During the past 18 months, clients are moving away from phone calls, and opting for text messages. Many law firms have not yet tackled this new challenge, but there are some simple things you can do to meet the clients where they want to be.
In the hundreds of talks we have done on this subject; we have isolated five big problems facing law firms and how to fix them:
1. Insufficient and outdated client communication.
Clients are not answering their phones as much anymore. Around 78% of clients in the U.S. say receiving a text message is the fastest way to reach them for important information. Also, 95% of all text messages are opened within 3 minutes.
So, what can be done.
a) Ditch the phone calls and adopt a texting platform. Kenect allows you to use your own cell phone to send and receive texts from clients anytime, WITHOUT using your personal number. Its all connected through your exiting business phone line.
b) Set up reminders. In the texting platform, you can setup automated reminders to send to clients about payments, information, etc. to keep them up to date on cases.
c) Establish a connection. Texting allows you to respond anytime without having to play phone tag. You can get a text from a client and respond, or set up a response, to let them know you are on top of things.
2. Using personal cell phones to text with clients.
We mentioned this earlier, but the texting platform allows you to keep your personal information personal. All texts will be made through your existing business phone line. This way clients can contact the business line, and anyone within your firm could respond. It will keep clients in the loop and keep your personal information hidden.
3. Differentiating firms to attract more leads.
This is a competitive market, with many firms out there vying for clients. However, there are some tools that can help you get more leads.
a) Add a button. Through the Kenect platform, we add a button, or widget, to your website, that allows clients to click on it, fill out a form, which is then sent directly to your firm for someone to respond to.
b) Create a plan. Make sure that when the leads come in, day or night, there is a plan in place. Set up an automated text response or assign someone to get back to clients within a short amount of time.
4.Increase online presence and reviews.
This is one of the biggest issues we get asked about in the legal profession. How do I get more positive reviews?
a) Identify good clients. You want reviews to come from people who had a good experience. Send them a text asking for a review, and they will get a link through the texting platform that allows them to respond within minutes.
b) Build a process. Make sure someone oversees sending out these requests. You don’t want to send them all at once, and you don’t want to double up.
c) Use texting, not email. In our research Kenect is 35 times more effective than email at collecting reviews.
d) Respond in a positive way. Although it is tempting to send a nasty response to a negative review, chose restraint. Google will not take down a negative review, so the best way to combat this is to try and figure out the issue. Respond to the bad review simply, and make sure they know you are looking into this, so that anyone else checking out this review, sees you are on top of it.
5. Keep pace with the ever-changing legal technology.
Its no secret that technology changes, almost by the minute, but its important to stay one step ahead. Make sure you are giving the clients what they want. Texting is the new phone call. Make sure you have a plan to keep pace. Even making some small steps forward will go a long way in showing potential clients you are the right firm for the job.
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