November Edition 2020

34 Consistency The emphasis above has been on systems and processes that allow for a positive client experience. Naturally it is possible to achieve this ‘manually’, that is without systems that specifically support this process and there will be some people within the firm that can give a great client experience without this support. This will not, however, be true of everyone and the requirement is to have a consistently excellent client experience delivered across the firm regardless of location, practice area or team assigned to a matter. This is a significantly greater challenge if a robust client experience programmes does not exist in the firm. Such programmes are, according to the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School study, characterised by the firm: » » Being invested in studying client journeys » » Giving attention to client experience » » Seeking regular feedback and undertaking regular account reviews » » Having a clear process for reaching resolutions » » Measuring and using client engagement as a KPI » » Making client engagement integral to recruitment Underpin with an inclusive feedback system Developing a client experience programme is not a simple undertaking. It can, however, start relatively simply and the starting point is to give the client a voice. There are, of course, nuances even to this simple step, with possible solutions ranging from an email address for feedback on an invoice through to an extensive matter debrief by a dedicated function. These mechanisms tend to be selective rather than inclusive either for reasons of time and budget or because they do not actually encourage feedback to be given. An inclusive feedback mechanism needs to have the following characteristics: » » Simple and cost-effective to allow it to be used across all clients » » Automated to reduce the overhead on users » » Automated to avoid cherry-picking » » Integrated to allow automated sampling at different milestones along client journey » » Automated to alert on negative feedback