The TripAdvisor for solicitors has arrived

We are all aware of how important our reputation is in attracting and winning new clients – in fact, much of your business will come from the recommendations of existing clients. Getting feedback from clients, whether good or bad, has been an essential ingredient in winning new business.

Next month will see the launch of a TripAdvisor-type service called Review Solicitors, which is public facing, so there will be nowhere to hide. Every law firm in the UK will be featured and the right of reply will require each firm to register free of charge to enable it to respond to any negative reviews. What does this mean for firms that do not put clients at the centre of their practice?

Clients can rate their experience and place comments, both good and
bad, on the site. If the site
is marketed like other price comparison websites then there will be nowhere to hide for those firms that give poor client service. Potential clients can review the quality of the service you deliver before they choose your firm.

Concerned? You should be if the level of client satisfaction
is not one of your key performance indicators.

Monitor negative information

Getting feedback and dealing promptly with any negative information is fast becoming an essential part of the progressive law firm. How many of you currently use Google Alerts to monitor any negative information posted about you or your firm on the web?

Similarly, you can monitor any postings on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter by using Topsy, a search and analytics service, to monitor activity. Dealing actively with negative information can vastly improve the chances of building your reputation and winning new business. You need to build a process within your firm to actively deal with any negative feedback – don’t leave it to chance.

While we all use testimonials to encourage others to purchase from us, this has to be focused on what others say about you and not what you say about yourself – the wording is crucial.

The internet has changed the way our clients review where to buy legal services, and if an independent firm is to develop in this very competitive market then it is essential to integrate services in order to better understand why clients buy services. For example, do you actually know when people visit your website and what they
are searching for? Becoming more sophisticated in knowing what your clients want is an important ingredient in winning new work.

Use Semrush.com to review what people are searching for on your website and encourage your clients to leave a review on Google – when potential clients are looking locally on Google, having positive reviews moves you up the search listings and will encourage more clients to visit your site.

Client reviews

Those of you involved with the Conveyancing Quality Scheme will appreciate the necessity
of client feedback. Review Solicitors is looking to integrate within conveyancing workflows and case management systems to obtain an increase in client reviews, but these will be posted on a public-facing site.
If this takes off it could be the first point of reference for any purchaser of any legal service. The intention is to build a reputation guide for every legal service, so when unsuspecting private clients are looking to purchase legal services, this could be the site they all visit.
I personally would not book
a holiday without reading the reviews left by others about the hotel – why should it be any different for the purchase of legal services?

I wonder how many firms will embrace this development and build a process to deal with any negative feedback – and deal with it immediately? The risk of doing nothing could seriously damage your reputation, so those firms that already focus on exceptional client service should not be fearful of such a development. Embracing client satisfaction and utilising the good reviews as testimonials will be an essential element in the progressive independent law firm of the future. SJ

Viv Williams is the CEO of 360 Legal Group