Are your clients always calling you in crisis mode? Most of the time, clients will approach their lawyers when they're already in too deep and need help putting out a fire. Now their crisis evolves into your crisis and more stress. Have you ever taken the time to think about why this might be? To the crisis client, the lawyer-client relationship has been bought, not earned or formed over time. Often, clients are afraid of calling us because they feel like every time they pick up the phone, they will be billed – so they wait until it’s only absolutely necessary, hence the crisis mode.
Consider moving to a subscription-based monthly revenue model. This model allows you to regularly communicate with your clients to have regular touch points which may address minor issues but will also encompass major problems, possibly before they arise. This leads to a stronger revenue stream for your firm and affords a trusted legal advisor relationship with your client overall.
Once your client is free of the worry of being charged a fee every time he or she calls your firm, it will reduce the need for responding to crises, overall crisis control and likely reduce both yours and your clients’ stress levels. Plus, if as a part of the subscription revenue model, they have regular meetings with you for no additional charge, the seasonal spikes and crisis management should naturally lessen providing a better relationship with your client without the stress of billing and collection for every touchpoint.
