White Paper 21/22 - 'Making Your Customers Happy'

We all expect good customer service, but are law firms delivering it? That was the focus of our white paper for 2021 / 22 – ‘Making your customers happy.’

Five years on from our report ‘For whom the bell tolls – The customer service imperative’, we decided to re-examine the subject and see how much has really changed.

We surveyed 100 PI and general consumer law firms and found that huge progress has been made with things like service standards and staff training much higher on their agendas.

One of the other key areas we looked at was online reviews, which are increasingly relied upon by consumers to help them choose products and services. Law firms are not exempt, and hundreds are now engaging with sites like ReviewSolicitors and Trustpilot to showcase glowing testimonials from happy clients.

Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers, said: “One of the key messages is that it is no longer enough just to do the work – 41% of the firms surveyed consider that customer service is just as important as resolving a legal matter satisfactorily.

“That is huge progress in a few years and the figure will only keep going up. Clients may not be able to judge how good a lawyer you are, but they do know good and bad service when they receive it and are not afraid to tell the world about it.”

Commenting on our findings, Neil Bayton, head of partnerships at Trustpilot, added: “Competition amongst law firms has never been more fierce.

“Whilst competing on price may not always be an option, providing an excellent customer experience can be the differentiator that really sets a business apart.”

The white paper was launched in October via a webinar attended by more than 170 industry figures and covered by media including The Times, The Law Society Gazette, Solicitors Journal, Legal Futures, New Law Journal and Claims Mag.

You can read the full white paper here.