You hear a lot about CRM these days.  But with so many vendors offering solutions, you may be wondering how to evaluate different products to fit your specific needs and requirements.

 

Here are five must-haves for any CRM solution:

 

Relationship Intelligence

CRM provides a centralized repository for storing contact information—and lawyers especially rely on its relationship intelligence capability for attracting new business.  To be more than a glorified Rolodex, CRM must be optimized to reveal the complex connections between people, companies, relationships, experience and expertise. 

 

Seamless integration of this information is essential.  Data integration with key business applications, including time/billing, document management and Personal Information Manager, isn’t enough; the CRM solution must live and breathe where the lawyer does—in Outlook or other PIM.

 

When lawyers add a contact, send/receive e-mail or make a calendar appointment, the system should capture the relationship intelligence routinely.  And when they want to find out who knows whom, who knows what or access a contact’s relationship profile, the system should also provide this automatically through the PIM.  Anything less is unsatisfactory.

 

Proactive Notification

If a client receives a promotion or an important meeting is to take place, the relationship manager should be made aware of these (and other) events so the attorney can act upon the information appropriately.  But lawyers won’t spend time mining for important information.  They should be able to tell the system which information/contacts are important so that defaults can be set to deliver that information when needed.  Proactive notification provides instant value and gratification.

 

Data Quality

CRM data must be accurate and up-to-date.  Therefore, the CRM solution must provide end-to-end data quality and integrated data change management.  This includes tools for ensuring initial data cleansing and ongoing data maintenance, as well as those to help the firm’s data steward manage ongoing database changes.

 

Sharing and Control

Lawyers may want to control their own information, fearing that by sharing it with a centralized repository they’ll lose control over their most important contacts.  Therefore, any CRM solution must enable users to determine how, when and to what extent any changes made will be reflected in the lawyer’s own version of that contact record.  By giving lawyers control over their own contact information, you’re overcoming a huge cultural barrier to sharing.

 

Vendor Support

Finally, when investing in a CRM solution, you’re also investing in the vendor; you must feel totally confident in it.  Investigate the vendor fully, including its financial strength and stability, investment in research and development and its ability to support you.

 

When evaluating a CRM solution for your firm, look for these CRM five must-haves.  Find them, and you’re on your way to success!

 

About our author ...

 

Barry Solomon is the executive vice president of Oak Brook, Illinois-based Interface Software, developer of relationship intelligence solutions for law firms.  He can be reached at bsolomon@interfacesoftware.com or 630.371.4560.