Much like many other industries, attorneys’ day-to-day lives have been rapidly transforming in recent years—even before 2020 turned nearly everyone’s routines upside down. The digital transformation that has taken place has moved potential clients’ research processes online, making it necessary for firms to spend more time bolstering their digital presence if they hope to remain competitive. After all, clients have more options and expect better customer service than ever before, putting pressure on law firms to respond.
According to a 2018 report by Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute and the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law, this increased competition has made a dent in many firms’ profits: The average lawyer billed 156 fewer hours in 2018 than in 2007, costing firms about $74,000 per attorney per year.
So, how can law firms combat these challenges? New technologies, when implemented correctly, can help law firms automate their marketing strategies and intake processes, giving them more time to focus on what they do best: helping their clients achieve outstanding results.
Maximize Your Marketing with Automation
Law firms are often inundated with tedious daily tasks. Emails need to be sent out, schedules need to be updated, and clients need to be contacted. If your firm isn’t utilizing technology that helps you automate these tasks, you’re wasting time. According to the 2017 Legal Trends Report, lawyers were found to be spending an average of six hours per day on non-legal work.
Automation-based tools are affordable and easy to implement, eliminating unnecessary “busy work” and freeing you to focus on growth and your firm’s future.
Through the power of automation, you can offload many of your digital marketing responsibilities to machines that can do everything you need—quickly and correctly. This includes building email templates, constructing paid search campaigns, and ensuring advertising efficiency.
Reviews & Social Media Management
Research shows that 92% of consumers check online reviews when making a buying or hiring decision. So, it’s not difficult to see why online reviews and reputation are critical to any attorney’s client attraction efforts. The problem is that many attorneys aren’t utilizing technology to maximize their online reputations, and as a result, they’re missing out on potential clients and cases.
The more time you and your team can save, the better. That’s why the savviest law firms leverage reputation management systems that allow them to monitor and quickly respond to all their reviews in one place. Additionally, they pair that technology with a clear action plan for improving their online reputations. The better tools you have, the more intentional you can be about creating a reputation clients can trust.
Additionally, according to the Legal Trends Report mentioned above, less than 10% of people contact a lawyer based on traditional ads, like billboards and radio. This means that you need to be reaching potential clients where they are: online.
It’s important for your firm to have regularly updated social media pages to increase your visibility. And a robust digital marketing platform can make it easy to post fresh content, engage with your followers, and make sure you’re doing everything you can to stay top-of-mind with potential clients in your local community.
Improved Intake Processes
It’s hard to focus on being the best firm in the area while also serving as a professional answering team. Luckily, modern technology can help you instantly respond to potential clients without taking valuable time away from legal professionals. A recent ABA Benchmark Study found that most law firms are performing intake processes at shockingly low levels—only half of all calls and filled-out web forms are returned within two days, 42% of calls remain unanswered after three days, and some never received a response at all.
But the best law firms know that the ideal solution is a professional intake process that integrates directly into your case management system. Being a successful lawyer involves multitasking, but there are some things that are better left to technological solutions—and your intake process is one of them.
The Time Is Now for Your Firm to Adapt
The legal industry is more competitive than ever, and the time and costs it takes to acquire clients is rising. In the coming years, the firms that use data and technology to their advantage will be the ones who save the most time, provide the best client experience, and see the largest increases in revenue.
With an all-in-one solution like Scorpion, you can take advantage of a wide range of tools that allow you to focus on your cases. From automatically finding the marketing channels that will bring in leads as efficiently as possible to enabling quick and convenient interaction with potential clients, it’s a one-stop solution to some of the biggest challenges facing attorneys today.
For more information about how Scorpion can help your firm succeed, visit ScorpionLegal.com or contact me at Ben.Fiandaca@Scorpion.co
