"If a business is having a hard time tracking customer data centrally, then they need to upgrade quickly. Many businesses lose vital customer data because it is not safeguarded in a company database and centrally managed," says Todd Simons, senior director of technology at FranklinCovey Products.
Check out the list below to determine if getting started with a CRM today will put you ahead of the curve and on the way to running a tech savvy law firm.
- Conflicts and Duplicates are a part of the daily routine. - There are duplications in your firm’s contact list, in interactions with prospects, and in marketing efforts. Duplicates are part of the reason conflict resolution or CONFLICT CHECKING PROCESSES are critical in legal practice management. A centralized database provides the tools to quickly check for conflicts.
- Inaccurate information steals time out of your staff’s day. - Out of date or inaccurate information costs money and leads to inefficiencies. Have you ever sent multiple invitations to a single contact? Or searched through bad data to touch base with a client? This can be eliminated with a CRM. Time = Money
- A single information source only exists in discussions of best practices to implement. – Are you looking to contact that couple who needed a will last week? Where did you put their number? Is it in your pad folio, on a sticky note, in a voicemail they left you, on the carbon copy message your assistant left at the firm’s front desk? Every single person working for your law firm should have a single place to go for information.
- Lost data is a concern. Law firms back up their data. Lawyers need to know their client information is secure. Not only do you need your information in one place, you need it to be easily accessible without worrying about lost information. Lose the sticky notes. Quit calling your admin to find contact information. A centralized CRM system gives you the peace of mind that your data is safe and accessible – from anywhere, anytime.
- Follow-up is time-consuming. Follow-up should not be a chore. In fact, lead management is the key to acquiring new clients. Five free minutes should allow you enough time to complete one follow-up call. If you have to spend time prepping and looking for information on a prospect, you need a CRM. Five free minutes can bring in new clients.
- Visibility requires multiple systems and staff members. Can you quickly review a list of all your active cases? Can you then jump back to an up to date list of all your potential clients? The real question is do you have easy access to you or your firm’s big picture? Can you look at a case and get a quick picture of the last activity, the tasks to complete, the upcoming meetings and court dates? A CRM system gives you this information and a lot more!
- History is not at your fingertips. History is everything; prospect history, client history, case history. - Know who your big clients are. Status is important. Not society status; we are talking about case status. Your clients should not have to refresh your memory each time they call. Prospects, calling to secure representation, should not have to tell you they already have a quote for services.
- Mobility, or the ability to work on the go, is critical to every law firm but only a goal your firm is working toward. Work doesn’t always happen in the courtroom or the office. It should be easy to stay in touch or up to date on the go. If you’re mobile and you have the right technology, you can increase productivity. Get a CRM with an app and watch how it transforms your law firm’s efficiencies.
- Automating routine or manual processes is unavailable. The ability to automate a process eliminates duplicate data entry, reduces errors and more. I as well as is vital to tracking or capturing information, but not yet available in the day-to-day running of your law firm. - Documentation is a necessity for successful legal practice management. But documentation should not be hard or time consuming. It should be a routine and simple part of daily activities.
- Reporting at the firm level is not available with the click of your mouse. If obtaining a report is onerous and time consuming or requires multiple staff members to produce, it is time to employ technology. Firm level reporting is crucial to the growth of the firm.
“Any time we needed a detailed report before [], we would have to ask our accountant to do it for us. Not only did we have to wait for the information, it cost us at least $100 every time we needed a report. .”-William White, Managing Partner of Parkman and White, LLC
Learn more about how Dynamics CRM can benefit your firm!
has been providing Microsoft Dynamics CRM for over 10 years. We can get your firm up and running (and trained!) in no time at all! Make the call (205.408.9991) and see if a CRM solution is right for you!
Useful information. Thanks