Law Firms, Legal Practice Groups and individual legal practitioners can and should use a Customer Relationship Management system to win new clients.
What is a Customer Relationship Management system?
“Customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects”, as Wikipedia outlines. “It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer services and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service.”
Why should lawyers use a CRM system?
A CRM system is the component of a comprehensive legal business development process that permits lawyers to more efficiently and effectively identify, track, contact and ultimately, secure new clients. I write about the basics of the legal business development process here. A far more sophisticated method and one not different in principle from, for example, a single sheet of paper one might have in one’s desk that lists, by hand, potential clients one wishes to meet with and one day hopefully secure as new clients. It’s the same concept. And the CRM system, while sounding intimidating – when mastered and used properly – will exponentially increase your exposure to new potential clients and in time, build your client base. And its relative cost is de minimis compared to what any lawyer might gain from its active and effective use.
As I alluded to above, many lawyers do use very simple methods for tracking potential client leads – and despite the seeming complexity and the sense that a CRM system may be to unwieldy to use – it is possible and highly advisable (and neither costly nor difficult) to incorporate a CRM system into your legal business development efforts – as it will I believe exponentially increase your ability to identify, contact, track and ultimately – secure new client engagements.
Many lawyers may believe that a CRM is more appropriately reserved for organizations more traditionally associated with maintaining sales organizations. Insurance brokerages are one of many examples. For example, middle market private equity groups and investment banks use CRM systems to expand what is referred to in the financial services sector as proprietary deal flow. Some law firms do as well.
Which CRM system should you use?
I am not endorsing any particular CRM system – however I have worked effectively with both iSell (a part of Onesource.com) domestically in the United States and Hoovers.com internationally. Both are relatively simple to master, and not particularly expensive (a subscription would cost approximately 250 to 350 USD per month for either).
How should lawyers use a CRM system?
One can use these CRM systems to build potential client lists targeting specific sectors, revenue profiles, geographic locations and more. Essentially, in a very refined manner, focus your client development efforts among a very large pool of prospective clients you are most well positioned to be of assistance to.
Importantly, one can also track opportunistically among companies you know you are well placed to provide your services to. How? By using the CRM system to track news and other sources of information in the public domain which will provide you with information about what your potential client may be seeking to accomplish.
Perhaps a company you would like to represent is planning to open a new office in your area, make an acquisition, expand overseas, be facing a potential liability exposure. The list could go on and on. Tracking these opportunities among a group of potential clients you may be interested in representing – as well as a myriad of other proactive uses of a CRM system one may employ – will put any law firm, legal practice group or individual practitioner far ahead of the curve in their efforts to build a practice. I strongly encourage law firms, law firm practice and indeed individual practitioners to use a CRM system as a component of your business development initiative.
Advance your business development initiative
By using a CRM system as part of your legal business development initiative, you will save time, significantly expand your reach among ideal prospective clients (as well as referral sources), keep your business development efforts organized and time efficient – and ultimately lead yourself to new client engagements you would not have secured otherwise. I would anticipate that, if properly used, a CRM system would generate an overwhelming return on investment for any legal organization prepared to make the commitment to use one as part of a legal business development initiative.
