, find and buy a product, and then have
that purchase delivered to their doors.
It is an efficient and effective service
which is orchestrated to align with a powerful strategy.

Ritz-Carlton Hotel

One of the benchmarks of service luxury, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, is driven by a service motto which directs its staff to be "ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen". Every aspect of its behaviour, product and service says "we want you to have a wonderful stay".

One service clue the Ritz Carlton draws on is the mystique of fulfilling unexpressed guest wishes, with the goal of developing strong engagement and loyalty. Each staff member knows his role in delivering a perfect stay, and every guest's interaction with a member of staff - from the lowest paid cleaner to the hotel manager - spells quality service and client care. The hotel's management know that any chink in that chain would affect the customer experience.

Brand experience

No matter the type of organisation, a customer can't fail to have an experience - positive, negative or bland. But, too many organisations are happy to leave that customer experience to chance.

Companies talk so much about branding and re-branding. More often than not, they spend vast sums of money and much effort choosing the 'right' logo or corporate colour. But, what about branding in the wider sense - about creating the right customer experience?

The Intellectual Property Office defines a brand as "a trade name, a sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service or business". But a brand is much more than this; it can also be a 'promise of an experience' and conveys to consumers a certain assurance as to the nature of the product or service they will receive and
also the standards the supplier seeks
to maintain.

A good brand will deliver a message clearly, confirm your firm's credibility, connect you to your target prospects, convert a prospect into a client and build ongoing buyer loyalty.

To succeed, you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. Do this by integrating your brand strategy through your business at every point of public contact. This does not just mean your clients; you need to focus just as heavily on suppliers, advisors and prospective employees because, just as much as you need everyone within your organisation singing from the same corporate hymn sheet, so too do you
need stakeholders at large to deliver a consistent message based on their personal interactions and experiences
with your business.

If you think these are lofty ideals applicable only to the global corporates, think again. If you've ever lost a client,
failed to convert a prospect or parted company with a valued employee, then learning about their interaction with your organisation will give you some insight into your need to focus on the customer experience.

Branding should not be about getting your target market to choose you over the competition. It should be about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.

Mark Dembovsky is founder of Montana Consulting and was formerly chief executive at Howard Kennedy FSI

Endnote

1. See Effective Client-Adviser Relationships, Financial Times, 2012