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Management

Lawyers as Leaders of Change in Customer Service by Professionals

by J. Matthew Buchanan

October 2005

Earlier this year I attended ABA TECHSHOW and LexThink, the conference about nothing (which turned out to be about everything) organized by Matt Homann, Dennis Kennedy and Sherry Fowler. As I headed out of Chicago after five days away from home, I should have been drained and exhausted. But, instead, my head was racing with thoughts and ideas that (mostly) related to improving professional practices.

My thoughts kept returning to customer service and what we, as consumers, consider acceptable these days.

Somewhere in northern Indiana (I drove home to Toledo), I was struck with an image from Back to the Future, the 80s flick starring Michael J. Fox. Remember the scene set in the 50s story line in which a car pulls into a Texaco station and several uniformed attendants rush to the car and begin servicing it? There’s no dialogue between the attendants, and the action really happens in the background, all in an attempt to set the scene in 50s America. I specifically remember my mom and dad laughing at that scene together. It accomplished its goal so effectively that I’m betting everyone who reads this article will remember it vividly.

The joke of course lies in the contrast made in the film between the 50s and modern America (the 80s in the film). Customer service in this country had changed so radically between the 50s and the 80s that director Robert Zemeckis only needed to show a brief scene that invoked fond memories of an earlier time to make a point and get a laugh. My mom and dad, along with every other baby boomer in the country, were remembering the day as they watched that scene and instinctively contrasted their fond memories to the grimey self-serve pumps available at modern gas stations.

At the time of the movie, my sisters and I didn’t quite get it. We sort of used it as a way to laugh at my mom and dad, not the movie (“there they go being old again”). We had only ever known grime and self-serve. Full service was something you paid extra for, which no one in our circles ever did.

But now I get it. And I don’t think it’s that funny. In fact, I think it’s more sad than funny. The decline has continued, placing us at a point today that lies below the level of the 80s. A real concern for me is that poor customer service practices today aren’t just commonplace in gas stations and fast food joints (later in my trip home from Chicago, I was reminded of the Texaco scene when the crew member at McDonald’s gave me my change in a wad -- literally a wad -- of bills; didn’t they used to count the bills out as they handed them to me?). Crummy service is everywhere, including professional practices.

Think about it. How many times have you left a message with a lawyer that goes unreturned? How many invoices have you received from a professional that made you wonder about what services were actually performed.

As a professional service provider, I have to ask with some concern - where do we go from here? What about the future? Do we continue the decline that has pervaded society between the 50s and today? Will this behavior, over time, become acceptable in the practice of law (or any other profession)? Has this already happened?

I certainly hope not. I’m going to hold onto the Texaco scene as a model (remind me to call my mother later). Figuratively speaking, when a client pulls into the drive, I’m going to keep jumping out of my chair to see what they need.

After dwelling on the Texaco scene for awhile, I did a little rethinking on the issue and eventually turned the corner away from worry and concern and headed right for opportunity.

Opportunity? Why? How?

It’s simple, really. I think the other professions are actually worse at customer service than lawyers. The bar is actually so low right now that we, lawyers, could actually stick our neck out just a little and become leaders of change in customer service.

Here are two quick examples that helped me recognize the opportunity. Shortly after the TECHSHOW/LexThink trip, I received two invoices from professional service providers: one from an accountant and one from a health care provider (the hospital, I think; its hard to tell who actually sent it).

The accountant’s invoice reads “March accounting services….$X.XX.” That’s it. No explanation of the services provided whatsoever. To make matters worse, I wasn’t even aware that I was a client of this particular accounting firm (they do my firm’s work, not my personal work). That’s true. I had no idea I was a client and the vague invoice was the first communication I received from this professional service provider. How’s that for customer service?

And then there’s the health care provider. The invoice was for a recent visit my wife and I made to the emergency room with our newborn baby. That visit is, to date, the worst example of professional customer service that I’ve personally experienced. These guys took poor customer service to a whole new low. Everything turned out ok on this particular visit, but I remember leaving the hospital with a ‘what just happened’ kind of feeling. During the visit, no one would give me or my wife a straight answer on the problem Not the nurses, not the physicians assistants, and not the doctors (believe me, we asked). Two doctors argued over the diagnosis (in front of us, by the way) and my wife and I were eventually sent home without receiving any form of treatment for our six- week-old son. Seriously, they didn’t deliver a diagnosis and provide treatment (save a bottle of juice). We sat in a room for a few hours, and then they sent us home. Period. I still don’t know who won the argument.

I understand that no treatment may have been the best route. I don’t need a product to feel like I’ve received the benefit of professional services. But I would have appreciated a competent consultation on the matter. In fact, I think my wife and I deserved this.

The invoice from the hospital reopened that wound. Now they want me to pay? I couldn’t prevent a little cynicism from creeping in – maybe my insurance doesn’t cover even basic levels of customer (patient) service.

I know that clients of law firms have had similar experiences. A friend of mine recently relayed an example in which his monthly litigation invoice took a huge jump (up, not down). Turns out, the firm handling the case had added three associates to the team. Full time. The first he had heard about his new ‘teammates’ came via the invoice. Funny thing is, he said that he would have authorized additional resources had they approached him with a plan and rationale for the move. But, because of the way in which he was made aware of the need for more resources, he was left with a negative impression about the firm.

“Will you use that firm for your next litigation,” I asked (I love the obvious questions). He gave me a simple and telling response: “Absolutely not. Even if they win this one.”

So here’s the rethinking. What if we improved? What if law firms and lawyers became the shining example of premier customer service from professional service providers? Other professionals are so poor at it that we could be the best with minimal effort. I’m not being sarcastic here. A few baby steps might do the trick - like improving invoices. And, if that’s true, think of what a giant leap or two would do - like returning phone calls and eating a little overhead once in awhile. The sky’s the limit here.

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