A North West based law firm approached us to create a bespoke portal which would allow their customers to complete forms, make payments and view information relating to their account. They needed the portal to be self sufficient, enabling customers to manage their account at their own convenience, removing the need for staff involvement and increasing the firm's capacity.
The Problem
Customer and client interaction was predominantly managed by telephone calls – even where standard forms and processes still needed to be completed.
The average length of a phone call was 15 minutes, and with 10 account managers working full time on the phones this allowed for a maximum of 300 customers per day being dealt with.
The law firm had an increase in work and historically relied on the costly and lengthy process of recruitment to manage the higher volume. However, work volumes would peak and troth due to seasonality andchanges in the market & economy, so recruitment wasn't always a sustainable option. Management of customer relationships and interactions was therefore a continual problem of reaction.
The Solution
An online customer portal was created to allow customers to self-serve and complete necessary actions, such as court forms and view the status of their case and next actions at a time to suit them.
The portal integrated into the firm’s in-house case management system allowing two-way exchange of data with no time delay - when an action was completed on the portal this was immediately and automatically reflected on the case management system.
Further integration included a secure payment site, BACS approved Direct Debit forms and a Live Chat function for any customers online who require that little bit more of information.
The Results:
- 80% of customer interactions now take place on the portal
- Capacity for work has increased
- Service changed from 50 hours a week to 24/7
- 100% compliance on the portal with mandatory forms and processes strictly followed – no human error
- Overall cost per customer interaction reduced by 45%
- Improved profit margins
- Customer satisfaction increased by 208%
