I moved house earlier this week.
Those of you who have done this in recent memory will no doubt have shuddered at the thought.
As it turns out, moving is considered one of the top three most stressful experiences you can have in life.
Only outdone by losing a loved one and divorce.
It got me to thinking about what exactly was so stressful.
After some thought I identified 3 things.
The first is that things will be broken in the process of moving.
Best will in the world, with boxes being tossed about, something delicate is going to break. (RIP crystal cocktail glass…)
The second is that the new place isn’t going to be as nice as the current one.
The 5-10 minute estate agent led viewing doesn’t do much to satisfy us that moving in for the next couple of years is going to be a great experience.
Or that the neighbours will be friendly, the road quiet or the storage space adequate.
The third is the fact of leaving itself.
By definition if we’ve left one house, for a period we are in fact homeless.
This isn’t a rational fear.
We know we’re off to the next abode.
But the fear of being without shelter is deeply rooted in our psyche.
When you take these three fears into consideration it’s not a surprise that moving can be extremely stressful, even anxiety inducing.
I often hear similar fears from our clients when it comes to deciding whether to move from one law firm to another.
We frequently hear that clients aren’t happy with various law firms.
We also know that there are large differences between providers in terms of the value they deliver to clients.
Some firms are consistently highly rated, deliver on budget and are routinely lower cost than others.
So why don’t more clients move firms?
When we ask clients, they generally cite three reasons:
- If we switch we might damage our relationship with our existing firm and their service quality might fall.
- Changing firms might mean that we don’t get the result we want from the new firm. Better the devil you know.
- Moving firms might leave us without a ‘trusted advisor’ who can deliver the firm for us when we really need it.
Law firms spend a lot of time playing up these fears to clients and explaining how unique their relationship is and how other firms couldn’t possibly stack up.
It’s a real shame because those organizations that actually do take the leap and change out a firm that isn’t delivering to the highest standards often find that the new firm is a significant improvement.
That being said I think there are a few things we can do to take the stress out of this situation whilst still seeing the benefits of choice:
- Get to know the other options out there. Ask for an introductory call with the partner at the new firm you’re considering. If they aren’t interested or aren’t willing to invest the time to get to know you then they’re not the right firm.
- Start small(ish). Use a discreet opportunity to stack the potential new firm up against the existing firms on a like for like basis. See what the differences are.
- Critically assess the performance between firms. What made your life easier, what didn’t. You might be surprised at how different the outcomes are.
Done in the right way the benefits of trying something new doesn’t have to carry the stress of moving.
Moving Out,
Christopher Thurn
Founder – Alacrity Law
