Attorneys are never responsive enough for many clients. Whether it is an in-house counsel acting as a client and waiting for outside counsel to respond, or an in-house client waiting for their law department, nothing seems fast enough these days. It’s not just technology, it is the nature of the beast and how attorneys view what “immediate” means. Until AI-powered response bots litter C-suite desks, you may want to consider some methods to help bridge the immediacy gap and avoid having to deal with an upset client.
“Your clients think in terms of minutes and hours when looking for responses to their questions. Just over 80% of clients expect an immediate response to their texts and emails. Immediate, in their minds, means 1 to 2 hours*….Think about your client’s boss, a C-level executive colleague, or business unit leader who wants an answer to an important question your client doesn’t have. And, these colleagues want answers when they ask—not hours later. Your client wants to be the problem solver—not the source of delay. So they want answers from you now. Your client’s response is in full public view at their organization—their colleagues are acutely aware of how long it takes to answer their question. Lawyers routinely think of their client response time in 4- to 8-hour blocks….most attorneys see 4 to 8 hours as appropriate. This is twice what clients expect…”
Read: Separating Fact from Fiction: Why Attorneys Are Never Responsive Enough at The Mad Clientist