The Importance of Time in Forging a Bond With Your Client
Meeting deadlines is crucial to a trusting lawyer-client relationship
Successful lawyers are those who are trusted advisors for their clients, and not merely service providers. While the quality of deliveries impacts your retention as a service provider, in order to become a trusted aide to your client it is imperative to ensure that quality is delivered in a timely fashion, keeping in mind the client’s schedule and priorities.
On time all the time
Timeliness extends beyond work deliveries. It includes being on time for meetings, ensuring your phone is available and not occupied when a call has been scheduled, sending timely updates on the status of the work, ensuring no emails go unanswered, and other actions that convince the client that he or she is at the top of your mind.
Follow strict timelines
It is important to remember that it is not only you and your office that plan timelines for assignments; your client too has his or her own timeline, of which your delivery date is a part. Any deviation results in not just a change in your schedule, but also that of your client. Lawyers must ensure that timelines are treated as sacrosanct by them and any other team member that is involved in the work. Any deviations or delays must be communicated to the client immediately to ensure minimal repercussions.
Push to achieve difficult deadlines
Nothing builds trust more than working against the clock for your clients to ensure that the deliverables reach them when it matters most. Lawyers should treat every assignment that has either a pressing statutory deadline or a high pressure timeline as an opportunity to earn the client’s trust and confidence in their performance and commitment. It is when the client feels that his problems are also yours that you will move from being a service provider to being a trusted advisor.
Say "no" to unachievable timelines
However, at times you know that even if you work against the clock, it will not be possible to deliver in the stipulated timeline. In such cases, you must train yourself to say no to the work, even if it means a loss of revenue for you. The reasons may be due to the nature of the work or your own internal reasons. In either case, saying no to the client and proposing a revised achievable timeline tells the client that you are not out to grab any and all work that comes your way. By saying no to impossible deadlines, you show that meeting your client’s expectations regarding the deliverable and timeline are more important to you than your immediate revenue stream; this builds trust, which in turn results in greater long-term rewards.
