The Next Killer App?

Service is the next killer app!

How many "lost hours" have you spent with your phone/cable/utilities company trying to resolve a billing dispute? How often have you cursed those automated voice machines when they repeatedly failed to understand you? How many of us automatically hit "zero" when presented with a confusing, and almost always useless, set of automated menu options? How many of us cringe when we get tech support with a foreign accent, with agents not empowered to do much of anything except follow the damn script?

We are not "seats or eyeballs or consumers BUT human beings! Deal with it."

That is one of the famous quotes from the "cluetrain manifesto" and becomes more and more on point as time passes. We are so obsessed with automation and efficiency that we woefully neglect the human experience. I can assure you that "vendors" (including attorneys) that crack the "service code" are going to acquire a significant competitive advantage.

Here are some stats on why clients leave attorneys:

• 1% die
• 3% move
• 5% dislike the product
• 24% have some dispute that does not get adjusted
• 67% leave because they feel they were treated discourteously, indifferently, or simply were not provided good service

I rest my case.