We all know the importance of an all-in-one and productive CRM software for any company and organization. This importance is even greater and the role of a good customer relationship management system is crucial when it comes to implementing a CRM system in a law firm. This field requires attention to any single detail and contact. Every client is a separate case and managing all of these cases is not an easy task, yet responsible.
CRM systems are developing rapidly, new features and tools are added day by day, and new trends are appearing in the industry. The appearance of legal CRM systems changed the way many lawyers and law firms managed their cases and databases and became inseparable parts of legal systems. This article will help you get acquainted with the best CRM platforms for law firms, compare their features, tools and functions and choose the best one for your developing business to make it an outstanding one.
Customer Relationship Management is Crucial for Any Business
CRM stands for customer relationship management. Customer relationship management is a discipline used to manage a company’s interaction with both current and potential customers. CRM systems use specific information about customers, their business relationships with the company, data analysis. They compile this data from various communication channels. The main aim of customer relationship management systems is to automate sales, marketing, and customer services and achieve sales growth.
Interaction with customers is of great importance and we have already noticed that the success is guaranteed only for those companies and organizations which know the importance of managing the relationships with their customers on the highest level possible. Every customer is crucial for your business, every opinion and review can either be a new step to success or failure, and the choice and final result depend on your actions.
Nowadays people are going after those companies which are customer-centric. Yes, we all love that attention, we like to be treated as unique creatures and that factor does not change in the business also. People buy products and use services that are designed specifically for them and their needs. The 21st century has completely changed the way we do business and understand it, yes, it is again all about how we market and sell products or services, but the processes and the approaches have totally changed. Treating customers has become more and more difficult, as they can receive the needed information within several seconds, learn all about your company without any need to leave home and get acquainted with your products with just several clicks. Online presence matters, having functional and user friendly apps and websites that represent your services is very important, but managing the whole process is crucial.
Customers get acquainted with your services online, they make a decision to buy your product or service within several minutes, they interact with your business online via live chats, emails, etc. It is very important to provide excellent customer service in order not to leave any single chance to have another option. Bringing the customer to the decision to buy your product and order a service is not an easy task but it is possible only with a perfect customer support service and the best customer relationship management mechanism.
The Importance and Role of a CRM System Implementation in Your Business
New technologies and innovative solutions have changed the world of business. CRM systems entered the field and totally changed our business processes and the results are more than satisfying. CRM systems dictate the rules we should follow to interact with our current customers, to concentrate on the factors how to keep them and how to engage the potential customers. Keeping up with the CRM market trends takes us where we have always wanted to be and teaches the way to be up to date. CRM systems are developing so rapidly that it becomes more and more difficult to follow the trends and implement them in your business. But if you want to be ahead in this world of competition and striving for success, you should. CRM systems have numerous marketable functions that make them important parts of our business.
One of the most important and crucial features is, of course, the automation of business processes. It changed the way we used to do marketing and sales and the way we interacted with our customers and provided service to them. The automation of services and processes helps us save so much time that we can use it on other activities to develop and grow our business. Email marketing campaigns, sales process automation, lead generation, activity tracking system are all features that transform our business. Predictive analytics allows you to make predictions concerning the future of your business giving opportunity to analyze the data concerning the upcoming months, year and so on.
Have you ever imagined taking your whole business and your CRM in particular, with you anywhere you travel? Seems impossible? CRM mobile has made that possible. CRM systems just cannot stay where they are, new marketable features are being developed every day and CRM mobile is one of these awesome features. Business people and especially marketing and sales specialists need to travel much, meet people and do deals, they can’t control the process just sitting at the desk, and CRM mobile gives opportunity to control every step with your CRM in your pocket. Time is money. And this money can be doubled every minute if you are running a business. Both businessmen and customers enjoy this innovation and more and more CRM solutions add CRM mobile to their systems.
All of these unique tools, functions and features and their effectiveness as a whole system considerably affect your team’s productivity, your system’s effectiveness and your business’s future success.
Choosing a CRM Platform for Law Firm
It is not a secret that strong relationships with your customers can bring new opportunities. Reliability, security and belief are all crucial factors for building right and strong relationships. And this fact is more than important especially when it comes to law firms and organizations. Every issue is important here, as we deal with thousands of laws and regulations.
The number of law firms trying to enter the market is rising day by day; these firms compete to be in the first positions, to take the most popular and intriguing cases, to strengthen their position in the market, but the competition is so high that every firm needs to have something really outstanding, and it should definitely be the best customer service. Managing customer service and all of the processes concerning it has never been an easy task, but now it is possible with the help of modern customer relationship management systems. Modern CRM systems are designed to help businesses to take their service to the highest level possible without any need to spend additional time and money on traditional methods that does not even work nowadays. The effect of cold calls and annoying emails is equal to zero, and even worse, these actions can make your customers think of turning to another company. In the core of any successful company is a good CRM system. Modern CRM systems help you take any step towards achieving your goal; they manage your customer relationships, track opportunities, manage marketing and sales processes, educate and train your employees and much more. Every feature and tool is a unique way to automate a process, to track its effectiveness and reach more having the results and analyzing them.
Choosing a CRM for your law firm and adding it to your practice is an important decision and you should follow several steps:
- Make sure the system corresponds to your law firm’s needs, requirements, strategies and future goals.
- Make sure you are ready to organize some trainings and seminars to train your staff and/or team members in order to use the system more efficiently.
- Make sure this system integrates with the processes and operations you use on a daily basis.
- Any CRM, especially the most popular ones have thousands of features, so try to focus on the aspects you need for your law firm.
- Pay special attention to the user interface of the system you intend to choose.
- Examine all the tools and features before choosing a CRM so that they fully correspond to your business specific needs in order not to pay much for additional features if you don’t really need them.
- Third-party integration is also important, so make sure if the CRM system you are likely to choose works with software you already use or not, especially if you are not going to change the software.
- Pricing is another important factor to take into account. The competition in the market grows day by day and the CRM systems try to suggest affordable and cost-effective solutions, all you need is just to get acquainted with the pricing options, compare them in order to choose the best option suitable for you.
- Finally, as the majority of CRM solutions offer free trials, you can try several options out and choose one that is best suitable for your goals, or just keep reading to get acquainted with the best CRM systems and follow our advice to make your decision.
A Good CRM System is a Must for Law Firms and Individual Lawyers
Innovative solutions came to replace all the traditional methods we have been using for many years. CRM system is not an exception. Customer relationship management is one of the most important factors you’re your business to succeed and grow. Relationships with the customers have never been as important and crucial as they are now. Why? Customers are dictating what they want and how they want to receive it, and if you fail or take another step, you just lose your client. Customers are not hesitating anymore before leaving your company, as they always have thousands of options and, to be frank, not bad ones. So you should do every single step to attract a new customer, to bring him closer to your business, turn this person into a follower, than into a buyer and finally into a customer. And if you already have this customer you should try to keep him, as trust and belief can’t be regained if you have failed once. It is true that gaining a new customer is easier than bringing the old one back. So this process is a circle which should always rotate and be in action, if you stop, rotating it again will be a really difficult task and you will never be sure of the result. Every customer should be treated as a unique one and the interaction with every customer is crucial for your business. Also, remember one fact, customers bring new customers. This fact is especially true for law firms and legal businesses. If you did a good work your client will definitely advice your firm to a friend, relative and colleague who needs your service. And if you failed in result or in the process, you will not only lose your client but also several potential ones.
The client base is huge is law firms and it is growing so fast that there is a need for a legal practice management solution that would stabilize client base and have control over data from anywhere anytime. It is obvious that the law firms that implement a CRM system experience greater demand and success than others. Law firm CRM is specifically designed to take your legal issues to the next level; the techniques it uses and the features it experiences make it a unique tool for your legal system. CRM is definitely running the world nowadays. Even individuals are using it for their daily issues and tasks. If a salesperson uses it for his small sale deals, there is no need to mention how important it is for your small business or a law firm
Every law firm does anything to bring new clients and manage the relationships with the existing ones. The competition in this field is even worse as compared to other industries, as new deals mainly depend on individuals and their opinion of the service you provide. Concentrating on these steps does not let you properly manage your contacts and database. Whether you have started a new legal law business or need to take your law firm higher and reach the success you have desired for, a good and productive CRM system will be your best helpful partner. It gives opportunity to have control over your to-do list, calendar and appointments, to be in the center of events and trends.
CRMs focus on client acquisition and managing relationships with them. With the help of rightly chosen CRM system you achieve more productive results. Legal software solution gives an opportunity to evaluate your marketing ROI, extract data, track prospective clients, analyze relationships, as well as different deal stages.
With legal software you can be sure that your data is kept secure, that all the contacts and important information is saved in a single database.
Law firm CRM software gives an opportunity to treat every contact individually. With this CRM the focus is on primary contacts. The top clients are separated from the future ones, and also from the customer contacts that are not likely to buy your services and so on. This segmentation helps you concentrate on primary customers and issues, take control of them, be aware of every step and take actions more easily.
Let’s find out what are the best law firm CRMs, which problems they solve and which are their specific features and tools. We have compiled a list of the most popular and effective legal CRM systems to help you compare them and choose one that best fits your law business needs and future goals.
Creatio
Creatio is one of the best process-driven CRM systems mostly used in law business. Creatio legal CRM is an all-in-one solution designed to take your law business to the next level and guarantee a smooth practice, as well as to meet law business specific needs.
This solution helps the law firms acquire new clients and keep the existing ones more effectively than ever. The main aim of the system is to successfully manage the clients and automate all of the processes, including case management, contact management, billing and so on.
Creatio CRM legal offers unique and specific tools to help law firms have control over every process and manage the entire process efficiently. The interface and the software you use are also very important when choosing a CRM system. In case of Creatio there is a great advantage; Creatio outlook connector gives opportunity to continue working with your favorite program without any need to learn a new interface and unfamiliar programs. You can smoothly integrate with Outlook’s built-in functionality, as well as work offline whenever needed.
CRM, Sales and Marketing Management allows multichannel client data collection, access to client key data with one click, client segmentation using various criteria, planning and launching marketing campaigns, as well as PR activities, tracking and record entire sales process from lead source, to appointment and to sale, expanding sales opportunities and improving profitability by focusing on the right clients and much more.
Practice management offers the following key features: intuitive interface, management of client and matter data, smooth integration with Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Google services, reminders for important tasks, progress tracking, auto-time stamp after the completion of an activity, KPI tracking in a single dashboard, a 360-degree view of your company efficiency on a consolidated dashboard, data analysis and so on.
Financial Management has the following important tools and features: automatic and manual time recordings, job costs calculations based on employee internal and external rates and appropriate services, client’s current balance management, invoice creation, billing for compliance contracts and fees, real-time data on financial performance, reports generation, etc.
Document Management most important features are: unified repository for management of documents, template documents with personalized details, opportunity to email the client directly from the system and archive all document versions, document categories organization, quick search function, multi-tier review and approval process automation.
Business Process Management client-facing process management, intuitive graphical designer, day-to-day work operation, internal communications management and so on.
This CRM’s features are so many that it is just impossible to present them all in a review, so if this law CRM solution has interested you and you want to implement it in your business, get acquainted with more features, pricing options and other functions.
Base
Base is another great CRM solution famous for its exclusive features and tools. It offers secure and effective ways to manage your law firm’s legal issues, client relationships, contacts, data, cases and much more. This legal CRM software has many advantages and stands out in the market due to its productive features and effective functions. One of the greatest advantages is the opportunity to access it from anywhere in the world. You can also share information and extract it into analytics reports to consistently improve the profitability and productivity of your business. Its greatest features allow you to follow up on leads and always stay in touch with your clients.
As we have already mentioned, the integration with various apps and browsers is very important when you start using a CRM, Base is one of the best choices here as it allows integration with Outlook, Google, LinkedIn and MailChimp. Base is also famous for its intuitive interface and such key features as task management, Email automation, plugins and integrations, customer and sales management, mobile CRM, lead tracking, reporting, analytics and much more.
Customer and contact management is one of the most important functions any CRM has. It gives opportunity to keep customers’ data and contact information in one place, and manage it effectively by having chance to organize the accounts, filter and sort them as needed.
Mobile sales management gives an opportunity to have control over every process even if you are not sitting at your desk. Your CRM’s capabilities are never limited. Base has mobile apps for both iOS and Android which allows your team to stay connected on the go. Mobile CRM has the same unique features and functionality as your desktop CRM. So you can carry your database in your pocket and stay connected from everywhere.
Lead tracking has such great tools as custom lead forms and communication templates, channel optimization, conversion rate tracking and so on. It allows you to connect your CRM system with your website and marketing tools to create a flow of leads straight from the source. The lead tracking feature gives opportunity to always follow your leads and be updated.
Reporting and Analytics allows the usage of such tools as rep dashboards, coaching reports, pipeline, and deal reporting and so on. This feature gives opportunity to translate your data into more than 25 visual reports.
Communication Tracking gives an opportunity for multichannel communication with your clients via phone, email and other social channels. Base’s communication tracking features allow you to spend less time to contact your clients and track communication due to easy to use email applications, built-in dialer and such features as email sentiment analysis and read notifications.
Clio
Clio is another software system that many law firms use. Clio is an easy to use cloud system designed specifically for law practice case management. Many legal professionals trust this solution and consider it to be among the top ones. This CRM software system is best for small and mid-size law firms.
Clio is a comprehensive and easy-to-use solution built specifically for the legal cases and its aim is to help you enter the next level of your business. This cloud-based law practice management solution is also mobile-friendly and it has many unique tools and features designed for law firms and individual lawyers to run a successful practice. It is distinguished with its user friendly and clean interface, great customer support service and affordable pricing options.
When it comes to integration, Clio is also very productive, it allows smooth integration with such widely used and popular applications and browsers as Dropbox, Gmail, Outlook, Box, Quickbooks and Google Drive and so on.
Clio is best known for its unique and powerful features and functions to manage cases, documents, clients, appointments, accounting, bills, tracking, as well as reporting, some great tools include case and client history management, client database and contact management, time entry, trust accounting, email integration, campaign tracker, etc. Below are presented the key features and tools that make the system an outstanding and effective one.
Key features and tools
Case Management – Clio is great when it comes especially to case management. It allows you to have control over your firm entirely. It gives opportunity to have access to everything from a single system; to structure workflows, schedule meetings, share documents.
Complete access – You can access your law CRM system from any device and from anywhere. Clio is giving opportunity to enjoy the same productive features independent of the device you use; you can access it from your desktop, tablet, or mobile. Bank-grade encryption and rigorous daily security audits are irreplaceable features one can dream of while managing a law firm business.
Integration – Clio is very popular among law firms also due to its integration options. It allows seamless integration with thousands of web applications widely used nowadays. Email integration and accounting integration are also great advantages and productive features every law firm needs to have a smooth and operational business process. Clio integrates with such accounting software as QuickBooks Online and Xero to simplify all billing and accounting processes.
Billing and Invoicing – This feature gives an opportunity to track the time spent on a case, create bills in minutes, and take control over your law firm’s financial issues.
Reporting and Dashboards – these features allow instant insight into your law firm’s performance.
Customer Support – Clio’s customer support is definitely on a high level. The support is multichannel; you can get support via phone, email, or even a chat message.
Law Ruler
Law Ruler is another popular legal CRM system used by many law firms and lawyers, which helps keep track of your leads and manage cases in order to provide the best service possible. The software system is distinguished by its easy-to use interface, automated email and texting systems, cost-effectiveness, unique tools, integration systems and quality customer service. This system helps law firms convert leads to signed clients and, of course, automate processes of your law firm.
Law Ruler has many great features and unique advantages and among them is the fact that this CRM system combines several apps and aligns several disciplines on a single platform:
- CRM/contact management
- Text message marketing
- Email marketing
- Referral management
- Phone call tracking
When it comes to integration, Law Ruler allows integration with such famous and productive legal practice management systems as Needles or Clio. The integration gives an exclusive opportunity to provide a perfect management service combining CRM and case/practice management to meet business-specific needs and requirements of legal businesses and law firms in particular and help them achieve their goals and succeed. There are such unique tools and features as email newsletter and drip marketing, integration with various web apps, call tracking, referral management, as well as calendar and task management. But that’s not all; here are the key features that make this software system very productive and popular among lawyers.
Key features and tools
Contact Management is a powerful tool to turn leads into clients.
Marketing Automation allows you to automate every single feature connected with your marketing processes, build relationships, nurture clients needs and interests, build marketing campaigns and much more.
Dashboard Analytics gives opportunity to do reporting, assess working features, analyze data and so on.
Integration with MailChimp, with various practice management programs, including Clio and Needles make this CRM system even more productive.
Case Management gives opportunity to treat every case as a unique one, have control over it and use practice management system to run your business and take it to the next level.
Ready-to-use forms and templates allow you to save a lot of time; you also can create your own templates in several minutes and integrate them with your website.
BITRIX24
LAWMATICS
FRESHWORKS
INVESTGLASS
OSPREYAPPROACH
ROCKETMATTER
Conclusion
Law firms are definitely getting smarter and stronger with CRM Platforms for Law Firms. This industry is really a complicated one and every step requires attention, responsibility and consistency. Whenever you have to deal with laws and regulations, with people’s futures and lives, you need to have a perfect management system and customer support. The cases and deals in this industry are specific, different and non – standard and each one of them requires a complete work, an individual approach and a successful implementation. Therefore legal software systems are must-have solutions if you want to take your law firm system to the highest level possible, to be closer to your clients, and to win every case.