Building client loyalty is about more than just getting a favorable settlement or winning a case (although both help). Did you treat your client with respect? Did you promptly return phone calls? Just because you achieved a good final outcome does not mean a client will say positive things about you.
Survey your clients to improve your service to them.
The fact you are asking your clients for feedback may be enough to turn an annoyed client into a satisfied client. At the very least, it will help you identify potential weaknesses in client interaction and client management. Address your weaknesses and you will be impressed with the results.
Know Your Clients: How To Build Loyalty With Customer Surveys | Freelance Folder
(photo: Somewhat Frank)
Randall Ryder is a Minnesota consumer rights attorney who sues abusive debt collectors and is a publisher of Elder Parent Help. Follow him on Twitter @randallryder.
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Read the comments below or add one of your own.
I think that in theory, client surveys are a great idea. But as I wrote at MyShingle here – http://tinyurl.com/ydmnfo4, in practice, I believe that consumers are suffering from “survey overload.” Personally, I am so sick of the mandatory feedback sheets at CLE, the survey cards on the tables at restaurants and that are slipped under the door at hotels. Even where not required, I feel that they invade my space.
I agree that lawyers need to seek feedback from clients because evaluating our own performance yields inaccurate results. At the same time, continuing to beat the “client survey” drum fails to address the problem of making yet another demand on busy, frazzled clients.
@Carolyn
I completely agree that, if done poorly, a client survey can feel like just one more burden on a busy person’s shoulders.
However, lawyers—as a whole—tend to busy themselves so much with tracking their time, that they can be rather oblivious to what clients really want. Whether one needs a well-executed client survey system, or just a change in lawyer attitude about serving clients, I think is up to the individual attorney.
For what it’s worth, my first attempt at getting clients to complete my short survey resulted in 1 survey response out of 11 recipients. I have a pretty good guess as to the client who responded, and I already knew she was a very happy client, so I did not get much out of it.
Still, I have an auto-responder set up through MailChimp that will send a survey out to new clients one month after I open their file. I am still hoping it results in some positive feedback.