Client experience – or CX – seems to be the flavour of the month for professional services firms. Everyone is talking about it, but is anyone really doing it well?
One name making its mark on CX in the legal profession is multi-practice New Zealand law firm Simpson Grierson. The firm won two gongs in the prestigious Client Choice Awards, independently researched by beaton, including Best Law & Related Services Firm ($50-$200m revenue) and Most Innovative Law & Related Services Firm (joint winner).
Tim Orsman, the firm’s Strategy & Markets Director, credited his team’s efforts on an innovative client experience program as a major factor in the dual wins.
“One of Simpson Grierson’s key initiatives over the past year has been our client experience program, so it’s great to get validation through the Awards that clients are happy with the service we are providing,” Mr Orsman said.
“We know that clients want to work with firms that are easy to do business with – eg reliability, good communication and commerciality of advice. A really important part of this is our consistency of service, particularly when a client is working with a number of teams across the firm.”
In a rapidly changing industry like law, and especially in a firm as large as Simpson Grierson with 43 partners, building a positive client experience firm-wide can often feel like herding cats in the dark. Feedback in the form of a Client Choice Awards finalist nomination or win offers a green light that you’re heading in the right direction. This is because winners are chosen not by expert panels but by the most important judges of all: clients.
More than 15,000 pieces of client feedback were submitted to the 2022 Client Choice Awards, and winners were chosen from more than 250 firms entering from Australia and New Zealand.
“Whenever you receive external validation like this it is motivating for the team,” Mr Orsman said.
“Ultimately clients will base their assessment on their own experiences, but the Awards are a useful way to demonstrate that this is an area which we prioritise and really work hard on.”
Mr Orsman said the win was a strong motivator for his team to continue striving to be the best at CX. This would be measured in consistent momentum from employees and partners on the CX program, as well as corresponding positive feedback on the quality of service.
“Over the next year we do want keep momentum going on our CX programme, which has been very well received across our firm. We send out resources weekly – which could include videos with clients, e-learning modules or feedback received – and make it fun for teams to engage with the programme. This engagement is really important to us,” he said.
“Ultimately though, we want to see consistently good feedback from our clients on the quality of our service.”
Simpson Grierson was named Best Law & Related Services Firm ($50-$200m revenue) and Most Innovative Law & Related Services Firm in the 2022 Client Choice Awards. These awards are presented in partnership with The College of Law’s Legal Business Management programs and The State Government of Victoria, respectively.
The Client Choice Awards rewards firms for excellent client service, technical expertise, innovation and client experience. It is the only multi-profession and fully client-judged awards anywhere in the world. The Principal Partner of the Awards is NAB.
Enter your firm for the 2023 Awards here.
