Solicitors should be braver about asking for work, new LawNet chair says


Kim Carr

Carr: lawyers “don’t like selling things”

Law firms should be braver in asking potential clients for work and making sure they follow up leads, the new chair of LawNet has said.

Kim Carr, managing partner of West Midlands firm FBC Manby Bowdler, said the law firm network would continue to focus on quality and customer service.

“As a profession we don’t like asking for work,” Ms Carr said. “We don’t like selling things and want to avoid the hard sell.

“What we’ve found is that people who contact reception don’t mind if we check in with them later and ask if they still need help.”

Ms Carr said LawNet, which has 67 member firms, had been using mystery shopping to help firms improve customer service for the last 12-18 months. She said the research, carried out by Sussex-based Shoppers Anonymous, could take the form of phone calls, web enquiries or walk-ins and discussions with fee-earners.

Ms Carr said that in her own firm, following a mystery shopping exercise, steps were taken to make sure that details were taken of people who contacted reception, which could then be followed up.

The firm also ensured that receptionists gave their names to potential clients and remembered to use client names.

Ms Carr said that instead of using a name to build a brand, like QualitySolicitors, the network sought to differentiate its members by insisting they had LawNet’s ‘mark of excellence’, which is linked to its own ISO 9001 standard.

She said the fact firms shared a uniform quality standard helped LawNet negotiate indemnity insurance for its members – which had a combined revenue of over £250m a year.

Ms Carr added that, with the economic recovery, members seemed to be growing in confidence, although a clearer view would be obtained shortly through the network’s benchmarking survey.

Mystery shopper research revealed in September that 60% of conveyancing firms refused to give quotes over the phone and, whether they did or not, the majority failed to follow up calls by potential clients.

Tags:




Leave a Comment

By clicking Submit you consent to Legal Futures storing your personal data and confirm you have read our Privacy Policy and section 5 of our Terms & Conditions which deals with user-generated content. All comments will be moderated before posting.

Required fields are marked *
Email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog


European invasion – firms flood into the EU’s legal markets

The long march of lawyers across Europe continues apace more than 50 years after US law firms, together with their City counterparts, first opened offices in Paris and Brussels.


Legal project management – a mindset lawyers can easily apply

Where budgets are tight, lawyers will be considering what’s in their existing arsenal to still improve productivity. One effective, accessible and cheap tool is legal project management.


How a good customer journey can put your business on the map

Good customer service should be a priority for any business and, if you want to stay ahead of the competition, something that’s constantly under review.


Loading animation