Screen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.13.56 PMWhen James A. (Jim) Cranston heard enthusiastic praise for Nordstrom’s personal shopping service, he decided to find out more about it. He quickly realized that the store’s individual approach to clients was as applicable to legal practices as it was to luxury chain stores. Cranston has now published his observations in an article entitled “What a Nordstrom Personal Shopper Can Teach Us About Client Service” (LawVision, May 24, 2017).

Here are just four of eight qualities that Cranston identifies as characteristic of Nordstrom’s “personal stylists” (NPSs), and he invites lawyers to consider them in their practices as well:

  • “Responsiveness:  Nordstrom has a 24-hour response policy to all NPS inquiries (via a phone call and personal email).
  • Convenient Communication:  Nordstrom facilitates the shopping experience through multiple communication venues, including text messaging.
  • Understands the Client:  The NPS will ask many questions regarding lifestyle, career, travel habits, hobbies as well as personal attributes like age, height, weight, hair, eye and skin colors.
  • Proactive:  Based on the client’s preferences, the NPS will identify and select items which may be of interest and reach out consistently with multiple options (unsolicited).”

– James A. Cranston

While (obviously) law practices and clothing stores have more differences than similarities, in both cases at least one critical component of how they conduct business has a major impact on their ongoing relevance and prosperity: client satisfaction. I recommend you check out Cranston’s article and consider how you can apply his list of attributes to your own work.

I welcome your thoughts on this or any other law-related subject, either through the comments below or directly via email.