Super Idea

Introduction: On November 3, 2018, Small and Medium-Sized Law Firm Development Forum sponsored by Shanxi Lawyer Association was held in Taiyuan, where LIU Guangchao, Director of Beijing Docvit Law Firm delivered the speech themed by “Decode the Mode of Docvit: We only do two things - & Ultimate Mission in the Management of Law Firms”.  In this speech, LIU Guangchao emphatically introduced that DOCVIT only does two things in the management of DOCVIT, namely, how to consider for the lawyers and how to consider for the clients. The editor summarized the speech of Director LIU Guangchao of Docvit Law Firm at the forum, and formed a series of articles Decode the Mode of Docvit, hoping to explore with peers. 

Why customers hire lawyers? What is the customers' sense of gain? 

Have you ever wondered why customers hire lawyers? What is the customers' sense of gain? 

Before exploring this question, let's take a look at why people seek medical advice. 

People seeking medical advice must be sick, or feel/suspect/worry about that they are sick, including routine physical examination, rehabilitation and recuperation. Anyway, they always want to solve physical problems or need to go, and will not just like going to the park. And, people who seek medical advice are quiet, without sending a dynamic in the Moments. 

There are only three objectives for seeking medical advice: prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Of course, some people may add "change", such as plastic surgery and degeneration, which are rare cases. We will skip it. 

If a person goes to the hospital without achieving any of the objectives, he/she must have no sense of gain. Will he/she not go to the hospital? Generally, they will go to the hospital again, excluding hopelessness and giving up. However, 90% people will not go to the original hospital. 

It is the same for customers finding a lawyer. 

Similarly, it is basically for the purpose of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and even change, but it has changed from a physical problem to a legal problem. Its expressions have changed from physical examination, medicine and surgery to hiring perennial legal consultants, entrusting litigation or arbitration, and requiring special legal services. Of course, comparing with doctors, hiring lawyers, especially hiring lawyers by institutions, may be more economic, constructive, and integrative, such as for the benefit of more security, faster development and more standardized operation. 

It is the same for hiring a lawyer. When the conditions are met, a lawyer may be changed if not satisfied. And, it is quiet when hiring a lawyer. 

It seems that it is interlinked when hiring a lawyer and a doctor. 

This is one of the reasons for us using the name of “Docvit”, the homophony of “DOCTOR”. 

What is the customers' sense of gain? 

So, what is the sense of gain for customers hiring a lawyer? 

There are only four aspects: Solving problems; Avoiding risks; Achieving purposes; Protecting interests. 

For us, as lawyers or law firms, all works are focusing on the four aspects of customers' sense of gain. 

How does the lawyers make customers have more sense of gain? 

Let's talk about how lawyers can make their customers have more sense of gain. 

Here, I classify lawyers as document lawyers, process lawyers and outcome lawyers: 

Document lawyers make customers obtain documents which are the combination of professional knowledge and paper. Now, papers are eliminated. It is often said that "lawyers sell paper". That's this type of lawyers. Many lawyers feel that their professional knowledge can no longer be improved after many years and want to be partners. However, after they go out, they find that customers don't recognize them which makes them confused. They always believe that it is caused by their poor interpersonal relationship. In fact, you can review the working status of this kind of lawyers. Most of them are craftsmen, like to prepare their documents with great care, without focusing on the communication with customers and communications in other aspects, and are not willing to do other things. Some lawyers even are narcissistic about documents that they often review them over and over again. This is a kind of craftsmanship spirit, which is necessary, but not enough. That's not what the customers want. 

The process lawyers make customers obtain everything that lawyers need to do, not just documents, which are certainly better than document lawyers. This is the true state of many lawyers. They always believe that lawyers only need to do well in specialty and perfect their processes, and that they cannot decide whether customers adopt their processes, or guarantee the outcome. We can't say it's wrong, but it's certainly not enough. For litigation lawyers, the lawsuit may be lost even they finished all processes and did perfect in professional works of a lawyer. It certainly doesn't make customers have the sense of gain. For non-litigation lawyers, the customers may don’t accept their opinions or the transaction may be failed even they have proposed all necessary opinions, explained all possible risks and proposed all necessary recommendations. It certainly doesn't make customers have the sense of gain. From negating transactions, to protecting transactions, promoting transactions, and even creating transactions, it is constantly progressive for lawyers. The customers' sense of gain is becoming stronger and stronger. 

Outcome lawyers help customers solve problems and meet their demands. Obviously, under this case, the customers' sense of gain is the strongest. The standard for evaluating a good doctor is the cure rate. Similarly, the standard for evaluating a good lawyer is the win rate and the transaction rate. This is the simplest principle. I believe that all customers like outcome lawyers. So what are the characteristics of outcome lawyers? After observation, we can find that, regardless of character, they all have the following three characteristics: Firstly, they will communicate with customers repeatedly to fully understand their real intentions and purposes; Secondly, they will certainly integrate and use a variety of legitimate forces and means; Thirdly, they will never give up. It seems that none of this seems to be professional. Yes. To a certain extent, what lawyers are really using is not specialty. At the top of the career chain, all walks of life are integrated, and what you learn is less important than your understanding of society and humanity. 

It seems that customers pay more attention to outcomes while needing documents and focusing on processes. However, actually, customers only need outcomes rather than documents or processes. Just like patients, they seem to need medicine and treatment. Actually they need health most. In fact, what patients really need is not medicine and treatment, but health. 

Therefore, in order to make customers have more sense of gain, lawyers must work towards the outcome. For this purpose, they must do the following points: Firstly, identify the purpose and needs of customers, and even help customers sort out and identify their purpose and needs, and always keep them in mind; Secondly, carry out all works focusing on the purpose and needs of customers, and make the team have a unified understanding; Thirdly, if the work is found to be deviated from the purpose and needs of customers, make adjustments timely and boldly; Fourthly, summarize the methods and rules after completing each work. 

How does the law firm make customers have more sense of gain? 

Let's see what can be done to make customers have more sense of gain from the aspect of law firm? 

From the aspect of concept, determine the basic orientation that a law firm is not a teaching institution, nor a research institution, but a service institution; When hiring a lawyer, the customers are not for reputation, or study, but for solving problems. Lawyers have no obligation to teach laws, or teach customers, but have the obligation to solve problems for customers; A law firm should create and integrate all conditions for lawyers to solve customers’ problems; The basic standard for determining whether a customer has the sense of gain is to renew the contract or the entrustment, rather than to pay the lawyer fees. 

From the aspect of system, law firms should consider from six aspects: service guarantee mechanism, team cooperation mechanism, quality supervision mechanism, resource integration mechanism, customer feedback mechanism and technology innovation mechanism; Furthermore, there shall be a list of negative services of lawyers, a lawyer work evaluation system, and a mechanism for changing and adjusting lawyers. Only in this way can the customers’ sense of gain be satisfied and the lawyers’ behaviors be under the supervision and guidance of law firms. 

From the aspect of measures, law firms can set up the quality and risk committee. The department can have a quality inspector, supervision table and hotline of services, conduct visualization of services, customer visit, customer survey, the mutual assistance mechanism for difficult cases and major projects. Under certain conditions, customers may attend the internal training or work meeting, consult lawyers' files and work records. 

That's probably what Docvit did in recent years. There are two simple examples. 

In one year, when it was approaching to the Spring Festival, a state-owned enterprise in Beijing had a significant disagreement on the settlement of the freight and storage fees for the goods with the value of RMB hundreds of millions. The goods was detained by a Tianjin storage and transportation company, and was unable to deliver normally, the Beijing was nervous with worry anxiety on account of that the it needs a long time for litigation. The lawyer agent sent a lawyer's letter, which had no effect. The lawyer had prepared for lawsuit. After he/she reported to the law firm, the law firm immediately set up an emergency coordination team. Upon careful research through a meeting, we believed that there is still a breakthrough for negotiated settlement, and finally decided not to file a lawsuit temporarily. We firstly appointed a lawyer team to negotiate and coordinate resources of parties, to communicate with related parties, finally forming a team of three partners. After several negotiations and repeated coordination, the pick-up problem was solved through the notarization and drawing of the freight and storage fees within 15 days. The customer was very satisfactory and paid all lawyer fees according to the litigation agency standard voluntarily. 

There is another classic project. 

An asset management company subordinated to a central enterprise proposed to invest RMB 10 billion to establish a fund for the infrastructure construction of a city. It wanted to adopt the method of equity investment which has a guarantee for revenue, i.e., debt in the name of equity (which was existed before the issuance of new regulations on assets management). It also requires the legitimacy of the project operation. Upon the consultation and demonstration of several law firms, the customer only got a relatively cautious answer. After that, due to one book compiled by us, the customer contacted us actively. After receiving the customer’s problems, one of our partners, launched the mutual assistance application for major projects internally. The law firm set up a team with 5 partners and nearly ten lawyers. Upon research of the customer’s problems throughout the night, the team believed that it is possible. After the initial report was approved by the customer, we spent one month to provide the customer with demonstration opinions and proposed three suggested solutions. The customer finally selected us. Through six months of service, we successfully helped the customer to complete relevant transactions. The project also won the financial innovation award of the system. Of course, it was also the first example of that kind of asset management method. 

We have many such cases. 

These are simple practices that are not worth mentioning. However, insisting on it will increase customers’ sense of gain and their loyalty.