Trust and productivity are paramount for success. Nowhere is this truer than in the legal industry, where law firms rely on the coordinated efforts of attorneys, paralegals, and support staff to deliver exceptional client service and achieve favorable outcomes. However, cultivating trust and maximizing productivity within a law firm can be a challenging endeavor. One powerful tool that can help achieve these goals is transparency.
Transparency is often associated with openness, honesty, and clear communication. It also promotes accountability.
Trust is the foundation on which strong working relationships are built. Attorneys and support staff must trust one another to fulfill their respective roles and responsibilities effectively. Transparency plays a crucial role in fostering this trust. When information flows freely, team members can have a clear understanding of each other’s tasks, progress, and challenges. This enables them to collaborate more efficiently, offer assistance when needed, and work towards shared goals. By cultivating a culture of transparency, law firms can create an environment where trust thrives, leading to stronger teamwork and higher productivity.
T.J is a client of mine who fell into the camp of constantly worrying about what his admins were doing all day. However, like so many, he didn’t know how to ask without offending or alienating his team—or worse, looking like he was out of touch with his own operation. Instead, he hired a paralegal assistant (PLA) to keep tabs on the firm’s key performance indicators (KPIs) in the hope that the data generated would tame his anxiety.
The Power of Transparency: A Paradigm Shift
While productivity among attorneys and paralegals is undoubtedly crucial, it is essential not to overlook a key detail—your clients. After all, revenue stems from client engagement, and it is the CSC who plays a vital role in attracting new clients and orchestrating initial consultations. Failing to harness the power of their position means missing out on valuable opportunities.
Embracing Transparency: Two Essential Perspectives
Transparency, in relation to your Client Services Coordinator, manifests in two fundamental forms. Firstly, your CSC needs transparent insight into how their role creates value and why their contribution matters. Secondly, you, as an attorney or firm owner, require transparent access to the information they can provide. Establishing an open line of communication that shares valuable data such as call sources, progress of prospective clients, and reasons for non-conversion is crucial.
The Transformational Journey of T.J.:
When T.J. grasped the significance of transparency in relation to his CSC, transformative changes ensued. After just five days of tracking KPIs related to his CSC, we discovered:
- The firm was exceeding its weekly goal of initial contacts (the goal was 20, and they were at 44—not bad!)
- The conversion rate from initial phone call to booked initial consultation was only 22.5%.
- The conversion rate from initial consult to hiring the firm was 48.6%.
- Follow-up with consults who hung up the phone or walked out needing to “think about it” was 0% (ouch!).
After thirty days of consistent tracking and measuring, these numbers ballooned. T.J.’s CSC was thrilled to see how her work made a material contribution to the firm achieving its business goals and T.J. was thrilled to release his worry related to admin productivity.
The Path to Success: Transparent Understanding and Collaboration
However, achieving these outcomes required more than mere note-taking after each call. It stemmed from cultivating a comprehensive and transparent understanding of how legal admins create value. This understanding was fostered through the implementation of my Law Firm Admin Bootcamp—a transformative initiative for any law firm seeking to realize its true potential.
Embrace the Value of Transparency:
No law firm can reach its full potential without giving thoughtful attention to the team members who support its core operations. Overlooking the contributions of admins means disregarding a tremendous opportunity to build value, drive productivity, and accomplish your business goals.
If you want results like this….give us your team and let us train them in our Law Firm Admin Bootcamp + Academy on intake, conversions and the role and goals of the client services coordinator. Visit the Law Firm Admin Bootcamp and we will take you to the next level, do not hesitate to give me a call!
