When law firms first started to promote themselves online, their websites were little more than brochures: ‘This is who we are, this is where to find us and you can phone or email us for more information.’ Many firms have at least moved on to a more interactive experience for clients and potential clients, but for others the only advance has been to create an online form for an enquirer to complete by way of indicating their needs. I suggest that this does not really advance such firms’ offerings.

Nonetheless, such an online presence does get you noticed by prospective clients searching for a local solicitor, or a solicitor with a particular expertise. So it should go without saying that, when an enquiry from such a search is received, the firm must respond quickly to capture the enquirer as a client. After all, yours may well not be the only firm to whom an enquiry has been submitted.

Regular readers of my blog will be bracing themselves for a story about how law firms have failed to rise to this modest challenge, but on this occasion you can relax a little, because my anecdote is this time about accountancy firms. Don’t get too complacent though, because there may be a sting in this little tale.

I recently had cause to seek the services of an accountant, so I did some research and narrowed down my choice to three firms. All of them had online forms and I duly submitted my queries to each of them. Only one produced an automated email response advising me that I would hear from them within one working day, and they duly contacted me within that time. The second took two days to respond, and even then only after I emailed them to ask whether I might hear from them. As for the third, well, I’m still waiting six days later.

I suspect that, in the case of the firms that have been slow to respond, it was not a case of the person in receipt of the online form simply not being bothered. Or at least I hope so. It is more likely that they do not have a simple mechanism in place to ensure that all online expressions of interest are immediately routed to one or more persons tasked to respond immediately, with backup systems in place to deputise for absentees. This really isn’t rocket science and yet, in failing to have such systems in place, these firms have caused their reputations more damage than by not having a website in the first place.

The sting in the tale? Do you know how your firm manages online enquiries? When I ask partners in firms with management responsibilities, often they don’t know…