If you handle consumer or small business matters, it’s a safe bet that most of your clients are nervous when they come to see you. They’re apprehensive about the outcome of their case or matter, concerned about how much time it will take, and worried about the cost.
You need to be honest with them, but that doesn’t mean you need to be blunt. If you’re smart, your words and body language will tell them that they shouldn’t worry, that everything will be okay.
Because that’s what they want to hear.
Instead of saying, “X [bad thing] will probably happen,†you might say, “X [bad thing] might happenâ€.
I went to the doctor the other day for a minor issue. At the end of the appointment, I said, “Do I need to see you again?†The doctor said, “Not unless X [a mildly bad thing] happens.â€
That sounded good. I was encouraged. I took it mean that while “it†might happen, it wasn’t likely.
Yay.
The next day, my wife called the doctor’s office to ask a question. She spoke to the nurse who answered the question and then said, “He’ll probably need to come back.â€
Nobody wants to hear that, even if it’s true. Tell me it might happen, okay. Tell me it probably will happen and instead of focusing on getting better, I’m imagining the worst.
Bedside manner is an important part of a patient’s recovery. Doctors need to be hopeful and positive, because the patient wants to know that, “everything is going to be okay.†Even if the patient is terminal, there’s always hope.
Lawyers are in the same boat. Instead of telling the client that the insurance company will probably force the case to trial, why not say, “If we can’t settle this and have to go to trial. . .�
Because your clients want to know that everything is going to be okay.
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