Of course client satisfaction is high when you win the case,
or negotiate a favorable settlement, but client satisfaction can exist even
when the outcome isn’t quite so terrific, which is important, since it’s client
satisfaction that allows your practice to grow and develop.
Support staff is essential to client satisfaction: it’s up
to you to make sure support staff has what they need to take good care of your
clients. Too often, in your preoccupation with all that’s on your plate, you
expect support staff to figure things out for themselves. To an extent, that’s
fine--but you’ll benefit from giving your staff specific training in client
services, as well as the authority to perform certain service-oriented tasks
for the client. Good one-day seminars are worth their weight in gold. Invest in
staff so they can return that investment many times over in client
satisfaction.
Don’t leave staff out of regular updates as to what the firm
is doing, why and how, so that support staff feels they are part of the law
firm, not just hired underlings. Your law firm is more successful if all those
involved are working in the same direction toward the same end.
