Whilst much of the legal sector has innovated, private client services have continued to be… old fashioned. And much of that old-fashioned nature is what makes those services so special – the human element.
But personalised, relationship-centric private client services and technology are not mutually exclusive. Technology, harnessed right way, enhances that human element – whilst adding efficiency and capability to the underlying process of how services are delivered.
Here’s what digitising the client experience really means for the firms we serve.
More secure interactions and the de-risking of client data
- Interactions/exchanges of sensitive documentation and data with clients via unsecured, unencrypted channels is a major challenge for private client practices. This puts the data of those, and therefore the reputation of your firm, at risk.
- Platforms like Legado provide a secure, highly encrypted channel for the communication of sensitive documents and data with clients, providing piece of mind that their data is safe.
Elevated ongoing engagement of clients
- We constantly hear from firms engaging with clients on an ongoing basis is a major challenge. Clients will come, sign a will, and then disappear. Maybe for years. Maybe till they’ve passed away, and their executors are in touch. That lack of engagement is a lack of capturing revenue opportunities from those clients.
- Tools like Legado’s workflows and notifications can be leveraged to bring clients back to your services regularly, and support your solicitors in providing relevant services to clients at the right time in their lives.
Expedited document collection
- Complex cases, document-heavy cases like probate create huge headaches due to significant amounts of documentation to be collected, especially from multiple parties. Challenges in document collection turn into fee-earners’ time being taken up, and delays to cases.
- Digital tools, like Legado’s secure collaboration and document requests make it simple to pull together all the relevant parties, request specific documentation, and keep on top of exactly which documents are outstanding.
Delivery of modernised services
- Client expectations are continuing to rise, especially as digital services are becoming staple in industries like banking. Many firms risk getting left behind as their clients begin to expect more. Even the older demographics are transitioning – research shows 61% of people 65 years old and above have a smartphone…
- Providing a modernised, intuitive digital experience elevates your legal services. Platforms like Legado let firms deliver this, and afford them propositional control to create an experience that reflects the feel of their firm.
Retaining the human elements that matter
- The people component of private client services is crucial. No one wants to replace their solicitor-client relationship with a faceless app.
- Digital platforms like Legado’s are designed around enhancing the client-solicitor relationship, not replacing it. Elevating the security, intuitiveness, and accessibility of those services, but allowing the firm to retain the people-first relationships that matter.
Providing clients with greater visibility over cases
- Client’s want visibility over their cases. Especially when those cases are incredibly important to their lives. Digital experiences like Legado’s incorporate case tracking, so that clients can easily – at their convenience – check on the progress of their cases and understand exactly where things stand. Giving them peace of mind, and confidence in your services.
The sum of all of this is private client services that do more for clients, and demand less of your fee earners. The technology we value at Legado is tech that is well aligned with private client practices, values the client relationship, and affords firms propositional control – and that’s what we reflect in our platform. We’ll be providing an ongoing series of articles that digs deeper into each of these individual points, and showing exactly how valuable they are for practices.
Written by Angus Duncan-Timpson, Associate, Legado (Angus@joinlegado.com)
This article was submitted to be published by Legado as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
