A law firm contact relationship management (CRM) system, is an important business development tool for helping develop and implement a growth plan.
Why? Because your customers, clients and business contacts are a crucial asset to your firm.
This means you need a system that is proven to help you not only identify your strongest contacts, but better understand them. By knowing your contacts better and building strong relationships with them, you’ll drive more revenue, improve brand perception and increase the success of the business.
The first step however, is to determine why you need one
Before investing in a CRM, you need to figure out what are your goals are and how a CRM may take your growth that one step further. Without some form of a plan, you’re going to struggle with a clear direction of what you need to focus on, as well as analyse efforts and track results.
In this step of determining when or if you need a CRM, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Has my team grown and we need a better system to operate effectively and efficiently?
- Am I sending more or too much of my valuable time on spreadsheets and client data management?
- Do I have more data now and it’s continuing to get more complex and bigger?
- Am I missing opportunities or failing to notice leaky buckets in my BD funnels?
These are just a few, but if you find you’re in this boat and your spreadsheets are no longer doing the hard work for you, then it’s time to take the switch to a CRM that will be able to take away some of the manual work and provide you with richer data.
Then, you can start to build out your CRM and really gain the advantages of using one. Here are three:
Boost client satisfaction
Service, deals, marketing and sales can all be conducted in a systematic, organise and highly efficient way. By understanding more about your clients (and potential clients) you’re going to be able to offer them a better customer experience and service. A CRM can also help strengthen your relationships with existing and past clients which is key to attracting more business. It will motivate you to maintain engagement and communication with your most valuable contacts to help you get towards your goal.
Strengthen referral / business relationships
As the saying goes, your network is your net worth. Building strong relationships with referral sources and industry peers, can dramatically increase business growth and market positioning for your firm. The best source of marketing is word of mouth, so if your offering good service, demonstrating your expertise, being friendly and approachable, then people are going to be drawn to that and likely to go ‘hey i know a firm, her’s their website, remember to ask for X or Y, they’re the best. ‘ when someone asks them for suggestions for a firm or lawyer.
Deep dive into data
At the core of a CRM for law firms, is a categorized database of clients, prospects and business contacts, that you are in control of. You can store all of their contact information, your interaction and activity, personal details about them, legal needs and more. This rich data allows you to conduct your business development efforts on a much more personal note. A CRM automates the process of reminders, follow ups and emails, saving you time on tasks that can be otherwise spent on billable duties.
Make information accessible and stored in one safe central place
CRM systems provide law firm BD teams a systematic approach and accessible information that help inform business growth decisions. It allows teams and lawyers to gain access to the rich data that they can then use to engage with clients or business contacts.
The advantage of using a law firm CRM solution over general CRM software?
The CRM features of many generalised contact management software such as Microsoft Outlook, are advance….but they are not designed to meet the needs of law firm practices. As much customisation as you try, this kind of software will never comprehend the requirements of your firm.
What about referrals?
What about Matters?
What about legal clients?
What about cross-jurisdictional needs?
These generic systems don’t offer a solution. There is perhaps a couple, such as LexisNexis InteraAction, that exists as a legal-specific application, however, it is priced for the large firms (aka. it’s really expensive).
With a law firm CRM solution such as NEXL, you get a cost-effective, legal-specific platform that addresses your needs.
The next real advantage of a CRM like NEXL, is that it is web-based software, not desktop-server based. This means you can skip the lengthy installations, upgrades, avoid more crashed and can remotely access your key information from your laptop, phone, work computer – any device, anywhere!
The delivery of attorney-client relationships are evolving, and so too, are lawyer’s professional networks as they increasingly move online. Particularly given the current climate, cementing relationships and building strong ones is important to maximise your firm’s growth, now and in the future.
If you’re interested in a comprehensive CRM solution tailored for law firms, get in touch and get your free demo by visiting here.
