Never overlook the importance of getting - and keeping - the basics right
Marketing within the professions has certainly moved on from a couple of decades ago when the term ‘professional services marketing’ was a complete oxymoron. However, the downside is that as firms become more sophisticated in approach, more competitive in what they do, and more performance-driven, it is easy to over-complicate what is, in essence, a simple process. In doing so, achieving the simple things that really matter can be overlooked with the result that you can end up losing clients and potential clients because, figuratively speaking, they just don’t get past first base.
Quite often what happens is that an area that has been given time and consideration in the past, is now in a state where standards have slipped, but no one within the firm seems to have noticed although, unfortunately, to anyone new it is horribly apparent! It’s worth, therefore, working out what are the critical success factors (measures of quality) in your firm that you and your clients regard as really important, then making time regularly to ensure that standards and measures are in place and that actual performance against those measures is regularly reviewed.
Take these as examples – they’re far from a definitive list, but are certainly some of the things that can make or break any service-based provider-client relationship:
You should never, ever overlook the truth of the old saying ‘You only get one chance to make a first impression’. How warm and welcoming is your receptionist both on the telephone and face-to-face? She may be efficient, but cold, bored clinical efficiency can be as off-putting as someone who obviously couldn’t care less. Does she (or he) sound genuinely helpful? Do they actually try to be genuinely helpful, whenever possible? Do they step outside of the ‘doing what is required’ box every now and again and really make a difference by putting in extra effort to help someone? And equally important, does the rest of the firm support them by responding appropriately and recognising the crucial and very difficult role they have to undertake?
If you have an off-putting and fundamentally uncaring receptionist you could be losing potential clients by the dozens every week and never know about it – a very obvious counter-balance to all the effort that others within the firm may be putting into generating leads.
Start with the humble voicemail message. Is yours recorded in a tone of voice that implies you never want to speak to another human being ever again, and you’d be delighted if your caller didn’t leave a message? Do some mystery shopping (or better still, ask someone else to do so on your behalf so they can remain anonymous) and telephone the firm and ask to speak to all the client-focused staff (one-by-one, of course!) See how they answer the phone, see how easy or difficult it is to get to speak to them, how easy is it to leave a message and – whether through voicemail or human being – does that process leave you feeling that someone does want to speak to you and will call you back, or does it create a total lack of confidence?
Terms like ‘urgent’, ‘important’, and ‘soon’ are totally relative. Do they refer to something that is life-threatening and an emergency, or something that is purely more important to someone than other things for emotional reasons? There’s no way of telling without asking the question, so it is crucial that both in relation to incoming messages and out-going promises, you are clear and precise about what you are talking about. Does ‘I’ll get him to ring you soon’ mean within the hour, within the half day, within a couple of days or within a week or more? Similarly, does ‘I’ll be in touch shortly” mean days, weeks or months? Although you may not always be able to be precise it is a valuable lesson in time management and communication to commit to a good estimate and to make a note to that effect in your diary or on your computer. If at the end of the promised period, if you haven’t got the information you need, then contact your client and let them know. They’ll be delighted that you kept to your word to contact them even if you aren’t able as yet to supply them with the information they need.
This is both a matter of process (see Speed of response, above) and also, content. Solicitors’ letters and emails are still, generally, works of art in terms of their ability to over-complicate the simple and bury the obvious under a pile of unnecessary words. As a starting points, there is much that is helpful for solicitors on the Plain English website in terms of guidance on writing simply and clearly. A good exercise is to ask each staff member or team to submit copies of all recent letters sent out over the course of a few days or a week (depending on the size of firm and likely volume) and to undertake a comparative assessment. Ask someone external to the firm (a non-lawyer) to help you rate them according to clarity, brevity, appearance and consistency. And, to go back to the first point, for warmth and appropriate levels of concern. If this exercise reveals that you do need to improve, then it may be worthwhile retaining the services of a copywriter to get some basic letter templates written and to undertake some staff training on writing plain English.
Being so busy doing the work that you forget about the client – the person you’re doing it for – is perhaps the most significant and on-going problem in professional services marketing. Yet taking this approach is tantamount to marketing suicide. Yes, the client wants a the legal result they originally consulted you about, but they also want to be treated as a valued human being – whether or not they are a private or commercial client. So, it’s your responsibility to discuss with them their hopes, fears and aspirations about the transaction at the outset. To clarify with them how often they would like to hear from you and how – phone call, text message, email, letter? Are they clear about how much they are likely to have to pay and when? And clear about additional charges. Although there are now rules regarding clarifying this information with your clients, it is disturbing how many firms still treat this as a formality rather than the bedrock of a good client relationship. It’s a bit like ticking the box to say that you have read the terms and conditions relating to signing up to a website or using a piece of computer software. Everyone ticks, but few have actually read the information in enough detail to understand what it means or indeed, read it at all!
So spend time at the outset putting down good client relationship foundations and build on them thereafter by keeping in touch with them and sounding and acting as though you really care. Perhaps you do, and if not, you really should. Never forget the first rule of marketing – your client is what you’re in business for.
(c) Dianne Bown-Wilson, the M3 Consultancy
www.m3consultancy.co.uk