In a recent blog post, we highlighted how a poor client onboarding process could be costing you time and money and gave examples of what a good and poor onboarding process looks like. You can read more at: Is your client onboarding process costing you time and money?
Today, we want to illustrate how you can turn your client onboarding process into an asset for your law firm. Done well, your onboarding process can:
- Create a positive first impression of your business;
- Earn you positive reviews, feedback and recommendations;
- Save you time and money throughout your working relationship with a client.
We’re going to go through a worked example of how we helped one of our legal clients to transform their onboarding process.
About the client
Bill is the founder of a legal consultancy. He has a team of 11 consultant lawyers helping him with client work and a busy and diverse portfolio of clients. When we started working together, Bill was worried about his onboarding process. However, he was busy building his business and carrying out fee-earning work. He didn’t have the time to overhaul his onboarding process, even though he knew that’s what needed to happen. That’s where we were able to help.
How we can help with client onboarding
We offer legal clients an Optimal Onboarding Audit service. It’s a critical deep dive into your existing onboarding process to identify what is and isn’t working and then we develop an action plan to put things right.
When we audited Bill’s onboarding process, we identified several issues, but they could all be summarised into three key areas:
- Lack of process
- Lack of communication
- Lack of clear boundaries and expectations
These onboarding problems weren’t unique to Bill. In fact, in most cases where onboarding isn’t working, it comes down to one or more of these problems. So, we’re going to break down each of these common onboarding ‘danger areas’ to help you identify if they may be present in your own onboarding process. We’ll then illustrate how we helped Bill to resolve each of them.
Onboarding Issue 1: Lack of process
Bill’s onboarding processes weren’t well-defined and it was unclear who needed to do what at each stage. Without a clear process, things can get missed, clients and staff grow frustrated and every client has a different, non-standard experience. If left unchecked, a lack of process can lead to significant wastage of staff time, unhappy clients, poor client experience and ultimately bad reviews that send your clients elsewhere.
The warning signs:
- No clear system to follow;
- People are unclear on their roles and responsibilities;
- Few or no proper templates to work from;
- Time is wasted looking for old emails or forms that can be reused;
- Documents or processes are missed or forgotten.
How to fix process issues in your onboarding:
To resolve these issues with Bill we took the following steps:
- We mapped the whole onboarding process out from start to finish. At every stage, we recorded what processes were followed and how the clients would experience onboarding.
- Using our process map, we were able to identify the smaller action steps required to move things along. We recorded these specific actions and who should be responsible. This helped us to identify and fill any gaps in the process, thereby reducing confusion and adding clarity.
- We also defined the boundaries of the onboarding process. This helps keep the process targeted and effective
- Finally, we created email and document templates. We used Clio Grow, a legal CRM tool that helps automate and organise law firm processes.
To learn more about Clio and how it could help your law firm, check out our Clio Coaching page.
The result was a well-defined onboarding process with clear responsibilities and actions and templates to provide a consistent, quality experience.
Onboarding Issue 2: Lack of communication
Bill wasn’t communicating clearly or often enough with his clients. Communication is key during onboarding. In the initial stage of a new working relationship, neither party knows the other well, and regular communication is required to help bridge this gap. Without strong communication, both parties can be unclear on what is required or expected of them. There could be misunderstandings over fees and costs if scopes change and this can lead to client complaints and damaged reputation.
The warning signs:
- Infrequent and/or unclear communication;
- Scope changes aren’t communicated or agreed and unexpected fees are incurred;
- Clients have to chase the law firm for information or updates;
- There are no formal introductions to consultants or lawyers who will be working with the client;
- Clients feel neglected and not looked after.
How to fix communication issues in your onboarding:
To resolve these issues with Bill we took the following steps:
- We revisited our mapping process and this time focussed on identifying key communication points where we would contact clients.
- We then clearly defined who would contact the client at each stage and what each communication needed to achieve.
- We created email templates for each stage and ensured that these included the scope of work in detail.
- We introduced a new email template to the process that is sent to the client cc’ing the consultant by way of introduction. This email also attaches the consultant’s bio.
Bill’s communication is now clear and reinforces the professionalism of his business. Clear communication strengthens trust and helps create a successful client relationship. Building good communication foundations at onboarding is key as communication is important throughout the working relationship with a client.
Onboarding Issue 3: Lack of clear boundaries and expectations
Bill wasn’t clearly defining work boundaries and expectations with new clients. This can lead to disappointment and frustration. If the client feels they’re not getting what they expected they may go elsewhere.
The warning signs:
- Projects quickly go out of scope and become unprofitable.
- Clients or staff aren’t clear on what is and isn’t included in the scope of quoted works;
- Staff and accounts departments waste time trying to define what was agreed.
How to fix boundary issues in your onboarding:
To resolve these issues with Bill we took the following steps:
- For every new client, Bill now sends an initial email communicating the…
- Budget;
- Timeline;
- Scope of work; and
- What happens if the scope changes.
- This same information is also copied into the engagement letter and communicated to the consultant handling the case.
This clarity at the very start of the working relationship means each party knows exactly what has been agreed. In the event of a dispute, there is clear documentation to refer to.
A client onboarding process to be proud of…
By addressing process, communication and boundary issues, Bill now has a client onboarding process that makes a great first impression.
Bill’s new onboarding process is…
- Clearly defined and documented with responsibilities assigned and templates to work from.
- Fully functional and streamlined using Clio Grow and Manage.
- A great experience for clients – giving Bill the opportunity to sell other services.
- Quicker and easier for staff to implement – saving hours of work.
How to improve your own onboarding process for busy lawyers – a quick guide!
With this example, and the previous blog post we’ve tried to highlight just how critical getting your onboarding right is. However, many legal people we work with are in the same position Bill was. They’re incredibly busy and focused on fee-earning work. This means that they struggle to find time to work on improving processes like onboarding. So, here are our top 3 simple steps you can take to improve your onboarding. Even if you don’t have time for a full review, these improvements alone will make a big difference.
- Map out the journey
What does your onboarding process look like from the moment a client says yes to them signing that engagement letter? Identify all the touch points and write them down.
- Pick out the key communication steps
Create templates for each key communication step and define who will make the contact.
- Use an automation tool to simplify things
Using a legal CRM tool like Clio will help to define and organise processes and make them easily replicable each time you onboard a client
Clio – A quick overview
In this article, we’ve talked about using Clio to help with law firm onboarding. Here’s a quick overview of Clio’s main features:
Clio Grow – is centred on client onboarding and CRM. It’s designed to make onboarding new clients simple and efficient. You can create workflows, automate documents and do appointment bookings
Clio Manage – helps you to manage existing client relationships and is a powerful tool for case management. You can invoice, time record and set up template documents.
Both tools work together and allow you to produce reports on revenue, productivity, billing and more.
To find out more, visit our Clio Coaching page, or check out our packages page for details of Clio Grow packages.
Your next steps with client onboarding
It’s important to remember that reviewing your onboarding process isn’t a one-time action and your processes will evolve and need refinement over time.
You also don’t have to fix everything in one go. It can be hard for busy lawyers to make time for refining processes, but by using our quick guide above, you can tackle each step individually when you have some capacity.
If you want to accelerate the process and get a fresh perspective on your onboarding then we’re here to help. Our onboarding packages for law firms are designed to make reviewing and improving your client onboarding processes easy and effective. To get started, contact us today.
