Legal professionals know only too well how much time it takes to communicate effectively enough to keep clients happy.
But a technological solution exists that can relieve this pressure while actually improving customer satisfaction – all via a smartphone.
While businesses are increasingly relying on technology to improve things like stock control, logistics and shopping, customer service has seen a slower uptake.
Even emails and SMS as customer service tools, are fairly limited in their effectiveness unless written personally by a member of a customer service team.
So for a law firm – where ongoing and up-to-date customer contact is key to maintaining trust and satisfaction – resources (and costs) can quickly mount.
Customer convenience
The inCase mobile app was developed to address this need for clear and continual contact, without requiring customers to ring an office every day.
And by putting access to the desired information in the palm of their hand, it leaves solicitors free to do their best casework on behalf of the customer.
So far, so good – but will a paying customer be happy to sacrifice personal contact with their solicitor to deal with an app instead?
Most definitely, according to inCase developer Such Amin:
‘Market research by Ofcom shows that on average, adult mobile users spend nearly two hours a day online using a smartphone.
‘And that will probably have increased slightly since that survey, so clearly people are comfortable using their phone as a communication tool.
‘With social media and instant messaging being the preferred way for many people to communicate with friends and family, it makes sense for business comms to offer this option too.
‘Our feedback shows that – far from seeing it as impolite – many customers prefer not having to dial in, or restrict themselves to business hours.
‘Plus, internet use via smartphones has almost trebled since 2013*, so there’s no point pretending it’s not an obvious way to communicate with customers.’
Law firm efficiency
So customers are happy with the convenience of having the info they want at their fingertips and not having to wait for emails or returned calls.
But what about the law firms themselves, apart from pleased clients, what else do they get?
Rob Hosier, director of sales and marketing at inCase highlights some of the upsides for professionals:
‘Previously, sending a document that required a customer signature would rely on secure postage, with its associated time, cost and unreliability.
‘Not that postage doesn’t work – but there are associated risks and outlays that simply aren’t an issue with a secure app.
‘By removing these, you also remove one of the most common problems for legal professionals – customers feeling undervalued.
‘Taking conveyancing as an example, a recent industry survey found nearly half of home-movers (47 percent) wanted “regular digital communications”.
‘Not written letters, or phonecalls – regular digital comms – which is what inCase enables, with all the security of a fingerprint recognition phone.’
Get started with the mobile app that improves the customer experience for law firms – get in touch with inCase.
*Ofcom Communications Market Report 2017.