Client satisfaction is critical to the success of any law firm. It is vital that the vast majority of your clients walk away feeling as if they have received competent, communicative and diligent representation.

Happy clients will refer their friends and family. Happy clients will pay their bills. Happy clients will give you positive reviews. If they need legal services in the future, happy clients will come back.

But how do you measure whether your clients are happy?  Do you just take their word for it that they are happy? Further, what if you have other associates and lawyers at your firm working for you? How do you know whether the majority of their clients are happy?

The answer is to survey clients. Surveying clients during the course of the representation and after the representation concludes is critical in terms of getting this feedback.

Surveying can be done by having an employee of the firm (who isn’t one of the attorneys) call clients and survey them over the phone. Surveying can also be done electronically these days through various software. You just have to make sure whatever software you use is safe and secure to protect confidentiality.

In drafting together survey questions, it’s important to ask questions relative to the area of law in which your law firm practices. It’s also vital that these survey results go to the lawyer who is being surveyed. This can give the lawyer an objective viewpoint on how they are doing.

Management should also look at these surveys. By doing this, it can give management a guide in terms of who is great at client satisfaction and who needs more help. It can also show patterns in terms of what clients like and appreciate versus what they do not like and appreciate.

Further, if the surveys are done in the middle of the case, it allows the lawyer to address any questions or concerns that the client has about the representation. This is vital to addressing issues quickly and promptly versus letting an unhappy client situation get worse.

Of course, if the client gives a glowing survey, these might be the clients you politely ask for positive reviews. Many clients will be glad to take a second to give a positive review if you simply ask.