"Five minutes passed. No menus. No water. No greeting. Nothing. We just sat there staring into the void, waiting for someone to acknowledge we existed. After waiting a bit longer, I said, "This isn't working." We got up to leave. Only upon reaching the exit door did a voice yell "Wait!" from across the room. Too late. They lost us, not just that night, but forever."
"The contrast between those two experiences made me think about law firm client service. Because here's the truth: lawyers lose clients the same way restaurants do. Not with one catastrophic failure, but with little lapses in responsiveness, inattention to quality, and inconsistency. If you want clients to stay, grow, and refer others, you need to deliver on these three things."
"They squeezed us into a booth without a reservation. Menus in hand immediately. Halfway through dinner, a server noticed the water glass was low, disappeared, and came back seconds later to refill it. That's what great service looks like - quality, consistency, responsiveness. No wonder this particular restaurant is widely known as the best in town."
Two contrasting restaurant experiences illustrate client service principles for law firms. One venue displayed poor sanitation, ignored customers, and lost business through silence and inattentive staff. Another venue demonstrated welcome, timely service, attentiveness, and consistent responsiveness, retaining and impressing patrons. Lawyers lose clients through small, repeated failures in responsiveness, quality, and consistency rather than single catastrophic errors. Law firms should prioritize rapid client communication, clear expectations, quality control, consistent processes, staff training, delegated authority for timely actions, feedback loops, and use of technology and metrics to measure responsiveness. Consistent excellence leads to client retention, growth, and referrals.
Read at Above the Law
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