Taylor English Tenets: Tenet One - Be Fanatical About Responsiveness

Changing landscapes and expectations make interpersonal communication, time management and active listening the gold standard for internal and external client management. By adopting the 23 TED Tenets, our attorneys and staff work from the same standards, which bolsters our clients’ success as well as their own. The TED Tenets reinforce a commitment to open communication, responsiveness, compassion and excellence, which defines the Taylor English culture and client experience for years to come. 

Our first TED Tenet is be fanatical about responsiveness. This tenet demands that we respond quickly to all emails, texts, and phone calls with at least an acknowledgement that you have received the message. The real purpose of this tenet is to keep those involved continuously updated on the status of outstanding issues. Being fanatical about responsiveness shows our clients (both internal and external) that they are important to us and that we are eager to respond to their request for assistance; it also is a key driver of client value.

To put this idea into more context, have you ever been amazed how quickly some companies respond? It amazes me that with my Amazon Prime account, Amazon delivers items that I need in two days for free. Zappos can deliver a pair of OnCloud shoes in just one day. A local restaurant delivers my lunch to the office within 20 minutes of ordering. By being hyper-responsive Taylor English can take advantage of the market differentiator of responsiveness.

How can we deliver that same level of amazing “wow” to our internal and external clients? When a client sends you an email or leaves a voicemail, how do you react? Do you see it as an interruption to your work day, or do you view it as an opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition? Do you ‘get to it later’ or do you feel a real sense of urgency to connect with the client and handle it immediately? We are not asking you to distract yourself from the work at hand, but a simple acknowledgment that you have received the request will speak volumes to our clients.

A client reached out to me by email and had an issue where they needed help within a day. I was just about to board an airplane and knew that I could not do anything about it until later in the day. I immediately replied by text saying that I was getting on an airplane but that they would hear back from us later in the day. While on the airplane I figured out a plan to handle the request and put it into action. Less than two hours later one of our attorneys, working remotely with his paralegal, emailed the client a draft of the document that was needed before my flight even landed.

This same process could have played out without me ever sending the client a response. I could have simply emailed the attorney asking for help, the attorney could have emailed the document to the client and it would have arrived that afternoon. No big deal, right? The difference is that because of the speed in which we responded, the client immediately knew we ‘had the ball’ and that the issue would be addressed. 

This is the type of client experience that our client remembers and will help serve to keep Taylor English consistently at the top of mind for future opportunities. Of course, this example also demonstrates the interplay and interdependence between our internal and external client relationships. Without the responsiveness of our two colleagues the external client would never have had her issue addressed with such dispatch.

Be fanatical about responsiveness and watch how you differentiate yourself from the competition.