Client retention is an aspect that holds importance across the board and one which must not fleet during the era of remote working and a global pandemic. How can law firms effortlessly streamline communication and keep the logistics needed to keep a firm running and effective, not just for themselves, but for their clients?
The Art of Collaboration
The adoption of collaboration tools within many enterprises has created a revolution that’s driving a new age of customer service. With smaller law firms naturally finding it harder to deal with the pressures of client demands, having a strong integrated system will prove beneficial in more ways than one: it will allow for a stronger team behind the scenes, keeping communication open between partners, associates and paralegals alike; it enables the team to be transparent and responsive towards clients; and, thus, it allows firms to attract new clients. In this era, client demands are changing; they want information almost immediately. In a society where everything is more or less a click of a button away, law firms need to be responsive and quick with it. Efficiency is key. This is why many law firms have opted for software such as Microsoft Teams and Enghouse solutions to allow their staff to coordinate and collaborate effectively.
The Shift towards Tech
The arrival of Microsoft Teams, has changed the approach of many businesses as they move to unified communications environments and omnichannel customer interactions. Driven in part by the pandemic, Microsoft Teams has become the collaboration platform of choice for many businesses. In October 2020, it reportedly reached 115 million daily users, up from 75 million in April 2020.
Applications like Teams effectively allow organisations to extend their internal system to the frontline into the middle and back offices, enabling them to streamline business processes and improve customer experience. The tool combines workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and integration into third party applications such as contact centre, call recording, operator console and KPI based reporting solutions to deliver a powerful collaboration environment.
With the customer journey continuing to become ever more important to organisations over time, more businesses are handling more of the routine or predictable interactions they have with customers through self-service or automated channels. The remaining queries and interactions tend to be complex or awkward, often requiring the involvement of multiple parties to resolve. That is why we are seeing a growing number of organisations using Microsoft Teams to pull in expertise from across the business to resolve the more complex issues. This results in first contact resolution and an improved customer experience. But is Teams alone, enough?
Going the Extra Step
In an ideal world you would combine Teams with your a contact centre allowing you to communicate effectively internally and externally. Luckily, such a thing exists. Integrating Teams with an omnichannel contact centre solution delivers enhanced levels of customer engagement. With more extensive collaboration capabilities, law firms can gain better insight into the content and progress of their calls. When integrated with CRM and legal systems it allows you to access relevant information about the client on the call and the issue at hand, helping them resolve the problem, and easily share information with other agents, if required. Simultaneously, a contact centre chatbot can “listen in” to the call and provide appropriate guidance regarding additional customer service options. And when they feel in need of quick support, they can request assistance very simply.
By integrating your contact centre with Teams, firms can improve the service levels they provide to their end customers by ensuring their agents are supported with the best possible tools to meet their needs. It will also:
- Enable remote and hybrid working
- Integrate the contact centre with the wider business
- Share information to deliver a consistent experience
- Enable a unified approach to operations and reporting
- Drive an improved, more agile and efficient experience
Being responsive is important and makes you much more attractive to potential clients and existing ones alike. By implementing simple actions for a smoother client experience, such as having a resolution upon the first call, or directing callers to the right person can leverage a positive response from clients.
The Power of AI for Clients
With the increase of online activity and clients wanting information almost immediately, law firms are having to cope with increasing queries that are often asking the same basic questions, a demanding after effect of the digital realm. With law firms working remotely and waving goodbye to some of their functional support staff, such as receptionists or like Linklaters, legal secretaries, how can they keep up with client queries in an effective way?
Enghouse Interactive’s Knowledge Base offers such a solution: by enabling customers to easily find correct answers to everyday questions on-line through self-service, it frees up lawyers to deal with more complex high-value enquiries whilst empowering them to quickly respond on every channel and drive operational efficiency.
We are now seeing, in particular, a rise in the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) used in natural language processing programmes which enable systems to answer or even anticipate a user’s question or need. Not only does this save time for solicitors, but also saves time for the client as virtual agents can handle enquiries more quickly and cost effectively.
A well configured and comprehensive Knowledge Base can quickly become the “go-to” tool for enquiries.
Keeping Within the Law
Law firms are unique in terms of customer interaction. Maintaining client data securely is vital, not only in improving trust but also in ensuring case files are up to date. Having a contact centre that allows interactions (voice calls and text) to be recorded, fully indexed, searchable, and extracted to be easily exported to email as required, makes a more synchronous and simple system. These recordings can be used for anything from recapping on a call, dispute resolution, achieving regulatory compliance and used for training. Again, this will allow firms to be on top of each task, making it not only simpler for the lawyers and partners, but also for those they are working for.
Ways to Improve Client Retention For Smaller Firms
- Set good expectations for the client early – be responsive and quick.
- Try an anticipatory service – advise on any problems which may occur, before they do so.
- Get to know your client – good communication is key and having a quick and easy feedback system helps to know what you are doing right and what you can improve on.
A system that can help with the above: Enghouse’s advanced call-handling capabilities matched with Teams’ outstanding collaboration options ensure your callers are always assisted in a timely and efficient manner. Microsoft Teams’ native messaging and presence help operators to effortlessly engage back-office assistance to deliver each call to the best destination available.
Ways to Improve Client Retention For Large Firms
1.Be personable – getting clients to stay is more than just doing ‘a good job’. Engage well with your clients to ensure a strong professional relationship.
2. Be accurate – bill accurately and make sure that all information, advice and guidance is as precise as can be. Make the process as easy as you can for your clients.
3. Communicate WELL – a common gripe is that lawyers never get back to clients or update them on their case. Keep communication open, ensure clients can get a hold of their lawyer and be responsive.
An advanced, integrated system that can help with the above: Enghouse’s advanced interaction-handling capabilities help route your customers to your front-line workers and the Microsoft Teams shared workspace lets them effortlessly engage back-office experts, to provide the best resolution available for each call.
Improving communication channels for law firms
- Enable remote and hybrid working
- Integrate the contact centre with the wider business
- Share information to deliver a consistent experience
- Enable a unified approach to operations and reporting
- Drive an improved, more agile and efficient experience
- Take advantage of online video conferencing tools and project management software such as Slack, Teams, or Vidyo
Web: enghouseinteractive.co.uk
E: marketingemea@enghouse.com
