How to deal with complaints

The Society’s Client Relations Office is launching an initiative in the form of roadshows to encourage a more positive handling of complaints.  It is the CRO’s opinion that if tackled that way more could be settled by the firm without recourse to them.  ROGER MACKENZIE reports.

When Peter Mandelson resigned as Trade and Industry Secretary he was at pains to point out that while in his own mind he hadn’t actually done anything wrong, it did appear somewhat shabby to accept the infamous loan from Geoffrey Robinson.

Perhaps Mr Mandelson received more sympathy from the legal profession in Scotland than from the country at large.  Despite its protestations, the profession, like Mr Mandelson, struggles to shake off an unflattering image, particularly in relation to complaints handling.

So in an attempt to tackle the perception of a profession that appears to shirk from confronting complaints, the Law Society of Scotland’s Client Relations Office is launching an initiative to try and encourage a more positive handling of complaints.

Indeed the CRO hopes to remedy a dual image problem: that of the profession’s public persona and the scarcely more favourable reputation the CRO has with the profession.

Director Philip Yelland and his deputy Mary McGowan are determined to meet this dichotomy in the interests of all concerned.

“Complaints have increased and remained high.  Around 70% of complaints received by the CRO relate only to service and not professional conduct which worries people more.

“A complaint about service won’t affect a solicitor’s practising certificate, unless it is a protracted series of analogous complaints.

“Of the 70%, 43% are resolved by conciliation and what we’re trying to get across is that more could be settled without recourse to us if dealt with positively by the firm initially,” said Philip Yelland.

An analysis of cases seen by the Client Relations Office, said Mary McGowan, reveals that the majority of clients have never been back to the firm either for fear that they’ll have to deal with the same solicitor or because they genuinely believe they can’t.

“We appreciate that dealing with dissatisfied clients is difficult, time-consuming and non-profit making,” said Mary McGowan, “but it is cheaper in the long-run to deal with the problem immediately.  The profession has to understand that it is not a question of capitulation, and that the key is in communicating with clients and exhibiting a willingness and ability to listen to their concerns and building a working relationship with clients.”

Primarily, the new initiative is aimed at client relations partners, complementing a previous campaign aimed at encouraging every firm to appoint someone to that role.

Philip Yelland is still keen to talk to firms about the benefits of having a client relations partner.  “Any firm not sure of the benefits should phone us.  We believe it is a positive way to tackle client dissatisfaction.

“A firm might say we haven’t had any complaints, but we’re not talking exclusively about complaints coming to the Society.  We believe that firms will receive complaints direct from clients which need a positive approach.  Our aim is to help Client Relations Partners and firms in the same way as people would phone the Professional Practice Department.  We want to offer the benefit of our experience in handling complaints.  It can be done on an anonymous basis if that is preferred.”

The CRO is certain that they share with the profession a common objective of satisfied clients who pay their bills.

To that end, Mary McGowan offers some signs that might help identify unhappy clients at an early stage before the situation reaches a confrontational stage.

“Often clients will not indicate any unhappiness until they come to pay their bill.  A common problem is that a firm doesn’t send the bill for some time and the client in the interim believes the firm has recognised their unhappiness and consequently hasn’t billed them.

“Often, sometimes rightly, the profession believe it is the bill rather than the underlying service that is attracting the complaint.

“But where service is the problem it is important for solicitors to understand that going to a solicitor can be a distressing experience.  The client may feel unable to communicate on the same level as the solicitor”.

The main difficulty which many firms face in responding to a complaint in what is often the most professional manner is that they can find it difficult to accept and admit that things do occasionally go wrong and subsequently to say sorry.

“We have a file of letters from clients that have gone back to the client relations partner of firms saying they will happily use the firm again because the firm have accepted they didn’t get it quite right, have said sorry, and been human about it,” said Philip Yelland.

“There are times when firms will have to deal with a client whose expectations may have been unreasonable and that can be a difficult situation to address.”

The point frequently made by the CRO team is that there is no magic formula for dealing with dissatisfied clients but the use of mediation techniques can help.

Even if a service complaint cannot be resolved and the complaint is upheld, the CRO emphasise there is no black mark retained against the solicitor.  Anyone can have a bad day and a transaction can go wrong.  All it needs is for a minor error to occur and the whole thing can spiral.

For the CRO there also exists the difficulty whereby the public have a greater expectation of what the Society can do. “Often they don’t understand that we have a limited remit — people think we can intervene in court decisions, turn the clock back or re-run the transaction.

“In general, there is a greater tendency to complain than used to be the case and we all have to be aware of that”, said Mary McGowan.

She adds: “Our aim is to help the profession deal positively with service complaints and to resolve client concerns with a view to retaining the client.  Many complaints are simple and straightforward and should be capable of resolution by firms.  One satisfied client tells few people of their satisfaction, but a dissatisfied client tells maybe ten or fifteen friends and colleagues.” High on a firm’s list of priorities, according to the CRO, is to provide a client with details of the terms of engagement.  It should be possible to give details of what the firm will do, the basis for charging, who will do the work and who to contact if the client has concerns.

Providing such information, the CRO believe, would reduce complaints and ensure many of the complaints that currently land on the desk of the Society would be resolved by the firm.

The CRO is committed to taking its roadshows talking about complaints handling issues wherever they are asked to go.

The CRO is committed to helping the profession deal with client dissatisfaction.  If you wish advice or to discuss matters relating to complaints please contact either Philip Yelland on 0131 476 8131 or Mary McGowan on 0131 476 8152.

Roadshows will take place in Edinburgh and Glasgow in February with more to follow.