How much do your clients trust you? It’s a tricky thing to measure, but you’ll be able to feel the impact of that trust (or lack of trust) in your firm throughout the development of your relationship. So what does it take to build client trust from the ground up? How can you make sure that most, if not all your clients learn to trust you as quickly as possible?

The Value of Client Trust

Let’s start by focusing on just how valuable it is to build and maintain client trust. Trust is intuitively valuable; we feel better around people with whom we share mutual trust. But stronger client trust can help your legal practice in a number of practical ways:

• Better communication. When a client has total trust in their lawyer, they’ll be in a much better position to communicate. They might be more transparent and more willing to answer your questions – or they may be more proactive and forthcoming with their thoughts. They may also do a better job of listening to you, since they trust what you have to say.
• Easier relationships. All your client relationships will be easier when they’re built on a foundation of trust. Your clients may be more willing to take your advice, or may be more willing to comply with your requests.
• Good reviews. It should be no surprise that clients who trust you will be more likely to leave good reviews – and those good reviews can support your business in many ways. The good publicity will help you earn new clients more frequently, your business’s online footprint will grow, and you might even rank higher in search engine results.
• Referrals. Of course, client trust is also great for generating referrals. When a client is totally happy with the services you provide and they have faith you’ll do the same for someone else, they’ll be much more likely to recommend you to a friend or family member.
• Peace of mind. When your clients consistently trust you, you have good reviews trickling in, and your practice is, in general, succeeding, you’ll benefit from peace of mind. You’ll feel much more comfortable and content with your business.

Building Client Trust

So what steps can you take to build client trust?

• Demonstrate your experience and credentials. When meeting new clients, do your best to demonstrate your experience (and show off your credentials, if asked). That doesn’t mean you should arrogantly show off your accolades, but you should find a way to mention your track record and the success you have had winning large settlements for your clients. You should also open yourself up to questions and be willing to answer any questions your client has about your work.
• Spend time actively listening. Active listening can make anyone feel more comfortable and trusting of their environment; it shows that you’re paying attention and that you care about their needs. When getting to know your clients, ask meaningful questions and make sure you’re demonstrating attentive body language.
• Reply promptly and consistently. Occasionally, your clients will reach out to you (or your firm). They may have questions or new information to bring to the case. Whenever this happens, make it a priority to reply – and reply as promptly as possible. When clients get a reply to every message, and get that reply within a day, they’ll have much more trust in you and your firm. If it takes too long to get in touch with you, or if some replies never come, the breach in trust may be irrecoverable.
• Keep all your appointments. When you set appointments with clients, do your best to commit to them. Show up to the appointment on time and prepared to speak; if you consistently have to reschedule appointments, or if you show up late, your client may doubt your organizational skills or feel disrespected. There are unpreventable emergencies that can force you to reschedule, but this shouldn’t be a common occurrence.
• Set realistic expectations. Expectation management is vital if you want your clients to have faith in you. That means you should be setting deadlines, settlement expectations, and other client attitudes conservatively and using as much evidence as you can gather. Don’t get your client’s hopes up about winning millions of dollars in a settlement.
• Under promise and over deliver. Similarly, it’s important to under promise and over deliver when it comes to your own services. If you think it’s going to take 5 days to complete a task, promise the task in 7; that way, when you finish in 5 or even 6, you’ll exceed expectations.
• Answer questions transparently. Inevitably, your client is going to have questions – about you, about your practice, about the case, or about any number of other relevant topics. Whenever your client asks you questions, try to answer as fully and transparently as possible. Provide whatever information you have, and if you don’t know the answer, express that uncertainty and try to find the answer on your own.
• Provide assistance when you can. Go out of your way to provide assistance to your clients. You can’t pay their bills for them or arrange their other appointments, but you may be able to recommend a settlement loan or refer your clients to other professionals whose services can help them.
• Adapt to your clients’ style. Finally, be willing to adapt to each individual client’s style. Some people need a constant line of communication to feel good about the professional relationship; others like to keep a distance and only touch base when necessary. Catering to your clients will help you build those relationships faster.

Providing assistance to clients who need it is one of the best (and fastest) ways to build client trust. In that vein, connecting your clients to a settlement loan provider can be a highly valuable move. You can learn more about settlement loans here, or contact Capital Now Funding directly to learn more about what we do.