What does ESG have to do with client care? Donata Caira at a strategic Content agency ELE argues it should be the beating heart of culture and approach.
There are four elephants in the room when it comes to talking to legal businesses about ESG, and how it fits into client care and business development:
– When you say ESG, or even responsibility, most people think solely about the environment, failing to look at the bigger picture that includes social and governance, or corporate, responsibility.
– Too many people equate ESG with charity work… the good old days of CSR and doing a company litter pick – this doesn’t quite cut it anymore.
– Whilst social responsibility sort of makes sense, there’s often some confusion over governance when it comes to ESG.
– In general, lawyers are interested in making sure they’re advising their clients on their legal obligations and risks, not in preaching to them about how they should run their businesses. There’s a worry that embracing ESG could mean potentially alienating certain clients, for example those in oil and gas, defence, finance, and so on.
In short, why is ESG something that those valuable chunks of time should be spent on, and what exactly does it have to do with client care?
Client care is a cornerstone of legal business development
As The Law Society itself says: “Good client care supports the business. It means fewer complaints, leading to client retention, client goodwill, and recommendations of you and your firm. This has a clear impact on revenue generation.”
Understanding the role that client care can play in organisational growth is critical. There are lessons to be learned from the retail and tech sectors here:
– One customer experience agency found loyal customers are five times as likely to repurchase, five times as likely to forgive, four times as likely to refer, and seven times as likely to try a new offering.
– A recently published study suggested that increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by anything between 25 and 95%, with the success rate of selling to an existing customer being 60-70%, as opposed to just 5-20% with a new customer.
– A recent LexisNexis report which explored the methods of organic growth in the UK’s leading law firms, stated that nurturing client relationships would be key to successful expansion for the majority of practices.
Depending on what industry you’re in, the cost of acquiring a new customer can be anywhere between five and 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing customer, so it stands to reason that getting the most from existing clients makes the most sense.
Despite the potential it holds for business transformation, many firms view client care as a regulatory matter. Even on The Law Society’s own website, client care is reported as a ‘do this right and you won’t lose clients’ exercise, as opposed to something that has the power to transform a firm’s strategic success and growth.
The thing is, clients, and client relationships, sit at the heart of everything lawyers do. Client care, client service, client engagement, client experience and client relationship – all of which are often finished with the word ‘management’. Care, service, engagement, experience, relationships are not words associated with regulatory compliance. They’re words associated with a two-way communication process, with feelings, emotions and a human quality, driven by what the client wants and needs, not limited to the regulatory requirements of a faceless regulatory body.
It stands to reason that if potential clients are adding more value to feelings and emotions, when deciding who to instruct, client care will have greater importance in terms of client retention and development. This is where ESG proves itself as a great way to demonstrate the ‘heartbeat’ of an organisation, and the core values of the individuals who work there.
In short, firms want to maximise their existing client relationships. Clients and potential clients want better relationships with their legal teams, and a legal provider that understands them and their priorities. ESG offers a way to demonstrate the culture and approach a firm has to giving something back to its communities, and the role it plays in society as a whole – in a nutshell, it has the potential to transform the way law firms manage client care.
If you’re looking to inject more purpose into your communications, partnering with a strategic content agency like ELE could help. Take a look at their ESG Communications Audit here.