Have you ever considered how your client views your law firm (or your tax preparation or medical specialty or engineering- even order fulfillment) firm? They come, they ask questions, they give you money, and then they wait…and sometimes wait and wait. That whole process is something you can change to demonstrate your ‘value added’ components to your clients/customers.
Just imagine if your client could see- online and in real time- what is going on with their case/order?
They could log on to a secure site and see the new matter information. (Actually, this requires you to give them the matter ID and log in via eMail or in person at the time of retainer. We do NOT recommend letting someone determine this information by logging on with their corporate or personal name, FEIN or Social Security Number, and billing zip code- since almost anyone could obtain that information.) Once they’ve logged on to the secure site, they could determine which staff are assigned to their case. (Of course, it would be useful should your website have your staff bios and pictures posted on the site- either in a secure portion, or if you’ve decided to let the world in on this data, directly on your public site.)
Correspondence, drafts, negotiations can all be found on this site. If someone has been tasked (or retained) to determine the background of the case or precedent gathering, that can be included herein. Once the matter is complete, the closing information can be included. Billing and collections should also be part of this data.
Once the case is complete, the information can remain available for some period of time (30,60,90, or 365 days, as your firm determines makes sense).
For our retained clients, we actually do that. They have all the information we have available to them. And, when we have discussions over the phone, we can all be looking at the same document. (We actually have a screen sharing system that enhances this interaction.) Fora number of our long-term tax clients, we have all their tax data on line- along with the data they supply to us.
Now, I admit that we also password protect certain documents (and limit the availability to only certain individuals) as a further protection. Some clients let their bookkeepers have access, so they can see the bills and payments. However, we doubt (and they have concurred) that they wanted these staff members to see the sensitive documents that set the strategy and positions of the firm.
We have two different processes upon which we rely to provide this service. One is our Sharepoint Server, which is basically an internal website that is sharable with stakeholders. The other is a separate network storage device, which has folders with separate passwords and access. To insure that folks don’t try to access other sites on the shared resources, we employ different schema for the passwords for each stakeholder. Some may be based upon a combination of words, symbols, and numbers; others on attributes of the firm (and numbers and symbols); others on the day of the week we retained, along with names, symbols and numbers… you get the idea.
Domino’s lets its pizza purchasers see their orders, when it’s being baked, when it was picked up for delivery, etc. Some vendors like Amazon let you see similar tracking techniques. At least one computer vendor does the same.
When are you going to harness the technology to keep your customers/clients informed?
What’s going on? Please tell me! http://t.co/R6jtQk8j8E via @Adjuvancy
I agree with you Roy. Even in my simple little art business (because at the end of the day art is still a business) I do the same in a very simple easy way by showing their art “in progress” as I do it, in the different stages. It helps me as I work, it documents for me my process and in doing so helps me grow as an artist…but it also gets my clients excited about their work, it shows them I take the work I’m doing for them seriously, and while it doesn’t always show the hours I put into it, it does show them that I am doing their work. I know this wouldn’t work for some fields but for me it also generates more business, because people get excited and want to see their things come to life. So what you are saying I will testify is a good thing!
Lisa recently posted..Neon Glow Butterfly Phase 2 by Lisa Brandel
That is a fantastic example of the concept, Lisa. I’m thrilled you brought it in to amplify the idea- and show that parochial views of which kinds of companies can and should do this are just too narrow.
Thanks for your example! And, I’m pleased it’s working for you, too!
Post on keeping clients in the know. http://t.co/1pSBrZ9HZ2
I think that UPS also helps clients see where their package is. I have used that a lot. Dominoes is cute. A company I was interested in working with allowed clients access to the work done on their project. I think our clients can get on their site in Hubspot and see analytics, blogs including drafts and such. Even Social Security is becoming more transparent as I wrote in my latest blog. Thanks for tying it all together for me, Roy.
Ann Mullen recently posted..In Home Care Information:Social Security Announces New Online Service
Those are great examples, Ann.
I had forgotten about UPS (since I only use the site to check to insure it has been delivered). And, Social Security- now there’s a change!
Thanks for adding great ideas to the discussion.
This is wonderful for the client. AND it really keeps the business stay on task. Management can weed out slackers and provide a top-notch service! Great
Carolina HeartStrings recently posted..SPATZLE (GERMAN NOODLES)
@Adjuvancy Makes a great case for serving your customers. Such an expense will repay itself with repeat business | http://t.co/q6IzDMndRq
I like http://t.co/JtEl3MOMLL
RT @caronessauthor: I like http://t.co/JtEl3MOMLL
Sounds pretty amazing. I know that Amazon does this and I find it very helpful.
So, Suerae, does that mean you will consider this for your company? At the very least, you can hook in with UPS or Fedex to let your customers know when it ships and how it is reaching them.
What’s going on? Please tell me! http://t.co/zOtEu4oOX0 via @Adjuvancy
This is such a valid point! My business is very small and I don’t feel the need to design a specific interface. I do share, however, some documents on Google docs. It does the trick and it is free. That said, they don’t tend to look at the docs very often. I cannot win!
MuMuGB recently posted..Top 10 Tips To be Taken Seriously In your Job In London
That is a fantastic use of resources, Muriel. And, the fact is that many folks want to know they are available- complain if they are not- but really don’t look at them anyway. It still serves as value added for your firm..
What’s going on? Please tell me! http://t.co/hjxD0PZLZj via @Adjuvancy