Here’s something I bet you never do – call up your own law firm and pretend to be what support people call ‘a wasp in a bottle’. Law firms should know all about customer service. You’d never know this to ring some of them up though, as I hear quite a lot – some of the tales I get told about how law firms answer the phone are barely repeatable.

Customer service isn’t just for restaurants, and it’s not just for partners and favoured clients. Everyone is a potential client, so how you treat anyone is a customer service issue. As I said in my post on viral marketing, your firm’s brand matters when you’re not looking and you’d be amazed how much just one opinion can matter.

Talking of restaurants, I was in a Korean restaurant the other night and found myself seated at the end of a very long table (it was a birthday party) next to a closed door. Closed the door may have been, but sealed it was not – a draught like a northerly squall was blowing through it, so I quietly asked the staff if they had a blanket or something they could put at the base of the door.

A blanket they didn’t have. This deterred them not at all – our waiter came over and proceeded to duct tape round the entire door. The noise was astounding, as was my embarrassment, but they genuinely wanted to stop the draught and for me to be happy. My waiter seemed as embarrassed as we were, even as he taped the door shut.

That is customer service. It cost them nothing, really, and though I was enormously red-faced I really felt for the chap, and reflected that in the tip.

Now, get on the phone and call up your reception, get grumpy, and see how good your firm is at customer service. It’ll cost you nothing.