5 times Christmas songs summed up life in a law firm

‘My God! I thought you were someone to rely on.’ Last Christmas – Wham! 

You don’t need us to tell you the trouble that follows an unhappy client, whether or not their displeasure is justified. As well as having to devote time and energy to placate them, you might be facing the prospect of lost business. 70% of clients let online reviews inform their choice of solicitor, and if your detractor is particularly disappointed or aggrieved, theirs could be the review that puts a potential client off using you.

There’s one very effective way to keep clients connected, informed, and reassured, whatever their temperament or preferences. That’s a client portal. That central hub for all updates means that a client who’s hungry for information and updates can access everything at any time. One who is easily overwhelmed by data and detail can consume it in greater moderation. The point is that it’s in their control — they don’t need to wait for updates or face a bombardment of emails from their firm.

All the while, everything in the case is perfectly clear for all parties. When next steps are outlined, documentation requirements are explicit, and case deadlines are all clearly expressed, there’s far less chance that anything will happen that lead to disgruntled clients.

‘Twas light years of time since his mission did start.’ A Spaceman Came Travelling – Chris de Burgh

Nobody likes timesheets, and frankly, why would they? Like bitter medicine, they’re as repulsive as they are beneficial. Obviously the firm as a business can see the use of them for profitability tracking, but it’s even more productive to think of them as a client benefit.

If you’ve undertaken a long and complex case, when you’re invoicing your client, you can easily imagine the difference between an itemised bill and a demand for a large and unexplained lump sum. It feeds into the matter of reputation that we discussed earlier, if you leave your client with a bad taste in their mouth, then the chance of them using you again or recommending you are close to nil.

Also near zero are the chances of your teams recording their time effectively when they have to use cumbersome programmes to do it. Intuitive time recording software is the essential starting point for a cultural change in relation to timesheets.

‘Another year over, a new one just begun.’ Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon & Yoko Ono

The end of the year has always been a time for reflection. If you’re of a mind to make new year’s resolutions, you’ll give yourself the best chance of sticking to them if they follow the classic SMART criteria for goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound).

Measurability is possibly the most important of those criteria. Aspirations like productivity and efficiency are impossible to realise unless you have objective measurements. Feelings and impressions are inconsistent and unreliable. To help those goals and reflections, we’ve prepared a guide to assessing and optimising productivity.

All of the tools you need to collaborate, take care of your clients, weather economic storms, manage and record your time, and optimise your practice are all contained in one platform that over 1,000 firms use already. Book your demo with Insight Legal and just 30 minutes will show you how to make what one user called ‘a transformative change’ in the firm.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.