Law firms spend significant amounts of time and money building their reputation and generating new enquiries. But what actually happens when a prospective client picks up the phone?

That’s the question I wanted to explore through the first Edinburgh Customer Experience Index, an independent assessment of the prospective customer experience across different sectors in the city.

Eight Edinburgh law firms were independently mystery shopped during August using the same wills enquiry scenario. Firms were assessed across the complete enquiry journey, from the initial telephone contact through to the conversation with the legal expert and what happened afterwards.

No firms are named or ranked. The purpose of the research is to identify common themes, recognise good practice and highlight opportunities for improvement.

A positive picture once clients reach experts

The overall customer experience score was 67 per cent, but that number doesn’t really tell the whole story. One of the clearest findings was how much the experience improved once the prospective client reached the legal expert.

The expert conversation scored 78 per cent, the strongest part of the enquiry journey. Every expert asked further questions to understand the client’s circumstances, explained how their firm could help and provided relevant advice or a way forward. Communication was also jargon-free in every conversation.

That matters particularly in an area such as wills and trusts. Clients may be discussing subjects they find unfamiliar, complicated or sometimes uncomfortable. Being able to explain things simply, demonstrate empathy and give someone confidence in what happens next is a real strength.

Several of the lawyers also went beyond the immediate enquiry, raising related considerations such as powers of attorney, inheritance tax and the practicalities involved in putting a will in place.

Good service doesn’t necessarily mean winning the client

Where the research becomes more interesting is when we look beyond the quality of the legal conversation.

The Index recorded a 75 per cent customer service score, compared with 51 per cent for sales skills. I don’t use “sales” here to suggest lawyers should suddenly become salespeople. Quite the opposite. It’s about whether a good client conversation is being turned into a clear and confident next step.

A prospective client may be contacting two or three firms. Being knowledgeable and friendly matters, but so does explaining value, making the next step easy and giving that person a reason to feel confident that they have found the right firm.

Only half of the fee discussions we assessed explained the value behind the price. That’s an important distinction. Quoting a fee tells someone what something costs. Explaining the value helps them understand what they are receiving for it.

The first contact still matters

There were also inconsistencies before callers reached the legal experts. All initial handlers asked questions to understand what the prospective client needed and all callers were asked for their name. However, only three of the eight calls were answered within three rings, and only three initial handlers introduced themselves by name or subsequently used the caller’s name during the conversation.

Where a callback was required, contact details were consistently taken, but callers weren’t always told when they should expect to hear from someone.

None of these issues on its own is dramatic.

But client experience is rarely determined by one dramatic failure. It is often the accumulation of relatively small things that determines how easy, professional and personal an organisation feels to deal with.

And then comes follow-up

This was the finding that surprised me most.

Of the seven enquiries where proactive follow-up was appropriate, only one received a follow-up call or email within five working days. Interestingly, the one follow-up that did happen was excellent. It took place when promised, the adviser remembered the original enquiry and asked whether the prospective client wanted to proceed.

The other conversations simply stopped. That feels like a significant opportunity. In a competitive market, it is reasonable to assume that at least some prospective clients will speak to more than one firm before deciding who to instruct. A good conversation therefore isn’t necessarily enough.

Looking at the journey as a whole

Perhaps the biggest lesson from the research is that prospective clients don’t experience reception, marketing, business development and fee earners as separate functions. They experience one law firm.

That’s why I believe firms should periodically experience their own enquiry journey exactly as a prospective client does. How quickly is the telephone answered? How does the initial conversation feel? What happens during a handover? Are the right questions being asked? Is value being explained? Is the next step clear? And, crucially, who owns the enquiry afterwards?

For many firms, the opportunity isn’t wholesale change. It’s identifying the relatively small points where momentum is being lost and creating greater consistency around them.

The legal expertise we encountered was generally very good. The bigger opportunity is making sure the experience surrounding that expertise is equally strong. Because ultimately, excellent legal advice only has the opportunity to become excellent client service once the prospective client decides to instruct the firm.

Steve Dunn is director – East Scotland at insight6