Maintaining positive relationships with clients is often time-consuming for attorneys. However, the importance of customer relationship management cannot be overstated. Strategies like updated marketing plans, a more active social media presence, and an improved website are proven ways to attract more leads. Lawyers who want to bring in new clients to grow their practice must have the systems in place to properly connect with prospects quickly – before they look elsewhere for legal representation. 

Client (or customer) relationship management (CRM) software is designed to help businesses, including law firms, maintain consistent communications with potential customers to prevent potential leads from falling through the cracks. With a CRM platform, your firm can foster these valuable relationships quickly and efficiently.

What is a CRM and what does it do?

CRM software combines a client contacts database, a to-do list, and a calendar. However, when its use is maximized, it can be so much more. For example, agile law firm CRM software gives law firms a systematic approach to maintaining and strengthening client relationships and trust, not just during client intake but as part of a comprehensive legal marketing plan.

As the name implies, a CRM is a centralized location for storing information about prospective and current clients. Modern systems are designed to accommodate users with minimal technical skills. CRMs provide a secure and productive way to store information, deliver reporting, and streamline billing.

There are many benefits to using CRM software to manage customer relationships, including the ability to:

• Aggregate essential customer information in a single platform. As opposed to having customer data stored in distinct databases and file systems across an organization, a CRM provides companies with a one-stop-shop for every business area that needs access to customer info.
• Track customer interactions. The best CRM tools store client information in one accessible place where it can be referenced or shared at any point to reduce the number of unnecessary processes and wasted time to improve the efficiency of an organization.
• Monitor sales performance goals. Many CRM solutions provide analytics and automation capabilities that offer targets to shoot for and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to help organizations make better decisions.
• Automate marketing activities. Send personalized automated texts and emails that nurture your leads and prospects with the right number of touches to ensure a positive experience and new business.
• Provide integrations. Modern CRM solutions integrate with other software programs to manage client relationships more efficiently and offer insight into an organization’s customer interactions.

CRM for lawyers can enable organizations to connect with new clients and re-engage with past clients via birthday and holiday emails, follow-ups, attorney newsletters, and more. 

What are the benefits of CRM for an attorney?

Legal consumers who have any doubt in your abilities won’t hire you to represent them. A CRM enables a law practice to build and maintain a positive reputation as a trusted business amid a sea of competitors. As a result, firms of any size can directly impact ROI through client acquisition, repeat clients, and improved lead generation by incorporating a powerful CRM tool.

A CRM also automates manual processes, encourages best practices by tracking and reporting on marketing activities, and improves customer relationships by automatically providing new clients with the information they need at the right time. Sophisticated customer relationship management tools can be applied across the practice, not just as part of intake & marketing, to improve efficiency, improve retention, and increase new business. Cloud-based solutions enable changes to happen in real time, providing a comprehensive view of client communications, matter progress, and marketing performance.

Is CRM ever free?

Yes and no. Most free CRMs are limited to a certain number of users, contacts, and integration opportunities. However, many companies offer free CRM plans to entice businesses to upgrade to a fee-based plan or recommend the platform to others. Unfortunately, finding a free CRM that provides sales, service, and marketing functions can be challenging; after all, that is a lot to ask of a free application.

What are some examples of what CRM can do?

Customer relationship management helps define the guidelines, principles, and practices an organization follows in its interactions with leads and customers. Due to technological advances, consumers now have multiple ways to connect with businesses, such as reaching out through a company website, email, or on established social media channels, and CRM helps facilitate the following:

1. Consistent responses. One critical component of responsive CRM is ensuring every customer who reaches out with a question or issue receives a prompt reply. For example, when a customer emails an organization with an inquiry, the CRM platform can be set up to automate an immediate reply to keep the conversation going while your team takes the time to research the issue and provide a more personalized response.
2. Valuable business analytics. Data is valuable, and so are tools capable of breaking information down into valuable insights. An effective CRM platform will enable businesses to spot trends representing potential opportunities or problems and allow organizations to offer solutions before a situation escalates into a company-wide issue.
3. Critical client feedback. Consumers prefer options when reaching out to a company. For example, many customers like to reach out via the company’s social media accounts. A CRM solution that tracks and responds to client inquiries left on all their social media accounts can be a helpful tool that will provide the most effective customer service possible instead of leaving customers hanging while waiting for a response.
4. Snapshots of customer activity. A CRM can also monitor a customer’s behavior throughout their journey from potential prospect to existing client. For example, tracking key behaviors like social media posts or content click rates on an email campaign can help an organization understand what is vital to customers – and what isn’t.
5. Collaboration between applications. A CRM allows users to work on multiple platforms while entering real-time information. Utilizing a platform that goes where you go – smartphone, iPad, laptop, or PC – can vastly improve the customer experience. In addition, tools that sync data across various applications help lessen duplicative work.
6. Automated task management. Marketing involves dozens of tedious tasks that can be coordinated within the context of other marketing campaigns. Automating these tasks improves the efficiency of everyone that connects with customers and leads and will allow your team to create a long-term drip campaign that can guide even the most hesitant buyer toward conversion. In addition, marketing automation reduces the amount spent on mundane tasks and frees up time for more critical activities.

A CRM can tie automation to triggers designed to improve internal activities. In the legal industry, when a prospective client makes an inquiry on a law firm’s website, the platform can automatically deliver a follow-up email on behalf of the attorney. According to a Clio Legal Trends Report, 79% of legal consumers expect a response within 24 hrs of inquiry. So why not maximize your staff’s bandwidth by allowing marketing automation to onboard prospective clients for you? CRM can increase your productivity and your bottom line.

What is legal CRM, and why do law firms need it?

Legal CRM software streamlines the time-consuming tasks of client management to make communications more productive for the firm and the client. Although client intake, database updates, and communication tracking have traditionally been done manually via spreadsheets, these processes are time-consuming, prone to human error, reduce firm productivity rates, and divert valuable time from more profitable tasks.

An effective legal CRM system can help firms:

• Store contact information for easy accessibility
• Pinpoint sales opportunities to identify where leads are in the sales pipeline
• Gather data on marketing strategies to recognize which methods are working
• Personalize and enhance leads’ experiences
• Increase conversion rates
• Improve teamwork to increase performance
• Reach business development goals
• Provide a superior customer experience

The main goal of legal CRM is to leverage existing and potential client relationships. With the right CRM platform, your law firm can foster valuable connections efficiently and cost-effectively.

The benefits of legal CRM

Here are some ways legal CRM can benefit law firms of all sizes:

• Engaged prospects – Legal CRM platforms analyze leads to determine whether they might be a good fit for the firm and gather data to personalize texts and emails that will nurture prospects.
• Categorized contacts – CRM systems possess powerful organizational capacities to tag existing clients separately from leads and potential clients.
• Synchronized data – Lead contact information can be automatically synced within the database to avoid manual data entry.
• Improved client satisfaction – Legal CRMs can help your firm provide improved client service, which translates into a better client experience.
• Valuable analytics – Legal CRMs provide useful analytics regarding client behaviors, and this data can put your firm in a better position to meet the needs and expectations of leads.
• Marketing insight – The reporting features of Legal CRM provide insight into your firm’s marketing methods so that you can make informed decisions about future marketing investments and growth strategies.
• Cloud-based technology – Modern legal CRM systems utilize cloud technologies to provide a web-based experience – minus the extended installation process and frequent updates that keep you from accessing the system.
• Streamlined intake – With Legal CRM, your firm can provide a high-level client intake experience with customizable templates for easy document assembly.

How does CRM improve the legal intake process?

Legal intake — the process of converting contacts into clients — is one of the most essential processes in a law firm. An efficient intake process can bring in new clients; however, an ineffective one can chase them away.

Legal CRM will enable your firm to conduct swift client intake, inform clients regarding case updates and appointments, and invoice at the appropriate time – without losing valuable hours in the day. With CRM for lawyers, you can quit sending bulky forms to be filled out, stressing about follow-ups, and chasing after leads. Instead, you can customize your automation for every aspect of the client intake process, including follow-ups, appointment scheduling, document requests, e-signatures, and more.

Is HubSpot good for lawyers?

HubSpot is one of the more robust, user-friendly, and scalable CRM solutions available. In addition, HubSpot’s pricing is very affordable, and the platform also offers some free solutions so law firms can maximize their potential, regardless of budget. However, while the Hubspot CRM may be a solid choice for entrepreneurs across the spectrum of various industries, it does not offer legal-specific tools that aid legal professionals in conducting client intake, marketing their business to legal consumers, or converting prospective clients into matters.

Is Clio a CRM?

Clio Manage is a legal practice management software designed to help law firms organize cases, collaborate with clients, manage their documents, and bill clients for services performed. Clio Manage is not a legal CRM, however, it offers:

• Case management. Within Clio Manage, legal teams can organize their matters, get real-time updates on their matters, and get a centralized overview of all matter details.
• Document management. Clio Manage allows firms to edit, store, and organize documents of any file in the cloud, securely. Users can edit documents, create templates, and send them for electronic signature without printing, downloading, or scanning.
• Billing & invoicing. Clio Manage includes end-to-end billing and invoice management that make it easy for clients to pay online using a variety of payment methods. To reduce manual payment entry, Clio offers custom payment plans that can be tailored to a firm’s fee structure.

It is also easy to integrate your Clio Manage account with the Lawmatics platform. For example, if your firm uses Clio as a case management solution, this integration will enable you to sync matters from Lawmatics to Clio automatically, eliminating the need for multiple data entries.

What is Lawmatics?

Lawmatics is the #1 attorney-client relationship management platform designed especially for law firms. This end-to-end solution provides law firms with CRM, client intake, marketing automation, customizable campaigns, industry-specific app integrations, and more:

• A modern and intuitive user experience
• Full automation of the intake process – with a personal touch
• A Robust online form builder capable of handling the most complex intakes
• Custom reminders to eliminate phone and email tag
• Built-in scheduling tool 
• Custom forms to Intelligently gather client information 
• Document assembly and e-signature capabilities
• Two-way text communication
• Advanced data & analytics, including source reporting to track marketing campaigns
• Open API to connect third-party platforms with ease

Lawmatics is more than just a legal CRM - our platform gives attorneys enterprise tools at a small business price. Are you ready to learn more? Request your demo today.