Contact Management 101: Caring for Your Most Important Assets – Relationships
by Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
To help communicate the importance of centralized contact management, we have compiled 10 top tips:
- Think of contact management as an investment. Contacts are valuable commodities and investing just a little time up front can pay dividends in the future.
- Value your relationships. For attorneys, there is almost no more important contributor to career success.
- Capture complete information. Without key details, you can’t effectively communicate with contacts.
- Update contact information regularly. Up to 30% of contact information changes each year,
Contact Management 101: Understanding the Payoff
by Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
The reasons why attorneys manage their contacts in different ways isn’t important, but the challenge this presents for law firms is. A centralized collection of clean, correct and complete contacts is critical to effective marketing and business
development. Additionally, having contact and relationship information outside the firm’s central systems and security may present additional problems. As a result, many firms may find it important to get attorneys to develop consistent practices for centralized contact management.
So, what is the best way for firms to control the contact conundrum?
Contact Management 101: So Many Contacts, So Many Ways to Manage Them
by Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
While formal contact management may be foreign to younger lawyers, this isn’t necessarily a generational issue. In fact, we now frequently find that even some of the most experienced lawyers are managing their contacts in different ways. The issue also isn’t caused by inattention or idleness. Actually, there are a number of valid reasons why changes in contact management methodologies have been taking place, such as:
- Attorneys are out of the office more often today, so it’s critical to have contacts on their mobile devices where they can easily access them
- Advances in search technology have made it easy to find contacts anywhere,
Contact Management 101: 10 Top Tips for CRM Success
by Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
With another school year well underway, it seems like a good time to share a few lessons on contact and relationship management. One group of ‘pupils’ for whom this information can be particularly relevant is new attorneys who are joining a firm for the first time and who are eager to get to the head of the class by focusing on marketing and business development early in their careers.
It may seem to many people that contact management skills should come naturally to lawyers, for whom relationships are crucial.
The CRM Marathon Finish Line
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
Once you have come such a long way on your CRM marathon, it’s only natural to start looking for the finish line. You deserve a medal – or at least some sort of reward or recognition for getting this far, if nothing more than some rest and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.
Unfortunately, the problem with looking for the CRM finish line is your assumption that there actually is one. I hate to be the one to break it to you but the CRM marathon never ends.
The CRM Marathon: Rest Breaks
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
When running a CRM marathon, you can sometimes become so focused on keeping up the pace that you forget to enjoy the scenery along the way. But if you sprint from the starting line at full speed, you can quickly lose steam. Instead, you need to maintain a steady pace – and it’s ok to give yourself some breaks along the way to catch your breath.
Taking small breaks during a marathon can actually be beneficial. They give you a chance to get your bearings and appreciate just how far you have come.
The CRM Marathon – and CRM Hurdles
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
To finish a CRM marathon, you will need patience and persistence. Honestly, almost no runner feels like getting up at 5 a.m. every day to hit the road, but real winners keep going. They know that if they persist, they can make it through to the finish line.
They also understand that CRM implementations can be a long and winding road. While there will be many accomplishments, there will also be setbacks. Out of nowhere, a key staff person quits.
The CRM Marathon – and the Data Dash
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
Along the CRM implementation route, data quality issues are a common hurdle for every organization. Here’s why: during a law firm CRM rollout, thousands of shared contacts quickly flow into the system from users. Some of these records contain incomplete or outdated information. Others are shared by multiple users, which will create a considerable number of duplicate records.
Attorneys are trained to notice errors, so if bad data is not addressed promptly, it will lead to distrust of the system.
The CRM Marathon: Training for the Race
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
If you want to win any race, you have to train. For training to be effective, you need to start well in advance of the race and don’t expect quick results. While inadequate training won’t get you to the finish line, pushing too hard can end up being painful.
CRM training is essential for all users and requires training plans customized to the needs of key groups and individuals. Marketing users need to focus on essential tasks such as contact categorization and segmenting,
CRM Marathon Coaches
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
It’s impossible to win any race without a good coach. Not everyone has had experience rolling out a CRM system before. Many firms also lack adequate internal resources or have limited bandwidth. As a result, asking for help isn’t just smart… it’s essential.
There are a number of resources you can turn to for support and assistance. Your CRM provider can be wealth of information. Colleagues at other firms who have rolled out a CRM in the past are also frequently willing to pass the baton and share tips and help you train.
The CRM Marathon Cheerleaders
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
CRM should be a team sport. Trying to go it alone in implementing a CRM is not only painful, it’s impossible. A number of key stakeholders should be drafted to help ensure success.
The Marketing team is critical for defining a CRM strategy and assisting in the planning, communication and training. They should work with CRM users to ensure the system provides value, helps build relationships and enhances business development efforts, rather than being perceived as a glorified Rolodex.
The CRM Marathon: Plotting Your CRM Course
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
Before embarking on your CRM marathon, it’s important to plot the best course. To do this, it’s helpful to determine where you are now. Successful CRM implementations begin with a comprehensive assessment of your current situation. Think about the reasons your firm needs a CRM in the first place. What problems are you trying to solve? What processes are you trying to improve? What are you trying to accomplish?
With the information you gather from your needs assessment,
To Succeed with CRM, Try a Bigger or Better Hammer
By Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant and Meghan Van Dalinda, Client Success Consultant
The Evolution of (X)RM
To succeed with CRM, it’s helpful first to have some background. Law firm business development is all about relationships. So it is not surprising that there has been a continual and ongoing search for technology and tools to assist firms in discovering and leveraging these crucial relationships.
For over a decade, the relationship technology tool of choice for law firms was CRM (Client Relationship Management). A large number of firms attempted to deploy these systems to enhance client communication and service and gain relationship intelligence.
The CRM Marathon
– by Raquel Lewis, Client Success Consultant & Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
CRM is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
When considering a CRM system, you may think that this is a technology that simply needs to be purchased, installed and implemented… but, in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. CRM is not a project, an initiative or a rollout. Rather, it’s a fundamental change, and an improvement, in how your firm manages and leverages its relationships. These relationships are critical to the success of the firm – which makes CRM essential for firm success.
CRM Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint
by Raquel Lewis, CRM Success Consultant and Chris Fritsch, Client Success Consultant
When considering a CRM system, you may think that this is a technology that simply needs to be purchased, installed and implemented… but, in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. CRM is not a project, an initiative or a rollout. Rather, it’s a fundamental change, and an improvement, in how your firm manages and leverages its relationships. These relationships are critical to the success of the firm – which makes CRM essential for firm success.
It can actually be helpful to think of CRM as a marathon – a continuous and integral part of your marketing and business development efforts.