The Best Seminar in A Long While
When I attend a legal seminar (lawyers are required to get for 12 hours of continuing legal education yearly) I usually learn a few new things, even in my areas of expertise. On November 8 and 9, Carmen and I attended a business builder seminar that was client-centered in New Orleans. While it was not a “legal seminar” and I cannot receive credit for it as part of legal education, we both learned far more than any seminar I have attended in the last 5 years.
There were two parts to this seminar. The first day was all about managing positively the client experience. So many basic things were discussed that sometimes we forget to perform. The Rainmaker Institute presented the seminar. They have been training lawyers on the West coast for a number of years. They are moving east soon.
The model they use for managing the client experience is the Ritz Carlton hotel chain. About 12 years ago the Ritz Carlton made a total change, a 100% dedicated program involving all their employees worldwide to put their hotel guests in the center of their business. They have been quite successful. It has been great branding for them. The VP of Operations and Customer Service at DigiCert, Inc. interviewed the VP of Customer Relations at the Ritz Carlton and said after that interview “I am on a mission to show how customer experience can be a competitive advantage to win customer loyalty.” That this means to me is that if my client's experience with my office, myself and my staff can be managed in a very positive way, not only will my clients come back. But they will refer other clients to us.
More than this, I cannot ask. It is what has kept me in the practice for a long and satisfying time.
So how does this look for my law practice? I do not want to tell you any specifics! I want my clients to experience the difference. I do believe we were performing at a 70-75% rate of comparison to the Ritz client experience before the seminar. Now I think we have implemented changes to get us to 90%. We still have room to grow and improve but we are quite excited that our attendance at this two day training retreat will help us to provide our clients with a better experience and excellent results for their case.