How Can Law Firms Increase Client Retention?

Once your firm does the work of developing a lead into a client, it’s generally in the firm’s best interest to retain the client if possible.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all cure, offering a positive client experience (including strong communication and active engagement) certainly helps.

Responsiveness

No one likes feeling ignored, especially when they’re paying a lot of money for a service. Respond promptly to client inquiries and make the most of your practice management system’s communication features, like messaging through your secure client portal.

This quick, confidential communication allows you to avoid ethics breaches—while answering client questions with more ease than scheduling a phone call.^[1]

Look for a practice management system that’s cloud-based, so that you can work from any device. On-the-go access makes it much easier to maintain lines of communication.

Organization

It’s a lot harder to stay on top of communication and engagement if you’re not organized—so leverage the features in your practice management system. Having correspondence and documents organized by matter or client name makes details easily searchable when needed.

Organizing workflows internally helps too, so that encroaching deadlines don’t become triage moments. And if a client asks a question, it’s easy to see where a project is at.

Convenience

Clients value convenience. Their time is important, too.^[2] A secure online portal gives them a way to reach you that stays private—and it helps streamline any paperwork they need to do.

With a client portal, you can securely share documents with clients online—meaning they can review and e-sign documents in less steps than by mail or in person. They can also see invoices and pay online, with a credit card.

A modern experience

When it comes to client retention, you can harness the best of legal tech to improve the client experience your firm offers.

Responsiveness, convenience, and consistent communication are all things clients value—and they’re more straightforward than ever before with the help of your secure online client portal.

References

1. American Bar Association Model Rule 1.6: Confidentiality of Information
2. Respect Your Clients’ Time: What Every Law Firm Should Learn from the Four Seasons