Sunday 28 June 2015

Pick Up The Phone Stupid Because If You Don't It Will Hurt Your Law Firm Bank Balance

Back from France. Tried to buy that house I was speaking about. Went to the notaire...(French solicitor) Got a "procuration" so my mother in law could sign contracts whilst we are in England. But the document had contractual limitations on the house...something we thought the seller had put in...so we asked our notaire to explain by calling us...but she didn't call...leaving us concerned about the contract and to cut a long story short we decided not to go ahead with the purchase... So what's the story? Did we act too hastily? Were the restrictions real or just a standard in the contract? Does it matter? No. The point is that all of the doubt could have been removed with a simple phone call from the notaire...but she preferred doing things by email. Probably because putting things in writing makes it easier/better? But in this case a simple phone call would have kept a house purchase going. The reason I am mentioning this is because a) I said I'd let you know how I got on in France looking for our house and b) never underestimate the power of the phone call and your own ability to explain things better on the phone. I can speak much faster than I can write. I am also better as speaking than I am at writing because I can hear what my clients are saying. It's two way. Did we act to swiftly in not waiting for the notaire to make it abundantly clear? I don't think so. We were the buyers. We didn't understand the contract. We pulled out. Simple. Being on the "shopping" side from time to time really makes you appreciate just how clear you have to be when dealing with clients. If you leave any doubt in their minds about what service you will be providing and what you are doing for them then doubts can occur. These doubts can quickly grow and put a brake on the momentum that's needed to keep things flowing to conclusion. So use that phone call to oil the wheels and remember that even if the client is "thick" and doesn't understand you might feel like blaming them but it won't help your bank balance.

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