3Kites is being approached by a number of law firms both large and small which wish to discuss the current use and future needs of their customer relationship management (CRM) function and processes and, often, a system replacement. 

There seems to be more than one driver for this. For some, their previous Practice Management System (PMS) used to offer some functionality for CRM but their replacement PMS system does not now give them as much flexibility as systems have become more specialised. Other firms that have an existing discrete CRM system recognise that it tends to be seen as a back office product, with little or no active engagement from the fee earners.

Another reason is the growing requirement of some firm’s IT departments to move to cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) products in order to fulfil more robust security requirements and reduce the need for on-premise servers and the associated maintenance, support and security issues that these entail. 

Equally important as the technology demands are the increased requirements of the business development and marketing teams which wish to take advantage of the opportunities that are now available to enrich their data by harvesting up-to-date contact information from e-mail traffic, gleaning pertinent information from their PMS and gaining insights from external links such as social media feeds.

We are seeing a growing number of suppliers offering CRM solutions in the legal marketplace which give firms a wider choice of products and functionality, leading to many of these firms questioning their current processes and efficiencies. An example of this is that most products on the market now provide the ability for users to have information fed to them via role-based dashboards, either from within the product or by harvesting data using Microsoft Power BI. This is providing better and more comprehensive information and insights such as opportunity visibility, referral tracking and monitoring relationship strength.

The poor quality of data has always been a hot topic for CRM systems, with duplications and out-of-date contact information causing ongoing problems. Again, the newer products have mechanisms for mitigating these issues by automating some of the processes to ensure that up-to-date records are maintained more effectively, thereby increasing the trust that users have in the firm’s data. We see both of these as examples of the compelling reasons why firms are looking to review the market for their future CRM needs and requirements.

3Kites Consulting has assisted a number of law firms with CRM reviews, product selections and implementations. If anything here resonates with your firm and you think that it might need assistance, we would be very happy to meet and talk about your requirements.

Michele Asbury is a consultant at 3Kites and a former law firm IT director. This is the 43rd article in the series Navigating Legaltech. 

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About 3Kites and Kemp IT Law  
3Kites is an independent consultancy, which is to say that we have no ties or arrangements with any suppliers so that we can provide our clients with unfettered advice. We have been operating since 2006 and our consultants include former law firm partners (one a managing partner), a GC, two law firm IT directors and an owner of a practice management company. This blend of skills and experience puts us in a unique position when providing advice on IT strategy, fractional IT management, knowledge management, product selections, process review (including the legal process) and more besides. 3Kites often works closely with Kemp IT Law (KITL), a boutique law firm offering its clients advice on IT services and related areas such as GDPR. Where relevant (eg when discussing cloud computing in a future article) this column may include content from the team at KITL to provide readers with a broader perspective including any regulatory considerations.