With a smile to the lawyer

It's no secret that a package from Coolblue puts a smile on your face. "That's the top-of-heart thought we strive for. We are convinced that we too can bring a smile to our customers," said Arjan Stuij, director at Poelmann van den Broek.

Call it 9+ organization, or excelling in customer experience. Arjan doesn't think the label you attach to it is that interesting. "Much more important is that we have the intrinsic motivation to give substance to the relationship with our customers. Of course, a lasting relationship leads to continuity in work. But it goes beyond that. If we succeed in lowering the threshold of our office, if we are, so to speak, top-of-heart with our clients, they will consult us at an earlier stage. And therefore, in many cases, we prevent a problem from arising. Which of course strengthens the relationship with our clients even more."

Eye openers

Giving substance, in other words, to the relationship with clients. How does a lawyer do that? Arjan: "We simply asked our clients directly: 'what do you need'. That alone was a pleasant experience for many clients. And it gave us some very valuable eye-openers. To mention a very simple one: we have a parking garage. But the address we had our customers navigate to, was the address of our front door where it is difficult to park. Small effort, of course, to change the visiting address on our website."

Equal relationship

It is not that Poelmann van den Broek is suddenly changing course; service-oriented the attorneys has always been. It is more that the service is growing along with the changes in the market. Whereas lawyers used to be all-knowing, now clients expect a more equal relationship. And Poelmann van den Broek wants to offer that. Arjan: "One client wants to know 'what would you do if you were in my shoes?" The other client actually wants an extensive legal explanation. It is nice for both the client and us to know that and to provide our service in accordance with those wishes."

Communicating transparently

Customer-centricity will become increasingly embedded in the way the office works. What will clients notice in concrete terms? Arjan: "We communicate more transparently. We clearly state in advance what a client can expect. But we also want to monitor during the journey whether the expectations are met or whether we may need to make adjustments. Afterwards, we want to evaluate with the customer so that we can then look ahead together. In addition, our attorneys will emphatically look beyond the area of law in which they specialize. So, if our lawyer asks the question "can I help you with anything else? Then the idea is that you, the client, will not see that figurative meter running, but that you will find that our services go beyond the expertise of the lawyer who asks you the question; there is an entire office at your service! That's the smile I mean."