Office Automation 5 Reasons Why Law Firms Are Hemorrhaging Clients

Discerning clients are becoming more aware of their choices in legal service. Law firms are losing the clients who are unhappy with their services. The unmet expectations of business clients push them to seek legal counsel from firms that they perceive to be better equipped to handle their affairs.

According to recent survey data, clients are increasingly feeling ignored and underappreciated. When clients feel as if they are not receiving enough attention from their attorneys, they feel like they are getting subpar outcomes. If a client perceives poor service they will move on, even if matters are resolved well. There are five main reasons why clients are moving their business elsewhere.

No patience for bad service

Even when law firms are providing high-quality and timely service, their clients’ expectations continue to rise. Clients are no longer accepting of what they consider to be unsatisfactory service, and many are beginning to take decisive action to receive the service they expect.

Some clients are opting to use smaller firms with the correct expertise to get the results that they require. The reality is that some smaller firms can provide clients with better customer service overall.

The client's definition of poor service may differ from that of lawyers and law firms. Clients who responded to the Legal Trends Survey indicated that their main hiring concern was the speed at which they received responses to their queries.

High client expectations

10% of respondents in a business client survey indicated that their legal counsel failed to meet their expectations for service. One in every ten clients is likely not going to seek counsel from that firm again and may even advise others to do the same.

Clients have high expectations for service that modern law firms need to meet. And clients speak to each other. They compare notes. Modern clients expect good communication and a high quality of work.

Overall dissatisfaction

There were specific areas in which clients were particularly dissatisfied:

• 44% with responsiveness to their questions and concerns

• 37% with the time that it took to issue resolution

• 26% with the cost associated with legal counsel

• 19% in the level of electronic communication

This is a serious problem for a law firm that values high-quality service. However, there are clear routes to resolution. Small changes to your process may make significant changes to client experience at your firm.

Use of technology

Contemporary law firms are actively investing in the latest technology to make sure that they can offer their clients a high level of service.

Business clients expect their law firm to use technology that is at least as robust as their own.

Clients expect firms to be using modern technology. More than 50% of respondents said that the firm’s use of technology was an important factor, affecting their hiring decisions.

Abundance of options

Law firms that do not have solutions in place to meet client expectations will lose both credibility and work. If your firm is not going to meet clients’ expectations, then clients will go somewhere else. Firms should invest in solutions and prioritize solutions that enhance client experience.

How to keep clients happy

Leaders is the field have developed the Doccly Lender Service Hailing Platform to streamline your process and keep your clients happy. Doccly Lender offers automated Deal Rooms which notify clients and colleagues of progress automatically. Communicate on the platform to keep clients involved, easily. Use the platform for document management to ensure security and organization. Doccly Lender solves the biggest issues which affect client experience.

To learn more about this solution, visit the Doccly Lender page.