Take the pain out of complaints

When you get a complaint, what are the first words that come to mind;

• time consuming,

• costly,

• frustrating,

• annoying ('I did a great job, what is this about?'), or

• stressful?

Complaints can be all of these things and more, but what about a learning experience?

Getting a complaint is never a pleasant experience. At Esterase we provide a complaints management service for solicitors and so we see many such reactions. However, you have an obligation to deal with any complaint made, so no matter how frivolous you may think it is, time and resources have to be devoted to managing it.

There is also the worry that the client will be unhappy with your investigation of the complaint and go to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), which will involve you in yet more lost time and cost.

Complaints are sometimes thought of as less important than fee earning work, which can be a very costly mistake for your firm. Dealing with complaints in a prompt and appropriate manner is critical as there are consequences to not managing them effectively, not least of which is the flat fee of £400 now imposed by LeO for each complaint they substantiate. This is in addition to any compensatory payment they may impose for 'poor service'.

Even if LeO were to conclude that you have not provided a poor service, you could still find yourself paying a flat fee of £400 because your complaints procedure is not effective.

It makes sense, therefore, to have in place a robust, cost-effective complaints procedure that you can rely on.

Reviewing complaints procedures

• Review your procedure to ensure it is relevant to the lay client and has as few steps as possible to avoid becoming too complex.

Look at your complaint procedure, thinking of it from a client's perspective. Is it cumbersome and difficult for the client to understand? If it is, you could be criticised by LeO: they often consider how easy your complaints procedure is for the client to navigate. Can you change it to make it simpler?

• Make contingency plans to ensure that you can allocate time to the complaint.

Make sure you have the resources available to deal with a complaint. What happens if your complaint handler is away on holiday, off on long-term sick leave or too busy with fee earning work to devote enough time to dealing with the complaint in an effective way?

Managing a complaint

• Engage the client in the process; don't just say 'this is your complaint and this is how I've dealt with it'. Ask them for comments. Manage their expectations of how long it is going to take. Don't be afraid to apologise - sometimes an apology can go a long way to addressing the issue.

• Deal with every point that a client makes in detail to show that you have understood the complaint and, more importantly, that you have taken the complaint seriously. If the complaint is escalated to LeO, this demonstrates that you are committed to having a complaints procedure that works.

• If you identify poor service that has had a detrimental effect on the client, address it, apologise and provide an appropriate remedy. Don't try to justify the mistake - the client will think you are trying to cover it up.

• Review your client care letter: is it suitable for purpose? Are all of your staff aware of when to update costs and how to do so? LeO always ask about costs information when dealing with any complaint, even when the complaint is not about costs.

Learning from mistakes

How can a complaint be seen as a learning experience?

Reviewing a file can throw up issues that can easily be addressed. For example:

• Is the costs information 'adequate'?

• Is the fee earner making the same mistake over and over?

• Is there a need for training so that the same mistakes are not made again, giving rise to more complaints?

• What changes can be made to ensure complaints don't arise?

Using external expertise

Reviewing a file in order to address a complaint fully is time consuming, taking the fee earner away from doing just that. What other options are there?

The use of expert external complaints management support can be a time-saving and cost-effective solution. There are a number of benefits:

• saves on significant lost fee earning time (and therefore lost revenue)

• reduces stress and worry for staff and partners

• is seen by the client as providing a more independent review

• provides added experience of dealing with LeO should the complaint be escalated

• delivers feedback and advice to help firms learn from the problems identified

For many, the cost in lost fee earning and admin resources of managing a complaint themselves will far outweigh the cost of using an external expert service, and will deliver poorer results for the firm and the client.

Satisfied clients

If you address a client's complaint appropriately, even where you have not identified any issues of poor service, that client will see that you have given their complaint the attention it deserves and can walk away from the experience satisfied that they have been taken seriously. In turn, they are more likely to recommend your firm to others.

Research has shown that a satisfied client can recommend up to 5 new clients, whereas a dissatisfied client can lose the firm up to 23 new clients. It certainly makes you think.

Barbara Spoor is head of complaints management at Esterase

www.esterase.co.uk