How to K.I.S.S. Your Clients: 4 Steps to Exceptional Customer Service for Attorneys

This is the first part of a four part series that I have written to help in-house attorneys sharpen their communication skills and better their customer service. As key business advisors, legal practitioners and counselors we are providers of a service. It’s our job to help - to further business objectives while minimizing risk and costs. So why do some clients still have a love/hate relationship with their attorneys?

More importantly: what can we do to improve on that dynamic? We often forget to think of ourselves as a service provider, where customer service should be a constant focus. The solution is actually quite easy.

And it’s not necessarily about kissing up to clients, but rather, keeping our mission clear and our solutions simple. Think: K.I.S.S. - it's the essence of our 4 Step Strategy to enable you and your legal team to deliver exceptional customer service to your clients.

I first had to articulate my approach to customer service when building our team at Focus Brands. Since our very first hire, we've used this approach in our department as a filter for interviews and also as a constant training tool. These four steps are guiding principles we use to empower our team members to personalize their execution of our customer service. We use it to hold team members accountable when we fail, analyzing in what steps we may need to improve. Over the years, this approach has become the cornerstone of our success as a team.

Consider these four easy steps to deliver your legal services with improved customer satisfaction.

Step 1: Listen.

It starts from the very beginning; when you first sit down with the client, actively listen and ask intelligent questions about what they need, and when they need it. Don’t be on your phone, email or otherwise distracted. Take notes. Know how to ask the "why" behind everything. I love the book and training series Question Behind the Question (qbq.com) as a tool to educate yourself and your team on how to be a great listener - and an inquisitive, engaged partner in the process.

Get context. Understand the motivations, end goals of the client. Make sure you understand the business issues, motivating factors and the players involved. Take the time to educate yourself, it will lead you to faster, simpler and more effective solutions later.

This is part one of a four part series; read on to the next installment. Stay tuned for more - but if you can't wait, you can also read more on the subject matter in my interview with Forefront Magazine. Ideas to share on the subject matter? Email me!