{"id":264,"date":"2011-03-05T00:18:18","date_gmt":"2011-03-05T00:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/?p=264"},"modified":"2015-03-06T10:22:07","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T10:22:07","slug":"do-law-firms-need-a-crm-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2011\/03\/do-law-firms-need-a-crm-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Do law firms need a CRM solution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Customer (or client) relationship management (CRM) is defined by BusinessDictionary.com<\/a> as \u201cInformation-technology enabled strategy aimed at identifying, targeting, acquiring, and retaining the best mix of customers. CRM helps in profiling prospects, understanding their needs, and in building relationships with them by providing the most-suitable products and a very high level of customer service. It integrates back and front office systems to create a database of customer contacts, purchases, information requested, technical support, etc. This helps a firm to present a unified face to its customers, and improve the quality of the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a large law firm, it is easy to make the argument that technology can assist in co-ordinating client information and client relationships and that information can be used to identify cross selling opportunities. There have been occasions where two partners in different offices within the same firm pitched for the same piece of work, which hardly creates the right impression.<\/p>\n

In smaller firms, there is often a belief that such systems are not really needed because everyone in the team knows each other. However, in reality, individual partners and departments are focused on their existing client commitments and rarely step back and take time to look at the firm\u2019s client base as a whole.<\/p>\n

Even very small firms can benefit from a CRM database, especially if led by an active networker and rainmaker. One lawyer we know regularly speaks on the conference circuit and comes back with ten or twenty business cards after each event. Systematically recording these and managing the opportunities from these contacts is essential to ensure the return on investment in participation in each event.<\/p>\n

For larger firms<\/h3>\n

The larger the firm, the more critical it is to keep control of what each area is doing. Generally, the more clients you have, and the larger the firm, the more important it is to have some sort of central solution that keeps track of firm-wide clients and prospects.<\/p>\n

Remember that a CRM database is only a small part of CRM. It is your firm\u2019s mindset that makes it work and there is no point having a great piece of software that isn\u2019t used. One reason it won\u2019t get used is poor quality information, which is key \u2013 and far harder to get right than anything you can buy off the shelf. Set up regular data integrity checks and activity alerts to get the most benefit. And if you do marketing emails, the best systems need to be purchased separately and integrated. Generally speaking, the email marketing feature that you get with a CRM database is not nearly as good as a specialist package.<\/p>\n

The smaller firm<\/h3>\n

In the smaller firm where there is no IT department, the practice management system is usually \u201cowned\u201d by the accounts department and is therefore used primarily for billing. The data is often not held in a format suitable for marketing.<\/p>\n

Common problems are:<\/p>\n