Why I’m so excited about Pulse

I've worked on a lot of features, and most of them make something a bit faster or a bit tidier. Pulse is different. It changes when a firm finds out how a client feels, and that changes what the firm can do about it. That's why I'm so excited about it.

The problem nobody talks about

Ask most firms how they know whether a client is happy, and the honest answer is: they find out at the end. Sometimes a review, sometimes a feedback form, and sometimes a complaint. By then the client's experience is already set, and there's nothing left to fix.

The frustrating part is that most unhappy clients didn't start out unhappy. They got there gradually: a few weeks without an update, a step nobody explained, a call that wasn't returned. Each of those is easy to put right with a phone call, if only you knew.

It matters, too. Communication and delay are the most common issues clients raise with the Legal Ombudsman, 46% of complaint types in 2025/26 (Legal Ombudsman, 2025/26 annual complaints data). Those are exactly the problems you can catch early.

Why we said no to 1 to 5

When firms first asked us for client feedback, the brief was a score from 1 to 5 at a few points in the matter. We pushed back, and I'm glad we did.

Nobody agrees what a 3 means. Is a 4 good? Should someone call a client who gave you a 2? A score creates a number to argue about, not an action to take. A No is different. Everybody knows what to do with a No: pick up the phone.

So Pulse asks short questions with two buttons, Yes and No, on WhatsApp. One tap to answer. No survey links, no star ratings, no logins. Clients actually reply, and you get an answer you can act on.

The bit I'm proudest of

The moment a client taps No, three things happen. Pulse thanks them and asks what you could be doing better, in their own words. Your nominated reviewer gets an email straight away with the client, the matter and who's handling it. And that No waits in a review queue until someone has dealt with it and noted what they did.

That's the whole point. A No that sits in a spreadsheet is worthless. A No that reaches a person the same morning is a client you can still keep.

Asking at the right moments

Pulse checks in three times: early on, to make sure the client understood what happens next; midway, to ask whether they feel updated often enough; and at the end, to ask how it went overall. The midway question is my favourite. It's the one that catches silence before it turns into frustration.

Firms choose their own questions and timing, and can switch Pulse off for any matter where a feedback question wouldn't be right, such as a difficult probate or family case.

It helps firms keep a promise they've already made

For conveyancing firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme, the Client Service Charter already commits them to "ask for your feedback on our service" (Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme, Client Service Charter). Pulse makes that happen on every matter, automatically, instead of only when someone remembers.

Why it's bigger than feedback

Here's what really gets me excited. Clients who feel informed and listened to are the ones who recommend you. Put Pulse alongside Matterping's automatic updates and you have a simple loop: updated clients, happier clients, better reviews, more clients.

And because Pulse answers are private to the firm, it's a genuine early warning system, not a review request. You hear the problems first, and you get to fix them.

Try it

The best way to understand Pulse is to tap the buttons yourself. Book a demo and I'll send a check-in to your own phone, or read more about Pulse.