Client alerts: Demonstrating how your expertise can help your clients
For professional services firms and law firms, client alerts are important for keeping clients informed of regulatory changes, legal developments and actionable insights.
However, people’s attention spans are getting shorter and there’s a lot more noise competing for everyone’s attention. Therefore, how are you going to ensure you get traction for your client alerts?
Best practices for client alerts
Timeliness and frequency
First mover advantage. Being one of the first to get your alert out demonstrates promptness and authority on the subject matter. When news breaks on changes in regulations, clients often scramble to look for information online and if your alert is one of the first to land in their mailbox, there is a higher chance they will look at it.
However, try not to bombard clients with too many alerts or emails from your firm. The average frequency is no more than one email or alert a week.
Concise and readable
Keep your alert short, between 1,000 – 2,000 words. Use section headers to break up the content into digestible parts. Use simple language and cut the technical jargon. I once read a client alert from a law firm I worked at – the piece was on a significant matter this law firm successfully advised on. The key points of the alert were lost in the legal jargon and I ended up reading another law firm’s alert, which was clear and simple to understand. If the alert is not reader-friendly, clients are likely to look for other options.
Relevant, practical and proactive
Ensure the alert clearly articulates the relevance of the information to the client, eg, why your client should take note and how your firm can help.
Prioritise actionable information over exhaustive analysis. Alerts should focus on impact rather than just summarising legal and regulatory changes. Use headers like “Why does it matter” to get straight to the point.
Ask for help
If resources are tight, ask for help from associates, trainees or interns, who can do the research and draft something for review – this is a good learning opportunity for them too.
Ensure regulatory and cultural sensitivity
Adhere to data privacy, confidentiality and anti-spam laws for the jurisdictions you are targeting. Also ensure you are aware of cultural nuances in your communications and publish the alert in more than one language, if relevant, to reach out to a wider audience.
Obtain necessary approvals
Be aware of the internal and external approvals that need to be sought before the client alert is published. Once the alert is public, there’s no pulling back.
Call to action
Conclude the client alert with a clear call to action – include relevant contact details and links to further reading. This step makes it convenient for the reader if they need to speak with someone from your firm.
Targeting the right audience
Ensure your mailing list is up-to-date and captures important information such as what your contacts would like to receive from your firm. Some people get turned off when they repeatedly receive irrelevant emails and this may result in people unsubscribing from your mailing list.
To increase the likelihood of the alert being read, it might be worthwhile having the relationship partner send the alert personally. People are more likely to read an email if it comes from someone they know.
Branding
Ensure your firm’s branding is clear – it is likely other firms will be writing about the same topic and you would want your brand to stand out.
Leveraging technology and appropriate platforms
Consider multiple distribution channels, eg, mass-email to automate distribution and posting on LinkedIn and WeChat will drive traffic to your website where the full alert is available.
Test and review before sending the client alert
Ensure the client alert complies with your firm’s guidelines and make sure the necessary testing and reviews are done to detect errors before sending the alert.
Measure your efforts and adjust
Monitor open rates, click-throughs and reader feedback to assess what works and what does not work. Review client feedback to continually refine your client alert process.
Why does it matter
Client alerts are a critical channel for professional services firms and law firms to demonstrate expertise that is relevant to clients. If done consistently and regularly, it can strengthen your relationship with your clients and establish your firm’s brand as a trusted adviser.
If firms are not sending these alerts regularly, it will impact how clients view your firm, especially when your competitors are publishing client alerts regularly.
Contact info@elevareasia.com for more insights on this topic.
