The ' First Impression Test ' fails most law firms.

SME law firms do not give prospective customers a good feeling or follow up on feasible requests. The most fundamental elements of client experience are not delivered by law firms. According to a study by Client Experience business CXINLAW, 88 percent of original investigations with law firms did not yield a very positive result for potential customers or the participating legal providers.

Research discovered that 58% of companies left shoppers likely to call rivals and a third of all calls were so poor that there would certainly be no instruction. According to the study, 75% of feasible fresh requests were not proactively monitored by law companies using techniques such as a straightforward email to express gratitude for the call, Summarize the discussion, make useful resources available or confirm the next contact.

Mystery shopping

The study, ' First Impressions Convert: Increasing Law Firm Profitability From the First Touch-point, ' was carried out in conjunction with the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA), using mystery shopping methods frequently found in the retail industry to determine the quality and effect of potential client relationships with legal employees. The study sampled a variety of 50 tiny to medium-sized companies across a range of fields of law practice–from family, wills and estates to company and company law issues. Carl White, CXINLAW's director said,' Time runs short for law firms that ignore the advantages of focusing on client experience. Market providers of a buyer simply can not afford to underestimate and those improving will Over-perform the remainder more and more. These findings show that companies are likely to leave potential customers indifferent or worse to their services ; when there are clear and actionable ways to do much better.

Service delivery is ALPMA's key president, Dion Cusack said: ' In an increasingly competitive market where customers demand more, law companies need to locate differentiators and above all guarantee that service delivery is a key value. This study demonstrates that there is still a lengthy way to go in teaching companies about the benefits of ongoing customer focus and general customer experience.