Increase Referrals Through Effective Client-Focused Marketing Efforts

According to a recent survey conducted by Newsletters¹ in 1993, an alarming 73% of clients in personal injury cases forget the name of their lawyer and/or law firm within four months of settling their case. This staggering statistic is so high that it can not be ignored; rather we must consider what can be done to improve our visibility and increase future referrals.

Certainly there are marketing ideas which are useful in putting your name and firm in front of clients. Law firms have chosed from an array of products such as chosen from an array of products such as letter openers, water bottles, greeting cards, calendars, newsletters, change purses or the like. However, are there other concepts or ideas to stimulate existing and potential clients to remember you for more fundamental reasons?

If you take the time to develop an effective mission statement and vision for your firm as discussed in last month's column, you may become more aware of what is important to the attorneys in the office as well as teh support staff. A logical nex step would be to turn your attention towards your clients and ask them what is important to them in receiving satisfactory or "quality" legal services.

The work of Edwards Deming over the past thirty years with Total Quality Management programs might serve as a template for tort firms to gain an understanding of what "quality" service is. Personal injury or products liability firms maximize repeat or referral business only if existing and former clients, as well as referrall sources, ar truly satisfied. Can Total Quality Management teach us how to increase these referrals by finding out what our clients value in the delivery of "quality" legal services?

Deming teaches us that the value of a product or service can only be determinde dby the "buyer" or client. At times, we might be tempted to justify that we already deliver a fine legal product. Lawyers might refer to "great verdicts" or "settlements" as being the most important factor in client service. However, a 1989 Survey of Client Dissatisfaction conducted by the American Bar Association Foundation ranked these results as the most common problems reported by unhappy clients:

1. Failure to keep clients informed of progress.

2. Failure to explain issues involved in understandable terms.

3. Failure to show interest or concern about client problems.

4. Lack of promptness and responsiveness.

5. Failure to charge fair and reasonable fees.

What can be done to make your firm and practice produce noticeable changes in client services? You might start by asking your clients what is important to them. You may choose, for example, to conduct client audits at the end of each matter. Perhaps surveying a representative sampling of clients at benchmarked intervals throughout the litigation process might provide you with valuable insights for improving client service; many times with minimal cost and effort required to implement these changes.

Some attorneys might feel that they can not respond personally to every query from an over anxious client. That is not the message of effective client service; rather the message is to keep the lines of communication open with teh client and develop specific venues for increasing communication that do not necessarily require your direct response. This does not mean you must copy your clients with every interrogatory or correspondence either. Your client might not want to be "papered" with documents that are too technical for them to understand. Rather, broaden your thinking creatively to meet the needs expressed by your clients and referral sources.

Combining improved "quality" in the delivery of legal services iwth an ongoing marketing program can greatly improve client satisfaction, repeat business, and additional referrals. As we have witnessed in numerous articles and seminars on law firm marketing, the demand for improved and cost effective legal services has increased in this competitive marketplace. In this decade of change, we can no longer afford to stand by and let 73% of our clients "forget" us. Effective client service may be the key.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ¹Newsletters is a Culver City firm that writes and publishes newsletters for law firms.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merry Neitlich is a legal consultant specializing in assisting law firms improve their bottom line by focusing on client centered marketing. Ms. Neitlich is the managing partner of JM Associates in Irvine, California.