Law as a business being a group initiated by Charles Ajiboye,FICMC, held an interactive session via its Whatsapp groups on Thursday, 4th June, 2020 with MICHAEL A. OLANIYAN who discussed on “Building Client’s Trust”
Find below the Whatsapp group interactive session.
Host: I welcome you all to our weekly LAB conversation.
Today we will be discussing the topic: Building Clients Trust. Joining us is Michael Olaniyan.
PROFILE
MICHAEL A. OLANIYAN is a trained draughtsman, lawyer, and business coach. Principal counsel at M.A. Olaniyan & Co., and team lead at Thinking School Nigeria.
Received training at the University of Ado Ekiti (now Ekiti State University), University of Ibadan, University of Abuja, Transparency International, International Business Management Institute (Berlin), Sefako Maghato University (Pretoria) and the University of Washington.
With his volunteer work with EIE Nigeria, Transition Monitoring Group UK, UNICEF, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, and DFID, he has provided legal, technical and advocacy support in the civil society space.
He currently serves as the West Africa Sub-Regional Technical Officer for the Bloomberg and Bill Gates-funded Campai…
Host: We are ready when you are! Over to you sir, Michael Olaniyan.
Speaker: Thank you @Host.Briefly, we will discuss Building Clients Trust
I intend to spend just 20 minutes to hit on the salient issues and allow for interaction on the subject.
We are all, in one way or another, familiar with the concept. You may have even had to build, inspire or prepare trust at some point in your business and career. So I won’t be doing too much of breaking down.
First, let us consider what are the ingredients of trust.
TRUST FACTORS:
Ability
Integrity
Consistency
The client wants to know if you can deliver, if you are truthful, and if you can do all these everytime and predictably.
Those are the general factors for trust.
In the legal profession, there are a few more elements of trust. You may call them the steps to building trust In the business of law:
1. Risk and Security: The higher the stakes, the less likely a person is to trust. Gaining trust in this instance, you need to provide assurance that you can minimise/eliminate the risk.
Your expertise, reputation and truthful communication will help to provide this.
2. Similarities: If the client believes you are “like” him or her now (or like who he or she wants to be like in the future), he or she is more likely to trust.
This is why the business of law is like show biz. You need to look good. This may sound vain and all, but it is what it is. Do you look like you can and have handled million naira briefs? How does your office look? These are seemingly minor factors that make clients trust your capacity. People automatically assume that a rich professional is a competent professional.
3. Communication: Be open and honest about the risks and potential cost/success potential. Also, frequent and regular communication builds trust. If you are unduly silent, you leave room for assumptions. And the human mind assumes the worse before the best.
Keep an open line with your clients. If the process suffers a setback, explain it. You may even want to explain what the process is, and how you intend to take charge of each step. (make sure you have signed your briefing paper or received fees before you explain the process. You know what I mean
4. Capacity: Do I trust that you can deliver what you promise? Have you actually done something like this before? Are you competent?
There is a reason some people just come to mind in your area of practice for criminal matters, corporate practice, etc.
Other factors you should know and portray are:
Respect opinion: Show that you have the best interest of your clients, i.e benevolent concern
We will not be able to exhaust what you need to do to build clients trust in one session.
I believe with “these few points of mine” you get the gist.
My time is up. I will take a few questions and contributions now.
They are few, but germane!!!!
Thank you once again.
This was indeed awesome
Charles Ajiboye,FICMC: On Risk and Assurance: So many times lawyers over promise and under deliver. Some assure clients of success in court when it is not in their power to do so all in the bid to gain confidence.
SPEAKER: This is a very real concern you’ve raised. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to it. I can only share my own approach, and hope you find it useful.
QUESTION: In a situation where you are not too certain of a position of law on a particular issue and it requires your immediate response at client interview, how do you handle this?
2)You have given an opinion, and that your opinion is no correct or no longer the law, how do you communicate back to your client to maintain reliability and trust?
SPEAKER RESPONDS: What I do is to tell the client the chances of victory, truthfully. In my opinion, the counsel-client relationship is one of truth and trust on both sides. However, a lawyer owes a duty to the course of justice, as much as he owes the client a duty to help him pursue his case the best way possible.
These said, I suggest you tell the client the absolute truth of his case. Be truthful. But don’t leave a client without hope. If there are alternatives, lay it on the table. It may mean you get paid less, but this approach has worked for me in the long run. That client that paid less because I advised him to pursue a different tack, often comes back when he needs the truth or when the stakes are much higher. Also, the ones that left, often come back or recommend others when they need someone they can trust.
But like I said, that has been my approach. Not necessarily the only approach. And I expect that others will chip in.
QUESTION: Would you advice on a money back guarantee in order to win a client’s trust bearing in mind that this tends to be the trend in modern day business
SPEAKER RESPONDS: The first situation happens to all of us. Nobody knows it all. My approach has always been to state that there are different approaches to the matter, and I would need to study some more to come up with the best approach to it. That way, I have not admitted ignorance, neither have I claimed expertise.
2. Where your opinion is no longer the position of law… This can be really embarrassing. In the interest of trust, the client needs to know. Embarrassing, yes. 50-50 chance of retaining the client. But better to be known as a person of integrity than to lead your client astray. For me, I just say one of 2 things: The position of the law has changed since the last time I checked or discussed with you. OR; There is a better and more accurate approach to the case.
Someone in group 2 added this, and I agree: “what I have learnt to do in instances like this is tell them I will provide them with a formal and robust legal opinion. hope this helps.”
COMMENT: Sir, your answer is mind blowing, you are indeed an expert. Thanks for guiding me properly on this. ?
Yes, but yours is excellent, because it hit the point straight.
SPEAKER RESPONDS: I do not recommend this. I believe this will lead to an at-all-cost approach to the practice of law. In training and capacity building, you can give money-back guarantees. But with law, where twists can come up at any time, it is too risky to give a money-back guarantee. What happens to all the effort you’ve put in? What of the cost of filing, if applicable?
COMMENT: Nice presentation, @Coach
QUESTION: Sir, from my little experience as a young practitioner, I have seen client’s insistence on not paying Practitioners the exact professional fee demanded. Is trust a major factor for this attitude?
SPEAKER RESPONDS: In Nigeria, the service sector is the most underappreciated.
Sometimes, this problem is a question of trust, but most times, it is just the Nigerian reluctance to pay for whatever cannot be commoditized.
Let me close by saying, not everyone can be your client. And not every client can be with you at every stage of your growth. You just need to acknowledge this, and do your best to make sure those that are yours stay with you.
HOST: Dear treasured colleagues,
It has been amazing time having this conversation here.
Many thanks to our facilitator, Michael Olaniyan for his intellectual exegesis on the topic.
Also, I appreciate the founder of this group, Charles Ajiboye, Esq, FICMC, who has devoted his time to see law businesses grow!
On behalf of Charles Ajiboye, Esq., FICMC, thank you all for joining in. The conversation continues! Till we meet next time, good night.
Olajide Ajibowo. Esq, ACIARB.
For: Charles Ajiboye, Esq., FICMC.
