00:01 Will Petersen: Thank you for joining us for How to Rock Client Ratings and Reviews. My name's Will Petersen, I am the attorney experience manager at ARAG. I'm hoping to share with you today why ratings and reviews are becoming even more essential for attorneys, and really all of us. Nobody likes to be rated but consumers are demanding it, and there's a lot of great ways to do it where all can feel comfortable. I'm gonna share seven tips from research that we've done through ARAG with more than 600,000 plan members in our customer base and 14,000 network attorneys. Plus, we maximize the insights with not just including our attorney information and our plan member information, but also, from members of the American Bar Association, so we could learn about the client experience journey from both a member, attorney points of view.
00:51 WP: So today, we're gonna talk about ratings and reviews for attorneys. Why is it important to collect and share ratings and reviews with the consumer? Most importantly, consumers just simply want reviews. In today's environment, consumers are accustomed to going online, they're looking for reviews before they make purchases, going out to eat, enrolling in school, anything really. And the mindset has to change a bit, that attorney services are no different, consumers want to know how you stack up. It's a very difficult shift to think of a service profession, but when you're serving any kind of an external customer, consumers are actively searching and reviewing those ratings. And it's moved beyond just consumers; it's dentists, it's doctors, teachers online for their kids. So as you can see from these statistics, it is a demand and if you're hoping to receive business, it's something we've got to move towards.
01:52 WP: One common theme in our research was that word-of-mouth referrals was the way that I get my business. But unfortunately, consumers aren't turning to that word-of-mouth referral as a growth strategy for an attorney. The ABA actually found that one-third of all legal consumers turn to online resources first to find information on attorneys. And unfortunately, a lot of attorneys are doing themselves a disservice by not having that presence. Again, they say it's based on word of mouth, "I assume my satisfied clients will tell friends and family about my firm," as you see the quote below. But the entrepreneurial-minded attorney needs to be more business savvy in that way. But again, I understand there's fear in that, but building that referral online community and building up those ratings and reviews is the foundation for firm growth. And our data backs that up. And I get it, a lot of data is thrown at all of us on a regular basis. So we showed you the consumer data but what I think is really powerful is that when we combine our American Bar Association data and our network attorney data, what we find is that 81% of attorneys are not actively engaged in nurturing ratings and reviews on any platform.
03:08 WP: So here is an opportunity for you to get in front of the competition, because when plan members or when members off the street are searching for you as an attorney, they're going to look to the attorneys first that not have good or bad ratings, they're looking for attorneys who have ratings because they wanna know that somebody's actively engaged in that. Too many solo and small practice attorneys rely on the hope that their satisfied clients, again, are gonna refer them to others. But a lot of times, people just don't have time today, they're moving quickly and they wanna move independently. And so, ratings and reviews could be powerful. Sixty-two percent of consumers, the first step, again, in the discovery process is to ask friends and family. So yes, they are asking people, they are referring, but, the second step for a lot of consumers is then to check out the attorney referral online. So that's where that disconnect occurs. We say, "Hey, ratings and reviews are the way to go." But, here we're backing it up because, yes, word-of-mouth referrals are the start for many people, but they still wanna validate that.
04:18 WP: And we see that internally at ARAG, our attorney finder online for plan members has really become a research tool, whereas five to 10 years ago, it was a list finder. Looking at the generation of 30-ish-year-olds that are going to really be the fuel for firm growth for everybody for the next 20-30 years, you can see online reviews, and their presence is critical. Now, I wanna make a caveat here. We love all ages, all kinds of attorneys here. So I wanna make sure that you know we are welcoming as can be in our attorney network but, we do need to show this kind of data because it's important for everybody to understand. Because, again, I always like to flip data on its head. Let's not look at it the negative way, but let's see if we can reverse it and say there's opportunities for parties that may be missing in the growing age gap between the audiences to provide services, and the audiences that are consuming them.
05:18 WP: One of the most important communication gap opportunities between these age groups is to pump up your online presence. So, again, I wanna make sure I'm clear. It's not just ratings and reviews, though, that is something and a key definition that people are going to look for. It can be everything from social media to a competent website, just making sure that you have that presence is critical for consumers. So now that we have the data, let's get into the tips on how you can rock your ratings and reviews. I think this is most important to look at is real feedback, real client quotes. "I won the case for my client and they received everything they asked for. I don't feel this rating is justified." So this would be an attorney appealing one of the ratings and reviews that a plan member with ARAG gave to them. But you can see corresponding from a client, every step of the process was painful, "Didn't return my phone calls. He didn't tell me what to expect. I never know where I stood in the case. I would not want to work with his firm again."
06:23 WP: It's the client experience, that's what we're trying to talk about, is that's what people are expecting, and that's actually what we survey here at ARAG on. We try very hard, and I think succeed in not worrying about the outcome of the legal matter. And that's where a lot of the legal profession does get concerned about ratings and reviews, and I can understand, the law is gray. In the end, I've heard this said many times to me by attorneys, "When both parties don't leave 100% happy, that's when I know I did a good job with a family law matter or a really tough civil case." But that's not where the client experience occurs. The client experience occurs from the minute that that member or client emails you or calls you and what that response is, what the intake process is, and from there on what that means. So it sounds very broad, but communication is really the key. That's where, in all the survey data that I review and that we review as a team, or we review as a company, we see from plan members who are your clients, it's not just early and often, but it's also throughout the case, and it doesn't have to be that anything's changed, it just has to be that they know that their case is still important and still being taken care of.
07:45 WP: And I know that can get difficult because there are times when certain cases have large lags, have large timeframes, where something may not even be happening. But I've had attorneys who have indicated to me they have automated email systems, automated callback systems, a workflow of some type that allows them to know that, hey, even if this divorce isn't gonna be tried, as an example, for another six months, I need to make sure that at two months and four months that I'm still following up to say simply, "No new news, but we're still thinking about you. And the date is still the same as it was when we started." And being proactive in that way that is going to avoid not only a bad rating and review, if you're one that are collecting those, not only a call to your office that you then have to deal with, but also, it's gonna just increase that satisfaction so high. You can see here some of the feedback that's been received and where those drop-offs occur. And that's the beauty of all this really. Again, it's an opportunity that is sitting out there and it's low-hanging fruit. These are simple steps to take. We call it desk-side manner, [chuckle] here at ARAG. I think that's a good way to put it.
09:01 WP: We try to hold that when we are dealing with you as a network attorney, and I think, it could be something for you or anyone in your office to take in mind. And I know so many of you are practicing these things and you're trying, and we also know that clients could be extremely difficult, we deal with it a lot of time on the frontend, but just wanna make sure that we communicate that communication is so important. So, again, more data here as we look. I'm gonna go a little deeper here as we move forward, too, on these provided examples, but in the research we've done, attorneys actually noted that communication are the areas they struggle most with in their firm. And again, these areas align perfectly as I'm talking about with member satisfaction feedback is the biggest pain points when dealing with attorneys. And that means you could be a highly successful attorney or an attorney who is self-identified. And again, these are all self-identifications that you're struggling, struggling to get business, struggling to keep business. So it's shared across the entire industry. And a key point here is to understand who your clients are, and then, adapt to fit their needs. So, again, based on research, as a group, consumers really believe that their primary mode of communicating with you, attorneys, will be face-to-face.
10:23 WP: So that's good news, but also, email and telephone. So, it's still more traditional than other industries. So I'm not gonna sit here and tell you you've gotta adapt to legal technology, you've gotta go now. I would still encourage it and try it because if people are presented with that, I think they would really enjoy it. However, a lot of consumers don't know that's even a route because it's not widely adopted. Important for me to preface this slide before I go in deep, in saying that this is for all consumers. But we're gonna break it down a little bit too. We asked consumers how they would prefer to work with an attorney on a legal issue. Most people still chose face-to-face, in an office. And that makes sense, right? These are sensitive matters, many times, and they still want that interaction to communicate, and that's traditional, which is good news for a lot of attorneys who may be thinking that's still the best way to go. But I think it's really important to note that if you are serving a younger audience, that younger audience is getting older every day, that's something that's important to always remember. Forty-two percent of millennials, who, we think of these millennials as young whipper snappers, but they're getting into their 30s and they are having families, and they're more traditional clients that you would expect to have, email is the preferred choice, compared to other generation.
11:48 WP: Distinction's very important because millennials are 1981-1996 born and that's gonna become the largest age group, according to USP research. It's gonna peak at 76.2 million in 2036. Also, note-worthy here, is that, though it may not be preferred, they are very open to non-traditional modes of communication, things like text, things like chat, things like video. And, any of us who have kids 25 and under, or know anyone 25 and under, I don't think there's any doubt. We don't need research to back that up, that the younger generation, Gen Z, others are going to be wanting those as a preference, and potentially, other things we don't even know. So the closer you can get to the leading or bleeding edge on utilizing those technologies, the more powerful, you're gonna be as an opportunity for a consumer. And again, expectation setting is one of the biggest things that we see, and responsiveness. Again, I keep wanting to go back to that, but I think it's really important. These are not complex matters.
13:06 WP: But these are things we see on a consistent basis, and ratings and reviews that we receive from members that attorneys struggle at. So it's always good to just take a break and say, "Okay how could I just increase this a little. Even if I'm good at it, how could I be better?" A lot of you are amazing at it. I wanna make sure that you know that this is not the baseline, this is just what we see and where it drops off. But every client matters, right? Every client is dollars. So if you can set those expectations, as I mentioned, for what it's going to be throughout the life of a legal matter, and throughout the life of an engagement, that's so much more important, really, to a member, even than sometimes dollars. "How much I'm going to be charged? How much is it going to be to work with this member? What are my costs?" Those things are all important, and that's great, and that's where a lot of attorney's lead. But more just understanding the experience, is important. Again, we continue to talk about millennials, but again, you heard that number, 76.2 million, in not that short of time, they're going to expect what I was just talking about. They want details, they want a engagement agreement.
14:18 WP: It's not just about the bill. If they see that it's gonna cost $2500, $5000, $10,000. It's not about billable hours and line items, it's more about, "What am I getting for my value?" And that's because everything else is set up that way, and that's what people are asking for. And not even just millennials, it goes up above generations. We continually hear that. And they question it if they don't see that. So you could avoid a lot of frustration on your part, and your firm's part, if you just set those expectations, and that's also gonna make for a great partnership between you and your client throughout the life of their legal matter. Consumers expect to have consumer reviews. So this is a tip, we kinda go back to the start of our data. They're also generally open to providing solicited or unsolicited online reviews. Eighty percent of 18 to 34-year-olds have written reviews compared to just 41% of consumers over 55. So that's a good stat to know, but here's the important part about this, control it. If you let a party go out and randomly, because they didn't have the opportunity through your firm, write a review, there's a less of a control mechanism there, and a less of an opportunity for you to respond, or a more public forum, where you're going to have to respond. So I encourage everybody to explore a lot of the great services out there at ARAG.
15:51 WP: Again, if you're a network attorney working with a member, we control a very scientific response opportunity, that allows for members to see those ratings and reviews, so you can encourage them always to look for that, and that's a way that they can rate and review. But for all of your other clientele, there are services that are both free and paid that you can access where you're controlling it. The minute they walk out of the office, you say, "Hey, I'd like to know what your experience was." And just in that control, you'd be amazed. And the other thing I gotta make sure everybody knows, a bad review is not a bad review. As you, as a consumer, look at reviews, if you don't see some of those reviews that you would consider a little lower compared to a whole bunch of good ones, you start to question the validity of that review process. So don't always jump to that, but do jump to the consumer and say, "Hey, I'm not asking you to change that review, but I'd like to make sure that I fix whatever you were worried about or concerned about or what I didn't deliver on." And this is what we're just talking about. Control that opportunity. You can use those free services I'm mentioning, but again, there could just be a survey sent by an email request, and then, you receive that survey, and then you augment and then link it to your profile page.
17:10 WP: There's so many ways to do it that are easy, free and that you independently can do for every one of your clients. And again, going back to what I was talking about, they're a gift. It is not bad, it helps you improve. It is an improvement opportunity. And it also goes to a way that you can immediately respond to that client and maybe turn that interaction into something spectacular. Most importantly, because I've seen some of the responses, it's really important that you stop, consider... I always say when I'm writing an email, I type once and re-type the second time if it's an escalated situation, that those stay online, and always, of course, as a given, don't include confidential information, if you decide to respond publicly. But you can turn even a public response, if you're on one of the sites you see listed here, into an amazing opportunity to show that you are doing the right thing by your client, and others will notice that. Again in a weird way, it's you turning a negative situation into a positive that would be even better than a 10 review off the bat.
18:30 WP: Google, Yelp, and Facebook, they are the top online sites where consumers are looking for reviews. And again, are sites that you can utilize to capture reviews. I think a big part of the reason Google reviews ranks so high is because consumers see them any time they use a Google search. Google interprets their search as a local search, so they're gonna look for you if you have those. And the Google algorithm, it's powerful, and it predicts that they're looking for someone nearby. And then it also shows your address as well, and that they're in your vicinity, so very useful. And an important stat, Google accounts for a third of all searches when it comes to ratings and reviews and locations, so. Another important industry stat is that sites that are actually primarily focused on reviews, so for example, Trip Advisor, they're seeing a major drop in growth than Facebook and Google. But of those two that I just mentioned, Google is the review site of choice, 63.6% of consumers say they're likely to check online reviews on Google before Facebook.
19:48 WP: A lot of great simple, straightforward tips here on this slide to show you how you can get more reviews. Because that's the thing, is if you wanna start taking on this journey of having these ratings and reviews occur, you wanna make sure you get a mass quantity because that's gonna look the best when you're sharing it with additional consumers. One of my tips would be, is that here at ARAG, we try to actively engage people between a 30-90 day post case creation opportunity. So hopefully, they've engaged one of our attorneys and they're in the first 30-90 days of that engagement. Because we care more, again, about the customer service experience, and that's an important journey, as we've mentioned many times throughout this webinar. So there may be an opportunity for you to actually review a client near the start and at the end. And those could be two separate reviews. And they may be very different reviews, but again, you can use them two-fold, opportunity for me to get a rating and review I can share with other consumers, but also, opportunity for me to identify gaps, opportunity for me to identify the strong points and the awesomeness of my staff and myself and what we're doing as a business.
21:09 WP: Another thing is that in 2014, Forbes said that if you give an incentive to clients, so monthly giveaway for reviewers, something along those lines, that's another very effective way to get more reviews. And like I've mentioned, if you don't have a method to collect ratings and reviews, either free or paid, one of your legal plan providers, including ARAG, for example, does collect client feedback on every attorney interaction. And again, we're using a very scientific methodology. We chose a long time ago to say we do not wanna just be a click a five-star. We ask a series of questions, very, again, scientific. So you can trust that these rating and reviews are the absolute best you could get. And network attorneys are able to create a full profile with their ratings and reviews on display for ARAG clients, but always exploring the options of seeing if our attorneys have a desire to have them externally exposed as well, too, so, discussions continue with that. But no, consult your legal plan and see what things are looking like, if you just wanna dip your toe into the waters of ratings and reviews.
22:22 WP: And these are exclusive to our members, I always wanna clarify, not shared with the public in any way, shape, or form. So you can understand, there's some security wrapped around those as well. And that's a great benefit for our attorneys. Not only does it summarize, survey, and share ratings and reviews for you behind that secure login, but, like I said, it provides you insight and you can see how important it is to our ARAG plan members, and how it's important to the referrals that you're going to get and the business growth opportunities that happen outside of just ARAG plan members. I appreciate your time today, I hope these tips have been helpful. Stuff we look at every day, and we wanna share these learnings and these powerful tools with our network attorneys because we want to have that kind of information available to you, so we'll continue to share it with you and keep looking for it. I'd say my last piece of advice would be that, get everyone in your firm involved, and get them all involved in the client experience by having measurable KPIs to chart your performance. Key Performance Indicators, sharing that information with your staff, it's important, and if you follow those tips, the result will be happier, more loyal clients, fantastic reviews and a growing business for you. That's all we ever want. Please don't hesitate to send questions as you have them. Thanks for listening today. This is Will Petersen.